It was Thursday, July 13, 2006. Neighbor, Mike LaCombe wanted to do a little bass fishing. We head for Mason County’s Phillips Lake and launched under cloudy skies and light winds. Mike out fished me from the back seat so I decided to head to nearby Spencer Lake.
We launched at Spencer and headed for the sheltered cove at the far North West corner. I managed to put a few small bass up to 12 inches into the boat. Finally after fishing a couple hours, we had some lunch and decided to head back out into the main lake and try some more of the tempting shoreline.
I turned the key on the trusty old Merc and got nothing but a tired grunt. All the running of the old Merc thruster at Phillips in the wind plus here at Spencer had taken a heavy toll on the battery. I did have a back up battery so I went to the considerable effort required and changed the connections over to the other battery. I tried the key to the outboard again and could not even get the tired grunt from it.
What to do -- we were about a mile from the launch -- And, down wind. I handed Mike the paddle and he started his arm and should exercises. I got on the thruster and drained out the last few drops of energy from the original battery. About the same time as the battery tuckered out completely, the paddle operator also tuckered out similarly. Bass boats do not paddle like canoes, especially into the wind.
What to do -- not a boat or live person in sight. Finally ----- I spotted an innocent shoreline home owner walking towards his garage and yelled at him. He was a fine gentleman indeed and came down and towed us back to the launch ramp. Needless to say, I was very grateful. I offered to give him some gas money but he declined.
I have also towed stranded boaters back to the launch ramps on occasions but never had been towed myself. I have also declined any monetary rewards for doing this good deed. For all boaters who have never been towed, let me tell you this -- It is a lot easier on the nervous system to be the "tower" than the "tow-ee."
And later, in the friendly confines of my garage, I found that the backup battery did indeed have plenty of juice. I did use a little steel wool on the posts before I tried it and maybe that was the problem. Just another boating experience on the waters of the great northwest.

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