It started off a typical July day in Kansas City. 95 degrees, horrid humidity, sunny. We had no work today, so Ted decided to go out to the sailboat at Lake Jacomo. Ted, Teddy, Lauren, and I packed up a few things and headed out to the Lake. We boarded the sailboat at the South Docks and Ted made the comment, "Without an experienced crew, it's too windy right now to sail." so with that, we started the small outboard engine and headed off to "Rocky Island", which isn't an island at all, simply a rocky shore at the North end of the Lake.
After reaching our destination, the kids played on shore and swam, Ted and I also took a dip and floated in the Lake just gabbing and taking in the Summer day. Around 3 o'clock, we decided it was time to start heading back to the dock so I could go pick up my kids from summer day camp.... and this is where it turns ugly.
We pulled and pulled, but the engine would not turn over. The wind had calmed to nothing, so at this point, sailing was not an option either. Then we noticed the clouds starting to move in. Big, dark, ugly clouds that was a sure sign that rain was on the way soon. We checked the gas lines, the fuel filter, anything we could to get the motor started. Upon further inspection, Ted noticed that the spark plug was very loose, so he removed it, we cleaned and replaced it the best we could while standing in waist deep water, but to no avail. The engine, of course, sputtered a few times, giving us a false sense of hope that it would start, but alas, it never would. The wind had picked up slightly, so in a flash the sails started to go up. I pushed us off from the shallows, and to get us out into the wind, then swam to the boat and got in. Then, to our surprise and amazement, a gust of wind.
The sails tightened up and off we were at 3.6 knots, but as quickly as the wind came up, we found ourselves in a "dead zone" of the Lake where the surrounding hills cut off the supply of wind. The sky was looking worse and worse with every passing moment and lightning was flashing all around us - and our 30 foot mast of a lightning rod. A Park Ranger who had been called by Ted's wife noticed us sitting in the water and came by, assuming that we were the stranded boat he had received the call about. He tied up to us and began towing the sailboat back to the South Docks. Ted worked feverishly with Lauren's help bringing down the sails and stowing the boat as I steered behind the Ranger trying to stay in line with him. The wind started picking up, and the sky looked to break loose as we docked the sailboat.
Stephanie met us at the dock, and Teddy, Lauren and I went with her immediately to go pick up my boys, leaving Ted to tie down and lock up the boat. Within minutes we were driving past Blue Springs Lake and made comments about the white caps on the otherwise usually calm Lake, and mentioned that the sky had grown even darker. Then Stephanie's phone rang, it was Ted. "In all my 40 years, I have never seen anything like this!" Ted had only been stowing the boat for a few minutes when the rain started, he headed up to the truck with the supplies we had taken, and he began to be pelted with hail. He even let out a "Lieutenant Dan" style yell at the storm - "YOU WONT GET ME!!! COME ON!!!" Moments later, sitting in his truck, to his amazement, a tornado formed right above him, it moved across the lake, and touched down on the other side, carving a path about 200 yards long in a matter of seconds, then disappeared back into the sky. The docks were rocking, boats were tossing and turning, their masts seemingly playing a game of "High 5" with each other. Moorings broke loose with a boat even taking part of the dock with it, debris was blowing everywhere, and lines snapped and frayed as the boats and dock were at the mercy of the storm.... we had made it by about 10 minutes.
After everyone was home, safe, and fixing our respective dinners, I called Ted, curious about what "might" have happened had we been at sail in the middle of Lake Jacomo when the storm blew in so suddenly and so strong. He answered very matter of factly - "We would have been on the bottom." I was unaware that sailboats are not like ski boats or jet skis, they aren't especially buoyant with a steel hull and once they go over, they go down. None of us had life jackets on and they were stowed in the cabin, so it's very possible (given the distance to the shore) that we would have drowned. I won't forget what the Park Ranger had said as he left us at the dock, "I have to go after someone else, you all have a good day." I wonder if that someone else and the Ranger made it back to the Marina, there are people out there who might not have been as lucky as we were.
