This is the pits...
We could see the rough water coming across the lake from where we sat at the fireplace. When it became evident there were going to be a lot of whitecaps Bob and I headed for the dock to secure the boats.
By
the time we got to the dock waves were breaking across it - running
something like 4 to 5 feet from trough to crest. It was a trick just
keeping our footing while standing on the dock. Bob's boat was tied to
the south side, down wind of the dock and had swung into the wind. My boat was tied
to the north side with the waves quartering into the right front
corner. It quickly became evident that while Bob's boat was secure, mine
was going to be in serious trouble if we couldn't get it around to the downwind
side of the dock so it could face directly into the wind. Bob untied my
boat so I could pull out from the dock and point it into the wind while he
cleared space on the other side of the dock.
I pulled my boat away from the dock and held it against the wind with the engine, gently applying power as the waves and wind tried to blow me back along the shore. This was, by far, the roughest water I had ever been in with my boat. As I started up each wave the transom would drop into the trough. The boat was riding light enough that the bow stayed clear of the water. Just as the center of the boat reached the crest the deck would rise above the horizon. Considering that the operator's seat is just behind the center of the boat, and my line of sight is normally something like four feet above the front of the deck, the boat has to be pointed at a rather steep angle to put the front of the deck above the horizon.
While performing this bit of balancing act, trying to hold my position relative to the dock, I heard water hit the prop a couple of times. This didn't cause any great alarm since the prop was turning slowly enough there was little danger of the impact causing any damage.
At about this time I happened to glance over my shoulder, down into the bottom of the back end of the boat. I was shocked to see about a foot of water sloshing around. I knew instantly that the boat was going to sink and not only did I not have time to park the boat at the dock, but that doing so wouldn't keep it from sinking. My best bet was to get the boat to whatever location would make it easiest to recover after it sank. Since the shoreline in front of the cabin site is rocky, and the bottom slopes down steeply to over five or six feet deep, I had to try to get to the beach in the back of the cove. I had to make a turn and head downwind to get to the beach and knew that if I caught a wave broadside the boat would go down like a rock. So, timing my turn between waves, I started the quarter mile for the beach. In a quarter mile of smooth water, with no load, this boat will probably do something over fifty miles per hour. Because of the extra weight of the water in the boat, and the height of the waves, I couldn't climb out of the trough. So, with the throttle wide open, engine roaring, hoping I wouldn't be overtaken by the wave behind me, I rode it all the way to the beach.
At the beach, the waves had cut enough of a bank that I knew I couldn't get the boat to climb up the hill and had to come in at an angle, hoping I could get the boat to stick and not wash the back end into deeper water. As soon as I got off the throttle I could hear the prop hitting the water so I killed the engine. The waves hit the boat broadside, tossing it, and filling it with water. I must have fallen down a couple of times trying to get out of the boat to tie up to the nearest spruce. When I got to the tree, the boat was completely swamped and had already started to slide into deeper water. I was just able to get enough rope around the tree to get it tied off.
As soon as my boat was tied, I ran down the beach to help our neighbor, who had come into the beach about the time I left the dock. He was standing in the middle of his boat holding an anchor line that was keeping the boat facing into the waves, watching the waves break over the bow, but not being able to do anything about it. After a few anxious minutes he was able to get his anchor line tied off and started handing gear to me so I could put it up on the shore. We were very close to sinking his boat as well as mine.
My boat finally settled down onto the lake bottom with the deck the only part of the hull showing. The operator's foot rest was under water and the waves were lapping at the bottom of the crankcase. But, the motor was not going to take on any water, so our biggest chore was going to be that of pulling the boat back up the bank far enough to bail/pump it out. I lost a bit of equipment that washed out of the boat, never to be seen again. The next morning, Tim Kraska, the neighbor had my boat winched up and bailed out by time I got there.
A couple of days later, after worrying about my boat every time the wind started blowing, I put the boat back on the beach, removed the battery along with anything else that would float and left it there, to sink safely till we needed it again.
All things considered, I made out very well. I lost a bit of gear and had to walk back to camp, but had little trouble getting the boat up and running again and I didn't have to do any swimming.
