Stuck in the mud



Being in the towing and salvage business has improved my storytelling lately. Here’s one:

Got a call the other day at 4 in the morning from a fellow who was stuck in the mud. At least, that’s what he said. I asked him if he still had water around the boat. (That way I can figure out what it might take us to get him off, and cost him. “Yeah, there is still water,” he said.
 
Needless to say, there was no water where he was. Not even close, the props tilled a beautiful little trench and the bow parted the 12ft tall reeds like the Red Sea. The owner had nine friends on the boat, which might have obstructed his view of the river ahead, but I think they had a lot of fun that night. We had fun too. After lots of shaking our heads we brought out two tow boats and a lot of line to spin this 23 ft boat around and try to pull her out the same way she went in. Counting the steps when I walked the towline into the marsh, I got to 40. Forty yards= 120ft. It took some pulling and weedwacking and we ended up attaching the two boats to the one tow line for 670 hp worth of power, mainly because the water was only 2.5 ft deep under our boats.

The amazing thing is that nobody got hurt among the ten friends on the boat that night and the boat has no damage. Even the props appear to be in good shape. After I delivered the boat to the owner he said  he was going to name the boat “Lucky”. No kidding.

By Professional Mariner Staff