Rescue Me...

I was told things would slow down in August... no sign of that, yet. Job security. Saturday was my "blue shirt" day, but I didn't get much time working on boats. After driving the breakfast cruise, I did some interior work on one of the cruiseboats, then got a call from the manager to find and bring in a boater whose motor had died... at the very northern part of the lake. The Park Service called it in to us. It took about 45 minutes to find them and then over an hour to tow them back to their marina. In rapidly deteriorating weather. Our ride was rough; the 3 guys in the boat we were towing got plenty wet thanks to the waves, wind, and rain.


We didn't quite get back to the marina when there was a call to rescue 6 kayakers who had beached the boats and were hiding under them because of the rain and lightning. One of our other boats had gathered up the people; I was driving the metal boat, so we were able to run the boat up on the shore to gather up the abandoned kayaks. The dock hand that was with me hopped off the bow in the rain and gusts and hauled the kayaks to the boat where I tried to find a place to put them. Let me clarify that: the dock hand picked up two double kayaks by himself and handed them off to me. I looked around for two more people to help me lift them, but there was no one else on the boat... those tandems are heavy! The second gust front was blowing down on us when I backed the boat off the shore. With all that weight in the back of the boat, I couldn't trim the bow down, so it was a slow ride back to the marina.

That turned out to be my "short day" this week: only 9 1/2 hours. The other 4 days are all "13s." We've had nice mornings and quickly building thunderstorms in the afternoons. We had to cancel one afternoon cruise on Saturday, but all the rest have gone out. Last night on the sunset cruise, we started out with a relatively calm lake that turned to gusty and choppy on the ride home. I could see it blowing in from the north and let the passengers know what was coming... no problems... well, a few "ohhhhhhs" when the waves would fill the windshield. The first mate and I told stories on the way back in and everyone seemed fine with the "whitewater ride."

Weasels...

Well, you've heard me talk of the "weather weasels" often here... I'm a bit of a weather nerd and when you spend time on the water, weather is always on your mind. But, no; I'm talking about the weaselly, nasty animals.

Joan got off work before me yesterday and had let Izzy out on her leash... not walking her, just hooked up to the stairs on the coach. She checks on Izzy regularly and never closes the solid door. At one point she looked out and there were two long-tailed animals moving towards Izzy... ON the patio mat! Joan ran them off and brought Izzy inside.

When I got home, Joan described the animals to me. "Sounds like weasels," I said. "They can be NASTY! Izzy may be scrappy, but she wouldn't stand a chance against them." We got out my Yellowstone Eco-system Animal/Bird Identifier, and Joan picked the long-tailed weasels out of "the line-up."

"That's what was on the mat!"

So, we now have a new rule: Izzy only goes out when one of us is outside with her.

Close call.

Stormy Day...

Another 13 hour day today... we started with first mate training on each of the cruiseboats. It's required monthly, man-overboard and fire drills. We upped it a bit, when I became incapacitated and the first mates had to get the boats back to the dock. They also got to fire off a flare and deal with an electrical fire, an engine fire, a cabin fire, and a child not breathing. If it wasn't all practice, they would have been having a very bad day.

By mid-afternoon, the first of the thunderstorms rolled in. I checked radar and delayed the 3:30 cruise by a few minutes to let an ugly cell move through. The passengers had to walk to the boat in a light rain, but it was clear blue sky by the time we got out of Colter Bay.

Back to the marina in time to load up for the 5:30 dinner cruise. Another check of radar showed a large cell coming our way from the southwest... if the timing was good, we would have time to get our guests to the island, get dinner, and get back on the boats. It was close. When I could see the wind waves coming at us from a couple miles out, I told the passengers to bring their dessert with them and get back on the boats. We loaded up and got out just as the first gusts hit. Within a minute, the waves were pounding, the wind howling, and the rain pouring. It was an "interesting" ride back with one very cool sight: a black bear swimming across the lake to the island where we had just had supper! The rain let up when we were a couple miles out, and the wind eased. And then another rainbow. We had to cut the time on the island a little short, but the passengers all understood the circumstances.

Before leaving the island, one little girl and her Mother came up to me; the Mom said, "Olivia is very concerned. Can she talk to you?" Tears welled up in her eyes and she told me how she was scared of the thunder and lightning and was afraid the boat ride was going to be scary. I told her, "Sweetie, I am not going to let anything bad happen to you. I can stop the rain and lightning, but I am always very careful with how I drive the boat. If you are worried about anything, you can come sit right behind me on the boat and watch how I do it. It will be more like a fun ride at the carnival than anything scary. OK, let's get on the boat, now."

