Last week three buddies set out for a cruise on the lake. Our 24-foot cabin cruiser is owned by Bob Tone. He is 94 years old, but refuses to believe it. The other two members of the crew are Don McCloud, who is 84 years old, a Lakeport native son and a retired fireman. I was the third crewmember. I”m Hank Howe, transplanted from Redondo Beach 10 years ago. I”m 81 years old.
We started out from Braito”s Marina, where Bob keeps his boat moored. It was a most fantastic day. The lake sparkled ? no algae and the weather was a balmy 80 degrees. Things went smoothly as we cruised slowly south, the only noise being our voices as Don and I have hearing aids and have to shout a bit.
As we approached Konocti Marina, Bob put the boat in idle and we floated by. Things were perfect, until the engine died. There was no panic as we opened the engine compartment hatch and determined that the points were not working.
By then, we had drifted past Konocti Harbor and were approaching the rocky shoreline. Don was the tallest among us and he pushed us off the rocks with the boat hook. We were headed for more rocks as we passed Konocti Kamp Grounds. Don was able to reach out and snag the Konocti Kamp Grounds dock at the last moment.
We were a bit unnerved when I realized I had my cell phone. Captain Bob said “Call 9-1-1,” which I did. I couldn”t understand the operator because of my hearing, so I passed the phone to Don. He couldn”t hear well enough either, so he passed the phone to Bob, our 94-year-old skipper.
Bob gave them our location and before long help was on the way. The sheriff”s boat arrived, manned by Sgt. Dennis Ostini, much to our relief.
It was a happy ending to a beautiful day on the lake, as we were towed back to Braito”s Marina, and safety.
Henry Howe
Kelseyville
