SEQUIM – The Sea D’s started across the Strait of Juan de Fuca without a care.
Accustomed as they were to the calm lakes of central California, Dodie and Duke Sparks were ready for an exhilarating summer day of boating around Protection Island.
“We were drifting around,” said Duke.
“Enjoying life,” added Dodie.
“We decided to take a side trip to Discovery Bay. I didn’t have any idea about charts,” he said.
“We had a compass,” she said.
“I stepped on the accelerator,” recalled Duke. “Then I heard a crash, bang, boom.”
The Sparks’ boat had hit the rocky bottom of the sea, which had torn away a piece of its outdrive.
“I looked down,” said Dodie, “and saw the bottom of the ocean” – much closer than it should have been.
The couple managed to motor back to John Wayne Marina in Sequim Bay on that day in 1995.
Not long after, “I happened to notice an article in the paper about a safe boating course,” said Duke.
He completed the Peninsula College class first; then Dodie did.
