01/22/2012. Sunday.
Delaney and I stayed at the Best Western motel in Wakulla last night. The place is nothing to write home about and kind of on the pricey side for Wakulla. $100 per night. Ouch. (Bill Brattain - I can't wait to get access to your house my friend). She and I did have a good breakfast.
The weather today is cold, cloudy and windy. It is not a good day for boating and Delaney is not feeling well. She, obviously, has a cold but she says she still wants to go on the boat. I assure her that we won't take it out for long.
We get to Rock Landing and they put the boat in the water. Becky, another friendly Rock Landing employee, gives me GPS coordinates for a spot near the channel called "Trout Hole". I'm not really sure how to enter GPS coordinates into my Lowrance, but I don't tell her that!
So Delaney and I head out the channel again. Believe it or not, I figure out how to enter GPS coordinates into the Lowrance. So, we head to Trout Hole. I fish for a little while, but the waves are getting bigger, the wind is blowing, the sun is nowhere to be found and it is cold. Delaney is trying to read Harry Potter, but it is obvious she doesn't feel well. I don't fish for long, play around with the GPS and figure out how to delete the hundreds of waypoints the previous owner entered. We leave Trout hole.
I'm sitting with my engine off - at the last channel marker - which is apparently becoming my comfort zone. What a chicken Captain I am that I won't leave the channel. Another boat approaches very quickly from the West. In fact, it kind of creeps me out that I am out here with just my daughter and I don't know who is approaching. There are no other boats out here but us! As he gets closer, I can tell by his boat that he is FWC. His lights are not on though. He pulls up to my port side. He asks, "Mind if I do a safety check?". What am I gonna say "No?" Hey, I'm ready. I fully equipped the boat with EVERYTHING when it sat it my yard for a month.
FWC will probably never read this blog, so allow me to ask, "Really?". My daughter has a life jacket on. We are sitting still. I don't drink when I am the Captain. Yes, I have flares. No, they are not expired. Yes, I have an air horn. Yes, I have my fishing license - even though I am not fishing. Yes, I have my drivers license. Yes, I have the boat registration. Yes, I have a throwable. Yes, I have an oar. He asks, "Where is your whistle?". I tell him I have an air horn, which I produce. That seems to irritate him, but he and I both know an air horn will suffice. He asks and I show him my all my life preservers (I have 7 on the boat and most are all brand spankin new). In fact they are so new, I still have them in plastic. He quickly pulls out his ticket book and says, "I'm gonna have to give you a citation for that." What???? Did I miss something? For keeping my life preservers in plastic? Apparently, that isn't allowed. Are you kidding me? He is going to give me a $90 ticket because my life preservers are in plastic? Really? Sorry, but no matter the explanation, I think this is rather ridiculous, especially since I just spent 15 minutes proving to him I had EVERYTHING necessary for safety. He starts writing my info in his ticket book. Then, I remember that I have two more life preservers in the bow compartment. They are NOT in plastic. I tell him that. His pen stops on his clipboard and his expression turns to irritation. "I need to see those", he states. I show them to him. They are NOT brand new. In fact, they are relatively old, moldy, and from my last boat. He then says rather unhappily, "Well, I guess you are free to go then". He is clearly annoyed that he was not able to write me a ticket. At this point it is clear to me that this isn't about safety anymore. This game is all about MONEY. Does he get in trouble for stopping me but not writing a citation? I wonder. I have a another story about my fishing license(s), which I paid for twice at FWC and never got a refund (which I was promised). Once again, it seems to be all about MONEY - not safety. Does FWC really need the additional funds? Then again, his boat is only 22 ft. Mine is bigger.
I am grateful FWC is out there keeping us safe and coming from a family of policemen - I do respect them, but please at least try not to make it so obvious that you are irritated when you don't get an opportunity to issue a citation. Most of us fishermen (especially us older guys) take boat safety VERY seriously which is why I spent hundreds of dollars in safety equipment before I ever put the boat in the water. That fact should have been easily apparent after 15 minutes of my "safety" inspection. Even if ALL my life preservers had been in plastic, the officer new it was my first trip out (with my daughter). He, in my opinion, shouldn't have been in such a hurry to give me a citation....Whatever.
So Delaney and I returned to Rock Landing without further incident. She was happy to be back on land. I was happy to have passed my safety/money reduction inspection.
Looking forward to the next trip. I hope it is warmer!
Captain Paul
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