Man vs. Fishing Boat Essay

It was a cloudy summer day, the first week in June following my high school graduation. I was meeting my boyfriend and his family out on Shasta Lake who were enjoying the week on a houseboat. This would be the first time meeting all his aunts, uncles, grandparents, and cousins. I did not expect for the meeting to end up like this. Brandon, my boyfriend, and his younger cousin, Jake, picked me up at Packers Bay in the ski boat. It was a chilly morning and I was in shorts and tank top and had only my towel to keep me warm. The boys forgot where the houseboat was parked in the lake. We spent the next hour and half searching the entire area of Shasta Lake for their houseboat. â€Å"Brandon, just call your mom and ask where they’re at,† I mentioned as an idea. â€Å"Embarrassing as it is, I guess I will,† Brandon sighed. He called his mom, and the first thing she said, â€Å"Your lost aren’t you?† Mothers know everything. We finally found our way to the houseboat. We climbed out of the boat, and one after another, each family member said their hellos and each gave me a very welcoming hug. I felt like family already. We sat in the houseboat for about 30 minutes socializing and eating breakfast, when Brandon’s dad, Gary, decided to tell us we were moving the houseboat to a different spot for the day. Moving the houseboat is a lot more challenging than just one boat because the Connolly’s also had two jet skies, the ski boat and an old tin fishing boat (which wasn’t even registered). â€Å"Brandon, you and Ally take the ski boat. Jake, you hop in the fishing boat and the girls got the jet skies. Get out in front and lead the way to another cove,† Gary said with much authority. So Brandon and I jumped in the ski boat and drove out way past the houseboat waiting for everyone to get situated. Jake, 15 at the time took control of the tin fishing boat. We all figured that he had driven a boat like that before, but we may have been wrong. Enjoying the cloudy day, Brandon and I sat in the ski boat waiting for Jake to make his move. And we heard the motor start and Jake was moving. Phew. There were some waves coming from Brandon’s messing around in the boat that Jake was hitting, but we didn’t think anything of it. After talking for a little bit, we turn around to check on Jake’s progress and we see him flying through the air and the tin boat going very fast around and around and Jake was no where to be found. His head popped up out of the water and than his hand came up with his phone in hand and he screamed, â€Å"Help!† Brandon threw him and a life buoy and told him, â€Å"GET AWAY FROM THE BOAT!† The boat was still spinning out of control and one hit from the tin boat would kill Jake instantly. Since it was a cold morning, Jake was in two pairs of sweatpants and a sweatshirt and he had his Nike tennis shoes on. Swimming was a lot more difficult. He reached the life buoy and made it safely to our ski boat. But this wasn’t the tragic event. It took a while for the family on the houseboat to realize what was going on, than next thing we know we see Uncle Dan fly out on one of the jet skies. He seemed like superman or maybe even batman. He looked like he was going to be the hero of this crazy event. We never even thought he would be the victim. From the ski boat, Brandon, Jake, and I all thought that with the tin fishing boat spinning out of control, Uncle Dan was just going to take the front of the jet ski and stop the tin boat. Nope. Wrong. Next thing we know he is in the water. â€Å"What is he doing?† I asked Brandon in a very worrisome voice. â€Å"I’m not quite sure.† He replied. Dan swims towards the spinning boat and reaches to grab the front of it when it comes around and he misses. So he goes in one more time. Strike two. Misses again. Third times a charm? Not in this story. He swims in for the third time and as the boat makes its 360 rotation it seemed, as every noise around us was silent except for the sound of rocks in a motor. But it wasn’t rocks. It was Uncle Dan. I looked at Brandon and Jake in horror. What was going on? It seemed like he was in the water forever before he popped up. Finally he did. In a very settle and quite voice, he raises his hand covered in red thick blood and a face that looked like it was dipped in ketchup, says, â€Å"Help. Help. I’m hurt.† I scream at Brandon and Jake, both swimmers, â€Å"Help him! Get in the water. Help him!† Brandon and Jake start stripping off their clothes one at a time and Jake was in the water within seconds. Swimming like it was the last meet of his life, he swims over to Uncle Dan and, with his adrenaline, lifts the middle-aged man onto the jet ski. Blood was everywhere and the tin boat was still spinning. Jake speeds the jet ski along with Uncle Dan and his wounded body towards the shore where the houseboat was still vacated and the next thing I see is Jake’s mother, who is also Dan’s sister, strip completely naked and used her clothes to wrap up his arm and face. I’ve never been so shocked and scared in my life. Seeing a hand sliced up from the elbow down to the tips of the fingers and a face covered in blood coming from the eye and side of the face, which hid his pain. He was being so tough and he just kept saying in a mellow tone, â€Å"I just don’t want to loose my hand.† He repeated this many times. Next thing I know, Gary was the driver of the ski boat with Uncle Dan laid out in the boat with naked Aunt Janine at his side, they were off to the shore where the ambulance helicopter was meeting to take him to the emergency room. We all else went back on the houseboat and comforted Jake and everyone effected by this horrific accident. The cloudy day served it’s purpose. After the cops asked all their questions to all of us involved, and finally crashed into the tin fishing boat with their sheriff boat, we could all just relax on the houseboat and wait for the call from the hospital to hear the news of Uncle Dan.