After a year of being on the hard, Sparky, our 15’, 1972 Starcraft Sprint, with its original Mercury motor is back! We spent last summer at Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse, and even coastal Maine was too much for our little lake boat.

I finally had the windshield replaced and a professional motor servicing because I was too chicken to remove the lower unit myself. I knew I could remove it, but putting it back correctly is another matter.

Our maiden voyage took us to two lakes. Someone up here who loves swimming and lists has created the Adirondack 47 Lakers for adventure swimmers (like us?). Tim has a new Adirondack quest and Sparky will play a role. We hope to swim for at least 30 minutes in 47 lakes. Several will be with Sparky’s help. The rest will require a hike.

We spent our first outing in the Pharaoh Lakes wilderness in two beautiful settings: Paradox Lake and Eagle Lake. In both places, I assumed we would be confined to a small portion of the lakes.

Paradox has a narrows, which I thought might be too shallow and weedy to navigate.

My co-captain had other ideas. And it turned out fine. The beaver dam, the park host warned us about, was not a problem and we saw pontoon boats navigating the channel. The swim was glorious.

I need to remember Sparky is a tiny vessel but a champ.

Then we hauled Sparky and relaunched in Eagle Lake, where a very low bridge under the road separates the boat launch from the main lake.

I, once again, expressed concern and was overruled. I had visions of losing our new, crystal clear windshield on its first outing.

There’s the little bridge on our return trip. I was too nervous during the first pass to take pictures.

No problem, we had 4 inches to spare and made it back to the other side. I took my hat off though.

Both 1/2 mile swims were delightful and I look forward to many more. We capped this off with sandwiches and a beer at Paradox brewery. A good time was had by all.