The Boat Which Would Not Float

Years ago when I was a young boy I was always near water and dreamed of owning my own boat some day. Dad used to build boats for fishing and we use to enjoy our time in that row boat. We lived near a big pond. It was rather like a lake as it was over a mile long and close to half a mile wide. A highway ran through the pond at one end and caused a smaller pond or head as we called it.

This pond became the recipient of much pollution in the early days as water from the mines was dumped in at several points. We called it coppers water because it caused all the rocks and land to turn a copper color because of the impurities.

My friend Tom and I used to have a tree fort close to the pond and frequently walked its shores. One day we spotted what looked like a sunken boat close to shore. We thought we had found the best prize of all and our imaginations went wild. Plans flew from our lips and before half an hour we were sailing with a mast and sail installed...in our minds only.

Off came our shoes and socks and in we went. On close examination the boat appeared sound but it was filled with sand and muck. We came out of the water convinced we had a treasure.We swore each to secrecy and walked home making plan all the way. We would clear the boat of all that kept it from floating and pull the hulk up on the shore and clean it up.

We never gave it a thought about who may have owned it as we felt it was salvage. Tom and I realized we had to work quietly and quickly before our parents became involved. For several days we made stories to our family about our keen interest down by the pond and worked with a shovel and bucket to clean out the boat. Every day we would get much of the sand and muck cleared but the next day it would be filled again.

To make a long story short we did clear the boat one day and with a heavy rope and a tackle we were about to pull the boat up on shore. We tied the tackle to a large birch tree and it did its job but as we began to pull the boat out of the water it became very heavy. We bailed it nearly dry and on close examination saw several large holes in the bottom of our boat. We were not discouraged and managed to get it almost clear of the water when we heard a very unkind sound.

With a crackling and sound of splitting we saw our dream boat separated into two halves. It was rotten right down the stem and was abandoned for that reason. Discouraged a little but never the less happy for the experience we decided to go on for bigger and better things. We decided to build our own boat. In the meantime we had to be happy with our four pole raft and long poles to explore the shoreline of the Big Pond.