Tarp boat

Sometimes, when I shuffle the films and pictures from my collection I come upon some moments from past long gone, which triggers the memory of tragedies.

This film was about a fishing trip I was doing with my father in 1971. Spring or early June if I am not mistaken. I remember it was a way too many mosquitos, which is a June menace.

All and all it was a good 4 or 5 days trip. Nothing out of the ordinary.

But pay attention to the boat one of the fishermen has. Most of us had regular inflatable boats, he did not. His boat was popular at the time self-made model, made from some wooden sticks and tarp. Basically, it is a somewhat upside down tent.

The tarp is sturdy and waterproof and somebody with skills can make this thing in a day of work. They also easy to carry on a back, which we always did, since you have to get on a train to get on this river, the smallest train you can think of, running in the deep wilderness of these lands.

But how safe is this? Not at all. I was checking this out, it was drivable but scary. The fisherman, however, used it for days and was, in fact, lucky fisherman. The main fish we were getting was a northern pike. It was quite the fighter. How he was able to get fish on board with this washtub of the boat was and still is a mystery for me.

The tragedy struck later. This river was narrow and shallow, so, this was not a real big danger with a few exceptions. But the lakes near our city were a totally different matter. Some natural lakes in the area were incredibly deep and incredibly cold.

He, however, did not have a grasp of real dander and took his 7-years old son for a ride for fishing on this pitty box made from tarp and sticks. It was sometimes in September.

The boat turned over in the middle of the lake and both were on a bottom 210-feet deep before help arrived.

This was something to remember. I was in a 4th grade.