Captain Bob And Bull Dolphin
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I powered up and moved along side as the diver swam to the now upright small boat. To my disbelief not over ten gallons of sea water remained inside the smaII boat. A small fish, about eight inches long, that looked like a triple tail or buoy fish swam frantically in the trapped water. The Coast Guard crewman captured it and gently released it back into the ocean.
In a matter of minutes, after checking the interior of the now upright craft the crewman boarded the cutter and they were under way back to Port Canaveral with the disabled fishing boat in tow. Did Frank and I locate the wreck and fiII the fishbox? I can't recall any more details about that event filled day. We returned to Port Canaveral that evening, how many other fish we caught beside the few dolphin we had, has eluded me! Several days earlier in the week the Coast Guard had responded to an emergency call off DeerfieId Beach, Florida. The call was from the skipper of a small outboard powered fishing boat. It was adrift in heavy seas, without engine power and was taking on water. The Coast Guard vessel located the fishing boat just as nighttime descended. After safely removing the passengers and salvageable equipment from the small boat, they started toward Jupiter inlet towing the smaller boat in very choppy, heavy seas. Sometime after dark the towing line broke or became separated from the fishing craft. |
Yes, the defenders of our shoreline and rescuers of seafaring men, lost a small fishing boat in the turbulent Atlantic Ocean. The skipper of the Coast Guard vessel made a frantic effort to find the fishing boat, but to no avaiI. An embarrassed red faced Coast Guard skipper returned to his home port with a broken tow rope, but without his quarry. All this was learned when I called the Canaveral Coast Guard Station several days after our adventure. The Executive Officer confirmed that it was the same small boat that we had assisted, in recovering. This however does not complete the story. Some months ago, my brother in law Frank, met a man that was on board the Coast Guard Vessel that met us in the Atlantic Ocean that dramatic day and successfully returned to Port Canaveral with the disabled fishing boat. Authors Note: The title of Captain is not an honary one. Bob completed classes in seamanship; navigation; Rules Of The Road; and was tested by the U. S. Coast Guard. He passed the U.S. Coast Guard examination in April, 1984, and was issued License Number 207107 allowing him to operate passenger carrying vessels in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. The ME TOO was named to honor Bob's wife, Maudie Elizabeth, who died in 1978. |
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