Walter Panknin (1898 – 1977) and His Family Ch7 Part 20

Peter Klopp

February 28

A Perilous Sailing Adventure

Sailing Adventure Part 2

In no time we reached the middle of the lake. "Strange", I suddenly thought, "there are no other boats here. Why do they keep on sailing parallel to shore?" I tried to gently shift my weight to look back to our now distant beach. Suddenly there was a strong gust of wind billowing our sails. My brother frantically tried to maneuver the sails. "Sit on the edge of the boat, quick! " he commanded sternly looking worried. Although I had reservations, I did not dare to voice an objection. I quickly lifted myself up to sit on the narrow rim of the boat, when the wind shifted again without warning. Then everything happened like in slow motion.

I see the look of horror on my brother's face while I am gently tilted backwards into the water with the white fluttering sails tipping in my direction. I am sinking deep down into the cold water. When I finally surface I see my brother beside the capsized boat looking shocked and angry. My first reaction is a fit of hysterical laughter. "What happened?" I stupidly ask while trying to catch my breath. It all seems so unreal. "Stop laughing!" my brother yells holding on to the overturned boat. When he tells me to cry for help I am racked by another fit of laughter. "Why don't you?" I manage to reply. "We'll swim to shore", I suggest. I am a strong swimmer with lots of stamina. Almost beside himself, my brother shouts back, "Never!!! We must stay with the boat" Slowly I am regaining my sanity. I am looking around trying to assess the situation. We are in the middle of the lake far from either shore. The waves are high. The water is churned up and cold. We don't have life vests. No boats are in sight except the sailing boats looking like miniature toys in the distance. Suddenly panic seizes me.

Our desperate attempts to right the boat fail. The weight of the water-logged sails is beyond our strength. One of our paddles floats away on the waves. My brother does not allow me to retrieve it. We continue to cling to the boat bobbing in the waves, occasionally crying out for help which we realize is useless. Nobody can hear us.

To be continued ...