Bob and Billy were good to their word that they would be quiet and wouldn’t wake me when they got up at 3 a.m. to get ready to go tuna fishing. I never heard a thing until the alarm went off so that I could get up to go to the marina.
Bob, Billy, my uncle, Kenny, his sons/my cousins, KC and Sean and a friend of his whose name I don’t know were the six who went on this charter trip. They went out with Captain Steve on the Pandemonium.
While they were out fishing I was at the marina slaving away. Yeah, right.
Actually, it was a steady morning but nothing that involved me. The boats were coming to be launched came one at a time and didn’t need help.
I met the nicest fella today. He launched his boat and was waiting on his wife and some kids to arrive. While he was waiting we struck up an easy conversation. Our conversation jumped from subject to subject and I thoroughly my time with him. Oh by the way, his name is Spencer.
He couldn’t imagine what was keeping his wife and when he called her she said she was only five minutes away.
I had to check the other lot to make sure cars weren’t parking in the truck/trailer area so I bid him a safe day on the water as I was sure he would be gone by the time I got back.
As I was returning to the ramp I saw a woman with two kids in the car stopped at the entrance to the marina. She looked both ways and seemed lost and perplexed as to which way to turn. I had a hunch and I called out to her as I passed in my golf cart, “Are you looking for Spencer?” The look on her face was priceless! She just nodded like she was still stunned that someone would whiz by on a golf cart and ask her if she was looking for her husband, by name no no less. I waved my hand to follow me and I took her right to him. This is when I met Jenelle. I don’t think the kids were theirs but nephews I think.
The day proved to be a long one as I’m used to leaving at noon. I did make sure to take an hours lunch to get away from the ramp.
This was my first experience in the afternoon and its quite different than what I experience in the morning. When I start the day, everyone is happy to be going out on the water and their hopes of catching a big one are high and they are well rested and its not 100 degrees with 95 % humidity. And the beer drinking hasn’t started yet. Happy people.
The afternoon? Whoa, not the same! Nobody wants to wait their turn for the ramp to come in, everybody is hot, some have had too much to drink, not many but some, and they didn’t catch any fish. I learned early on to take charge of the ramp so that some boaters didn’t butt in front of the ones who are doing things right. I did have a few who tried to glide ride into the ramp but I stood my ground and told them to stop and to go to the courtesy dock. They didn’t like it, but they did it.
By four thirty my lot was pretty empty, I went over to the charter area to watch for the Pandemonium to come in. I tried calling Bob but they were still too far out and out of cell phone range. I tried every ten minutes or and finally got hold of him. It wasn’t good news. He told me there was no sense in hanging around to take pictures because there were no flags flying to show what fish were brought on board. One tuna was caught and KC brought that one in. He had the longest or shortest straw. I only know that they draw straws for “fish on” position and they would have had to bring in four fish before Bob would have gotten a chance at the rod and reel. It was a huge disappointment for the guys but the tuna just weren’t there. Of course KC shared the tuna so Bob will have it for dinner one night.
Poor Billy was queasy all day in spite of the Dramamine taken last night and again this morning.
We watched the Olympics and I think all of us fell asleep pretty early.
