Passengers tip boat while trying to see gay nudists

Some 60 partygoers in Austin who were hoping to catch a glimpse of nude sunbathers tipped over their double-decker barge Sunday when they crowded to one side of the vessel. They were rescued from Lake Travis, including two participants who sustained minor injuries, authorities said. The accident happened during Splash Day, a semiannual event hosted at the clothing-optional area by the Austin Tavern Guild, an association of gay and lesbian bars. Witnesses said that all of the people aboard the barge moved to one side after it had been tied up at Hippie Hollow, the only public nude beach in Texas, creating uneven distribution and making it tilt. "As the captain was running upstairs to tell them to move away from the railing, it capsized," dumping its passengers into about 39 feet of water, Travis County sheriff's spokesman Roger Wade said. Krista Umscheid, a spokeswoman for the Lower Colorado River Authority, said everyone aboard was safe.