We got the boat back today.

Met the local fishing guides at 11am and helped them launch their boat. Then we spotted the trailers and hiked back over to the scene of the crime. It took about 40 minutes for them to drift over.

The water was about a foot lower today. I could see pieces of my rod sticking out of the water near the boat. I got in wearing appropriate clothes this time, and the water was much more navigable. I was basically able to sit in the underwater boat, and ended up recovering all three rods which were hopelessly tangled with the anchor rope, I cut them free with pliers. Uncle Chris’s rod was complete, Grandpas was splintered, and mine had only the bottom two of four pieces – and those pieces were heavily marred and scratched. I’ll be able to send it back to Sage and get it fixed/replaced under the lifetime warranty. I guess spending extra for the fancy brand name was worth it in this case.

After recovering the rods, I pulled off a still attached oar and oar lock from the boat, and tied a rope off the the front shackle of the boat and another to the primary limb we were hung up on. We secured the lines to well rooted trees on shore, then the chainsaw came out. Steve the guide cut the primary limb free, but also stripped the chainsaw blade from the bar. We ended up just getting in the water to push it out of the way because it was hung up on a rock. Dick was sent off to retrive a chain tool from Steve’s pole barn in town. A tug on the boat line was required to free the boat.

We pulled it to shore and Chris and I bailed it out. It was basically undamaged except for a minor cosmetic crack on rail, but there was a whole beach worth of sand in it. We think this crack was the sound that we heard during the sinking. My waders, fleece and boots were still in the locker where I left them, sandy but otherwise not worse for wear.

Woot.

The main limb of the tree was now completely blocking the river, and causing passing canoers to portage. The guides had permission form the forest service to insure safe passage, so we repaired the saw and tied anther heavy rope to the limb.

The saw created a great geyser of water as it cut through the tree, which then swung around to the near shore. We left the tree tied to be dealt with later when the water dropped, and pulled the boats out on the takeout. Upon return to the

Hook and Horn, we cleaned the grit from our recovered reels and other gear, and celebrated with heavy drinking.

Now, I’m sitting watching the Celtics come back in Game 4, and the county is under tornado warning as a storm rolls in.

I’ll post pictures of the days events tomorrow hopefully when I get to Grosse Pointe.

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