I went fishing in the Gulf of Mexico with a friend Saturday. He has an airboat and we fished out of it for reds and speckled trout. We used this type boat because according to my friend it was supposedly ideally suited to maneuver through the shallow flats and oyster beds even at low tide to get us to his secret spot and favorite “hole”.
My buddy is getting on up in years and so is his airboat, and both are beginning to show their ages. As I carefully examined the boat prior to our departure, quite frankly I had my doubts as to its sea worthiness. I voiced my doubts to my buddy and he of course was indignant that I would dare to question his boat and snorted contemptuously that his boat would be running long after I was pushing up daisies or something to that effect..
My mind was not eased one bit when he tried to start it; the battery barely turned the big engine over and it coughed and sputtered as it began to take hold. We did not make it far when suddenly it noticeably slowed down, veered to the left, and banged into the shore. I looked back and he was looking down at some of the ancient wires near his feet, preoccupied with the throttle cable which he muttered was bent and would not allow the boat to gain maximum RPMS.
He then told me that airboats cannot remain afloat unless they can maintain a minimum speed, but don’t worry.
Huh?
It was then that I noticed that water was seeping through the drain plugs in the bottom of the boat. When I inquired about it, he told me not to worry, that he had installed a bilge pump to remove it, but then added that he had been having a few problems with it and sometimes it took some “finagling” to get it going.
Huh?
We finally took off again and the morning was beautiful and it felt good to whisk along in the beautiful Gulf of Mexico. Mullet were occasionally jumping as we roared through the flats and the glassy surface of the water conjured up images of big reds streaming out line from our rods and reels. The smell of the salt water was like an aphrodisiac.
Finally we arrived at his “secret” spot. The immediate problem was that the tide was wrong; we were supposed to be fishing the incoming tide; however the tide was going out. It was just the opposite of what we wanted.
I asked ever so politely if he had ever heard of the Internet and taking a look at the tide chart “before” he went fishing in order to know when we should fish his “Favorite Hole”. He just muttered that it would be all right and we began fishing. We caught a couple of small trash fish, but didn’t catch any reds. Gnats found us and I spent more time swatting at them than I did fishing. He kept muttering that we should be fishing for speckled trout and come back for the reds when the tide turned.
Finally I looked at him and asked, “Well why don’t we do that?
He said, “Well the tide has gone out so much, I’m not sure I can get this boat off this mud with this throttle the way it is?”
“For crying out loud, we’ve been sitting here for an hour.” I retorted, “When are you going to make up your mind? It’s getting worse by the minute. Do you think sitting here for another hour is gonna make it any better?”
Finally he decided to move, but before he did he wanted to pump the water out with his dilapidated self-installed bilge pump that worked some of the time. Water was now up to our ankles and coming in fast, but after a little coaxing and beating on it the pump emptied the water from the boat. Then he tried to start the big engine, but apparently running the bilge pump had drained it and the starter just clicked.
I looked at him with a panicky, “I don’t want to stay out her amongst these gnats looks”, and he reassured me that he had another battery. After more fiddling, coaxing, and switching batteries the big propeller turned over and it cranked up. The engine seemed to strain as he showered down on it, rocking it back and forth under the thrust of the powerful engine and airplane propeller, but finally the mud released it and we streaked out of the inlet back out into the Gulf.
We got a good ways out and he cut the engine and we began catching a few fish. Water was still coming in and he was trying to pump it out when I heard him exclaim, “Well would you looky there? Now there is a jewel of a find. That looks like something I can use.”
I looked quizzically at him and he said, “This looks like a motor mount. I wonder what it’s doing down there.”
Huh?
You guessed it one of the motor mounts holding the huge engine had snapped in half and the big engine was sitting at a crazy angle. My buddy tried to lift the heavy engine back into place with a flimsy boat paddle. I looked at him like he was crazy, but happened to notice a short piece of 2×10 that he had put in the boat for the purpose of cutting fish up for bait. I suggested we use the more substantial board for leverage to jack up the engine to a level position. He promptly snorted at my idea, but after thinking about it, gave it a try.
It creaked under the strain of the heavy motor, but together we were able to lift it high enough to level the engine. But how to keep it there was a different question.
I suggested we tie it in place, but he only had a tiny section of rope that he used to tie the boat off when docking his boat. We used it anyway, and wound the rope tightly around the 2×10 and then tied it off to the airboat cage. We looked like Sanford and Son or perhaps the Beverly Hillbillies, but the rig held and the big engine cranked right up.
We sped back towards the dock but when we arrived there were at least ten boats milling around waiting to remove their boats from the boat landing. We were the only airboat; all of the rest were sleek flats fishing boats with fancy motors and they were idling around in circles. Not us, we came roaring in there blowing everything behind us, including every boat in our tailwind, 20 or more feet. With a wild look in his eye he said you’re going to have to prevent us from slamming into the dock; stand up at the bow and get ready?
Huh?
He circled slightly as I stood at the bow gripping the rail with white knuckles. I heard the big engine roar and we sped full speed towards the dock. Suddenly he cut all power and the now maneuver-less boat rushed towards the dock narrowly missing slamming into another boat. I extended both my arms, gritted my teeth into powder, and with all my strength tried to cushion the boat from slamming into the dock.
Somehow I was successful.
Grinning at my accomplishment, I proudly looked around and perhaps fifty eyes from everyone in the area were fixated upon us; it was dead silent as the other boaters looked at the spectacle. We must have looked quite the sight in our “ancient of days” airboat with our 2×10 board tied in place holding the 1000 pound engine in place, standing in water four inches deep with more leaking in by the minute, clinging to the dock with no rope to tie it off to the dock.
My buddy promptly jumped out of the boat to go fetch the truck and trailer and I stood in the boat holiding it to the rail sheepishly smiling at the onlookers as they slowly shook their heads muttering.
The important thing though is that we made it back home, safe and sound. Heck we even caught some fish.
The moral of this story is that we go through life full of worry and trepidation wondering if we will ever make it through all of the snares and toils of this old world, but things have a way of working themselves out. Jesus often told His followers (which transcends down as a lesson to us) that we should not worry. God is still in control even when things seem as though they are spinning rapidly out of control.
Personally I believe worry is a sin because it is insulting to God that we doubt Him. After all He loved us enough to die on a cross for us. He will never abandon us. Keep the faith my friends; If God looks after crazy folks like me and my buddy, how much more so will He look after you?
Hebrews 13:5
“For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never abandon you.”