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Holiday weekend boat ramp excitement!
After eating breakfast this morning at the restaurant I pulled down to the boat ramp. There was just enough wind blowing to barely whitecap.
A 1442 john boat with EIGHT HUNDRED FIFTY POUNDS OF PEOPLE, plus a lot of gear, was leaving the ramp riding about 4"-6" out of the water. I quickly hung a u-turn and parked so's to have the best view.
The third or fourth wave over the bow convinced the big gal sitting on the front deck to put her life jacket on. The fifth wave over the bow convinced her to move back to the first bench seat. At this time junior decided more throttle would cure the waves over the bow problem. About 90 seconds later, and a half mile out on the lake, junior decides the best remedy was to make a 180 and head for the ramp. Halfway through his turn, and broadside to the waves, the boat went down, rolling on and trapping the elderly female passenger.
Fortunately they were able to quickly extricate her. A couple of boats were nearby that quickly made it to the scene and plucked all safely from the water. The elderly lady was having difficult breathing from getting water in her lungs, and was transported to the hospital.
It appears everyone is going to be ok. Even the boat was drug to the ramp and recovered.
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If you look to the right of the second boat you can see the 20 HP Mercury sticking straight up out of the water. The boat was floating nose down.
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