RubberFrog
Rear Admiral
- Joined
- Apr 9, 2005
- Messages
- 4,268
I had my brother-in-law and his wife were in town for the fourth and we were heading up the Potomac to see the fire works in DC. My friend and his wife were also on board. Six adults and two children. So there we were cruising up river with about 25 minutes to go when the sky turned black and the water turned into chop from every direction. At the same time, my boat lost all power and I was only able to go about 7 mph. We headed back to the dock and what took about ten minutes going out turned into a 45 minute ride back in bad conditions.
In my mind I was working on an emergency plan as the boat was slowly losing speed and I was afraid it would give out altogether. My brother-in-law was assigned to making sure my wife got to shore (she's disabled). I had to make the difficult decision of which child to assign to my best friend. I decided he would help my son who is three, while I took my daughter who is 9 months. I hugged the shore as close as I could, but that particular part of the Potomac is rocky and shallow and you really can't get to close.
After what seemed like a lifetime, we made it to the dock and no one had to swim. By that time the weather had passed, although it was still rumbling off in the distance.
We decided to go see the local fireworks near my house. When we got their, we saw that the field was to muddy for the kids. At this point my three year old was upset and crying. We went home and had a bbq and lit off a few fireworks in the street.
Watching the news later that evening we saw that there was hail, lightening and heavy rain in DC and they evacuated everybody from the fireworks show! Thank God we never made it! At my local fireworks show, they always escort us to the front because of my wifes disability. We heard on the news, that an entire battery of fireworks exploded and seven people in the front were injured to include five children! Thank God we never made it!
I'll take a broken boat anyday!
In my mind I was working on an emergency plan as the boat was slowly losing speed and I was afraid it would give out altogether. My brother-in-law was assigned to making sure my wife got to shore (she's disabled). I had to make the difficult decision of which child to assign to my best friend. I decided he would help my son who is three, while I took my daughter who is 9 months. I hugged the shore as close as I could, but that particular part of the Potomac is rocky and shallow and you really can't get to close.
After what seemed like a lifetime, we made it to the dock and no one had to swim. By that time the weather had passed, although it was still rumbling off in the distance.
We decided to go see the local fireworks near my house. When we got their, we saw that the field was to muddy for the kids. At this point my three year old was upset and crying. We went home and had a bbq and lit off a few fireworks in the street.
Watching the news later that evening we saw that there was hail, lightening and heavy rain in DC and they evacuated everybody from the fireworks show! Thank God we never made it! At my local fireworks show, they always escort us to the front because of my wifes disability. We heard on the news, that an entire battery of fireworks exploded and seven people in the front were injured to include five children! Thank God we never made it!
I'll take a broken boat anyday!
