What he said.
When I got home today there was a lot of splashing and loud talking down at the river-so I decided to walk down to the trail and see what was going on. Halfway there, I could see a small-maybe 18 ft-little ski and fishing boat lying almost over on one side, stuck on the rocks in the rapids-some idiot tourist had apparently launched miles downriver at a ramp at one of the marinas or the parks on the lake, did not realize that this river is shallow and swift, and full of rapids-just perfect for canoes and kayaks-not boats.
Noise really carries out here, so I was soon joined by a couple of neighbors-it was hilarious to watch the three people with the boat splashing around and screaming at each other, but we did ask them if they knew where they were going-they did not-they assumed the river got deep again someplace.
One neighbor shook her head and said this isn’t the Mississippi you know, so y’all are going to have to get back the way you came in. One of the guys said can’t we just get off these rocks, go up to the next ramp? I can call my brother to meet us there with his truck and haul us out. We told him there was no ramp before the ones at the lake where you launched-get turned back around and don’t start the engine-just use your oars, let the current take you until you get back to deep water-the guy looked very unhappy.
We stuck around to make sure no one got washed down the rapids and drowned, and after a lot of shoving, hauling on the bow rope and yelling they managed to get the thing righted and floating free-they turned downriver and went off, using the oars to steer. I’m still amazed at the dumb things tourists will do to endanger themselves in totally unfamiliar terrain-even if they don’t have good sense, don’t they ever watch one of the dozens of survival shows?