Titanic

Yesterday we were ending a great day at the lake by taking the kids out on the tube. We were cruising along when all of the sudden we hit something. There was tons of debris in the lake and we'd been dodging stuff all day. I looked behind us and there was a three pronged big piece of wood bobbing in the lake behind us. The boat started making funny noises and Jason stopped momentarily and it was at that moment I looked down and saw water gushing in at my feet. I instantly knew something was wrong but couldn't accept that we were taking on water. Jason opened the engine compartment and it was full to the brim with water. By that time the bottom of the floor was covered with water and I screamed at Jason to head to shore. Within seconds my feet were covered with water and Jason was flooring it. He could only get the boat to go about ten miles per hour. The boat continued to fill and our back end was so heavy it was dipping way down in the water. We all moved to the front and our friend Andrew threw Carolyn and me life jackets. Then the water began gushing into the bow of the boat. I looked toward the back of the boat and the rear seat was floating off the floor and all of our sunscreen, water bottles and waterski gloves were floating in the water in the boat. Even my flipflops floated off my feet. A couple of the little kids were crying and Carolyn was saying prayers with her kids and I was praying with mine. It was a surreal experience to look at the three kids on the tube who knew nothing was wrong and watch the boat getting lower in the water as more water gushed in at an alarming rate. We were so close to the dock but the boat was crawling at this point. It was the end of the day so there were a few boats waiting to pull out. We yelled at them to make room for us. The nicest guy helped pull the boat in because at this point it was so heavy that Jason couldn't steer. Jason ran from the boat to get our trailer and we held the boat at the dock. After we pulled the boat out the water just poured out the bottom of the boat and we were finally able to see what had happened. The log had punctured a hole about 6 inches by 6 inches in the bottom of the boat. We have never experienced anything like this! When it was all over we were so relieved that no one was hurt. We always say a prayer in the car as we head to the lake. As we prayed yesterday morning I had a nagging feeling and felt uneasy. There were about a hundred scenarios that were worse than the one we experienced. It was great to get back in the car at the end of the day and offer a prayer of gratitude that we were safe. Of course I didn't have my camera with me but luckily Allie snapped this picture with Carolyn's cell phone. This is after we pulled the boat out and the water was draining out. By the time we were done you would have never known anything had happened. It all drained out as fast as it came in which is really a scary thought. Here are some other pictures just to prove that the rest of the day was great.

Emma and Jason

Still the reigning queen of the lake!

Three chilly girls who spent a lot of time swimming in the frigid water.

Jonah taking a turn on the wakeboard

Adam Z. had a great time playing in the sand. This is a fun sand castle his older brother and sister built.

We're really hoping that the fiberglass guy isn't too busy and we can be back out on the water before our short summer is over.