While the boat was rockin' and rollin' I said to her, "See? Isn't this fun?" She flashed a tentative smile. It was not long after that when we saw the bear swimming to the island. I swung the boat around so all the guests could see. "That was pretty cool, wasn't it, Olivia?" The smile was now very big.

I matched the boat speed to the following waves as we turned east, and the ride got more comfortable... we rode that all the way back in to the marina. And that view I love when I pull up to the dock: the Blonde waiting to grab lines for the cruiseboat... in her raincoat tonight.

A very interesting day.

Well, Shake It Up, Baby...

We had just gotten back from Jackson yesterday; had a wonderful day off, exploring around the area. Joan picked up a new rubber washer for the bathroom sink at a hardware store while we were in Jackson. While she was installing it, I was helping by staying out of the way... grabbed a short nap on the couch. I woke up with a start when the whole coach shook... "What the hell are you doing up there?" I called to her. I thought the plumbing repair must be going REAL bad.

"Nothing," she said, "I thought that was you!"

We both looked around to see if someone was messing with the 5th wheel. Apparently, someone was - Mother Nature, with a 4.8 earthquake centered about 40 miles southeast of us. No damage to us, but a new respect for how these beautiful mountains across the lake from us were created.

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Shake and Bake...

I forgot to mention, there was a forest fire about a mile away from Colter Bay. It started late Tuesday, likely caused by lightning. We saw the small smoke plume when we came home on Wednesday... fire equipment heading towards it. Today, that side road is closed off, but close enough to the main road that you can see the area is still smoldering. A sign posted said the fire has been contained. Tis the season.

Our little girl is growing up...

Not our daughter, I'm speaking of little Izzy. Today, Izzy scored her first "kill." The ground squirrels around here have been teasing her when she is out on her leash. A couple days ago, one of them ran within a foot of her, apparently aware of how far she could go on the leash. As near as we can tell, one mouse didn't have the same distance judgment. Izzy laid the carcass on the step to show us. She is walking around with a new air of confidence... knowing that she is only slightly removed from her jungle cat cousins.

Weather or not...

Weather played a big part in today's cruises... for the first time in a couple months, we had to cancel the breakfast cruise because of weather - wind and rain. By mid-morning, the sky had cleared and it was absolutely beautiful. Then by the sunset cruise, it was very apparent that we were going to get rained on again... the storms were coming over the mountains from the southwest. I pulled out my Droid phone, brought up the Radar Now app, and deviated from the usual route to stay where the weather was best. Oh, we had some rain, but we also had a rainbow... and then a double rainbow. There were sunbeams coming through some of the valleys. It was absolutely spectacular. I jokingly told the passengers that the only thing missing was a unicorn.

For the 3:30 and sunset cruises, I was tossed another curve: my first mate (also the narrator) has laryngitis... and we were out of first mates for the day. I told him that I'd get the boat out of the marina then he could drive... and I would do the narration. Frankly, I'd MUCH rather be driving the boat, but we have to look out for each other. Besides doing the talking, I also had to keep an eye on his boat driving... he may have been the one at the helm, but the safety of the boat is still my responsibility.

I think we both were able to appreciate what each other contributes to making the cruises enjoyable for the guests. We made it work just fine.

As we came back into the marina, the sun came out. Along the way, we had some rain, some wind, some reduced visibility, and some spectacular scenery... lit in very dramatic ways by the play of the light, the clouds, and the mountains. Quite a day.

Interesting days...

We have been very busy the past couple days.

There was a strong storm that blew through on Friday night. Saturday morning on the breakfast cruise, I saw something was amiss as I pulled the boat up to the dock on Elk Island... no boarding steps! They must have blown off the dock during the storm. The cruise boat sits several feet above the dock, so we lifted and helped people climb down off the boat. I may start charging by the pound instead of by the hour. ;-) I called in the situation, and the manager came out with the rescue boat with our diver onboard. While the guests ate breakfast, the diver jumped in, found the stairs, hooked a line to them, and we hauled them up onto the dock. He celebrated with a backflip off the top of my cruiseboat...

It is uncanny how similar Scott and I are in physique.


Great cruises and guests the rest of the day. Another thunderstorm blew in during the afternoon, and I used my Droid with a radar app to pick the safest route around. Love the technology.

Sunday morning, I was treated to these views when I arrived at the marina...


During the day, I deviated from our normal cruise route and took the boat into Moran Bay... swung the boat around, turned off the engines, and let the guests really take in the beauty and majesty of being up close and personal with these mountains...


One of the guests took my photo with Moran in the background... well, sorta - she did get my head in there when I went back to the aft cockpit to point out a few things...


We also cruise by an eagles nest, but don't often see them there. We were treated to eagles all day long on Sunday. Quite a treat...