July 14

Booming music blasted obnoxiously from the speakers. The boat careened towards the fuel dock of the Eldorado resort. The wakeboard tower rocked back and forth, reeling from the music and the waves. I leaped to my feet prepared for the worst. At the final second the brunette in a blue bikini reached out and tried to push off the dock. At the same second the driver hit reverse. the twenty-something girl lurched forward, yet somehow managed to stay on the boat. The blond in the bow leaned over and revealed her many assets as she went to grab the dock;. The boat surged forward a second time and I thought for a moment someone was going in the lake. The obnoxious music continued to blare as the wakeboard boat came to a stop alongside the fuel dock. The driver stumbled and almost fell in himself as he staggered onto the wood boards in front of the fuel pump.

I tried to yell over the bad music, “the gas pumps are closed for the day”

He half looked at me out of bleary eyes and continued for the pump. At that moment an attendant with the Eldorado Marina came out of the office to deliver the bad news. The fuel pumps are closed at 6:00 pm now because of the coronaverse. It was 6:20 and this guy would not get any more fuel to continue his drunken adventure on the water. He stumbled back aboard his craft and pushed away. I sat there feeling worried and a little dumbfounded.

The chaos on the lake is something I am not used to. I have been boating on the Okanagan for years but have always stayed close to Peachland, fishing, and cruising. Now I am operating my boat with Luxury Lake Tours quite a bit. I have witnessed more insanity and stupidity in the past month than I ever have before. I am sure it is like this every summer, but our lake feels busier, fuller with people from Vancouver, Alberta, and locals. With more people, comes more chaos, more chance for disaster.

Covid is far from everyone’s minds as they rock and frolic in the lake and on the water. There were boats tied up and music cranking out just a short distance from the docks. People having fun and cutting loose are floating just off shore. I hope they say safe, I don’t want to read about any disasters on our wondrous lake.

I must be getting old. There was a time I was one of those young partiers drinking on the boat. Now I fear for their safety. Being an operator in charge of other people’s safety may have something else to do with it as well.

I came out of my reverie and saw our boat heading for the dock. I walked to go meet Rob and his latest guests, a young single mother from Calgary and her two young boys. They were fresh off a tube experience. The older boy’s enthusiasm was contagious and I felt a positive energy emanating from the ten-year-olds smile. His younger brother seemed a little more subdued.; tired out from two hours blasting behind Serendipity. Their mom appeared to be in her early thirties and was of Asian descent. She smiled broadly at me and said she heard I did fishing tours. She wanted to take her kids fishing in the morning.

I smiled back and we agreed to meet in Okanagan Centre as they were camping in Vernon. A plan was made and I was excited to go fishing and try out our new setup with the electric down-rigger on our Tour boat. 830 would come early for me the next day. I knew it would come even earlier for her two young boys. I forgot about the chaos I had seen when I saw the joy in the faces of the two young boys as they disembarked our unique and beautiful boat,

My mind started winding up for the plan to take my bike with my fishing gear to the dock in the morning. The chaos of the lake disappeared from my consciousness and I continued living the dream…