When I was in High School I joined up with a group of dedicated water
skiers in Manzanita Bay and started skiing in local tournaments.
Two of the guys became partners in a tournament ski boat and someone came up with the idea that we ought to have six of us ski at once all the way around Bainbridge Island (about thirty two miles) on the Fourth of July. We were all game, so we decided to raise money for charity and I remember being disappointed when the charity picked was the Arthritis Foundation. Isn’t that something that old people get?
Little did I know that I would be diagnosed with
Rheumatoid Arthritis just a few years later.
Anyway… It was a grand adventure! After three blown dockstarts we finally left from Eagle Harbor. A helicopter came over from one of the Seattle TV stations and we made the evening news for a few seconds. We were all doing fine, although it was a little rough from all the boats out on the Fourth.
It wasn’t until we went through Rich Passage that we had to make a fateful decision. The Bremerton jumbo Ferry appeared and it was loaded to the gills with Fourth of July passengers. Our boat driver Steve started to cross in front of the ferry to avoid the ferry wakes, but Larry yelled at him to go straight, passing on the right side of the ferry. The ferry honked and we could see hordes of passengers on the top deck waving and cheering. Steve had no choice but to hit the ferry wakes head-on.
This wouldn’t have been a big deal in a normal boat, but a tournament ski boat is designed to track straight and true without bouncing out of the water. The first wake slid by without much trouble, but the trough dropped the bow slightly, then the first real wave hit - BLAM! We could see Steve, Blake and Nikki duck as a foot of dark green water slammed over the windshield of the Ski Nautique, and the six of us skiers started sinking slowly and peacefully into the water.
We were astounded when the boat appeared to be undamaged except for the boom. Our chase boat caught up to us and ferried us over to the beach.
After fixing the boom and putting a little more gas in the tank, we managed a six person beach start and made it all the way back into Eagle harbor when the boat began to falter. Blake rushed back and tried to put some gas into the tank, but alas… We came close, but didn’t make it back to the dock. All in all, a successful day – just a few hiccups along the journey.
– Erik R. Lindbergh
