This is a story that my grandfather used to tell me when we would go fishing on Hyco Lake.
In the summer of 1982, my parents, aunt and uncle, and grandparents spent a weekend fishing and relaxing at Hyco Lake. My grandparents had a boat named JeanSanDeb (named after the girls in the family) and a lake house, so they would make this same trip a few times each year.
On this particular weekend, a family friend, Mitch Newton, just happened to be renting out a house across the lake. Now, Mitch was, in my grandfather’s words, “a snobby little rich kid.” Mitch had just purchased a boat so large that it was made to sail in the ocean and not a small lake like Hyco. On that Saturday afternoon, Mitch rode around the lake making a lot of waves and ruckus, which kind of irritated my grandfather. When the sun set that evening, they heard him and his guests parting in his house across the lake, and my grandfather, being the character that he was, decided to pull a prank on Mitch.
So, in the dark of the night, my grandfather, dad, and uncle got in my grandfather’s boat and quietly crossed the lake where Mitch had docked his new boat. My dad untied Mitch’s boat from the dock and, with the help of JeanSanDeb, pulled it out to the middle of the lake and anchored it. They then went back to their house, sat on the porch, cracked open some beers, and waited.
The next morning, Mitch found his boat sitting in the middle of the lake. Having no other way to get to the vessel, he was forced to take an early morning swim to retrieve his boat.
The following night, while my family was at their house fixing supper, Mitch decided to get revenge by stealing my grandfather’s boat. Unaware of this, my family went out for a night on the town, returned home, and went to bed.
The next morning my grandfather found his boat floating in the middle of the lake. Mitch was sitting on the other side of the lake, laughing uncontrollably, thinking my grandfather would be forced to swim out into the middle of the lake to retrieve his boat. My family started laughing right back at Mitch, and a puzzled look appeared on his face.
In addition to JeanSanDeb, my grandfather also had a pontoon boat. He and my dad grabbed a couple of beers, got in the pontoon boat, and casually rode out into the middle of the lake and retrieved the boat.
Thanks for putting this blog together!
John Andrew Couch