Ya ever had one of those days when you probably should have just stayed in bed? Yesterday was one of those[:I]
The plan was to meet my fishing partner, his wife and his new boat that I built at Bolen Hall landing at 0900. They wanted a lesson in shrimping and salt water fishing, and get some blood on the boat that wasn’t mine. 0900 was a little late on the tide, but they had to drive down from Augusta and I figured we could make that work. I knew we would get afternoon storms again and we would need to come in early. So we check in by phone about 0800 and we are both on the road and on schedule. It’s usually about 45 minutes for me to get to the ramp. So I go merrily along, about 16 miles down the road, almost to Tillman, and there is a big sign, road closed, bridge washed out! Dang, would have been nice if they posted a sign at the start of the road.
Turn around, drive all the way back almost to home to take an alternate route that was about 30 miles longer. Called my partner and told him I was going to be late. He says no problem, they would buy some mud minnows and get the boat in the water.
I arrive at the ramp almost an hour late, no fishing partners to be found. I call him again, where the heck are you? They took a wrong turn and went to Bluffton instead of Beaufort. So I wait there for about 45 more minutes and they show up. We load up and launch real quick and go in search of shrimp.
Neither of them had ever thrown a net before, but after a little practice and instruction they were both throwing pancakes Had to hunt around a little but found some real nice shrimp and they caught about 5 pounds before the tide got too high. Plenty for bait and a good meal too. They liked this shrimp catching. I created 2 monsters If we had been 3 hours earlier on the tide we could have filled a cooler.
Then we left in search of fish. Tide was already up in the grass. Not my favorite time. Riding down the river at almost full throttle, I pull back on the throttle and it’s jammed [:0] Won’t move! Thi
Sure, there was a kill switch, key switch too that would have killed it, but my thoughts were we had plenty of river room to run and if we shut it down in gear and couldn’t fix it, then we couldn’t get it cranked again and would be dead in the water. So I suggested we head for the boat ramp while I worked on it and we would shut it down close to the ramp if we couldn’t fix it. We fixed it, but that could have been a very bad situation. Stuff happens. Keep tools, spare everythings, and keep thinking.
Cracker Larry, that sounds like my typical “shake down cruise”. When my boat has laid up a while, I expect snafus for the first trip or 2. I like to “work the bugs out” before the fishing/shrimping gets good - which isn’t long now!
Shrimping wasn’t bad at all, considering how late we were on the tide and it’s still early. Got some real nice ones. I don’t mess with bait, it’s a mess, it’s expensive, I can usually catch shrimp without it, and that $500 non-resident bait license is real expensive[:0] I can buy a year’s worth of shrimp for $500, plus bait, and not work so hard or get rained on.
Larry, it was a good thing they were late also! If they had put the boat in by themselves they would have had problems! The guy also learned maybe, that he could fix things while on the water and to get a little onboard whatnot tool box! Glad you were aboard:wink:
Dang Larry!!! That sucks, I had a similar day on Saturday… Cool, Smart minds prevail and that is what it’s about. Makes for a hell of a story though!!! Glad yall made the best of a possibly bad situation…
He had a very suitable tool kit with everything we needed and a good supply of spare parts. Everything including spare hub kit, spare prop, spare water pump and fuel filter… but no matter what you prepare for, the next problem you have will probably be the one you didn’t anticipate. I call it Neptune’s Law. Nothing but a thing. Fix it. Everybody still had a good time, everybody learned something. I’ve had much worse days than that one was
I mean a water pump kit for the Yamaha. I carry one on my boat too. Yes, it can be changed in the water. Not easy though. Easier at the boat ramp or on a beach. If you trailer around a lot like we do and have a problem, it’s better to have parts. I can change an impeller in 30 minutes. If you drive 6 hours round trip to go fishing, the 30 minutes is worth it. If you always fish close to home it doesn’t matter as much.
CL, I’m glad ya’ll got back safe. You got a good story to tell out of that one! In flying, they say, “any landing you can walk away from is a good landing”. I guess if everyone makes it safely back to the (boat) landing, even if they are a little soggy - it’s a good day!
I’m glad to hear there are plenty of shrimp. I’m still landlocked, but not for long. It’s been a tough year for me, but come mid-September every year, the river becomes a major priority! Everything else has to wait!
quote:In flying, they say, "any landing you can walk away from is a good landing". I guess if everyone makes it safely back to the (boat) landing, even if they are a little soggy - it's a good day!
I’ve done some flying myself, not much anymore. Too dang expensive and complicated to keep up with the certifications. But I was taught any landing that you walk away from is a good one, and any landing that you can walk away from and can use the airplane again is a great one:smiley:
I don’t fly anymore either, but I learned lots of good lessons such as being sure you check everything carefully before takeoff, how to navigate, being weather wise, be prepared before things go wrong, etc., etc.
At least with boats, if the engine quits, it is usually no emergency. On the other hand, it the engine won’t quit…
i know the detour you ran into… i saw the signs heading to my GA property and thought dang that’s a long detour… never had a engine on the water keep going like that… would be an interesting day… but like you said everyone one made it back ok and a little blood on the boat…
quote:i know the detour you ran into... i saw the signs heading to my GA property and thought dang that's a long detour...
What was a frustration is they had a road closed sign up at the road in Tillman, but didn’t have one on the Clyo end of the highway. There is one up now, I guess they just didn’t have time to get them both up before I went.
Had to hunt around a little but found some real nice shrimp and they caught about 5 pounds before the tide got too high. Plenty for bait and a good meal too. They liked this shrimp catching. I created 2 monsters 
If we had been 3 hours earlier on the tide we could have filled a cooler.