Eastern Bay Halloween

[RussellBurgess]

It was misting as me and dad left the house at about 5:15am.  We get about 5 minutes from the house and the interior lights go out in the truck and the trailer lights blink out as well.  But Man oh Man changing the oil and air filter and the truck is running like a racehorse.  We get into Boonsboro and I put the truck in park to check out the lights and the engine is revving like crazy.  We spend 30 minutes figuring out I have a busted trailer light that is shorting out and blowing the fuse.  When I put the new air filter in there is an O ring around the housing that had hardened up and a piece of it had broken off and jammed in the cabling for the accelerator which was causing the engine to rev like I was running Nascar at Daytona.  So now all is fixed and we get back on the road.  We get to the boat ramp at Eastern Bay and get the boat splashed and guess what !!!  Yea, it won't start.  Dad is standing on the dock saying this is a really bad omen, maybe we should go home.  Take the cover off and check it over and it turns out the metal rod connecting the choke has come out.  So put it back in and tighten it down and my baby starts right up.  Cut the bilge pump on and pump out the water we have taken on.  (Yea, my boat leaks,  A LOT, but the bilge pump so far has always run like a champ).  We start out and its raining, the wind is blowing and its kind of choppy so I put my like vest on.  Well Dad's eyes get pretty big at this.  (Later I hear him telling someone, "I've never even seen him look for his life vest")  So I guess I scared him a little bit.   Well we get out to our area that we like to crab and guess what,  We have the whole area to ourselves  ??  What ?? A little cold and rain and nobody is crabbing    We put out our 30 pots and manage to run them 3 times before dad is soaked and he has been sick so we pull em up and come on in.  We were catching them in 14 to 17 feet of water.  We averaged 6 keepers per run with 2 large females and 4 little ones that all went back.  So we came home with 18 pretty nice crabs for dad to take home.   Here are some pic's.  Going again Saturday.

[tattoo]

Great pictures , clad you got some. good luck on Sat. 

[suzyq52]

Great job Russ. Loved the story. Go get them on Saturday. We're hoping to hit the Wye on Sunday since it's calling for warmer and not too windy.

[tattoo]

Great job Russ. Loved the story. Go get them on Saturday. We're hoping to hit the Wye on Sunday since it's calling for warmer and not too windy.

Good luck on Sun. 

[125blackfire]

What kind of boat is that?

[crabbingcraigy]

Way to hang in there.

[mrscharms]

WTG!
Janice

[RussellBurgess]

The boat is a 1988 152 SS Minnow with a 50HP Force Outboard, that someone before I got it put down plywood and drilled holes that went right through the bottom of the boat.  I have patched it numerous times, but the holes have a life of their own.

[Seaweed]

Be careful out there Russell.  November is not the time to push the limits of a boat with holes in it, with a motor that won't start.  Water is getting too cold to swim home

[kcullip2006]

Be careful out there Russell.  November is not the time to push the limits of a boat with holes in it, with a motor that won't start.  Water is getting too cold to swim home

You got that right.  Eastern Bay can get seriously nasty real quick!  

[Terrapin T]

Way to get out there and get some!

[CrabbyLAD]

Weather looked a little rough.. Way to stick it out!! 

[RussellBurgess]

Went out today, talk about nasty.  I will post soon as I get my pics setup

[RussellBurgess]

Seaweed, you would think a protected bay would not get so bad but I have beeen out there lots.  Thank you for the heads up.  I know it gets bad, see my post of Eastern Bay Nov 7 and you see i carry 5 batteries (one not pictured) they run my electric motor but mostly I want to make sure I have backups for th e bilge pump.  I carry an extra one and they are tested each and every time before I go out.  Again thanks for taking the time to warn me, even those of us that go out all the time can sometimes get careless and forget to test our backup systems. 
Russ

[jack1747]

Never, ever, get in a boat you know is leaking.  Leaks only get bigger.   Specially fiberglass boats.  Water gets into the layers of glass or the plywood.  Sooner or later the leak turns in to a hull failure. Usually a major failure during snotty weather. No bilge pump (used it small boats) is going to keep it a float then....

[Terrapin T]

Russell - You might want to check out a product called Glovutz (Sp?) for sealing up your boat. It's an DIY epoxy that I found thru West Marine that really sealed up my boat about 2 years ago - although mine is aluminum - I believe it works with different materials.  If you want something more professional I can get you the name/#  of the guy that does all the welding work for Bass Pro Shop.  He's a specialist welder but also seals boats from inside or out with custom epoxys.  One way or another I hope you get your leaks fixed.

[kcullip2006]

Never, ever, get in a boat you know is leaking.  Leaks only get bigger.   Specially fiberglass boats.  Water gets into the layers of glass or the plywood.  Sooner or later the leak turns in to a hull failure. Usually a major failure during snotty weather. No bilge pump (used it small boats) is going to keep it a float then....

Ooh, that's scary!