Capt. Apathy, I can identify strongly with your cheap thrills post.
I grew up on a Marina on Belleville Lake in Michigan, and my 7 younger brothers and sisters and I had so much fun working it.
I've seen so many launches of boat, motors and trailers. On one occasion, it was a brand spanking new car, new boat and trailer.
Our ramps got deep very quickly, so we had to dive down with the tow hook to hook up the car/trailer to get it out.
When storms or tornadoes threatened, we'd get jammed packed with 15- 20 boats trying to get out all at the same time. And there were always the drunks that made it interesting - hitting their kids with boat paddles, yelling and fighting. One time, a drunk lady was standing in a boat at the gas dock, laughing so hard her false teeth fell out of her mouth and plopped in the water. The water was 22 feet deep there. I made $20 by riding a cinderblock down and retrieving her "teefs".
In the 16 years we had that, there were 6 or 7 floaters that I remember - maybe more. Belleville Lake was a dumping ground for Detroit. For example, one springtime my 10 year old brother and I were trollling shore line for TigerMuskie. We came across a dead man bobbing in the water. He was black race, but grey in color. He had a rope around his neck, which had a 2 foot tail end, obviously broken off from whatever weight was holding him down. He was wearing a white tee shirt with grass stains on the back from where he had been dragged down the embankment. We just bumped him into shore and went to a payphone to call the Wayne County Sheriff's Dept to come and pick it up. Like I said, there were 6 or 7 like that. I eventually became a member of that Sheriff's Dept.
I could tell a million stories, but the many many laughs we had watching the public is what stands out... thanks for jogging my memory Capt. Apathy
