By: Capt. Tim Ramsey
Years ago, I was fishing for snook with my wife (the first lady of fishing) on the gulf side of Cape Romano. As I rounded the entrance to Blind Pass, the bright green braided line from a fisherman who was doing a lame attempt at fishing the point wrapped around my prop and stopped my engine. By the time I cut the line and got the boat turned around it washed up on the northern sandbar.
Being a small flats boat, a 17 Hewes Tailfisher, I jumped out and went to the stern. I pushed the boat off the sandbar toward the horizon. As I did, the bow lifted over a couple boat wakes breaking on the bar and fell back down with a splat. When I decided I was far enough out to drop the trolling motor, I hopped onto the stern deck, ran up the gunwale to the bow, deployed the motor, and hit the rabbit button on the remote control. Unfortunately, as I did that, the boat went back toward the beach. I ran back, hopped back out, pushed the boat by the poling platform and tried to get into deeper water.
As the boat lifted over another swell, a horrifying sight caught my eye. There was a blood trail from the stern, all the way up the port gunwale to the bow. Startled, I felt the trolling motor successfully pulling the boat away from the ground and I hopped back aboard. That’s when I felt a stinging sensation on my left shin. I looked down and saw blood gushing from a gash on my leg.
It turns out that as I pushed the boat from the stern, when the boat lifted on a swell and slapped back down, the port trim tab struck my shin and cut me. Fortunately, always level-headed, my wife rinsed her hand with the water bottle she held, then slapped her palm against the gushing wound.
“Wow, that’s a big cut,” she said. I stood there gobsmacked by her reaction. It was weird. Even though we were married and had no communicable diseases, I was somehow amazed she was so willing to get my blood on her hands. Silly me. Minutes later, I pulled out the first aid kit and treated the wound as pinkish water washed around the deck and went down the drain. A tube of antibiotic cream, four butterfly stitches and an ice pack later and all was good. Did I go in and head to the clinic? No. We fished on. Lesson learned? Stuff happens. Have a good first aid kit.
Now the boat is a 22 Skeeter I’ve had since 2015. Aft of the big bow platform is a deck in front of the center console. In that deck is a wet locker covered by a heavy hatch cover.
Recently, I was at the car wash using the outside station to rinse off the boat. Standing on the bow using the spray wand on the “soap” setting, I concentrated on the seams between deck hatches, then sprayed into the wet locker. Then, stepping down from the deck I stepped down from a thousand times, my right foot landed on the non-skid portion of the deck in front of the wet locker. Then, my foot slipped, shot into the wet locker, and down I went. My upper body flew down and sideways, the side of my right shin hit the bottom of the open deck lid with a painful scrape, my foot reached the bottom of the locker, a bolt of lightning from my twisting right knee went up my leg as my butt landed on the edge of the front deck. Miraculously, having put my Bimini top up to get it out of the way, the forward strap stopped my progress toward the stern. It probably saved my knee.
I sat for a moment, left foot on the front deck, right foot inside the well, legs spread wide, right knee twisted in a bad way, back against the port gunwale. I wondered if I just hurt my good knee, the other damaged after years of army service and a fall a few years ago. I dislodged my right foot and pulled it over to the middle of the wet locker, straightening my knee. The pain went away. I pulled my left foot off the taller upper deck and set it in the wet locker next to my other foot, then sat up. Then, the only thought that came to me was “what a dumbass.” I was amazed I wasn’t hurt worse. I wondered how I missed hitting my tailbone. I thanked the Bimini top for saving my spine. Then oddly, I thought about how much money I was wasting running the car wash as I sat like a nitwit collecting myself. Then I remembered, stuff happens.
My point in these two stories is that yes, stuff happens. Be ready for it. Have a good first aid kit that includes antibiotic ointments, pain relievers, motion sickness medication, ice packs, and pads for large wounds. You never know. Also, be aware of the places on your boat that don’t have a non-skid surface. Be prepared to call for help. Never release the front clip on your boat on the trailer until you’re sure it will go in the water if it comes off instead of landing on the ramp. Know where you are and be prepared to run aground. Wear your sunscreen. Make sure others wear it. Take it easy on the alcohol. Hydrate. Be careful crossing boat wakes. Remember, stuff happens. See you out there.