Bumper Bash

The hottest day yet this summer, a band and DJ set up on a barge, and an estimated 700+ boats -- aka Bumper Bash!

Doug and I and two friends arrived at Dobbins Island at 10:30 Saturday morning and found many boats already anchored for the festivities. We could see some friends of ours closer to shore but it was already too late to raft up with them. Oh well, we set our bow and stern anchor and settled in for the day. When we first anchored we had a great view of the music barge. The music was great. Lots of songs from my childhood mixed in with today's best hits. Boats quickly filled in just about every inch of space and became more entertaining than the music. I wish I could have captured the real essense of the number of boats anchored in this space.I was amazed by how many people were crammed onto some of these boats. a) Is that even legal? b) It was HOT that day and they had little to no shade (wow, I must be getting old to make that sort of comment). c) We estimated the water to be 84 degrees - kept you cool but not exactly refreshing. Then again, they all appeared to be having a great time, so who am I to judge. There was dancing and a lot of booze so we started taking bets on who would pass out or fall off one of those boats first. There were definitely some pass outs by the end of the day. Not sure we saw any people that fell off unintentionally. We did see girls play the "Oh No! Don't throw me in (giggle giggle) game." There was also a nearly sunken canoe.We were able to raft up with our friends on C-Dreamer and Durrano at different points during the day. We also took the zodiac to visit other friends. It was nice to visit, but easier to be rafted up. There were so many people swimming in the water and so many boats close together. Plus, as soon as you took the zodiac anywhere there was a random group on a raft somewhere that requested help getting back to their boat. Doug and our friend Mike "saved" a few people. There were also rafts that needed returned to their owners. I wanted to keep a penguin but did the right thing (we still collected a few rafts later in the evening that had been left behind). Some of the guys needed "saving" from their unmanly predicaments....Or poor choice in alcohol....(Jaeger and a Natural Light - seriously?)I can't believe I'm posting a picture of myself in a bikini on a public blog, but.....look what I got to try!We offered this guy (who looked just like Ben Stiller) a beer as he passed by. He stopped and let us all try it out. I've seen these numerous times now and have wanted to try it. He actually said that one of the best reasons to own one is to see people try it out. Most people fall. He taught us the key -- "Don't look down!" and I was able to find success on the first try. It was fun but I'm not sure I want to own one. Might be just a novelty. Either way -- thanks dude!

By 8pm the anchorage area had really cleared out. Only the larger boats remained. The coast guard, police, and fire boats kept most people in line as boats pulled up anchor. We did see a fight on a boat next to us. Luckily no one was seriously hurt. We also witnessed a young man on a police boat later in the evening. Doug, Mike, Annie and I decided to name him "Chad." While we don't know the real story, we have decided that his buddies unknowingly left him behind and he was drunkenly swimming around looking for them. I'm sure the police brought him somewhere safe in the long run.We stayed the night and had more fun in the sun on Sunday. Looking forward to the 6th Annual Bumper Bash next year.