Getting Deep C BAck on US Soil!

[Deep C]

For those that followed Chubathon you know we had a part go bad as we backed in the slip on our last day... You could feel my stomach turn as oil ran from the exhaust pipe... Chub is a place that if you don't have it... you can't get it. So I had to come home to get parts and then return to get my baby back home on this side of the waters surface ... Often my reports are just summaries but this time I penned a blow by blow diary of sorts... To share with you the other side of running a month straight then have something go wrong...

The rental car was dropped off with ease. Getting to the other side of the airport to the puddle jumpers is not so easy. $15 for a cab that never left the airport property is not a great way to start this ordeal.
I'm the lone passenegr along with the pilot for the next hour as we cross the stream and the emerald waters of the bank. I see the pocket in front of me and get a birds eye view of the drops and edges of all my favorite hot spots. As we touch down I go into "get er done mode". As the bus drops me off I have a lump in my throat. Its been three days since I left my wounded girl leaking and all. I see her and the waterline tells me she's good.
I spend some time gathering tools and parts and doing a general tidying up before the messing begins... My bonefish guide brothers walk up to greet me. I explain my situation. Normally the go to guy here for mechanical stuff is Basil. This job would require strength and youth though that neither he or I have. They put their heads together and come up with a man for the job. I share some goodies from my freezer with them and they go make contact...
In the islands five minutes can be more than an hour, which it was before the smiling youg fellow Carbell introduces himself to me. I like the cut of the kid right from the start as he crawls right in and assesses the situation... He even starts turning wrenches til the evening gets too dim to continue...
Evening grows dark. I head to the restaurant not for food but just for some company. This place is deserted at night and I know it would be a long one.. I nurse a $3 coke and engage in some idle chatter before the place closes. Back on the Deep I make pbj samwices. In the distance I can hear a hearty sermon from the island church. Soon that too grows quiet. A peacocks "meow" breaks the silence but nothing else stirs...
All is on track but sleep just isn't there. I bust out my shortwave radio and start sifting through the bands. FM is filled with cuban chatter and rap songs. AM has bleed overs at every number on the band so busy you couldn't listen to it. On one of the SW bands I got an englis speaking station. Talking about a workmans comp case. I listened on then realized it was comming from Beijing China! That station fades with the turning of the earth and I try again for sleep. A lone mosquito, another peacock, some one arguing on a boat across the marina. A couple natives talking loud in the distance all took turns stopping any sleep.
Exhaustion allows me to nod off if briefly before the first signs of day wake me again. I make a cold instant coffee and talk with my bonefish guide brothers before they take their parties... Again island time has a hold. 8:am can mean noon and it was past that when Carbell showed up. He had been side tracked with his boss's car breaking down. Engtine hatches are open and I'm a prisoner in my V berth as I will be the "nurse" for this tedious operation. Its good to be out of the Berry Islands sun but in here its just plain hot... The 20 knot NE wind does not help as the slip is behind a raised sea wall.
Carbell contorts himself like a snake and is working away. Little snags at each turn have my nerves at an end. I curse the engine and boat designers for their thoughtless disregard for people that will have to fix their stuff down the road.
I eat a home made chocolate chip cookie my wife had packed for my return. For just a moment I'm home... Mini's hand is out for mall money, Mrs Deep is cooking up some gourmet feast, Meow the wonder cat is on my lap as I post on SFC. Too soon the cookie is done and I'm back to my little piece of hell. Spirits rise and fall with each turn of the wrench. Each snag could be the end. Then at the 2hour mark I hear got it and hear a clunk. The old cooler has been slain...
In inspect the now dead piece of shit. I see in its the impeller from the old busted water pump. Wonder how water passed throughh it at all...

The new cooler goes in but is more difficult than getting the other out. Carbell is exhausted I'm now upside down too... being his eyes. I play cheer leader. We're too close to give up but the bodies are slow to respond anymore.. The sun has changed and the shadows grow long again. Defeat is looming then a final burst of energy finds us and all goes in place. We have conquored!
I light her off. Carbell smiles as its the first he has heard the engine. Me I'm tense as a drum. The engine was running smooth even with the busted cooler the next few minutes though would tell us if the fix worked. Now Carbell looks worried as he sees the flow of oil shooting out of the back..."Thats the stuff in the system good buddy... Lets see for a few minutes." I count the drops flowing out the pipe between inspection of all the other lines we had worked on. The count reduces and finally the exhaust is clean. We are victorious. He asks for a pittance in pay. Deep Cheap takes a back seat and I give him four times what he asked for. Still a bargain at any price...
As I sip a celebration O'douls, Gina Lisa slides in to say hello and see if I need any further help. I tell him all is good... He'll be back in Palm Beach Before I make Bimini... I eat a cheeseburger and finally get a few hours of sleep.

My view from the Hell Hole...


Carbell gets her done for six hours!

