If you have been reading my stories about “dear old Dad” you already know that he was certainly a “colorful coastal character!” He enjoyed life to the fullest! He loved “whiskey, moonshine, women, any sort of wine, and fishing!” During my younger years while fishing with daddy I learned at a very early age about driving a boat. Some “seasoned sailors” would say, “navigating the boat!” In my case, when I started holding the wheel navigating probably wasn’t a word in my vocabulary much less something I could pronounce. When I was a young tot all I knew was that I was to steer the boat in a suggested direction. Believe me, the direction wasn’t derived from looking at a compass. At this time I hadn’t figured out what that sometimes spinning thing that was attached to the boat’s dash was all about! I accomplished my steering by keeping in step with the wave patterns caused by the particular wind direction. I know you are scratching your head on that last statement.
You have to understand; back in the old days, all we had was what we had, which in the navigation department certainly wasn’t much. This was long before we had such things a loran, GPS, chart plotters, or radars. Heck, it probably wouldn’t have mattered anyhow. Way back when I wouldn’t have known how to read or work them anyway! My goal once pointed in the right direction was to look for the Tybee Lighthouse. Once laying my eyes on the big black tall lighthouse I was supposed to wake him up. I would listen and try to hollow for him between his loud snoring events!
After a few shouts he would make way to the helm and take over. In my mind, I could have navigated my way into shore. However, during this time the shipping channel was between us and land. My father wasn’t quite ready to turn me loose in this area. It’s a good thing because it certainly did take me a while to understand exactly how those big ships navigated back and forth right in front of the beach.
The fact of the matter especially in regards to the shipping lanes I was certainly confused. It wasn’t clear at least in my young mind until I was about 13 years old. Until this age I though those big ships could turn and run over me at any time. It didn’t occur to me that water depth played a big part in where the old ship could go. Heck, after getting that straight in my mind I didn’t even bother waking up dear old dad. While heading to the lighthouse I was always looking to see if a ship was going or coming in the channel. Now that I knew what to do I wanted to get up close and personal. It was the coolest thing to take a ride on a ship. They were monsters and how they floated was way beyond a young mind’s comprehension!
Thanks for reading!
Captain Judy Helmey
Miss Judy Charters
Kicking Fish Tail Since 1956!
124 Palmetto Drive
Savannah, Georgia 31410
(912)-897-4921 or (912)-897-2478
(912)-897-3460 fax
Fishjudy2@aol.com
