While living in Southern California, although we owned a boat, we did not live close to a lake. We would travel to northern California or head to Nevada or Arizona to play in the water. We found a place called Laughlin, Nevada that was a popular destination for us. We enjoyed this city for several reasons; it is located near a huge lake, only about 4 hours from where we lived, and they have a small ‘strip’ like Las Vegas, where several casinos are located that provide very inexpensive lodging and some great, very affordable restaurants. At least once a year, we would get together with 3 other couples for a weekend there.
On one of our many trips to Nevada, we decided to have an ‘adult’ weekend, so we all jumped in our Suburban and headed out to the lake. This year we went in early spring when the weather hadn’t warmed up yet. We didn’t care much, we bundled up in sweats, coats, wrap up in towels, and headed out on the lake to enjoy the great outdoors and amazing company.
When we got to the lake, my husband backed the boat down the launch ramp. We had a routine once we hit the launch ramp, everyone pitched in, and we were in and out of that launching area in a matter of a few minutes. It was precision. I would get in the boat, start getting things tucked away so we could all sit in a seat and nothing would blow out, and get ready to start the engine, while our kids would get the boat ready from the outside; they removed the straps, screwed in the plug, and start guiding my husband back into the water. Everyone knew their ‘job’, and it worked really well.
We launched the boat. Everyone jumped in to help out, asking what they could do. We looked like a small army of ants swarming around the boat, loading chairs, towels, coolers, all the things we needed to keep warm and have a safe, fun day. As usual, my husband backed the Suburban up, while I drove the boat off the trailer, then drove over to the dock where the guys with us caught the boat and all four couples jumped in. As my husband started driving away from the launch area, one of the ladies in the boat asked if it was normal for the lid in the floor of the boat to lift to an awkward height. We all quickly looked around, assessed the situation, and realized that our boat was slowly filling with water. We looked back at the launch ramp. There were about 20 cars in line to launch their boats and the entire ramp was cramped with rigs launching their vessels. There was no way we could jump that line and get our boat out before it sunk. We quickly pulled up to the dock and tried to figure out why our little boat was turning into the ‘Titanic’. All at once it dawned on both my husband and I…. our kids were not with us… our ‘routine’ was not in place. At the same time we both yelled…. ‘The Plug!’ We had not realized how much we had depended on our kids. They were always the ones that would screw in the plug, the most important part of our launching process.
My husband knew he needed to act quickly. He took off his coat, and stripped off his sweats down to his trunks, and jumped into the fridgid water. Once in the water, he asked me to carefully place the plug in his blue fingers, and to raise the motor all the way. He then dove under the murky water, feeling around the back of the boat where he found the hole that the lake water was rushing into the boat. After coming up for air, he headed back down to place the plug in the hole. It took him three or four times diving down to that area to screw the plug in, while I flipped on the bulge pump to get rid of all the water we had taken in. As my husband climbed back in the boat, we dried him off as much as possible, and began laughing at how this could have gone really wrong if one of the ladies hadn’t noticed the floor was uneven. We headed out on the lake, but cut our little ‘jaunt’ short knowing that even though my husband was bundled up in everyone’s towels, he was really cold.
The next day when we put the boat in the water, each and every person not only asked if we had put the plug in, but they all checked for themselves.
To this day, we still laugh about our trip to Laughlin, that almost turned into our personal ‘Titanic’ trip. We all also laugh about how that we all sat quietly in the boat praying that God would keep us afloat, but even more so to protect my husband swimming in the frigid waters trying to save us from sinking.
‘The Lord will protect your coming and going both now and forever.’ Psalms 121:8
