I had a really long and detailed report written up and then my home computer died and I lost it so the following is the abbreviated report.
Saturday morning, Sean, my father, and myself dragged the boat down to Sandwich marina only to be told we can't launch. Seems a lot of the larger boats are slow to be put in the water this season and there was no room left for truck and trailer parking. So we went back over the bridge to Taylor's point marina and launched there. As we were heading out I noticed the train bridge was getting lowered. We wanted to go through the canal to fish the east end but now we had to wait for the bridge to go back up. I can already tell it was going to be one of those days. So we decided to cast lures right where we were and it payed off. Sean's first cast yielded a nice 32" bass which was released. I then got a 29" fish which was also released. We proceeded to catch and release schoolies until the bridge was raised and then we could continue through the canal. About 45 minutes later we got to the east end and pulled outside the channel and started catching mackerel for bait. About 10 minutes into bait fishing the boats engine dies. It sounded as if it ran out of fuel and died. I had filled the boat earlier so I new I had plenty of gas. Turn the key to try and restart and I don't here the fuel pump. Try and trouble shoot it myself and I am coming up empty. Boat will not start. We now of coarse have drifted into the channel so I can't drop anchor. I call Tow Boat and they got a boat coming my way through the canal on it's way to Barnstable to do a fuel drop but they said they could tow me out of the channel so I could drop anchor and not be a hazard to navigation. Just as they say that I see a barge turn the corner and it is bearing down on us leaving the canal. I had to call the barge captain and let him know I was dead in the water and could not get out of his way on channel 16. Now the Coast Guard is involved and send out a 25' inflatable from Sandwich to stand watch while we wait for Tow Boat to arrive. Tow Boat arrives and tows me over in front Scusset and we drop anchor and he has to continue down to Barnstable to make his fuel drop but he will pick us up and tow us on the way back. So Sean and I start jigging for Mackerel and we let out two live macks. The Coast Guard came back to check on us and I invited them aboard to give a safety inspection, which the boat passed. During the inspection my rod goes off and Sean grabs it and sets the hook and we all know it is a better fish. We boat this one and we decide to take it for the grill, a nice 38" fish. About and hour later Tow Boat came back to tow us through the canal which took 2 hours. Thank god I bought the unlimited gold towing package. I would not want to know what a tow like that would cost. My uncle came over over and found the root of the problem last night. A nut fell off a wire post in the main fuse box and the starter relay kept loosing connectivity. I missed it completely while on the water but my uncle who is a mechanic diagnosed it almost instantly.
Saturday morning, Sean, my father, and myself dragged the boat down to Sandwich marina only to be told we can't launch. Seems a lot of the larger boats are slow to be put in the water this season and there was no room left for truck and trailer parking. So we went back over the bridge to Taylor's point marina and launched there. As we were heading out I noticed the train bridge was getting lowered. We wanted to go through the canal to fish the east end but now we had to wait for the bridge to go back up. I can already tell it was going to be one of those days. So we decided to cast lures right where we were and it payed off. Sean's first cast yielded a nice 32" bass which was released. I then got a 29" fish which was also released. We proceeded to catch and release schoolies until the bridge was raised and then we could continue through the canal. About 45 minutes later we got to the east end and pulled outside the channel and started catching mackerel for bait. About 10 minutes into bait fishing the boats engine dies. It sounded as if it ran out of fuel and died. I had filled the boat earlier so I new I had plenty of gas. Turn the key to try and restart and I don't here the fuel pump. Try and trouble shoot it myself and I am coming up empty. Boat will not start. We now of coarse have drifted into the channel so I can't drop anchor. I call Tow Boat and they got a boat coming my way through the canal on it's way to Barnstable to do a fuel drop but they said they could tow me out of the channel so I could drop anchor and not be a hazard to navigation. Just as they say that I see a barge turn the corner and it is bearing down on us leaving the canal. I had to call the barge captain and let him know I was dead in the water and could not get out of his way on channel 16. Now the Coast Guard is involved and send out a 25' inflatable from Sandwich to stand watch while we wait for Tow Boat to arrive. Tow Boat arrives and tows me over in front Scusset and we drop anchor and he has to continue down to Barnstable to make his fuel drop but he will pick us up and tow us on the way back. So Sean and I start jigging for Mackerel and we let out two live macks. The Coast Guard came back to check on us and I invited them aboard to give a safety inspection, which the boat passed. During the inspection my rod goes off and Sean grabs it and sets the hook and we all know it is a better fish. We boat this one and we decide to take it for the grill, a nice 38" fish. About and hour later Tow Boat came back to tow us through the canal which took 2 hours. Thank god I bought the unlimited gold towing package. I would not want to know what a tow like that would cost. My uncle came over over and found the root of the problem last night. A nut fell off a wire post in the main fuse box and the starter relay kept loosing connectivity. I missed it completely while on the water but my uncle who is a mechanic diagnosed it almost instantly.
