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| ISAIAH 26-3 “You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trust in you.” During the past 35 or so years of offshore fishing I have been given a lot of oppournities to pray this verse. For this devotional -I’ll try to describe one of the trips that I experienced. It was late in the season in September and we knew the weather could turn quick this time of the year -but my partner - from the NC mountains was down- so away we went with another friend to the gulf stream- some 75-85 miles from Fripp Island , SC. We had a great ride out-smooth seas- just absolutely beautiful. We were trolling for Dolphin (Mahi-Mahi), yellow fin tuna, or billfish. We stopped when we found a huge weed line in about 1200ft.-that’s about 70 miles from the hill .All four rods started screaming-we were hooked up with some really nice dolphin and the conditions were just perfect. We were short handed with only three people onboard-so everybody was really busy and we all stayed busy for the next two hours-or so trolling straight out-following the weed line and catching some of the nicest fish of the year. We were having a storybook trip, and filling the cooler fast. I had been noticing the weather was changing and realized we were off the recorder-which means the water depth was more than the recorder can read-we had probably trolled some 10-15 miles farther offshore than where we were when we started fishing. About that same time -looking back toward the hill-the whole landscape towards land was black. I mean BLACK! We’ve smelled salt water burning from lighting strikes -been caught in dozens of fronts-ran from spot to spot trying to guess which was the best choice to dodge the lightning srikes-been in dozens of storms with water spouts- had waves breaking over the top of the fly bridge in a 48ft sports fishermen-when going up or down the ladder was impossible for hours-Storms come with the territory-if you fish offshore regularly-you will be in a storm .I had been in more than our share but nothing I had ever been in came close to this thing. We started reeling in the lines and running towards land-trying to get in shallower water before this thing hit-we might have gotten ½ mile-then like in the movies-this black-total black storm wrapped it’s arms around us-First the wind came and the seas climbed over 12ft-in minutes-we experienced the worst hail storm you can imagine-it was a total “white- out”. Visibility at best was 30-40 ft. in any direction-then the waves really grew-the wind and hail was so loud it was deafening . Hail was over a foot deep in the boat -hail hurts- it tore up all of the upholstery-totaled the T top and was turning everybody black and blue. I can not possibly describe the scene-but here’s a try-Have been in clocked 85 mph winds- compared to this-that would be a good breeze-I remember thinking about the life raft in the cabin some 25 ft forward-I imagined deploying the line to open it and seeing it fly like a kite-it was impossible to reach much less open. Waves were building on all sides- the waves on the stern -were about like the forward and sides-It was like the movie- the perfect storm .My job was trying to keep us headed into the largest wave and apply just the right throttle. Each wave we climbed for over an hour was unreal. Our boat was a 35ft- center console with twin Yamaha 225 hp outboards-it felt like a toy in this sea. I don’t know what degree angle we climbed but my biggest concern was that we would be turned over-end over end -that the boat would not be able to sustain making the climb-or the shear strength of the wind would catch the bow and flip us over. We were almost vertical with each wave! Each time we climbed-I could just imagine the props spinning out-or a shaft breaking any minute-the motors were straining like I had never heard before-If you can visualize this scene-wind screaming-water and hail everywhere-waves larger than any ever experienced-fear in the face of one of the strongest men I have ever known-worse on the face of the other crewman -everybody was hurt- beaten soaked -cold -wet - things really did not look good-it was about as serious as it can get-and still be upright-then in a second- it happened .I remember asking Jesus-if this was how it was going to be-was this to be the way our lives would end? And I got an answer- Isaiah 26.3. I can remember smiling at first- then almost laughing but most of all -I knew ! We would be ok. We were not going down! After another 30-45 minutes - we started getting back in 12’ waves-that felt great! And before long the storm had passed-we could cruise at a good speed and went home. My partner would not go back offshore for the next 2 years- the other friend has never returned to offshore fishing-prior to this trip -he went regularly. A tackle tip- sharpen your hooks each time-retie your leaders each time-set your drag on the reels with a scale. Trip preparation for offshore gulf stream fishing is critical- it would take too long to make a complete list-but here’s a couple of check points. 2 motors-2 VHF radios-2 lorans-1 radar-1 life raft- 2EPIRBS-1 ISAIAH 26.3 Be darn sure you know how to use the most important one-all the rest of the stuff can let you down. Ed Ellis |
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