[MeredithMan]

It was early Spring, 1974. My father had just taken delivery of his first-ever new boat...a 1974 Wellcraft 18' bowrider. It was literally our first time ever on the lake in a boat. We had passed through the Governor's Island Bridge heading towards Glendale. As we approached the end of GI, my father turned to me and said, "you wanna drive the new boat?" Like any 12 year old boy would be, I excitedly said, "YES, CAN I?" As I took the wheel and pressed the throttle forward, I asked my father where we should go. In great detail, he said, "Let's go that way", pointing to the right of Timber Island and toward The Broads.

Being complete Newbies, we didn't have a map, didn't know anything about the buoys, and certainly had no clue what lied directly ahead of us. As we were skimming across the lake at about 20+ mph, I vividly remember my mother suddenly screaming, "ROCKS...ROCKS...!!!" Out of nowhere, my father's hand slammed the throttle into neutral and there were huge rocks all around us just under the surface. My parents and I were scared beyond belief. Once we calmed down, we broke out the paddles and paddled our way out of The Witches. Miraculously, the outdrive and hull never made contact with a single rock.

To this day, I believe that the only thing that saved us was the fact that it was early Spring and the lake level was high!