Stuck Between A Rock,Dock And A Hard Spot...

[CrappieMagnet]

The Year..1996

The thought of getting to go fishing with my neighbor thrilled me alot.I did'nt have to walk to far to make it a reality.

This day was like any other fall day of fishing,except the wind was blowing out of the south at 25 mph.Ron and I decided we would go hit Buffalo Lake in Wright County,Minnesota.We packed up our gear and headed to the lake.We did fairly well on Buffalo.We got our limit of walleyes and even some decent crappies.
We heard on the boats stereo that a storm was coming from the south,so we decided to head back to where we launched the boat.Buffalo has three public accesses.One on the NE part of the lake,through the park.Another on the south end,(Gravel) and the last one on the NW corner off hiway 25.We launched at the NW one.

When Ron and I made it back to our launch area,we noticed the wind had picked up signifigantly,making it difficult for us to hold onto the boat so it would'nt scrape against the dock.Ron held onto his boat while I got the vehicle.I opened up the rear doors to aide me in backing the trailer onto the ramp.The van on the ramp was at a pretty steep angle.I got out of the vehicle and walked around the back of the trailer.I grabbed the rope and started pulling the strap out to hook up the boat.There was some resistance in the rope.I pulled harder.That's when the nightmare began.

My pulling on the rope harder caused the van to chug backwards in gear.The trailer litterally ran me over,pinning me underwater,between the dock,an underwater boulder and the trailer.It seemed like I was underwater for a lifetime.I struggled to get out from underneath the trailer,to no avail.I had no air left and struggled to hang on longer.My mind was pannicking.....

Just than my body was yanked out of the water,like a ragdoll.Ron had let go of his boat to save me.He somehow managed to push his boat to the otherside of the dock and tied it off.He must have done it when I went and retrieved the van.Somehow he got between the dock and the trailer and lifted the trailer off me.I don't know who was pumped up more.Him or I.

Here I was shaking from that damn cold water.The van was halfway submerged in the lake.The only way that the van was kept from going all the way in the lake,was the trailer jackknifed behind the dock,preventing it from going in more.We waited.Someone in a house from across the boatramp called 911.The sheriff was there in minutes,and called for a tow truck.I shivvered uncontrollably.The tow truck arrived and hooked up and pulled the extremely wet van out and up the ramp.We disconnected the trailer and hooked it up to the tow truck.He ended up pulling the boat out of the water.The van started and sputtered for an hour while we sat in disbelief.We slowly got our bearings together.We sputtered all the way back to our neighborhood.

Ron saved my life that day and I will be forever grateful.That was one of many good fishing trips with Ron.In the end,we had 12 walleyes and 11 crappies.Wet,slimely and very cold clothes.At least i'm still here....Ron is not....Small cell cancer took him 4 years ago.....

Thanks Ron!

[1morecast]

Wow, what a story, CrappieMagnet, thanks for sharing your close call, glad to hear you're okay. No broken bones or anything? Sounds like you had some luck and somebody looking out for you that day. Sorry to hear you lost a good buddy.

[wrwest]

That is some story, I'm glad you're ok and here today. I lost my best friend a few years ago. Great outdoorsmen, fun to be with. We got in a lot of trouble in our younger years Miss him too...
Any way you saved your boat, van and fish and you're safe too...
With good memories of your friend...

[frank lawhead]

I,d Say The Mans upstairs Wasn,nt Ready For You Yet

[CrappieMagnet]

No broken bones,just cold,and lucky.