There are some really nice people that live on this lake! Pat (he lives in the house near where we were sitting on the stump) tried to pull us off (this was actually yesterday) with his small boat – mistake as his aging transom didn't hold up very well when he tried to pull us off. We felt really bad.
Yesterday, I had called all of the marinas within a reasonable distance by water but no one had a boat they felt was big enough to be able to pull us free. So after working with BoatUS and talking with Kings Dive in Kingston (about 20 miles by car), they decided they could trail a boat up to a ramp within a mile of us and that even though it was a jetboat, (no prop but runs on water forced out) it would be powerful enough to get us off.
In the meantime, the owner of Kings Dive (Steve) gave us several suggestions we could try for ourselves. One was to empty the front of the boat and put everything in the aft cabin. I was really amazed at how much stuff there was!! Next step was to put 6 people on the back of the boat to see if the change of weight would let us slide back. So up at 6 am this morning to complete the task of moving everything.
Then the reinforcements arrived! Pat and his family as well as friends of theirs arrived about 8:15 for the big try. Sadly, after much anticipation, it didn't work – even with Pat's Come-a-Long cranking on the well set anchor off of the stern – we were really hung up on this crazy stump!
So after they took off, back into the water went Steve as he really thought if he could just saw off one side of the stump (we were dead center of the stump with the keel sort of stuck in a V) that we would be able to swing the back of the boat enough to break the stump and set us free. He also removed a LONG lag screw that was in the top of the stump as he was concerned it might dig into the hull when we finally were able to move the boat. That took longer than he thought but he used the rest of the air in the tank to cut away more wood (this was the second tank he went through so close to 2 hours spent under water). One last try moving the aft of the boat right and left --- again sadly no movement. We had done our best :-( It's now about noon and nothing left to do but call BoatUS and have them arrange for Kings Dive to come get us.
They arrived (3 guys and a boat) about 6:30 pm. Very efficient and really nice. They were amazed that were could have run up on this stump so dead center! I told them it was actually quite easy to do :-) After assessing the situation, they tied 2 inflatable air bladders under the boat directly behind the stump. Then using a tank of compressed air, they blew up the bladders which lifted some of the weight of the boat off of the stump. Meantime, the boat driver Steve pulled us backwards. Eventually by working back and forth Yesterday's Dream slid free of the stump!!! Wow, were we happy :-) Pat even came out in his boat to put a marker on the stump so others could avoid it.
It was just the craziest thing – this stump was within 3 feet of the surface but the surrounding waters were 8 feet or so. The picture is of one of the dive guys standing on the stump. As it was now 7:30 pm, we headed back the 4 miles to the Brewers Upper lock from which we had left yesterday. So ends our saga of the stump! A hearty thanks to Pat for his willingness to help with the loan of the Come-a-Long, a very sharp saw, his numerous offers of help (including getting supplies from the store if we were low on food), and his keeping an eye on us to make sure all was ok.
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