Friday morning my brother-in-law and I set out shrimping. It was 5:45 when we backed down the ramp, and completely dark. We put in close to home, and in low-tide, knowing we had to get down the river and pickup a friend of mine.
Right away we hit turmoil. The engine wouldn't raise or lower in the water (later found out my in-line fuse spring wasn't pushing hard enough for connectivity). I was able to manually raise and lower it with my trusty screw-driver connecting hot to up or down and finally my hand. (I am WAY too good at this technique) So I thought we were good.
Navigational lights were good.
Stereo sounded awesome.
Coffee was still hot.
We traversed the river's curves until the turn-in to Shady Point, a tidal creek, where there is a pier on which my friend was supposed to have been. I used my trusty screw-driver to raise the motor, and we headed down the creek... at low tide... in the dark.
So we got stuck. The boat nicely rested itself on a ground of sand. I told Michael to disembark and walk ten feet to his side, and I'd walk ten feet to mine. The idea being finding 'the groove.' After ten minutes of pushing, and maybe traversing 30 yards, I saw the headlights of my friend (probably thinking I was a no-show) drive away. I gave up and told Michael we'd just wait for the tide to roll in more.
It was a beautiful morning I thought to myself, just before I heard the sound of running water from inside the boat. Water... inside... hmm... So I lifted the engine cover and saw what I percieved to be (in the twilight) a huge mud-clump and a lot of water. Were we sinking? When I went to grab the clump, I found it to be a green tee-shirt which I had used during the boat's oil change a day before. Fuewwh. But the water was still there, so I pumped it out with the bilge.
As soon as the colors started to show in the sea grasses on either side of the creek, I was able to see the groove we'd been looking for. It was chest+ deep. So we left, and caught three shrimp before my bilge started spewing again. I spooked and high-tailed it towards home.
That's not the end - yet.
At thirty mph, we're cruising back up the river. The green signs on left, and reds on right. I turn around a green one, curving sharply left with the river, and I can see the red on the right. Then...
BOOM
Sandbar. I was able to throw it into neutral as I fell up into the front of the boat. Michael happened to have his hands on top of the windshield so he was basically steady. Looking back, I saw that the red sign was green only the other side was missing. I was seeing the rusted (red) side of the green sign's back. After dispensing my frustration in curse-words, Michael summed it up appropriately by saying "We couldn't have stopped that fast by stomping on the brakes in a car."
I raised the motor (I had found and fixed the fuse by then) and we got out again and pushed ourselves free. My only thought was 'if it wasn't broke, it is now.'
So we got to the dock, ramped the boat, and let all the water out. Then I backed back into the water (to see if there was a leak in the transom) and none came back. I still don't know the source. There WAS a storm the night before....
I have never been so glad to get home with the boat in one piece.
I've decided to name the three shrimp 'Larry, Curly, and Moe'.
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