Being near the water since the age of five, Mother Nature presented an event Bill Sherrill has never seen before.
Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia saw inclement weather tear through the region Friday with storms classified as “intense” by the National Weather Service. Sherrill, along with Linda Oliver, were caught in the middle of the storm on Watauga Lake.
“We were down at the Point, in the middle of the lake, and I saw the storm coming across the mountain,” Sherrill recalled. “As soon as I saw it, I told Linda ‘this isn’t good … we need to get back to the marina as soon as possible.”
The race was on to make it back to Fish Springs Marina, where Bill’s houseboat was docked.
“I goosed it,” he said. “We were heading back in as fast as we could, but the wind caught us. The wind and the waves are your worst enemy in a houseboat. I could see the rain and the clouds coming in from behind us.”
Once the storm made contact on Sherill’s boat, it was all about keeping the vessel near the dock, he said.
“Once it caught us, it just blew us forward,” Sherrill said. “I’m going with the wind, thank goodness, trying to get it near the point at the marina. I knew that the point would block the wind … but I didn’t make it. I got right to the edge and the storm blew the boat right into the dock.”
Staying in the wind with the engine going is key when navigating a houseboat in inclement weather, Sherrill said.
“The best thing you can do is keep the motor going when you’re in the wind,” he added. “If you don’t, you’re at the mercy of the Lord.” Winds started to damage the boat, as Sherrill and Oliver attempted to the get back in their spot.
“It was sitting there, rocking, right at the end of the dock,” he said. “I was trying to stay there to keep the boat from turning over. My boat actually went back into the open water and went sideways against the dock with water coming in.”

Sherrill showcased the damage of the boat, with the storm damaging the bottom and back of the vessel along with damage inside.
“It was beating up against the boat,” he said. “The waves were about four, five feet high, and coming over the rail. We finally got the inside cleaned up. Everything was piled up in the center … the toilet, everything that was in the counters, it all fell out.”
Bill also had kind words to say for the individuals that helped keep the boat steady once it docked to helped Linda exit.
“Some of the guys on the dock had to help keep the boat steady to help Linda get out,” Sherrill said, while Oliver added she kept her life jacket on during the chaos.
The avid water enthusiast mentioned that he’s had an intense time on the water before, but nothing compared to Friday evening.
“I have seen one storm like this before in South Carolina,” he said. “But it wasn’t like today. That storm was more thunder and lightning.”