Alex Clark
Registered User
Life Long Alaskan
Dark Water Crossing
The Float-Cub was packed, right down to her EDOs
Any more weight and we'd have to wear Speedos.
A heavy fellar in back, his name rhymes with George
Had a load of gear like a blacksmith, including the forge.
The night was upon us, before we could leave.
No wind was a stirrin, not even a breeze.
So off across Kachemak Bay, by moonlight we flew.
Then up past Grewingk Glacier, where Humpy Creek likes to cut through.
The throttle was full forward, all the way to the end.
Any less gas and we would start to descend.
I played with the trim wheel and eased back on the stick.
I needed to slow down for the canyon, now that was a trick.
But the little yellow float-cub, she never let me down.
She threaded her way through the rocks and trees, like a great hunting hound.
Once we where through, down to Emerald Lake we did settle.
At fifty-five miles an hour, with feet lightly on rudder pedals.
The surface was glassy, I could see from the stars.
With the reflection of the heavens, it looked like we were headed for Mars.
Stick and trim back a bit, then tickle some power.
I slowed the Dragonfly Cub, to fifty miles per hour.
The Vsi was dark, but it felt like one-hundred feet per minute.
Any faster than that, and we'd end up at the clinic.
Then out of the darkness, a quarter mile away,
I saw the beam of a flashlight, saying "head right this way".
A little right rudder, and a touch more propeller.
The light was off the nose now, the approach was quite stellar.
I told George to call out the distance, between the water and floats.
We were only five feet in the air, with two airborne would-be speedboats.
Three feet, two feet, now one and some change.
It was a perfect glassy water touch down, not the least bit strange.
The white wake glowed in the dark, on the black glossy water.
I poured on the gas, to keep her on step like I oughter.
Then over to the lakeshore, to unwind and unload.
The night filled with stories of the good landing, and the Yellow Float Cub that we rode.
Alex Clark Oct 2004
Homer Alaska
The Float-Cub was packed, right down to her EDOs
Any more weight and we'd have to wear Speedos.
A heavy fellar in back, his name rhymes with George
Had a load of gear like a blacksmith, including the forge.
The night was upon us, before we could leave.
No wind was a stirrin, not even a breeze.
So off across Kachemak Bay, by moonlight we flew.
Then up past Grewingk Glacier, where Humpy Creek likes to cut through.
The throttle was full forward, all the way to the end.
Any less gas and we would start to descend.
I played with the trim wheel and eased back on the stick.
I needed to slow down for the canyon, now that was a trick.
But the little yellow float-cub, she never let me down.
She threaded her way through the rocks and trees, like a great hunting hound.
Once we where through, down to Emerald Lake we did settle.
At fifty-five miles an hour, with feet lightly on rudder pedals.
The surface was glassy, I could see from the stars.
With the reflection of the heavens, it looked like we were headed for Mars.
Stick and trim back a bit, then tickle some power.
I slowed the Dragonfly Cub, to fifty miles per hour.
The Vsi was dark, but it felt like one-hundred feet per minute.
Any faster than that, and we'd end up at the clinic.
Then out of the darkness, a quarter mile away,
I saw the beam of a flashlight, saying "head right this way".
A little right rudder, and a touch more propeller.
The light was off the nose now, the approach was quite stellar.
I told George to call out the distance, between the water and floats.
We were only five feet in the air, with two airborne would-be speedboats.
Three feet, two feet, now one and some change.
It was a perfect glassy water touch down, not the least bit strange.
The white wake glowed in the dark, on the black glossy water.
I poured on the gas, to keep her on step like I oughter.
Then over to the lakeshore, to unwind and unload.
The night filled with stories of the good landing, and the Yellow Float Cub that we rode.
Alex Clark Oct 2004
Homer Alaska
