With the massive boat and trailer the going was hard from Santaquin
to Spring Lake but the stopping was harder. I made the transportation
rookies classic mistake of only considering how I would make my
trailer and boat go and not how it would stop. When I tried to stop
to turn from the orchard road to the canal road it pushed me a
hundred feet past the mark and I eventually had to jump off the bike
and let it dig into the gravel to stop completely. I turned the boat
and trailer around and could not get enough power to start peddling
again so I had to walk the bike and boat back up to the intersection
I missed and because it was then up hill for a stretch I had to walk
about a mile pushing the boat and cart. Where were all of my
co-conspirators you ask? Oh, they left me and went on ahead to go
fishing while they waited for me. Good guys. I got up to the highway
and it was all downhill from there to Spring Lake so I was able to
coast it in to the lower side on the south end where I met back up
with all those solid friends who left a man behind. I was only mad
for a minute because our tar dingy with the glass bottom was ready to
launch and it was going to be an awesome day. We loaded the boat out
of the trailer and put it in the water and it floated and didn't
leak, victory! My friend Nathan and I got in the boat and got our
paddles ready and pushed off into the pond. It became pretty apparent
pretty quickly that we may have not adequately designed this glass
bottom thing because as soon as both of our weight was on it for just
a second it bowed and shattered sending water up like a geyser. We
tried for a moment to save the old girl but it sank to the bottom so
quickly we had no chance really. All of the tar must have made the
boat heavier than water because it went all the way to the bottom and
I sat on the side and wanted to cry but with so many older boys with
a bullying streak standing around I thought I better save it up for
later. I told them I didn't feel like fishing and took my trailer and
bike and started walking home. I walked as far as canal road and then
it was down hill until the orchard so I was able to ride until the
bottom but at that point I was too tired and hot and sad to carry it
any further and I put the trailer in the apple orchard and left it.
Ryan and Nathan caught up with me right about then and we rode to
Ryan's house and his mom gave me a very dry chicken leg for lunch. I
went home after that and cried and went to sleep. I don't think we
could call the boat an unqualified success but it did sink pretty
well so there is that.
