Spin Out
The jeep pulling the boat uncontrollably spins
Several months after I started my first job in Southern California after graduating from college, I transitioned into many changes.
I went to a nine to five daily routine from a random routine that followed a typical college day schedule with periodic classes.
I went from a very casual dress to a semiformal dress. Likewise, I went from the freedom to sleep in late to strict punctuality.
I went from having little money to spare to an abundance of money to squander. After working for a little more than a year, my money was burning a hole in my pocket, that’s when I got the idea of buying a boat.
I considered buying a houseboat and living on the ocean. The houseboats in my price range all needed paint and work. They seemed like older models and were composed mostly of wood.
Places along piers inside the marinas were more in demand than beachfront real estate. A houseboat would have to be moored on the ocean and accessed with a smaller boat. I soon ruled out this class of boat, but the thought of buying a boat had been ingrained in my head.
I started canvassing the newspapers for boats for sale. Of several boats, I had chosen a jet boat with a 455 cubic centimeter Oldsmobile engine and a planning hull. It was a fast agile boat that was less stable than deep hulled boats and couldn't carry a lot of weight.
I was very proud of my purchase at first. It was easier to do engine maintenance, in a jet boat than in a car. Unlike a car, there was no transmission on a jet boat. The components of the engine on a jet boat were more accessible. There was no engine housing surrounding the engine. The oil filter was very accessible making changing the oil much easier.
One thing I found out though was that a jet boat requires a lot of maintenance.
There were maritime rules you were expected to adhere to, such as not making wakes in no-wake zones, offering aid to stranded boaters out on the lakes. Not drinking and boating, having correct lighting after dark. Have life jackets for every member of the boat and many more.
A good Southern California lake I liked to take my jet boat to was Lake Paris. On the way to Lake Paris, the particular boat launch that I used, there was a flag pole that acted as a weather warning system for boaters.
The weather warning system consisted of a system of flags used to warn people about atmosphere conditions each day. One flag indicated a small craft warning. Two flags meant gale warning, venturing out on the water during a two flag warning meant certain capsizing. It was best to stay off the lake when any flags were flown, especially with a planning hull.
It was a summer day when my brother Jim came out to visit me from Indiana. I offered to take my brother on a boating excursion with my recently purchased jet boat.
Saturday morning had come, and we were ready for boating. I had a trailer hitch on my Jeep Cherokee vehicle that I would use to pull my boat. My jet boat including my trailer outweighed my jeep.
As we started our trip to Lake Paris we observed warning signs along the highway of heavy crosswinds. As my brother and I drove down the highway, I could feel the force of the wind on the jeep and would compensate for it with added pressure on the steering wheel.
We were progressing down the highway when the jet boat started fishtailing. The jeep weighing less than the jet boat was pulled by the jet boat as the jet boat spun out of control into a three hundred and sixty-degree circle we froze. When we finally stopped we ended up in the median of the four-lane highway.
Astounded at what had just happened my brother and I looked at each other in awe. We took a couple of minutes to gather are composure then asked each other what we should do now.
The ground underneath us was moist and spongy. The wheels had sunk an inch or so into the mud. The road was elevated on each side of the median several inches.
It became obvious that there was no way the jeep had the wherewithal to pull the rig out of the medium. We were stumped on what next to do.
We must have been a sight sitting there in the medium with a jet boat hitched to a jeep, that's when our concerns were answered. A bystander with a monster truck with huge wheels saw our plight and offered to pull both the jeep and the jet boat out of the ditch. By the look of the good Samaritans’ rig, he would have no problem doing it.
The good Samaritan produced a chain from his truck which we fastened between his hitch and the front of my jeep and pulled us back onto the road as easy as apple pie.
We thanked him then he went his way as quickly as he had appeared. My brother and I decided we had enough excitement for the week and decided to go back to my residence.
