If you are known as a "man of the cloth", what are you without the cloth? When I moved to St. Marys I was a Presbyterian minister. My neighbor, Adrian, was a passionate fisherman and just a great all around guy. He invited me to go on a fishing outing with him. We launched his Pro Line boat downtown and headed out to sea. He had fished these waters all of his life and I knew we would be catching plenty of fish. But first things first. We had to catch our bait fish in order to haul in the big fish. Adrian had made his own live well which was attached to the ladder platform on the back of his boat. This was a unique small barrel with a hole in the bottom and hoses connected that could circulate water to keep the bait fish alive. He was proud of this contraption as well he should be.
We circled just off Cumberland Island throwing a cast net and hauling in the bait fish. When he was satisfied with the numbers we headed off shore to one of his favorite sites. It was a beautiful sunny day, warm but not too hot. It was just the two of us on the boat, the skipper and me. I pulled my shirt off to soak in the Rays as we headed to the deep waters. We skipped across the gentle rolling waves and found the rhythm of the sea. We were in harmony with the world. All was perfect until I looked back. I grabbed Adrian by the arm and hollered above the engine noise. His face showed the fright of the tragedy in progress. He quickly throttled back then went to neutral. I raced to the back of the boat to save what I could. It was awful, it could have been a total loss had it not been for our quick actions. Could it get any worse than this? And the answer was yes.
The hose on the bottom of his made up live well had come loose and the water had drained out of the tank. All of our bait fish were flopping around with no water. I immediately ran to the back of the boat, crawled up on the real gunnel and was leaning out the back of the boat. My arm was in the water and with the hose in hand I reattached the hose. Life saving water began flowing into the tank as the fish began swimming around. I was proud but only for a moment. A large wave hit the front of the boat lifting it skyward. The back of the boat dropped and flipped me out of the boat but as I was being catapulted from the boat, my bathing suit caught on the rear cleat. My bathing suit was ripped into as it was snatched off of me. Wow! There I was in the ocean "butt naked" and with a neighbor I barely knew, no pun intended. I was trying to swim to the rear of the boat. Adrian was laughing uncontrollably and of little help in this dire moment of my life. The water was crystal clear and I thought of sharks and barracudas. I wanted out of that water and did not want to be the bait for something bigger than me. The water was crystal clear for Adrian too, but he wasn't thinking of sharks or barracudas.
Adrian was finally able to get his laughter under control so that he could help get me in the boat. I ended up climbing up the motor because of his barrel on the ladder platform. The only thing worse than being in the water naked was standing in his boat naked. My bathing suit was gone. I had a shirt and a towel. He found a pair of worn out shorts that he used for a rag I think but I was mighty proud to wear them. When we got back home he told everyone it was no big thing, just another day on the water. We all laughed and ate our fried fish that supper. What was I without the cloth? Just a man who gets a good laugh when I think of fishing with Adrian, my buddy!
We circled just off Cumberland Island throwing a cast net and hauling in the bait fish. When he was satisfied with the numbers we headed off shore to one of his favorite sites. It was a beautiful sunny day, warm but not too hot. It was just the two of us on the boat, the skipper and me. I pulled my shirt off to soak in the Rays as we headed to the deep waters. We skipped across the gentle rolling waves and found the rhythm of the sea. We were in harmony with the world. All was perfect until I looked back. I grabbed Adrian by the arm and hollered above the engine noise. His face showed the fright of the tragedy in progress. He quickly throttled back then went to neutral. I raced to the back of the boat to save what I could. It was awful, it could have been a total loss had it not been for our quick actions. Could it get any worse than this? And the answer was yes.
The hose on the bottom of his made up live well had come loose and the water had drained out of the tank. All of our bait fish were flopping around with no water. I immediately ran to the back of the boat, crawled up on the real gunnel and was leaning out the back of the boat. My arm was in the water and with the hose in hand I reattached the hose. Life saving water began flowing into the tank as the fish began swimming around. I was proud but only for a moment. A large wave hit the front of the boat lifting it skyward. The back of the boat dropped and flipped me out of the boat but as I was being catapulted from the boat, my bathing suit caught on the rear cleat. My bathing suit was ripped into as it was snatched off of me. Wow! There I was in the ocean "butt naked" and with a neighbor I barely knew, no pun intended. I was trying to swim to the rear of the boat. Adrian was laughing uncontrollably and of little help in this dire moment of my life. The water was crystal clear and I thought of sharks and barracudas. I wanted out of that water and did not want to be the bait for something bigger than me. The water was crystal clear for Adrian too, but he wasn't thinking of sharks or barracudas.
Adrian was finally able to get his laughter under control so that he could help get me in the boat. I ended up climbing up the motor because of his barrel on the ladder platform. The only thing worse than being in the water naked was standing in his boat naked. My bathing suit was gone. I had a shirt and a towel. He found a pair of worn out shorts that he used for a rag I think but I was mighty proud to wear them. When we got back home he told everyone it was no big thing, just another day on the water. We all laughed and ate our fried fish that supper. What was I without the cloth? Just a man who gets a good laugh when I think of fishing with Adrian, my buddy!
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