J. Kelly McCoy's Boat Restoration Project
First Trip To Saltwater - August 2008
Something I really wanted from owning my own boat was the ability to fish offshore in the Texas Gulf. I love saltwater fishing. Although I love fishing the surf, I've always wanted to fish offshore too. The occasional charter or party boat trip was fun, but not enough to be satisfying.
With my boat mostly restored and completely functional I was ready to try my hand offshore.
There are a lot of logistical considerations to taking my boat offshore for the first time. Lots of safety gear. Lots of preparation. Planning for the timing (and budgeting). We arranged our family trip to Port Aransas, TX for August 2008 and included taking the boat with us.
The trip down was more exciting than it should have been (my fault) but I got the boat to the coast and installed in a slip in the Port A marina. The people at the marina were very helpful and the slip rates are very reasonable.
We loaded up the whole family for the first trip. Just a short jaunt out into the ship channel, maybe up the Lydia Ann channel a little ways. Do a little dolphin watching and have a nice boat ride.
Driving out of the marina was great fun. Passing all those big saltwater boats, passing the charter docks and the expensive condos with their own slips...very fun. We're really in salt water.
I made the last turn out of the marina and headed out through the breakwaters...
Despite the heavy seas offshore we did some fishing in the ship channel and just off the end of the jetties. We didn't catch many fish, but I learned a lot.
I learned a lot about driving a boat in rough water, strong currents, strong wind, and heavy traffic.
I also learned that the MissT is capable of handling seas far rougher than I am comfortable with.
I learned that there are lots of people out there on big water in boats so small that I wouldn't be in them.
I know that's a terrible picture and you can't really see what's going on, but there's a story behind it...
I was really anxious to get offshore. It had been a real goal to get so far offshore that I couldn't see land. The last morning in Port A, Will and I headed offshore. They had been catching kings around some anchored ships 6 miles out. The seas were predicted to be 2-3 feet and I thought we could handle that.
The seas were actually closer to 3-5 feet, but the boat was handling that just fine. With that heavy old hull I can trim her down and run at 18-20mph with no pounding at all. It was a really foggy morning and at 5 miles offshore we couldn't see anything (no shore, no ships, nothing) so I throttled back to check the gps.
The gps showed that we were less than 1 mile from the anchorage and as I throttled up the ships came into view. Just about then one engine started running rough. Did you know that a leaky carburetor float may not be a problem if you only run the boat every couple of weeks (because the carbs dry out between uses) but will be a problem if you keep the same boat in a slip and drive it every day for several days? Did you know that parts for old Holley marine carbs aren't widely available in Port A? Did you know that even if you fix the leaky float if you had to disassemble the float bowl several time to make the repair the cardboard gasket will disintegrate and bits of gasket will clog the jets when you really need the boat (e.g. 5 miles offshore on a foggy morning)?
With one engine acting up I had no choice but to turn around and run for the harbor. Will took this pic on the way in, but failed to get the horizon into the shot. I really wanted photographic proof that you couldn't see shore the.
So my first saltwater experience with my own boat was a learning experience, but didn't result in a lot of great fishing. I'm already looking forward to the 2009 season!
Cheers,
visitors since 15 September
2001
