Tuesday was another rough day at the lake.
As Chuck and I approached the Boat Hours I noticed a couple of Hydro Bikes parked rather suspiciously under the bridge. Pretty soon we realized all of the Hydro Bikes and some boats were washed ashore in various parts of the lake. We got punked... By punks... We first rescued the Hydro Bikes. As we approached the two under the bridge, Chuck motioned to my left, I looked over and there was
a gentleman with a black hoody on crouching in the reeds watching our every move. That pretty much set the tone for the day.
After the unexpected hour and a half delay Chuck and I got to work on the most pressing issues of Flushtopia, the oil rig, a chair stuck in the bottom of the lake ready to ruin the rowing team’s day, and a sign that had been torn to bits also stuck in the lake. We came up with a great plan, we (or Chuck rather) would use Sleazer’s (Sleazer’s is the Flushtopia bar made from all the scraps) as a platform to pull the two things stuck in the muck ashore.
I rowed him out, and sort of realized Sleazer’s was not that easy to drag as it’s barely above the water line. Chuck began with the sign. Little by little it came up, until Chuck pulled a giant bag that was attached to the flag that had filled with water onto the boat. Sleazer’s was put to the test as an additional 100 pounds was thrown onto it’s bow... Chuck was sinking, and didn’t realize it until we was up to his chest. He acted quickly and and hit the floor of Sleazer’s (
it’s always a rough day when you hit the floor of Sleazer’s) in order to stabilize the raft. Crisis averted. Chuck managed to pull the Sign and the chair with his brute force and the precarious balance Sleazer’s provided. Mission accomplished. We felt good knowing people wouldn’t be killing themselves running into our failed constructions. But we actually felt pretty bad, because it was cold, totally windy, and we just lost all the daylight before we got to rescue the rig.
We quickly jumped on the rig, which had been washed ashore on the fateful opening day. It was pretty messed up and needed some serious work. We started taking things apart, adding screws, and managed to get a barrel strapped to the rig that might stay on... It looked pretty suspicious, as we were next to the parking lot, in total darkness with power drills and a giant wooden oil rig facade... But there are few rules in these parts. I rowed over in one of the boats, Chuck knee deep in water in low cut blue shorts in sub 40 degree weather managed to get me tied on. I paddled with all my might, the wind had really picked up at this point. The familiar white caps were appearing. I made it about 15 feet, then the wind Really picked up. I was blown back to shore immediately. I looked at Chuck, then he started explaining how we can tow the rig along the dock but began cursing and saying his feet were bleeding. He soon disappeared. I couldn’t feel my feet either. My hands were blistered to hell. It was time to go. The rig will have to survive the elements on shore for a few more days.
I would like to add some updates about the recent
crime wave in Flushtopia. I talked to Kush today (Thursday the 9th), and he explained how people had tried to steal a boat the other day by tying it to their pick-up truck. Also kids this afternoon came by and tried to make off with some spray paint... The Hydro Boats are locked up till further notice...