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08/14/2005
Observations from the Coast
Some are born for the sea: they live for the salt spray, the wind and the waves. Others prefer the hard contact of terra firma under their Buster Browns.
I'm as much the former as the latter. That is not to say that I am not happy unless I am on the sea; for I am. Still, there is a certain satisfaction I only know when the boyant salt water lifts the deck beneath my feet.
And so I found myself plying the coastal waters off of Indian River Inlet, DE last weekend, seeking elusive prey on board my dad's small boat. We were fishing, but not too successfully. Landing a few sea robins (a weird fish if ever I've seen one) and two skates (like a small ray). We did catch two keeper sea bass. And as the photo to the port side shows, we saw some porpoises.
Okay, so saying we saw some porpoises is like looking at a cup of water and saying we saw some H2O molecules. We saw a lot of porpi(porpoises?). At one point, we parked our boat in the heart of a pod of some hundreds, playing, eating and diving around us. I took a lot more pictures than I have bandwidth, so you'll have to settle for this one for now.
From a fishing perspective, the most exciting time was when I hooked into a Thrasher (Thresher?) Shark. As soon as the line started to sing off the reel, I knew this was different than the few small sea robins and sea trout I'd hooked thus far. I set the hook and maneuvered over the rest of the "gang" to the starbord transom, where my hefty quarry went airborne. "That's a Thrasher Shark!" bellowed our rental captain, Mr. Walt. "How big?" I yelled back. "About 250 pounds, I would guess." came the reply.
Well, I knew little of Thrasher Sharks or Thresher Sharks (I think they go by both names), but I was elated. This guy was going all-out. Alas, I had neither the tackle nor the experience to pull this boy on board. In seconds, he snapped the 75# braided metal line, never to be seen again (by me, anyway).
Some random observations from my trip:
We spend a lot of money on boats that we seldom use. At any given time, 95% of the boats were in the marina.
Fishing isn't about the food anymore. We could have fed a small country for a day with what we spent to catch two fish.
Life is weird. But I can't explain that one and probably shouldn't have written it. Still, what I have written, stays written. At least for now.
I looked up Thrashers when I came home. Seems they circulate in coastal waters around the globe. Noted for their small mouths and long top tail lobe, they're not particularly dangerous until you try to land one. Then their tail, which is about as long as their body, becomes a lethal weapon. A Thrasher with a 10' body would have a 9' tail and weigh about 900 pounds. I understand they are superb eating.
Well, time to weigh anchor and sail off into the sunset for now.
16:50 Posted in About Life | Permalink | Email this
Comments
That's quite the adventure, Bruce. I've never been fishing out on the open sea, myself. It sounds like a ball though.
Sorry about the not posting about what to look for in a church - I've had some computer problems lately (have a computer that's been in the shop for three weeks now - waiting for a part). Also, I'm not able to post when I click on your comment button for that post. Weird.
Anyway, I think between Dan and yourself you've covered the bases. I think, if only to add emphasis to your comments, I would look for three things for the church to be about beyond, of course, a strong adherence to the Scriptures: grace (vertical and horizontal), humility, and service. This will produce a mission-minded church that is about serving one another. I believe these things will also produce a strong unity in the Spirit.
Posted by: Scott | 08/14/2005
Wow - sorry about the giant spacing. Not sure how that happened.
Posted by: Scott | 08/14/2005