Sinking at Seton

I huddled at the front of the speedboat, bouncing along with the waves of Seton Lake, head down against the wind and biting rain, when I heard a commotion at the back of the boat. Straightening up, I leaned back to see what was wrong. To my dismay water was rapidly beginning to cover the floor. Someone opened the engine compartment to find the engine engulfed in water and quickly filling higher! The engine began to bear down and Ellen revved it higher to maintain speed. The gravity of our situation began to sink in. Someone yelled to quickly get to shore! Although we were not in the middle of the lake, we weren't exactly by the edge either. Cliffs rose up sharply from the water's edge leaving little place to moor. A million scenarios rushed through my head, most included the boat sinking and us all frantically struggling through the frigid waters to what little shore we could find.

My thoughts drifted back to the idyllic beginning of the day, Saturday had dawned fresh and bright, blue skies and a few clouds outlined behind the mountain ranges outside my window foretold of a beautiful day. After church and lunch had been taken care of, I piled into the car with my three housemates to head out to the lake. My best friend Ellen had been asked to drive Mr. Lemon, Mr. Meservia and some other church members across nearby Seton Lake to a Bible study since she had her boater's license. The rest of us girls were just going along to keep Ellen company. It was her birthday after all and we didn't want her to be bored. We managed to get the speed boat off the trailer and we all piled in. There were more people than we had expected; eight in total, more than the speed boat was supposed to carry, but didn't we always carry lots of people? So we set off.

We were a couple miles down the lake when the wind started to pick up. The sky was now overcast and starting to darken. Rain drops began to pelt down, slowly seeping into our once dry clothes. It was then that we realized we were taking on a lot of water and was our boat starting to sink?!
Ellen kept accelerating, but the boat moved slower and slower as she tried to maneuver towards a tiny strip of rocky beach. Breathing a sigh of relief that we had made it to shore, I leapt out with some of the others and held the boat in place with ropes while others attempted to find out what was wrong. Wind and waves crashed the speedboat into the rocky shore, heedless of our tight grip on the ropes. Ellen wondered if the drainage plug on the bottom of the boat had come undone, allowing the boat to fill with water. Lying on the back of the boat she leaned over trying to feel for the plug. She came up defeated, with wet hair and a dripping shoulder. Mr. Lemon tried next. He found the plug securely in place. Whatever was the problem? Mr. Meservia checked his phone; no service. We were stranded. I imagined us being forced to pull ourselves up the steep bank and cliffs and hike the many, many miles over the mountain towering above us to get back to civilization. Someone suggested we start the engine again and see what would happen. As soon as Ellen had the engine going, we noticed two bright blue rubber tubes gushing water into the engine compartment. At least now we knew what the problem was. Quickly we shut off the engine. The water was to cool the engine, but the tubes were supposed to be attached to something. But to what? Although Mr. Meservia had more experience with boats than the rest of us, he could not figure out where the tubes were to go. Ellen and I searched around the engine wondering what we were missing. I prayed that we would find the solution. Being stranded on the edge of Seton Lake on the brink of the ensuing storm did not sound too enjoyable. And then to our relief Ellen announced that she had found where the two blue tubes were to be attached. Hooking them into place, we started up the bilge pump and soon the engine compartment was clear of water. Again we were off.

By now the rain was coming down in sheets, biting into our faces and stinging our eyes. Water collecting on the seat cushions trickled down, soaking my pants. About 10 miles or so later we arrived at our destination. Someone was there waiting to take the group to the Bible study, but we figured eight visitors was a bit overwhelming for a Bible study so us four girls headed off, dripping, to an old abandoned train tunnel. There we would wait out the rain and the Bible study. We paused along the way to sit out some of the rain in a little train stop shack.

We spent the rest of the afternoon having fun taking pictures at the tunnel, practicing driving the speedboat and chasing waterfowl with the boat. We had an uneventful trip back to the other side of the lake, although we had a lot of difficulties reloading the boat on the trailer, but we managed. All in all I think Ellen had a pretty memorable birthday.