I don’t go the boat

It’s true. I don’t go on the pontoon boat very often. I am really not one of the boat people. I grew up around all kinds of boats, canoes and rowboats and sailboats and little putt-putt motorboats and speedboats for pulling waterskiers. I know boat safety pretty much inside and out. Don’t rock the boat. Don’t stand up in the boat. Always wear your life preserver. (Hated those moldy orange things we wore when we were kids.) You have to be serious about that stuff if you live on Gitchee Gumee. Our beach hasn’t lost anyone yet. Knock on wood, big time.

Truth told, I can be a nervous boater. I liked to go sailing with my dad but I was happiest when our little Sunfish wasn’t tipped up on its side. And it was thrilling to be speeding along in one of the ski boats — until it got choppy. It wasn’t until I was well in to my 40s that I started kayaking. It was the ol’ boy who bought the first kayak. I was astounded. My brother was a motor vee-hickle kind of guy. He was always shopping around angling to buy a new automotive vee-hickle or boat or snowmobile or whatever. Kayak? What was he thinking? I was terrified at the idea of a kayak. Didn’t they tip? NP Jane is a kayaker and she would always demonstrate the Eskimo roll. Did I have to learn that now? It was fine with me if my cute little cousin could do something I couldn’t. I wouldn’t go near the kayak. The GG was all into it and you know how that goes. Next thing I knew, *we* had bought a kayak. The purple Walden Vista. The writing was on the wall. It took quite some more time but, eventually, I awkwardly lowered myself into a kayak for the first time. And guess what? I had arrived! Hands down, that kayak instantly became my favorite boat *ever*.

The pontoon boat is fun too. It is a party boat and you can actually stand up and even walk on it, a fact that totally goes against all my childhood boat safety training. A pontoon boat can go farther faster than my little Walden Vista. You can explore the entire shoreline of Houghton Lake in an afternoon. You can even dock it by the Best Choice Market pick up some groceries and liqwire. Probably the only reason I don’t go on the pontoon boat more often is that I know that unless I bring enough stuff along to keep me occupied for the whole ride, I will eventually get tired of being on the boat and want to go back to shore. And I will *probably* want to do that sooner than some of the others. Yesterday, when I was a “cripple”, the pontoon boat was going out. I gathered up my knitting, my digital camera, my iPhone, and a book (Marie Curie) and, armed with all of that stuff, I happily spent a good chunk of the afternoon aboard. We did indeed dock at Best Choice to buy more stuff for dinner (12 people) and some liqwire (the liqwire store is right next door, how convenient). Since I did not have any shoes, I had the perfect excuse not to have to go inside the store. I had a blast and lest y’all don’t believe me, click here or on the Moosey, for proof, plus some other Labor Day weekend at Houghton Lake shots. Thanks Doug and Jim and Bob for being boat people and letting me stowaway on board once every couple years or so!

2 Responses to “I don’t go the boat”

  1. Dog Mom Says:

    Poor Moosey is misdirecting us to some missing link….

  2. kayak woman Says:

    fixed! Just fergot to ship a folder o’ files out to th’ server.