Quit Whining,it's Wednesday already!!!!

Gimme gimme Jimmy,Boy George,Wonder Woman and I were eager to get in on the wahoo bite so we loaded up with all the essentials and eased out of the cut at 4:45 Wed morning.
Forecast was decent enough but Doppler showed a storm that was moving to the north so we headed straight out and sure enough we watched it move up the coast as we rolled on in search of a few day makers…32 miles out we made a Gimee Jimmy potty stop(its a ritual now) and by the time we could all breath again,a new storm was showing itself to our south…Problem was,we couldn’t see the end of it…This is when I screwed the pooch…

Instead of doing what my gut told me,I went for an opening thru the new storm thinking I would pop out on the other side.
You remember those trips when you turned around only to hear about the spoils that went to those who ran thru a gathering storm to be greeted by warm sunshine?? Well I’m not 19 anymore and that ain’t what happened to us!!!

Long story short the rain started about the time the temp dropped about ten degrees.Mr lightening and the ocean decided to teach me another lesson about “trusting my gut”.We had a long slow ride in that beat the crap out of the crew and our rig.
When I pulled out the offshore jackets and the ditch bag,folks looked at me as if to say " oh schight"…

I must be honest,I put my boat and friends in a bad spot Wed. They told me that I was smart enough to gather the gear up just in case but in reality, I made the dumbest decision I’ve ever made on the water.I put fish in front of safety!!!
When we pulled into the cut we went to gimme Jimmy’s washed the boat and while they made plans for another wahoo war next week,I made a promise to myself to follow my gut instinct from here on out.

I jokingly want to tell the rest of you who had a bunch of cutoffs,barracuda bites,and a trashy kings to stop your whining,it beats not even wetting a line.

I am prepared for the "safety first"responses and you all will be 100% right.

I learned a long time ago to always trust my gut. If it doesn’t feel right, don’t do it. You got everybody in safe. Sometimes you’ve got to take a good pounding once to know why you don’t want to do that again.:smiley:

Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper

First good to see you made it back safe and sound. It was better hearing that story from you then Bill Walsh on Live Five news. Glad you were man enough to post your bad decision. Hopfully others will learn from your experance. Never second guess your gut or mother nautre.

Thought I was the new “Stress Relief” for a while there…Not quite sure how big the seas were but they were quatering,big and breaking…Every dang one of them…

Your call, your prep, you handled it.
Always nice to be able to pull thru than never take the shot.
Did a similar loop-de-loop after putting 2 nice broadbills in the box. 0130 and we decided we couldn’t put any more on ice so may as well head home. Radar showed us the way not to go. 20 minutes later the screen got covered up in red / yellow and there was no way to go.
Planned on taking which ever way looked the narrowest even though it was further away from the rocks. Wind, rain, waves, all in the dark. I now keep a diving mask on board to be able to see in the heavy rain! I know from riding a bike that big rain hurts over 50 mph. Running 25 that night, the rain really hurt!
Type I jackets with a light and whistle are a small comfort in the crap but they’ll help keep the crew thinking good thoughts hopefully.

that was a nasty storm. we got past it before it really started to form, and it turned into a beast so quickly. Lightening touching down every few seconds. We were on the edge of it and the winds still whipped up to 20kts and the temp dropped. It was bad.

Really glad you guys are OK.

Cape,
Glad you’re back safely. That is a bad feeling, been there before. I wouldn’t bank on next week happening. You’re probably gonna want to stay on land when you look at the predictions. It’s gonna be awhile.

Capt. R. Killin
“Day Tripper”
Shamrock 20 cuddy
Ford 351W

On second thought, it doesnt look that bad. I looked early this week and the predictions weren’t pretty. Glad you made it back in safe.

Capt. R. Killin
“Day Tripper”
Shamrock 20 cuddy
Ford 351W

The predictions will start to change by Monday/Tuesday, it will be sporty by Wednesday. Glad you all made it back in safe. Been in some rough stuff myself and it ain’t never fun. Good tip about the dive mask, never thought about that.

218WA Sailfish
200 Verado
The "Penn"sion Plan

One night my wife and I ran from 10 miles south of the Charleston light down to Port Royal and in to Beaufort. Wore a dive mask and snorkel almost all the way. Couldn’t see or breathe without it. Very good thing to have.

Capt. Larry Teuton
Swamp Worshiper

That’s a pro tip…

Swim goggles work in a pinch also.

Pioneer 222 Sportfish
Yamaha 250

happy to hear Cape didn’t hail a passing cruise ship.

quote:
Originally posted by poly ball

happy to hear Cape didn’t hail a passing cruise ship.


Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind…

Took balls to post this. ( I do stoopid shirt all the time, but don’t post or speak of it)

Glad it turned out ok.

Let the armchair, smartassery begin

“I am not involved in this thread, only helping Fred understand who he is dealing with.”

He did good in my book,some have been known to bail out while she’s still floating and motor running.

Dont panic,maintain course and speed…Keep your bow in the sea/weather,most important thing a captain can do. And hope he doesn’t get popped by lightning.

I don’t wish that on anyone,but you spend enough time offshore,it will happen.

It is perfectly fine to make mistakes just don’t make the same ones over and over

quote:
Originally posted by poly ball

He did good in my book,some have been known to bail out while she’s still floating and motor running.

Dont panic,maintain course and speed…Keep your bow in the sea/weather,most important thing a captain can do. And hope he doesn’t get popped by lightning.

I don’t wish that on anyone,but you spend enough time offshore,it will happen.


Boat handling question: If you’re heading due W, and the wind/seas are coming from N or NE, how do you keep your bow into the sea/weather?

2014 Key West 203DFS
1987 Landau

Not sure if this is the answer you’re looking for, but I found myself in a similar situation as capehorn 16. Only difference was that we took on so much water that the I/O engine grounded out and lost power. I threw the anchor off of the bow, and let all of the rope out, then tied off to bow cleat. It kept the bow headed into the rough sea, and I rode the storm out. Probably the only thing that saved the boat.

…Politicians aren’t the “Oldest Profession”, but the results are still the same.

When they come for my guns and ammo. I plan on giving them the ammo. first!

quote:
If you're heading due W, and the wind/seas are coming from N or NE, how do you keep your bow into the sea/weather?

If it becomes too dangerous to head in the direction you want to go, change headings to a safe direction and wait it out, or head for another port instead. Get-home-itis has killed more seaman and pilots than anything else. Keep the boat and crew safe, go home later. Better late than never. I’ve left on charters out of Savannah and ended up running back to Brunswick, Jacksonville, Beaufort and Charleston. Which ever way I could safely go and keep the boat floating.

I posted this earlier…

quote:
One night my wife and I ran from 10 miles south of the Charleston light down to Port Royal and in to Beaufort. Wore a dive mask and snorkel almost all the way. Couldn't see or breathe without it. Very good thing to have.

On this trip we were in my 18’ open skiff, running offshore from Savannah to Charleston. A tropical storm formed off the coast when we were about half way. We kept running north and it kept getting worse and worse. 10 miles south of Charleston we were no longer able to make forward progress against the sea and were taking a pounding that would have sunk a lesser boat. This one can’t sink and sheds water like a duck. Dive mask time. A large sailing yacht called in a mayday and I plugged in his position on my GPS. He was only 6 miles north of me and I couldn’t get to him on a bet, then a 60’ shrimp trawler called in a Mayday, I plugged in his position, it was close too, but I couldn’t help him either. Sorry. CG responded to both. God bless them. My only choice was to turn around, I wasn’t going to