[Deep C]

Those few hours of slep had me recharged but good. I slid to the fuel dock, took on 88 gallons to the top and checked out... In the inspection prior to start up I found that we had cracked a hose on the intake side while doing the fix. As the bilge pump kicked I evaluated the flow and felt good enough to make the run to Bimini.

The Pocket beckons me to come home...



Chub disappereed in my wake. Two mambas slithered behind me as I monitored the patches for any problems. A lone cuda hit the purple one and was released. Near Yellowbar a billfish punched the blue one. The bugger did not stay stuck. Well enough any way... It was time to throttle up.
I did and alarms sounded! The engine was a tad warm but well within range. I checked everything but nothing was wrong... I tried at a lower rpm then a lower one before settiling on a cruise just enogh to have me planing... 18.5 knots and 75 miles to CAt Cay. My eyes never once left the guages. Oil pressure on that engine has always read a bit low when at running speed so I set an imaginary line where I wanted that needle to stay. It would drift below then come back and visit the good side for a while. Some boats on the "highway" passed me Wthen I passed some others.
About 6 miles out of Cat the alarms started screaming again but thorough checks showed nothing wrong. We must have stepped on a sensor during the fix. As I pulled the sticks back to trolling speed at Gun Cay cut. The alarms yet again screamed. Again not a thing wrong. Part of me wanted to cut the wires but I just let it scream til it figured out that nothing was wrong for itself.
The drag sang out as the purple mamba was slammed. A small wahoo came to the transom. With no ice and no way to really keep it til stateside I let the critter go. A while later a big Cero also got released... Two more cudas had joined the release club before I slid into the slip at Sea Crest...
Tomorrow is election day. The town is alive. These people appreciate their right to vote. Something we all too often take for granted...Superbowl, world series, cinco de mayo, mardi gras all rolled into one... Its gonna be a long night. Capt Pat cleats off my dock lines and I shut er down. Then one step ahead of that leak I close the seacock to that leaking hose...
Sea Crest my Bimini home is good to me and is the halfway point between Chub and Home...

I walk through the town and take some pics which I'll post in a while. I eat some fresh baked bread on a ham and cheese samwich made for me at CeJays... Pat Mike and I discuss the problems Bimini faces with the reduced catch limits and then watch the afternoon bullsharks gather for the fish cleaning about to take place. I wish I had kept the fish I had let go if nothing else to give to Pat and the carcasses to jaws...

I had a conchburger at the Big Game club before comming back to the Sea Crest and visiting with the owner of Garlington yachts... I poked around for a job but no bites... Eventually it was back to bed. The night was noisy. the wind slammed the bnoat against the pilings and the pre election parties carried well into the wee hours...

[Deep C]

The wind had switched but still roared. At keast it was south. I untied and took on fifty gallons that I probably wouldn't need but wanted for safety.

The alarm srceamed on and off for the first wtenty minutes of the day. Again no reason. I guess I was about 8-10 miles nw of Bimini when the blue mamba got ambushed... Big fish... By the time I got throtteled down and to idle I was a half spool down and hemorhagging fast... Most of the 50w was dumped before the run stopped. I never saw the ish but worked the hell out of it adrift in a leaky boat for the next hour before the hook pulled still half a spool down. I'm gonna guess a slob yellowfin...

I still hadn't caught any stream so I decided to run west toward lauderdale til I found it. I could see buildings before I finally got in it. I looked at the GPS and I was already in my favorite swordfishing piece of water... I pulled the sticks back, put out a full trolling spread and enjoyed the 4-5 knots of stream pushing me back to Palm Beach... Never had a bite in all 43 miles but what a nice ride. A 3' slop gave way to a foot or so even chop and a gentle breeze kept me cool.

Uneventful from there in... I was thrilled to shut em down and tell the fork driver to put her back on the rack...

[hotshot1]

Great ending to a great few weeks . When is the Book coming out? You tell some
great stories.

[POON MAN]

Deep Glad to see you made it back in one piece

Over all it sounded like a good trip

except for the finale

[dman25]

Glad to see you made it back safely. Might not be the best fishing season but I doubt it's one you will ever forget. Too bad about the pulled hook on the big fish. Might have been a handful at the boat anyway.

[Deep C]

Hitchin a ride.... thats about 5kts on the ass!

[Proheat]

Glad you got DeepC and yourself home safe and sound.
A very good play by play writing!!!

[Deep C]

Its damn good to be back on a chunk of land bigger than a football stadium for sure. Holy crap! Theres a box in the other room that has sound comming out of it and faces that move on the screen. Even this keyboard is a thrill cause when I hit send it goes... No making a cup of coffee and eating a samwich waiting for a page to load...

[Ravens16]

You got home just in time for American Idol
Glad you had a safe float home!
Dawn said she was going to get a friend at NSA to change some orbits on a few satellites to keep an eye on you
I was always wondering how she knew where I really was
Save all this stuff for that book you're going to write
The Not So Really Old Man and the Sea
Take it easy Deep!