I’ve previously discussed my buddy Doug and his death at the age of 22 click here. Doug owned a boat that he named Bad Moon Arising. Tommy Courtney, Doug’s brother, told me some time ago that he still had the boat at his boatyard. This past Saturday, Tommy called me at Buzzy’s Country Store to tell me that he was going up to the boatyard and invited me to come check out Bad Moon. Here are some photo’s I took.
If you look closely at the picture above you will see that slightly` above the faded red decal there is a crack in the fiberglass. This was the result of a midnight collision that Doug and Greg Madjeski had out in the river. The three of us had been drinking (surprise) and Doug and Greg began arguing over whose boat was faster. To decide the argument each got their boat and set out to a race out in the river – at midnight! Because Greg’s boat was a little bigger than Bad Moon, I was assigned as a passenger to ride with him.
As we were motoring up the river, Greg wondered where Doug was because we couldn’t see him. About that time, boom! Doug crashed into Greg’s boat and almost capsized us. Greg’s boat now had a hole in it and we were taking on water as we circled back around to find Doug. Doug was idling in the middle of the river and rubbing his head as he asked us “What the hell happened?” To which an angry Greg replied “You hit my boat, you sob!” Greg roped onto Doug’s boat and Doug towed us back into shore.
That Doug chose to name his boat Bad Moon Rising is a little eerie given the song’s lyrics and his eventual death:
I see trouble on the way.
I see earthquakes and lightnin’.
I see bad times today.
Don’t go around tonight,
Well, it’s bound to take your life,
There’s a bad moon on the rise.
I hear hurricanes ablowing.
I know the end is coming soon.
I fear rivers over flowing.
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.
Hope you got your things together.
Hope you are quite prepared to die.
Looks like we’re in for nasty weather.
One eye is taken for an eye.
Don’t go around tonight,
Well, it’s bound to take your life,
There’s a bad moon on the rise.
At the boatyard Saturday, I asked Tommy where Doug was when he shot himself. Tommy pointed out a pine tree just down from where we were standing. He then said something that made the whole Bad Moon Rising thing even weirder, “You know, it was a full moon that night when Doug shot himself.” All I could do was shake my head.