Derafting

One of the perks of working for the government is that I get federal holidays off. I work six months of the year for the forest service in northern Minnesota, so I get that benefit. We often also get a two-hour early release on the Friday before holidays. That means that today I found myself at home on my island at 3:00 in the afternoon. What better time to bring in the swimming raft? Although it was cold, it was also sunny so I decided to brave the weather and get that raft in.

This chore is much easier accomplished with two people but I thought I could handle it. First I drove my 14-ft Lund fishing boat out to the raft. Then I clipped the boat onto the raft so that one didn’t float away while I was on the other. Next I reached under the raft, found the heavy log chain that attaches to the anchor, and began to pull. The log chain was rusty, slimy, and muddy and is heavy in itself, but the anchor seemed far heavier than I remembered. I stood in the boat and pulled and pulled and finally got the anchor (which is really a cement block) up to the surface. However, the block was big enough and square enough that it caught on the underside of the boat and I couldn’t lean out far enough to pull it free. As I was attempting it anyway, I looked down and noticed three things: first, I was standing in water in the boat and I didn’t know why. Secondly, there was only an inch of freeboard at the back of the boat. In effect, as I was pulling up on the chain I was pulling the boat down deeper into the water. With the motor, my body, the water in the boat, and the chain all at the back of the boat, I was nearly sinking myself! That is why there was water in the boat. But the third thing I noticed was that the rope I had used to attach the boat to the raft was wrapped around the chain and also wrapped around my leg. I realized if I let go of the chain I would get pulled into and under the water. I saw this happen in a movie once. The scary music was playing while the audience was shouting, “Get off the rope! Get off the rope!” But the fisherman didn’t see it and he was dragged to his death by the unspooling anchor line.

My arms were aching, my hands were freezing, but I knew I couldn’t let go. Desperately I tried to talk myself into a good idea. I didn’t think I could undo the carabiner connecting the boat rope to the chain with one hand. I had left my knife in the pocket of my other pants so I couldn’t cut the rope. I tried to make a plan of what to do first when I found myself at the bottom of the lake. I finally bent the log chain over the gunwale of the boat with one hand while trying to scoot my rear onto the raft. I figured if I wasn’t working against myself in the boat I might be more successful. With some of the pressure taken off the chain by the gunwale, I worked to get my leg free of the rope and the chain. After accomplishing that, I was finally able to stand up on the raft. By that point my heart was pounding so bad and I was so tired that I let the chain go, lay down on the raft, and looked at the sky. After a few minutes I started the whole process over again, but this time standing on the raft instead of in the boat. Once again the anchor caught on the underside of the raft but I finally yanked it free. Much to my surprise, it was not just a cement block at the bottom of the chain, but also the old anchor which I had failed to detach last spring. No wonder it was so heavy!

After all that commotion, getting the raft to shore was a piece of cake. It is now securely attached to some trees, waiting for next summer.