Conquering Lake George: Episode Three

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Episode one (The Search for a Silo, Two Dings, and Paradise) introduced the AARP chapter of MYC as they scouted the islands of Lake George looking for a possible invasion site for the main body of MYC.

Episode two (Time Flies When You Are Having Fun) follows the madcap adventures of a larger MYC task force who attempt to retrace the trail left in Episode one. Two things about this trip are remarkable (that haven’t already been described in episode one)

  1. They couldn’t get to the Silo
  2. The Wild Thing tries to drown Splash (and he hadn’t even made a rude remark yet)
  3. Don lost his watch.

No copies of this episode are known to exist.

Episode three begins with Splash and Don Juan discussing the quest to retrieve his watch over a beer at the County Line…

“What are you doing tomorrow?” asked Splash. Don Juan stared into his Heifenwisen and murmured “I’ve got to go back.” “What?” asked Splash, who is hard of hearing especially in a bar with Country Music coming out of the juke box. Don spoke a little louder, “I have to go back to the lake. I left something there. Time seems to have stood still since then. Besides, that incident at the Silo needs to be rectified.” 

The Silo, so richly described by MAC in Episode one, was well anticipated by the hungry and drooling travelers in Episode two yet it remained just out of their reach leaving an empty spot that couldn’t be filled by any other diner. Don wanted, no NEEDED to go back and have that spot filled! Splash thought for a moment and said “I’ll go if you’ve got room.” His other choices for the day were 1) Dress Shopping with his lovely wife or 2) cleaning the garage. It wasn’t a long moment. Our two Questers agreed to meet at 7am, load their kayaking gear into Don’s SUV and head for Lake George.

The day started badly at Splash’s house. The automatic coffeemaker wasn’t prepared the night before and the comic section of The Daily Freeman was missing. Splash had to make the coffee and actually wait the 10 minutes for it to brew. It just didn’t feel like a proper Sunday without those funny papers. Fortunately he had done most of his packing the previous evening. Every thing that wasn’t packed when Don showed up was quickly forgotten and left behind. Splash tried to be generous when they stopped for gas and coffee, but it seems Don has an “I get a coffee for free” card. Splash was left paying for only his own.

We wondered what the traffic would be like as we approached exit 19. Would there be the same traffic jam getting off the Northway? Luckily, there was no line and getting into the Silo’s parking lot was easily accomplished. Much easier, in fact, than getting through the gift shop and into the restaurant. The scented candles almost sent Splash running for the car, but the aroma of fresh coffee kept him moving ahead.

After a fine breakfast fit for a couple of kings, we got back in the car, drove to Bolton Landing, unloaded the kayaks from the car, and changed into our paddling clothes. We’ve all done this so many times it doesn’t need any more of a description.

This was another fine day for kayaking. The Sun was shining in a cloudless sky and no wind was blowing to roil the water. The foliage had changed since we were there less than a week ago. Oranges and Reds were much more abundant on this trip.>

The 2.7 miles we paddled to the north end of Turtle Island was uneventful except Don’s GPS recorded an average speed of 5mph. There are more boats on the lake today. Not so many that they are in our way, but we needed to keep alert. We arrived at the precise location that Don marked on his GPS when his watch flew from his wrist during Episode two and surveyed the terrain. It was unchanged. Yup, it was still under water. The only thing to do was to jump in and search stone by stone.

Don had all the right equipment, an anchor for the kayaks, a dive marker and string to mark the search area, a mask and snorkel. He had all that and a drysuit. Splash wore a wetsuit. Fortunately, the water wasn’t as cold as in this picture.

Don looked every bit the professional as he snorkeled around in his blue & yellow drysuit with matching flippers. He swam this way and that, over there and back again, all the time with his head under water. Splash, well Splash looked like the kid who lost a quarter and was searching under the streetlamp. Not because that was where it was lost, but because he could see better there. Without a mask, Splash was forced to wade the shallow and smooth bottom areas. Don would have to cover anything with a rocky bottom.

With all the boat traffic you would think that someone would stop and ask “Do you have any grey Poupon?” – no, no, no – they should have asked “Are you all right?” But they didn’t. Maybe it was because we did look like we knew what we were doing after all. Well not everyone stayed away. A group of four kayakers were traveling a few hundred yards away when they spied us. They immediately headed our way. One was heard to say “I’ll take the guy on the left, you take the one on the right.” At first I assumed that they were coming to our “rescue” but then I thought – “Pirates ! they could be coming to rob us !“  When I explained our hunt for lost treasure they called off the “rescue” and proceeded on their way, back amongst the islands.

After more than an hour in the water, Don decided that he was done. The watch was hiding in the rocky crevices or it had been taken away by the crawfish “as big as a lobster” that he had seen, never to be seen again. The boys packed up their gear, reentered their kayaks and paddled back to the car. More motor boats were skimming over the water than when we started, drawn to the warm sunshine like moths to a lamp. These guys don’t give kayakers much respect or much room. It is a good thing that Don and Splash are not frightened by the wakes of the pesky power boats.

The ride back to Saugerties was subdued. Unable to locate the cherished time piece left them both saddened. That, and being in the water for such a long time made Splash a tired fellow, or was it the beer from the night before? A nap is what he needed, and so he did.

The end.