"A Three Hour Cruise"

 OK. I admit to taking some literary
license with the title.
  We only signed up for a one hour      
rental of the pontoon boat at our
motel's dock on Lake Seneca
yesterday.
   The paperwork and safety
lecture only made it seem like three
hours.
   Back in the day you only needed
part or all of the rental fee and a
driver's license to take the craft of
your choice for a short sail.
   Now you've got to sign and
initial detailed forms that basically
say you've bought the boat for
the duration of your excursion!
   The safety instructions, of course,
were both welcome and
informative. You get enough
life preservers for more people
than the boat can legally carry.
   There are safety flares, a
whistle, and even a sort of
"SOS Flag" you can wave
around while you're sinking!
  There was even an oar set aside
on the deck! That, we were told,
is available for your wife should
the motor conk out!
   Eventually we had been
debriefed enough to begin our
60 minute journey.
   The boat had a lot of fancy
dials and switches. One was
a depth gauge. I marveled as it
quickly began changing
readings from the three and a
half feet of water under our keel
at the dock to the 585 feet as
I navigated near the center of the
beautiful lake.
   We learned later that was the
maximum reading for the gauge.
  The lake is actually over 700
feet deep! As I reminded my
wife (who is 5'2) once it gets
over 6 feet deep it's hard to touch
bottom and keep your head above
water!
  We had motored nearly 30
minutes when I spotted the haze
and  disturbance off to the north.
   I've fished enough to realize
that a rainstorm was moving in
quickly so we ought to think
about moving out!
   We didn't avoid all of the
shower. But we were already
heading back to our local port
when we caught sight of the
rainbow off to the east! And
we were able to tie up at the dock
before the heavy downpour
could dampen us or our day!
  In the end our cruise turned out
to be more like 40 minutes than
three or even one hour.
  But I got us back to port in
one piece with no stops on any
deserted island!
  Gilligan and the Skipper would
have been proud!
  Happy sailing. And may all of
your NEWS be good!