Last Thursday afternoon (July 19) seventeen people were killed on Table Rock Lake (near Branson, Missouri) when their boat capsized during a storm. Sixteen of the victims were tourists and one was a crew member.
The boat was a DUKW, better known as a duck boat. The duck boat is a six-wheel amphibious modification of the CCKW truck - and it was used by the U.S. Military during World War II.
I've always considered duck boats to be unsafe and would never ride in one. I don't think they should be used for tourists, and most especially not during a storm.
I'm only slightly familiar with duck boats - - but I'm very familiar with Table Rock Lake and Missouri storms.
When I lived in the Missouri Ozarks I visited Branson many times. I also sailed on Table Rock Lake countless times with my "friend" (I'm using that term very loosely - use your imaginations). We used to sail on his catamaran and were often recklessly drunk at the time. We got caught in more than one storm there and it's a very sobering experience.
When I heard the news about the recent boating tragedy at Table Rock Lake it touched me deeply and resurrected memories.
I loved the Ozarks and felt at home there. It is an intriguing and haunting place. The main reason I left was because of the very frequent and extremely severe storms. I never experienced more terrifying storms in my entire life.
Tennessee has bad storms. Two nights ago we had severe storms and were under a Tornado Watch - - but they are nothing compared to the Ozark storms.
I vowed that I wasn't going to blog for awhile due to many personal problems that I'm presently going through - but vows, I suppose, are meant to be broken.
I haven't been reading any blogs lately, but I didn't forget you....
Another photo of Table Rock Lake
