PASSAGES: Travel the USA and more!

PASSAGES: Travel the USA and more!

Share this post

PASSAGES: Travel the USA and more!
PASSAGES: Travel the USA and more!
Trapped on a boat in a hailstorm

Trapped on a boat in a hailstorm

The trouble with boats is…you can’t get off.

Toby Neal's avatar
Toby Neal
Mar 21, 2022
∙ Paid
2

Share this post

PASSAGES: Travel the USA and more!
PASSAGES: Travel the USA and more!
Trapped on a boat in a hailstorm
Share

Share PASSAGES: Travel the USA

Mike booked a fly fishing trip with a guide in a “drift boat,” going down the Green River between those amazing red bluffs of the Flaming Gorge in Utah that we so admired from above.

“You don’t have to come,” he said. “I know how you feel about boats.”

Boats and I don’t get along. I get seasick easily and getting stuck on a boat while feeling ill is the worst.

The biggest problem with boats is that once you’re on one and it’s going somewhere, you can’t just get off and go home when it’s not fun anymore.

But I wanted to feel differently about boats, just as I wanted to about four-wheel-driving. Sometimes boats can be the best way to travel and see something special; certainly, I was never going to be able to take in the view from the bottom of the Flaming Gorge any other way. “I’ll give it a go.”

Mike cocked his head, looking at the sky.  “Seems like it will be a beautiful day on the river, after that storm last night.” (I’ll save the storm story for another post.)

We met our guide, a soft-…

Keep reading with a 7-day free trial

Subscribe to PASSAGES: Travel the USA and more! to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.

Already a paid subscriber? Sign in
© 2025 Toby Neal
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start writingGet the app
Substack is the home for great culture

Share