I got a call from my grandfather last night. He's on the planning committee in his neighborhood community up near Lake Texoma. There is a road that leads to the boat ramp in their subdivision and they have control over the hours of operation, launch fees, and maintenance of the whole thing. They are switching from a manually swung shut n' locked gate to an automatic one that closes at 10pm, yet will open to allow any stragglers out .
This exciting development normally would not merit a long distance call, but it afforded granddad the opportunity to laugh about an incident I posted about already quite a while back.
When I was a teenager, I got my 1st boat and used the ramp down there to launch it for my maiden voyage. Upon leaving, I encountered a group of local yokels drinking beer around an old cable spool near the ramp. They didn't like my out-of-town looks, my foreign truck, or my little Terry Bass with the 18hp Johnson I guess. A beer bottle was thrown. Catcalls were shouted. I was not about to incite them further, so I put the boat on the trailer and got out of there as fast as I could. Unfortunately I forgot to strap the rear of the boat to the trailer and when the wheel nailed a pothole, the boat flipped off the trailer onto its side. The yokels roared with laughter. I barely managed to flip the boat back on and throw all my spilled gear back into it. I got in my truck took off. I was so mad I could barely contain myself. It was when I passed the gate that I had a sudden eureka moment. I stopped, grabbed an old padlock that was in my truck, closed the gate, and locked the yokels in from the outside. I parked my truck & boat inside my granddad's RV garage and told him what happened. Presumably to fact check my tale, he drove down there in his golf cart to see for himself. When he came back, he was laughing so hard I thought he was going to hurt himself. He heard through the grapevine later that one of them hopped the gate and hiked 1.5 miles to the house for a pair of bolt cutters. He enjoys any opportunity to re-tell that story and I was glad he called!
This exciting development normally would not merit a long distance call, but it afforded granddad the opportunity to laugh about an incident I posted about already quite a while back.
When I was a teenager, I got my 1st boat and used the ramp down there to launch it for my maiden voyage. Upon leaving, I encountered a group of local yokels drinking beer around an old cable spool near the ramp. They didn't like my out-of-town looks, my foreign truck, or my little Terry Bass with the 18hp Johnson I guess. A beer bottle was thrown. Catcalls were shouted. I was not about to incite them further, so I put the boat on the trailer and got out of there as fast as I could. Unfortunately I forgot to strap the rear of the boat to the trailer and when the wheel nailed a pothole, the boat flipped off the trailer onto its side. The yokels roared with laughter. I barely managed to flip the boat back on and throw all my spilled gear back into it. I got in my truck took off. I was so mad I could barely contain myself. It was when I passed the gate that I had a sudden eureka moment. I stopped, grabbed an old padlock that was in my truck, closed the gate, and locked the yokels in from the outside. I parked my truck & boat inside my granddad's RV garage and told him what happened. Presumably to fact check my tale, he drove down there in his golf cart to see for himself. When he came back, he was laughing so hard I thought he was going to hurt himself. He heard through the grapevine later that one of them hopped the gate and hiked 1.5 miles to the house for a pair of bolt cutters. He enjoys any opportunity to re-tell that story and I was glad he called!
