A wise old adage indeed, but in my case altho the old age component keeps on raging ahead out of control the wisdom bit seems to be taking a long time to kick in ... for instance :-
Many years ago I concluded via ill fated experiences it was NOT a good idea to combine more than one or two activities on any trip out in a boat ... things like bottom fishing, picnics, shellfish gathering, netting or set line etc. as attempting to do so is tempting fate for things to go wrong.
By & large have managed to adhere to this belief but on Wednesday here we were setting off on a trip with the intention of firstly setting a flounder net, gathering oysters, going ashore then bottom fishing before going to retrieve the net & worse still was dragging a fellow forum member along with me.
Must confess did have a premonitions of likely mishaps but managed to put them aside by convincing myself that my acquired old age wisdom would overcome any likely problems.
The decision to set a flounder net was prompted by a recent trip when we did so, only to wind the net up around the prop ... requiring Jimmy to climb out on the raised motor to release the tangle by cutting the nylon mesh to shreds. Segments of ropes, bouys etc, did not pose any threat to other boats or to any form of wildlife so we opted to leave things as they were & would clear away the remnants on our return. When we did pull up the shreds later were amazed to have caught 11 nice fat yellow bellied flounder albeit at the cost of a net which was binned so I went & brought a new one ... surely success would be guaranteed if we could keep it away from the prop.
So here we were about to try again but for some reason decided to check the mesh size only to find it did not seem to be legal 114 min so first quandary encountered. This is where Jimmy being a whizz kid on the phone managed to establish we were measuring it wrongly, so was all systems go again... there now just knew my new found wisdom would conquer all.
After setting the net without incident apart from one set of marker floats that presumably had not been firmly tied floated off on their own but they were easily retrieved.
SW winds were about 15 knts above forecast & something strange was happening possibly due to the winds racing across the Kaipara flats were influencing the tide flow & depths as much was back to front to what was expected ... consequently the oyster foray was abandoned when tide was unsuitable.
So we went fishing instead with gratifying success but as conditions looked as tho they could turn unfriendly opted to call it a day & that was when things really started going wrong.
I was on anchor duty & having reached the chain was using the rapid rise & fall of the bow to help but was much faster than thought resulting in me hand being caught in the chain & being dragged thru the roller & bow rails.
Pic please Alan ..........
More to come yet which goes to show that when a wise old git fouls up we really make a good job of it !
To be cont
When you cry, feel pain or sadness, no one notices your sorrow .... BUT
fart just ONE time !!!!!!!!!!!