June 2

It was time to launch Serendipity. Today I managed to take the Luxury Lake Tours boat to the water. It was time to get it on the slip. We have a tour booked and life feels more normal than it has in months. After our test run Friday everything checked out. I was on a solo mission today.

It was a calm, cloudy, warm day, what could go wrong? Plenty…

First stop before the launch was for fuel. I drove to the Petro Canada on Lakeshore road past the launch at the Eldorado hotel. I was told that they sold marine gas, no road taxes. I entered the station slowly, driving a dually truck with a 25-foot long boat behind it requires patience and planning. I searched the pumps for a blue or purple tab. No sign of boat gas. I saw the attendant and sure enough, they stopped selling boat gas two years prior. Premium would have to do as I filled my large fuel cell in my Biltmore.

I pulled into the parking lot of the Eldorado and the first thing I saw was the fence around the hotel. I had never seen anything like this. I never expected such an iconic place like the Eldorado to be mothballed. Covid has wreaked havoc with hotels and resorts. Tourism may never recover in its current form.

At the El I backed into the water. The lake is almost at full pool, there wasn’t much of a ramp left. Joel the dock manager helped me get my boat in. I was excited to get back on the lake. I stood at the ignition and turned it. Click, click. Click, bzzzz was all I heard. I did not hear the rhythmic hum of my 200 horses of Etec power,

My battery was dead.

I hate it when stuff goes wrong. Joel was a big help and he ran to his office to get a booster box. I sat and waited for his return. The booster didn’t work so we had to grab a battery. Joel then went to his car for his own cables.

Success! My motor hummed to life. I was back in business.

I was very grateful to my new best friend at the Eldorado. Joel just happens to be a black man in a very white part of the world. I was happy when I saw Joel. I made a very quick note of his skin colour, and that was it. It did not affect the way I felt about him or treated him. I am proud that I was raised not to see colour. Yet innately I think we all notice differences in each other.

I was happy to be back on Okanagan Lake. Being near water gives me a calming energy. Fishing gives me something to do. I circled out from the dock and cruised toward the bridge. I slowed to trolling speed as I approached the bridge from Kelowna to West Kelowna BC. I set my lines and sat back to relax and watch for a rainbow trout.

The wind picked up slowly at first. The odd gust pushed Serendipity of course. I noticed some white caps forming in towards the south. The sky was getting darker and a storm was imminent. I struggled to maintain course and direction and keep my lines tight in the water. I started thinking that I should head back to the dock and put my boat on its lift.

I should have pulled the lines when I first thought of it. The waves were growing fast and the wind was whipping in. then the sky started to drop on me. It was scattered but it threatened me with more. The rain was coming and the wind was blasting down on me. It was time to move, to head for safety. I struggled to stay straight as I reeled my line in as quick as it would come. I was happy for the electric downrigger as I pushed a button and up the weight came. I had the lines in and battened down. Time to burn for the marina.

The waves were crashing into the side of the boat at this point. Swells were coming ten feet apart and two feet deep. I craked the throttle and took the waves at an angle. A few times the bow rose up and crashed hard into the bottom of the waves. I slowed and tried to maintain some angle that would not get me any more soaked and keep from hammering my hull into the waves. I met with limited success. I approached the dock and was skeptical of being able to land in my slip unharmed.

I got to the dock, and watched two-foot swells crash into my slip. I steadied my nerves. I focused my senses. I watched the waves roll in. I steadied my approach, the wind was pushing me. I was alone, at one with the boat. Focused, my every nerve was aware.

That’s when common sense kicked in. I slammed the boat into reverse before I was fully committed. A vision of my first attempt of the season ending in disaster flashed across my mind. I bailed and turned back out from the docks. I had my trailer still connected to my truck. I would have to put the boat on the trailer and haul it home. I have time to try again tomorrow.

I parked my truck and boat in my yard, why unhook? I will try again tomorrow.

Sometimes we have storms blow up in our faces and we have to do our best in the circumstances. I chose the safe way. The way I knew I wouldn’t wreck anything on my boat or myself. Sometimes we can see the storm and ignore it until it too late. We all seek shelter from the storm so we can sail again another day.