the fisherman
Big Time
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2007
- Messages
- 955
This all started on Oct.1, it was my Bday and I wanted to fish at Eagle Lake for a couple of days, so I loaded up the Tow Missle with the two Humpers and Rocky the wonder bird and took off, it's a long ride from where I live to the lake, 101no.-299e.-44e-36e about 7hrs.and I never drive slow. The ride was nice and the truck ran fine after the problems I had with the injector controller. Went fishing the next morning and it was very good as it usually is this time of year, the day wasn't nearly over and I was already thinking about tomorrow. Got up really early and noticed right away that the temp. had really dropped, frozen dog water, just the way they like it. Took off for the ramp at 5:45, almost a full moon, so there is good visibility on the lake. I launch the boat in very shallow water and creep out the channel, this is where all the mistakes start. I turn on my GPS and see that I haven't erased any of the previous few days tracks off of the screen, so it's a jumbled mess I say to myself I'll do it later, I've crossed this lake a thousand times in the pitch dark, in the rain and I'm pretty sure in the snow, so I take off, sort of like I drive, fast. Before too long I notice tule fog start to develop on the lake, but I have myself lined up with what I think are the lights that mark the channel between the north and south basins of the lake. What I don't know is that the lights on the east side of the channel are out, and after 40 some odd years of running around on this lake I'm going to get bit. I'm hauling ass, when I notice the bottom coming up really fast on the fathometer, when I know it shouldn't, and I'm in and out of the fog so by the time I realize I'm in trouble, I'm in, the rocks that is, it was loud, and expensive, cracked the lower unit on a Yamaha 50 put a couple of nice dents in the boat. This never should have happened, I knew better, there are no excuses, I was bit by complacency, it's a lesson I won't forget, so I'm done, have to go home and I'm bummed, I cost myself a couple of days of really good fishing, plus for the next few years nobody around that lake is going to let me forget this (probably the worst part). Now for the rest of the day, I'm back at the trailer early and pack up to go home. I'm mad at myself and don't want to leave, but you don't want to be here with no boat. I take off pretty early in the day, not much traffic so we're making good time, blow through Redding and on to 299, not my favorite highway, we get to Weaverville and you drive through town so we're doing about 20 mph and I think to myself, my motor sounds kind of weird, since I left my house I've been listening to this thing because of the trouble I had. We get out of town and you start to go up a grade so I started to ease in some throttle to get up the hill, BANG like a shotgun, then booom,boom,boom, WTF now. WTF now is the start of a really, really, really bad day. I won't get into the details but picture yourself in Weaverville with 2 Newfoundlands and an African Grey who swears too much, I think you get the picture, a total nightmare to say the least, finally got out of the place at 4am. the next day, I couldn't rent a car big enough to get the Newfs. into. Finally got somebody from home to rescue us and the boat, left the truck. The next day I got a AAA flatbed tow to Ukiah where the truck still is with 3 broken rocker arms and several bent pushrods. How did this happen? Well I know the answer, since I installed my exhaust brake I've been flashing a code, excessive back pressure, I sent the regulator back to BD and they told me there was nothing wrong with it, it's supposed to regulate the pressure to 60lbs. I sent mine to be tested by a third party and they found it was giving 95lbs. of back pressure. I called BD with my story, which they listened to, they asked me to send them the reg. so they could test it, which they already did, I'm not sure what to do, I really don't want to send it to them, I don't want to call a lawyer either. I think I already know how this shakes out. While I've been waiting around for some kind or resolution to this, I needed to finish up the new roof on my garage, I knew the rain was comming (it did) I've been up and down the ladder a couple a hundred times on this job, it's a good ladder, I had good footing, as far as I know I was doing everything right, unlike the boat incident, well some how the ladder kicked out from under me, I landed mostly on dirt, except my head which hit very solid concrete, out colder than a fish for the first time ever, end result a moderate concussion and a broken left wrist, the good news, I'm right handed. What a week. This post belongs in the Disaster Section, but we don't have one, at least not yet. If everything goes right I'll be back at the lake next week.
