THE LITTLE TIN BOAT THAT WOULD NOT SINK

It Came in Bits and Pieces...

My Grandpa's first official story.  A story about high school graduation trip he took with a few friends, a trip to catch a few fish at Yellowstone Lake, a trip that nearly ended in disaster.  A story he told me via text over about a week and a haIf. If you didn't catch the prologue to this story, you can check out the backstory in The First Installment.  So without further delay, the story begins...

The Little Tin Boat...

I will let you read the story exactly as my Grandpa texted it to me, The Little Tin Boat That Would Not Sink, told in his words, emojis included...

We planned this trip when graduated from high school.  We were anxious to get that boat on the lake and do some fishing but other things came up.

Me in the right photo.  Her in the left photo . All I got to hold was her was her lawn rake.

Glen and I left photo.  Jay and I right photo 
We found the bottle. We were not smoking. We brought those corn cob pipes in the novelty shop We finally got that boat on Yellow Stone lake. 

After clowning around a few days we finally got a chance to go fishing.

The day looked great with the exception of a small cloud way in the distance, nothing threatening...so we thought . We didn't worry beacause we had life jackets in the boat. We got a long way out in the lake. The cloud looked a little closer and a little darker. We didn't worry because we had life jackets in the boat. We also had a motor on the boat.

The wind came up.The got much darker. The wind got much harder ..... I think I had better take a break, just thinking about l it makes my heart rate go up.

Another Piece...

I texted my Grandpa back. Told him I loved the pictures and asked him if the gal in the picture was my Granda Jeanenne. It wasn't, he doesn't even know her name. I told him the anticipation was building and I could hardly wait to hear about the looming cloud but to go take a break, compose himself and start again tomorrow.

The next night, about 10pm, I received another piece of the story.

The waves were so strong that the motor was no good against them. The waves started coming over the side of the boat.
We were starting to get very worried, but remember we still had life jackets. The boat was made out of sheet metal by Lynn's father and a metal boat will not float if it gets full of water. Our last hope was the life jackets.
The jackets were old and the type you blow up with your mouth. The valve stem was broken on mine and would not blow up.

The end is in sight

I had to wait THREE days for the next part. Of course I knew he survived but I was still SO anxious and worried about how the story would end.

At that time I could vision a news report. 4 young men celebrating their graduation, drowned in Yellowstone Lake. 

Why didn't that boat sink? Some might say it is because they are good boys. They didn't drink out of those bottles, nor smoke the corn cob pipes so they were being watched over from above. That was not the case at all. When Lynn's father built the boat he had the foresight to build AIR TIGHT TANKS under the seats. The little tin boat would not sink. We were still in danger.

The Last Piece...

The only information I got from my Grandpa about the story over the next few days was that he would try to finish it but it was still dark, cloudy and windy. He had me checking my phone several times a day, how was this going to end?

The boat was rapidly filling with water. Our fear was that the boat would fill and capsize. How could we hold on to the bottom of the boat? We were being washed along with the waves. Eventually we were washed into a distant shore.
We were able to bail enough water so we could drag the boat onto the shore, tip it over, dump out the water and wait out the storm and return to camp much smarter sailors.
That is the story .
THE LITTLE TIN BOAT THAT WOULD NOT SINK.

So there I had it, the first story in The Time Traveler Chronicles. At the time I didn't know how important that story would be, that it was the beginning of a journey.  Now I was even more curious about his life. Not sure if he would be willing to answer but figuring it was worth a try, I told him I wanted to ask him more questions. His response...

Ask away. 

And So I Did...

It started with me guiding the discussions. I'd ask, he'd answer and so on. But it didn't stay that simple. He started asking questions too and I found myself on a journey to learn more about him and more about myself.  I can't wait to share the journey with you!