Had to share my weekend experience

[redmands3]

I was on a charter this weekend fishing for big Tuna (got snuffed on Tuna).

 

On our way back in we came across a gentleman in a 17' Montauk with an engine problem. He was about 20miles out of the harbor and the sun was very low. He was dangling over the rear of the boat looking at the motor fuse panel. His feet were on the transom lip, he was wearing hip waders and a rain coat. No life jacket. The seas were building over the past few hours to the point were we lost sight of him between waves when we headed towards him.

On our approach he didn't react much.

He said he was fishing ~35miles out and on his way back to the harbor when his engine just stopped working. He was waiting for a boat he had hailed on the commercial channel to bring him a fuse; he said they would be there in another hour or so but couldn't remember the name of the boat. When we asked him how he planned to stay-put he said he had about 150ft of anchor rope and if that didn't work he was prepared to spend the night. We were in 150+ feet of water that quickly dropped to well over 200 at the end of the shelf. Our captain pleaded with him to let us pull him back to shore and after a few minutes he agreed. After securing his stack of rods and gear he hoped on our boat and was not only un-thankful but completely unfazed by his situation for the entire ride in. He peppered the captain with questions about gear and fishing locations for the majority of the trip. When we dropped him off his focus was finding a local shop to get a new fuse and was aggravated that he had hooked a lobster pot buoy around his engine. Completely thankless for our efforts.

 

I still can't believe the ignorance some people have at their safety and that of others around them. He could have easily been hit by multiple boats at night. Its common for freighters to use that area for night passing. Not to mention that large amount of trawlers and tuna boats that fish the surrounding areas until dusk and then high tail it back to the harbor just after dark. His lack of respect on so many levels was shocking to everyone on the boat, no respect for the sea and its power and for the thoughtfulness and kindness of strangers.

[2-N-TOW]

Some people just don't get it and others are just totally clueless. Sounds like this guy figures he is invincible and trying to reason with people like that is kinda like herding cats...it just does not work! If he was such a good boat operator, how did he manage to snag the lobster pot assuming the end of the line was attached to a float. Besides that, if he was half a mariner, he would have had a spare fuse or figured out a way to jump the burned out fuse.

 

At least you guys did what you could to prevent a tragedy in the making. Thanks for helping out.

[TommyHo]

If your car breaks down, you can walk home. If your boat breaks down on the east coast, the Gulf stream eventually carries you up to Iceland.

 

Unbelievable that this guy was so dense that he did not realize his situation. That, coupled with the lack of respect he showed to the people

who went out of their way to save him, says a lot about his character.

[rotorwrench]

As Forest says, stupid is as stupid does...

[Airbill]

Darwinism

[dogdad]

As my Grandfather all-too-often said: "Guess he wasn't bred for intelligence".

[mrrobalo]

In the 30+ years of PoPs having the island house I can't tell you how many people I have rendered help. Some were thankful and others just unappreciated . Up until the last few years the closest boat ramp to the island was 7 miles south 13 to the north so if they had a problem it was a long paddle home. The biggest thing in the last few years is people camping out on the spoil islands ( lot of kids drinking and other things) which is fine and they used boats to get there gear there but now they try to do it in canoe and even kayaks. As a lot of you know we can have a thunderstorm pop up all summer long and the winds to. They load the lil boats with 2 times there weight capacity as well as people . Then when the weather turns they load it up and take off for the mainland 1/2 mile away . I can't tell you how many people I have rescued and the gear ends up overboard . A mother asked me if she could rent me to go get her kids on the island and I said no problem I'm a parent too and should hope someone would do it for me so off I went made 2 trips one with 5 of the six teenagers and the second trip for the last one and gear. She wanted to pay me and I told her and the teens no just help someone out when they need it. We left to go shopping and when we got back it was still ruff but our Lil Twin Vee just eats up the chop. The next day I went fishing and putting a fish in the cooler there was a Baggie and the 5 gal fish bucket of beer . A note in the Baggie thanked me for getting her kids back safely and the beer is what she confiscated ( they were all in high school Lol ) along with a $20 bill.

2 weeks later there was someone that drowned trying to get back from a spoil island north of us when he rolled the canoe and wasn't wearing his life jacket like his buddy did. Tragedy yes but I see it all the time. I will continue trying to earn good KARMA as I know there will be a day I need to cash in some of it myself. I'm just saying.