Eyes wide open, a huge grin ear to ear, happy feet with anticipation of the ride on the fireboat as my wife, son and I walk from the parking lot at the Swannie House across the street and catch the first glimpse of the Cotter – you might think that was my 5 year old son, but no, it was me! Make no mistake, he was the same way… the excitement of a few days worth of build up and looking at the many pics I have shot of the Cotter over the years and the always compelling childhood dream of being a fireman was on the doorstep. While I have many friends in the BFD and have accompanied them on many of the trucks (but that’s another story coming soon), I’ve never been on the Cotter. This opportunity was generated by the 1st Annual (or inaugural) Fireboat Bash with proceeds to benefit “The Friends of the Edward M. Cotter“.
Needless to say we were all pretty excited. Despite the weather we knew we were in for a real treat and the fine crew of the Cotter didn’t let anyone down. The smell of the diesel fumes and the sounds of the engines turning over as we pushed away from the dock and set down the Buffalo River and towards the lake was great. My son running from spot to spot on the boat checking out every nook and cranny with question after question was awesome, and we waved at other boaters who decided to brave the elements and folks who walked the Naval Park as well. We made some new friends, met the fire crew, and caught up with some old ones too as we cruised the lake just off shore.
As we turned back towards the harbor the thing we were all waiting for took place – cranking up the water cannons! Thousands of gallons of water came streaming from the nozzles sending huge arching streams of water back into the lake.
Did we get wet? Sure and it was great, everyone had big smiles on and the kids who were on board were having a blast. I think I even saw a few of them jumping up and down in a couple of the small puddles created.
As we slipped back into port we all realized taking a ride on a piece of history, “The Edward M. Cotter, considered to be the oldest active fireboat in the world and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1996 – see Wikipedia“, was coming to an end, but was an event we all won’t soon forget.
If you are not familiar with The Cotter and its pursuit for a new home, click here for more info.