Now and then we hear from our friend Charles, who has a 15′ Lobster Boat that adventures with him in the land down under. Here is his latest missive, as well as some photos of the “Bonny Jean”:
“On September 2nd I was supposed to be taking “Bonny Jean”, my Lobster Boat, into the big ocean for a sail, but this was little late in our sailing season and conditions were starting to get unsettled. The forecast was for light breezes in the morning and moderate in the afternoon, however, it was getting windy already at the boat ramp at 5am.
Anyway I launched the boat and headed right down the river, under the motor vehicle overpass still under construction, and towards the breakwater and the open sea. The lobster boat with a small outboard usually works fine in this area where most of our boat ramps are up river.
As I headed across the submerged sandbars towards the ocean at low tide the wind really stirred up the water. I was only using a 3.3hp outboard and the waves were pounding the hull. I had to call off the sailing as it was too gusty, but that was OK – I just went back to a quiet stretch of sand to look at some pelicans (birds), have food and drink, and take a couple of photos.
I was heading off home again, when I decided to switch from trolling motor to outboard, this is when the drama started. The outboard wouldn’t start right away and while I was messing with it, the strong southerly blew me into a submerged mud bank where I was stuck. The trouble with mud banks is that there is no depth perception. From six inches to a couple of feet, the water all looks the same so the way out is never clear. I tried to pole off using the oars till exhaustion set in but couldn’t get the boat facing into the wind long enough to start the outboard. Eventually a very kind person on the beach waded out 100 metres and held the boat so I could get started again in the right direction. My shoes are still out there where the mud sucked them off my feet when I was trying to push the boat.
Once back at the boat ramp my 62-year-old body was very pleased that I had bought an electric winch with a long waterproof lead so I could hold the boat and winch it up at the same time, without having trouble with the wind again.”
Thanks Charles, for the photos and the stories! We always love to hear from our customers about the adventures they are having with their boats!