May 12, 2022

Wind lashed the side of ‘Triple Or Nuthin’. A light rain beat on the side covers of the twenty-four-foot pontoon boat as I pulled hard to the port side and tried to make it to the dock. In the back of my mind, I thought maybe I should call for help. 

Why bother anyone? I could do it on my own.

So there I was at the Westbank boat launch peering into the darkness as I turned the bow into the dock. I had the corner touching it. 

Time to go.

I pushed open the front cover and ran to the corner of the boat. It was still touching the dock so I grabbed the rope and leaped to the platform as the wind started to take the boat back out. 

I lashed the rope, held it tight and made sure the rope was tied solid. Then I jumped back onto the boat and headed for the cockpit. I eased it into reverse and steered the boat backward and sideways to the dock. Slowly the stern came around and the back of the boat touched the dock. I leaped ashore again and tied the back end.

Made it.

But my job was only half over. I still had to park the tri-hull pontoon boat onto the trailer. And with the sides and roof up it was a sail more than a pontoon.

But I had done this a few times already this year so it wouldn’t be too much harder with a stiff wind out of the south.

Just then the skies opened up some more and the rain came down in waves. The wind felt like it had been given permission to blow even harder. I ran to my truck and pulled it into position. It was dark and windy but I drove the trailer like a pro and backed it down the ramp. 

Man, it was hard to see if the trailer was in the right place. Oh well, It was close enough, I thought to myself. 

I jumped out the door of the truck and I ran back to the boat. I’d already decided to leave the roof on and just drive home slowly. So it would be simple: just untie the bow and the stern lines, and hold them both as I guide the boat onto the trailer. 

Maybe I should shut the engine off… Naw, it was fine, better to just jump on after I’d started it on the trailer and drive it on the rest of the way.

As soon as I untied the bowline I knew I was in trouble.

The front of the boat started to drift out. Man the wind was bad. Now to untie the stern and get it on the trailer.

What the…? Why was the boat still moving away? It wasn’t that windy, was it? The boat felt like it was going backward. Going backward?

“Oh shit! I must have left it in reverse!” I hollered out loud, mad at myself for my stupidity. I pulled the front hard and quickly tied the bowline again. Then tied the back line real fast and jumped on the boat to put the motor in neutral.

That’s when it all went wrong.

The wind pushed the front of the boat some more and the bowline released. So much for that quick tie job. I went to get back to the stern of the boat and try to rescue the front when I watched in disbelief as my knot on the stern line came undone as well.

And the rain continued to pour down onto my drenched head. 

Ok, fuck-it I am going to just drive the boat onto the trailer old school. 

Ya, right I was.

I pulled the steering wheel and powered back toward the dock and cranked hard. It was like trying to control a huge tarp in a windstorm. By myself, it wasn’t going to happen.

I pushed the throttle and tried to guide my vessel onto the trailer.

In the dark. 

In the wind and rainstorm. 

That didn’t work so well. I cursed myself as the triple-hulled pontoon boat skidded up on the trailer. Except it wasn’t actually on the right part of the trailer. 

I was stopped and stuck.

I headed to the bow of the boat to see if I was even close. Nope, time to back up and try again.

I put the motor into reverse and throttled up.

And went nowhere.

I pushed harder on the throttle and tried again. 

Nothing, the boat didn’t budge, I was stuck.

I gathered my thoughts and surveyed the situation. I was stuck on the trailer in the middle of the worst rainstorm I’d seen in quite some time. The dock was about three or four feet away, in good weather I might think about making that jump. With the darkness and driving rain I wasn’t even considering it – there comes a time when fear and common sense overrule foolish things we did in our youth. I was equally too far from the front of the trailer and the truck was out of reach as well.

It was also early May and the lake was likely only 50 degrees F – pretty fricking cold. Brad wasn’t that far and he said he would be free after 9. Maybe I should have called for help in the first place. 

“Hello?” Brad’s voice was on the other end of the line.

“Hey dude, I need your help. I’m at the boat launch in Westbank and I’m stuck on my trailer trying to get off the lake.” I tried to remain calm as I relayed my situation.

“I’ll be there shortly,” was his quick reply.

It’s good to have friends. 

While I waited I figured I may as well take the sidewalls down and clean up the boat. Soon enough Brad arrived and jumped into the cab of my truck.

It would have been so simple if I hadn’t tried to rush everything.

He backed the truck down into the water and in moments I was floating again. For some stupid reason, I thought I could still drive onto the trailer. 

“Pull the truck out and I will try to drive on,” I yelled to Brad over the din of the wind and pounding rain.

“You’re nuts man,” Brad laughed back at me.

And he was right.

I tried once and then backed out. OK, it was time to regroup.

He walked out onto the dock and I steered the bow toward him. He grabbed the rope and I reversed myself back to the dock and this time put the engine in neutral.

My buddy walked back to the truck and trailer and climbed onto the deck and headed to catch the bow. 

“Wait you don’t need to get wet,” I shouted to him, at least he was wearing shorts. 

I pulled both ropes and guided the boat onto the trailer. I then jumped back onto the boat and powered it up the rest of the way onto the trailer.

“Nailed it, man, you’re there.” Brad smiled and cranked up the front of the boat and fastened the emergency cable on as well. He jumped out of the back of the truck and drove us out of the water and to safety.

By this time we were both wet and cold from the rain but relief surged through me and I smiled broadly at my friend. “Thanks, Bro, I appreciate you coming down so quickly.”

“Hey, I know what it’s like. Sometimes it’s best to use the resources we have and not be afraid to call for help.”

Indeed Brad was very correct. Not just when it comes to pulling a boat out in a storm. When all of life’s storms happen, sometimes we need the help of others to make it through the difficult times. It is with the help of others we will survive and thrive.