It started out an ordinary boating trip and ended with a marriage proposal Lisa Klieman will never forget.

Klieman said her boyfriend, Gerrit Nagel, both of Oak Harbor, invited her on a boating trip to Friday Harbor or Port Townsend Saturday, April 1.

Little did she know of his deception at the time.

As they were approaching Deception Pass Bridge, Klieman said Nagel turned the boat around and said he had a surprise for her in the back of the boat.

“He gave me a pair of binoculars and told me to look up at the bridge. He had several of his co-workers hold a 32-foot banner off the side of the bridge that read, ‘Will You Marry Me?’ He got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes!” Klieman said, adding that she was surprised but very happy.

The couple is planning a Sept. 15 wedding, which Klieman said is the same date Nagel first asked her to be his girlfriend.

Both Klieman and Nagel were born at Whidbey General Hospital.

Klieman graduated from Oak Harbor High School in 2006 and Nagel followed in 2007.

The couple met last September through their church, Living Word.