Yesterday Emma suggest we name the rental boat Titanic, but Brett pointed out that we would prefer a lucky name. It turned out to be an apt suggestion by Emma.

The day started off well. We got work under control and the boat ready by 11 a.m. and headed out to the Hoover Dam area. The water runs about 400 feet deep or more in Black Canyon, just up from the dam, and the water was a 80 degrees or so, which felt perfect when jumping off the boat in the 108 degree air.

Emma and Brett floating near Hoover Dam

A few miles northeast, we were exploring a cove when Brett noticed the boat wasn’t performing as well as it should. He checked in the bilge and found it full of water. We were “taking on water”, which is a polite way of saying we were sinking. Moreover, the bilge pump didn’t work.

Fortunately a boat like this won’t sink completely, but if we’d left it alone it would have eventually flooded the engine compartment and then it would have been a matter for the Coast Guard. We pulled the drain plugs, piled three of us in front to get the boat on plane (counteracting the weight of the water in the bilge), and zipped across Lake Mead back toward the marina.

We pulled the drain plugs so that when the boat was moving at speed, the water would drain out of the plugs. This worked, but once we were back at idle and docking we found water flowing back into the bilge very quickly.

Several calls to the boat rental company ensued. In the end, they came out to fix the boat, and when it couldn’t be fixed on the spot, they took it away and brought us another one. By then, it was 5:30, and Leigh & Brian were coming over again for dinner.

We’ll try again tomorrow. Unfortunately, the wind has picked up and it seems likely we’ll have a bumpy ride tomorrow — reminiscent of our attempt last year to ride jetskis on Lake Mead. It’s still a beautiful lake, but I wish we’d have more luck with the weather.