Well boys, let’s try once more to catch a Tarpon or two. OK, that sounds fun.
Capt.,me, spends most of 9/1 making rigs getting boat ready etc.
Off we go bright and early in the AM on 9/2.
Get a nice complement on my T-Top at See Wee gas stop and recommend Marc Googer to the gent who wants one like it.
Launch, wind our way through myriad creeks to our spot behind an inlet bar, catch a few nice big Mullet on the way,during which process my net man manages to throw his net and himself in the drink, and commence fishing around 10AM.
Not much goes on in the fishing dept, couple of short strikes; but around 11AM we see the crew of a bay boat kedging their way out the inlet with the tide.
They were yelling at us and waving their arms.
Being the bright fellows we are; we assumed this behavior was some new Tarpon fishing technique and were debating whether or not to try it when the bay’s Capt started waving his handheld VHF at us.
Oh, we get it they want to talk!!
Their batteries were dead and could we help; so in the best traditions of the sea; we pulled our lines, drove to them and rafted up on their starboard.
Tried to jump his engine; but his cable connections were badly corroded and all we succeeded in doing was to melt his jumper cable.
Hmm, this is not off to a good start. (No Pun Intended.)
OK, so he cleans his connections with tools he borrows from me, he had none on board, but engine still won’t start.
He calls Sea-Tow, they will come; but it will take several hours-we are in a remote location.
Well, we cannot leave this poor fellow and his crew in this dire situation; stuck in the inlet on a full ebb tide with nothing between him and the open sea but an anchor.
So, once again in the best traditions of the sea, we take his boat on our boat’s hip and motor him to safety at a sheltered anchorage behind an island where he can wait for Sea-Tow.
In the process, one of my pricy air filled bumpers blows up. Oh well, it was pretty old.
The Capt. of the bay thanks us profusely and gives us a ton of Menh
Thanks for being a good samaritan and looking out for your fellow fisherman. Glad you caught some fish and know that this story will definately be one of those…“remember that day…”.
And I’m sure you’ll never mentione to your buddy again about casting himself…and his net into the water 
miss’n fish’n
212 SEAHUNT CC
Sea Squirt 16
hi pen- glad to see you back on CF. I read about your bad day-pretty scary.
In the Summer, I keep a supply of potassium and quick dissolving aspirin on board-they have come in handy!
Considering your knowledge of the Cape, I’ll bet you could map our trip yesterday without even trying hard!
Of course, further mention of the MOB incident is VERBOTEN!!
“Watch what we do, not what we say.” John Mitchell
Sea Hunt Triton 202
Yammy 150
We bumped into captfritz the other day getting ice and he gave us a product they call “Iv in a bottle”…pretty nasty tasting but as he pointed out…add a little pack of koolaid and it’s ok…will definately keep some with us now…that was a pro tip and I’m glad he told us about it. I was just worn out…too many work hours as well as not eating drinking enough…pushing your limit is not a good thing for sure.
Bullds bay can be a bear…that’s for sure…but you know…there’s a lot of me memories to be made any time we get on the water…great times spent with family and friends…stories to last a life time…and many times…lessons learned
miss’n fish’n
212 SEAHUNT CC
Sea Squirt 16
“Where did you find such a devoted net man? What an impressive display of commitment! I have shared that story a few times already also and had more than one rolling belly laugh over it. There are few feelings like jumping into an expected 34 ft of water to “save” a sinking net only to stand up in what is really 4 ft. It makes me laugh still…”
He tells it like it was!!!
“Watch what we do, not what we say.” John Mitchell
Sea Hunt Triton 202
Yammy 150
Dang, I guess no video of your net thrower going overboard huh? Good job helping out the other crew.
No-
no vid
Happened so fast we could not have caught it anyway.
We’re not much for pix and vids on my boat-pretty old school bunch-have trouble trying to figure out these new fangled gadgets.
“Watch what we do, not what we say.” John Mitchell
Sea Hunt Triton 202
Yammy 150
John - that was me in the Scout Bay that you assisted on Sunday. It was much appreciated, you and your friends were gentlemen. To the extent that I was harried and frenetic during that experience it is because I felt bad for putting you out, I wanted to get you back fishing. In my experience, usually things go wrong because of operator error of some kind. In light of that, I felt bad about making my problem your problem. Anyhow, the post-mortem: it was indeed low voltage, not corrosion. Sea Tow arrived about 3:30, we hooked Tyler’s cables up to my battery, he revved his engines, we chit chatted for awhile and after about 10-15 minutes we had “borrowed” enough juice to get the engine turned over and bolt for Buck Hall. As we recounted the story to our wives later that night my bro-in-law and I joked that we weren’t certain that there was a tool that you did NOT have on your boat. As in, “John, do you have a cordless angle grinder, a roto-tiller and a biscuit joiner aboard?” John, “Sure do, right up front under the bow cushion.” I still don’t know why that cable melted. Perhaps at some point I inadvertently confused negative and positive in my haste. But seems like that would have resulted in more damage or some sort of short. Maybe the cable gauge was inadequate, I don’t know. Anyhow, thanks again for your help, I will hope to run into you out there soon, in a less dramatic encounter. David
David-
Thanks for your reply.
We were delighted to give you a hand.
I am glad to hear the problem was not serious; and that you got home under your own power.
I ,too, suspect the your cable’s capacity.
When we used mine, it only got a little warm to the touch; but I was reluctant to leave us attached as long as it finally took to restore your battery after the “meltdown”. I did not want to risk damaging either of out boats’ electric systems.
Yes, we will be back up to Romain often as the Fall approaches.
Let’s exchange trip e-mails-we may coincide sometime.
Thanks for the Menhaden; the sharks loved them.
My “Capt Blithe” Uncle trained me in the ways of the sea-hence all the tools-they do come in handy!
“Watch what we do, not what we say.” John Mitchell
Sea Hunt Triton 202
Yammy 150