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High water in spring, a couple of sunken wooden row boats floated abandoned on the lake and I snagged them. Leaky row boats, the planks had cracks between and I was shown how to patch them with rope strand and black tar, from the lumber yard on the outside bottom.
But they leaked anyway and would sink in a matter of thirty minutes. Boys from up-town came to swim with me - in the July sun-heat; and it was two teams, one in each row boat - the object to row with five contestants in each skiff; around the island - first. Each boat sunk to the gunnels a half-way round, water waste deep sitting on the seats - then try to row it around the island without tipping over, and good luck with that.
Heavy wooden flat bottomed three seat row-boat races. The boats would sink to the rails about a quarter to half-way round. They tip over very easy in a sunken condition and the slightest sudden-move - and over everybody-goes onto the drink.
And then to turn it upright and get back in without overing it again - was a belly slide over the rail and sit in the seats two abreast and that is the easy part after team practice. Now you-got to row, with the oars twelve inches above the water line. And then came the attack by the other boat to tip one over without tipping oneself. The race was not run in minutes but hours - and come to think of it, I'm not sure the course was ever completed.
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