It's a good rule...

[MikeA57]

I'm not known around this forum very well. When I have time to come out here I usually post in the MS forum, but felt that this story needed a wider platform. This is being related to you guys ('n gals) in the strictest confidence. I only told my wife that my phone fell in the lake because she is so stressed right now with her Mom's quickly fading health and also because I'm not making an income yet. (My Real Estate license should be here any day now.) If you do figure out who I am PLEASE don't say anything about this to anyone that it could get back to my wife.

This is a TRUE story.

My 12 year old son (Numma 2) was out of school on Good Friday so we decided to go fishing. I've been working on my boat recently and I've got it to the point where I was ready to take it out and start using it again.

We drove down to Holiday Lodge on the North side of the Sardis Lake and unloaded the boat. Corp of Engineer lakes in MS have a "rule" that for a boat of less than 16 ft, a life preserver must be worn at ALL times by ALL occupants. With my boat being a Lowe 1448 Big Jon, that means my son and I had to have our PFDs on at all times which we did.

We headed out from the ramp and I decided to travel across the lake to Cole's Creek which is SW of Holiday Lodge about a 12 minute ride. It was a BEAUTIFUL morning and the temperature was starting to warm up, with only a light wind so the lake was very calm. I started out very slow because Numma 2 son does not have his sea legs under him yet and the slightest adjustment to our course startles him. I slowly increased speed though and by the time that we got out to the middle of the lake we were scooting along at top speed about 25-27 mph.

We got across the lake and were traveling along the Cole's Creek swimming area and I will never know what happened. One millisecond we were zipping along and everything was fine and the next we were careening in a full speed, tight left hand turn. I looked up at Colby and he stared back at me, wide eyed. I looked to the left and the tiller was turned so hard to the left I couldn't reach it! I didn't know it could even turn that far! I didn't panic but I VERY QUICKLY decided that the only thing I could do was lean over and try to grab it to bring it back straight and slow it down. I lunged for the tiller and that's when everything went REAL wrong. The seat I was sitting in was about a foot higher than the bench seats in the boat which increased the center of gravity. And me making a sudden movement like that of course made the boat tip even sharper to the left since that was the direction we were circling and the next second I was tumbling overboard. I don't have any idea whether I grabbed the tiller or not. I tucked my head tight and landed on the water on my back, spinning and skipping 2 or 3 times before I went under. First thing in my mind as I went down was to grab my phone out of my shirt pocket and hold it above water. I felt it hit my hand as it was pulled out of my pocket but that was all. OK, that was gone, now get back to the surface!

Before that thought even got fully into my mine, I was being lifted at a rapid rate back towards the top of the water. That really confused me at first and I got to the surface sputtering and coughing up water I'd sucked in when I went under. Still not understanding what had happened, I looked down and saw that my PFD had inflated and that was what brought me back to the surface.

My next thought was to figure out where the boat was. When I went into the water, it was making a tight full speed circle to the left. I spun around to find the boat and I could not believe what I saw. I just knew that the boat was still going to be circling full speed with my son in it scared to death and no knowledge of what to do. Instead, it was motoring straight away from me at idle speed. All I know is God saved me and my Guardian Angel straightened that motor and cut the throttle. I have no other explanation for how that happened.

I hollered for Colby to turn the boat around and bring it back to me. He was still sitting up on the front bench seat of the boat where he'd been as we crossed the lake. He hollered back, "HOW???" I told him to go back to the motor and turn it so it would come back my way. He got down on the floor and crawled across the bench seats and grabbed the tiller, turning the boat and bringing it back at idle speed. I grabbed hold of it as he passed and held on. Then I showed him how to kill the motor and I just held on and collected my wits for a couple of minutes. I looked and we were probably 200 yards away from shore so I tried to pull myself back in by stepping on the lower unit of the motor but couldn't get get a foothold that would allow me to do it. So I scooted back around to the front of the boat and instructed him how to fold the trolling motor down in the water and how to turn it on and steer it. Then I had him head for shore which was right at that swimming area I mentioned earlier. It took us several minutes to get there but I was finally able to stand and then I crawled back in the boat and sat there for a few minutes. I was fine. I felt good. I knew that I had escaped a potentially bad situation but that still didn't deter me. My son even remarked, "It seems like I'm more scared that you are!"

I don't get the opportunity to fish very often and I was still not going to give up fishing so I climbed to the back of the boat and started the motor to head back in the creek I was originally heading for. I noticed that the trolling motor was still down. I had Colby pull on the rope to pull it back up and the rope broke. At that point I was like, "OK, we're done...", so I went up front and worked till I got the TM back on the deck and we headed back to Holiday Lodge to load up.

I just gotta say that God, my Guardian Angel, and my Hero, Numma 2 son all worked together to get me out of that jam. I woke up at 2 AM the next morning with that whole ordeal replaying in my head, trying to figure out how I lost control of the tiller. We didn't hit anything, there were no waves or rough water; it was just one instant I had hold of it and the next I didn't.

I am super proud of my boy and what he did too. He didn't panic and he followed my instructions to the "T". It scares me to death to think what would have happened if I came back to the surface and that boat was still circling at full speed. No way I could have talked to him with the motor revved up and circling. Would have been a VERY different situation.

Guys, WEAR YOUR LIFEJACKETS!!!!! Things can happen SO QUICK!!!!

[crp4570]

Words can't express the gratitude that you and yours are ok. God be praised.

[Crestliner08]

That is an incredible story! Thank you for the post. God works in mysterious ways. God Bless you for sure.

[Jman5626]

Wow! Incredible story. Glad you and your son are ok. That could have been a lot worse. Glad it had a happy ending


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[Clint]

I have to assume that you were not using the kill-switch on the outboard. I think that unwise. When I purchased an older motor, it did not have a kill-switch and I installed one before I ever took the boat out. I, like you, keep my PFD on the entire time I am in the boat. I rolled a kayak once and was unable to re-board it. I had to swim (float) to the bank dragging it to be able to get back in.

[yippeejf]

Wow, glad ya'll are ok. God was watching out for you for sure.

[BarryG]

Glad you are OKAY! Now it's time to teach your son how to handle a boat! My son was 12 when I got our boat, before he was 12 1/2 he was driving the boat onto and off of the trailer and I would let him drive most of the time!

[skeetbum]

You were looked over and blessed. Glad of the good outcome.

[Locator79]

Glad you guys made it out of there ok....27 mph is rolling in a 14' boat

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[Spaceman]

First. I am very happy you both are okay. PFDs always! Kill switch always! Your story will impart wisdom on someone else. Thanks for sharing.