Thanks to the kindness of strangers

My dad and I went to Lake Cumberland last night to fish. We were doing fairly well and having a good time. Around midnight, we decided to move to another bank. We put the life jackets on, and hooked up the kill switch. Turned the key to sickening sound of a very low battery. Plan B, immediately, went into effect. Thanks to Robbie Sargent, we had a set of jumper cables in the boat to jump from the trolling battery. The only problem with that was that we had been on the trolling motor for quite some time, and it didn't have enough juice to fully crank the motor. At this time, plan C went into effect, get as far back to the ramp, on the remaining juice for the trolling motor, as we can. The major problem with this was we didn't quite know how far the trolling motor would take us. So, we set under way at the speed of slow. After about an hour and only half way back, the trolling motor starts to lose its giddy up. This is when we start looking for a shallow bank to beach the boat and re-assess our situation. We decide on our landing spot, and start heading to it, when, in the distance, we see nav lights. Dad starts signaling SOS with the docking lights and nav lights. The boat turned and made way for us. Unsure as to whether he had seen our signal, or it was just coincidence, we continue signaling. At that moment, were here the faint sound of an out board throttle up. Still unsure as to what was about to happen next, we continue signaling. The boat comes closer, and starts to go around us, as hearts begin to drop. Then the boat swings wide to come up next to us. Two gentlemen yell "are you having trouble"? We reply and tell him our problem. He said it was good to see someone who still knew SOS, and we were thinking the same thing. We tell him we have jumper cables, to which he gladly offered to try and jump start the motor. Within 5 minutes, our motor is running. We offer to pay them, to which they declined. We made sure to not let them leave before we expressed our extreme gratitude though. We take off back to the ramp, and to our surprise, he goes as well. We get loaded on to the trailer, pull to the parking lot and talk to him again. I then asked them if I could at least buy them breakfast. They said that he had some fish to clean, and we talk some more for a while.

If it had not been for these two outstanding citizens, my dad and I would have either had to pay for a tow, spent a night on the bank, or worse. But, when it looked like hope was lost, two perfect strangers saved the day. The man driving the boat said he lived near Lake Barkley. If he is reading this, I want to express my gratitude again. For everyone else, take some tips from me. First, put a set of jumper cables in the boat. Second, learn as many distress signals as you can, including SOS. Third, pay it forward. Thank you again sir.