Best bad luck possible

[capt hoop]

I fish with Add several times a year. With us was his daughter, nephew, and brother in law. This was to be a 2 day adventure on his boat. Bait was hard to find so we just continued on. I had plenty of dead bait and there was a weed line about 12 miles out in the direction we were going. Everything was beautiful this morning. We passed a nice shrimp boat and I had to take a picture. It was named after my daughter Tammy.



A little over 10 miles out we find a good weed line. As we slow down to check out or even troll the line a motor dies. Could not find the problem. Signs pointing to a fuel problem. Single tank is no help and HPDI is NOT the engine that can suck up a little bit of bad fuel. We are so close to our first destination we were discussing the thought of just making the rig in front of us then heading in. I look up in the sky and turn my fingers in a gesture to turn around. Part way in with one motor I play with the other motor and get it going. Something is still very wrong because the fuel burn is no where like it should be. We decide to stop in state waters and nail a few snapper on the way in. We will keep both engines running though.

Before we could get to our destination rig both our motors cut out. We now have 2 engines down and drifting outside SW pass. Can not get either one going now. The river current is pushing us out and he does not have enough anchor rode to do us any good. At this time I am glad we did not go the extra mile to the first rig. Storms are popping up all around but we were being spared. Although I did not see him I knew the Cougar was fishing somewhere in the area. I call him and he unties from the rig he is on and comes out to get us. He pulls us into a nearby rig. He ties up and catches a limit of red snapper. We remain tied up behind him while this is going on. There were a few nice snapper way out behind our tandem setup.



I called the Coast Guard and had them call Sea Tow. Good thing Add has Sea Tow insurance. I also had them let Rob Buck know I was on the boat Did not know if that would help or not but I have worked with him before on some jobs. Once Captain John had his limit of red snapper on the Cougar he passed his tie up line to us and went to look for some redfish. Now all we could do was wait for Sea Tow to arrive.



We ended up getting our limit on a double rig. We needed 2 more and did it in fashion.



I contacted the Coast Guard again and had them get an ETA on Sea Tow. They contacted us back and said 50 minutes. That estimated time was spot on. Now that we had nothing else to do but wait we had lunch. I then proceeded to salt water scrub the boat. I can not just sit around and wait. I have to do something. All The others were relaxing except for Add. He was a nervous wreak worrying about what lay ahead of him with his boating issue.

Once Sea Tow arrived Rob unhooked us from the rig and then I took his line for the tow in. I was able to get the port engine started again. The stbd. engine was toast. This enabled us to get on plain. The engine did not last long but just enough so that those twin Tohatsu 250 power horses could take over and haul us all the way in at 24 kts. The total ride in was about 28 miles or so.



I attempted to get the almost good motor going to get the boat on the trailer but it was not happening. Add's daughter was not feeling well all weekend so she went right back to the condo they were staying in as soon as we landed. At the end of the day things looked normal with a fish hanging and cleaning party.



Although our day did not go as planned everything went smooth. I would like to recognize all that assisted us throughout the day. Our first good fortuned came when we turned around thanks to building storms. The Coast Guard did their job efficiently. Rob was on another tow up the road but wasted no time getting to us. Thanks again Rob Buck and Sea Tow. Captain John of Delta Blue Sport Fishing for having his people stop fishing and come to get us tied up. Lastly Tohatsu for making those powerful motors that hauled us in so quickly.

Over all we made the best of what could have been a very much worse day in many aspects.

Life is Good!
Fishing is not a matter of life or death. It's more important than that.

CAPT HOOP -- OUR FREEDOM