We bought our boat on Lake Travis near Austin Texas. Huge covered marina with a Carlos and Charlies bar at one end. Floating breakwater about two feet high around the perimeter of the marina. Fairly wide gap between the parked boats in the marina and the breakwater...the ring road around the marina
One very dark night we're watching a movie on board and hear a tremendous bang. We scramble up to the deck and spot a 30ish Sea Ray moving in a tight circle off to the left in the "ring road". It had hit the floating break water at a fairly good clip, launched up and over, tore off one of the outdrives (big hole) and landed inside the breakwater. Two little kids were screaming "Help...Mommy's drowning". Our dink is attached to the davit and I figure it's faster to run to the unoccupied houseboat next door and shove their dink in the water. I slip on the duck **** on their back deck and break my ankle.
My quick thinking spouse is at the bow of our boat and alerts the crew of two boats who are coming around the blind corner on the ring road as to what's just happened. She's illuminating the circling boat with a spot light so they don't hit it. The father/driver of the Sea Ray is unconscious behind the wheel, as he bashed his drunken face into the instrument panel. His drunk buddy was ejected overboard. The second engine was still running and in gear...pushing the listing/sinking boat in ever tighter circles. The drunk in the water grabs a rail, which is nearly under water and holds on. A hero from one of the boats at the scene tosses the kids to his wife on their boat and shuts of the running engine. Then he dives into the forward living space that is almost filled with water and drags the stunned mother up to the deck. The occupants of a second boat fish the drunk out of the drink and one of them climbs onto the sinking boat. The two heros transfer the breathing but dazed mother to one of the boats and then drag the drunk from behind the wheel to the other. They probably saved has life as his wife would have killed him. The Sea Ray sinks in sixty feet of water. Roughly ten minutes have passed. A cop helicopter arrives and illuminates the scene with a Night Sun in time to watch it go down. The drunks are arrested. Everyone lives. Just a typical weekend at Emerald Point marina outside the Carlos and Charlies on Lake Travis. Party on...
