On Thu, 16 Nov 2006 16:08:53 -0500, Larry wrote:

When I was about 10 or 11 years old, I was driving my state-park-green
12' wooden rowboat with the 1HP Elto outboard across Owasco Lake in the
Finger Lakes of upstate NY, the reason I don't remember, probably because
my Grandpa's gas was free...(c;

I saw an old man with white hair, like mine is now, leaning against his
outboard motor, looking just awful and panting like a dog. I steered
towards him and asked him if he was ok.

"I can't get my motor started. I've pulled and pulled.", he said. I
offered to tow him to his dock on the other side of the lake. To this
day, I think I saved his life. He had oars, but I doubt he'd have lasted
to get home.

Once we got to his dock, I hung around to see if we could figure out how
to get his motor to run, a pesky kid I was. I was a hero a second time
when I asked him why the spark plug wire was pulled off the spark plug
under the little gas tank. We put it back and it cranked right up....(c;
I was also a smartassed kid, but that was another matter.... He said he
had pulled the motor up while he was fishing to keep it out of the weeds
and probably pulled the wire off with his hand lifting the handle on the
back of the gas tank. His wife called my grandparents to say I'd be
having lunch with them and what happened so they wouldn't worry.....

Good job. When reading all those accident reports I saw many
instances where people saw somebody in distress but didn't take
immediate action. It cost lives. That was especially important in
cases where it was an old-time in distress, because sometimes they're
stubborn about not asking for help. You have to be a leader and
ignore their guff.

--Vic