The highlight of Retreat-a-topia 2002 was an elegant dinner at Ripplecove Inn at the west end of Lake Massawippi. Lou had arranged the charter of one of those classic wooden speed boats to pick us up at her dock for the trip into the sunset.
The boat came with a captain named Rog who was dressed in whites with lots of embroidered gold scrolling and official-looking bars. His immense smile and assurances that the boat was safe seemed to work for most passengers, and the voyage to Ripplecove was uneventful. Dinner was quality over quantity, and we piled back into the boat with enthusiasm and lots of love despite rain showers.
It quickly became apparent, however, that not all was right with our craft. The motor was now sputtering badly and failed to bring the boat to a plane. A peek into the engine room revealed a cracked muffler squirting lake water onto the 45-year-old Chrysler V-8, choking the air in-take with thick billows of steam.
The solution involved frequent stops to let the bilge pump do its thing, and it seemed to help if I kept a flashlight trained on the problem.
