Today was kind of a mess. First we got up early for 6:00 breakfast but nobody else was up, so no breakfast. Instead we headed out early for salmon fishing and trolled for 3 hours with nary a nibble (not really too surprising, they are hard to find). Then we went and fished for halibut and broke a rod. Then I snagged a hook on the bottom and spent 15 minutes maneuvering the boat to unhook it. Then dad snagged his rod and we did the same again. Then we moved and fished for a while with zero nibbles. So finally we came in for lunch.
In the afternoon we were going to go for a walk, but Kelly and Marv were going out for halibut so Dad and I decided to tag along and fish in the same area where Marv caught a 70 pounder last week. Very first cast, I hooked my bait again and we spent a bunch of time getting unhooked. There was so much wind that we drifted more than 2mph with the engine off. We had to put the boat in reverse to stand still. When I finally pulled up the snagged rig, there were two small rockfish on there but the bait was gone. With all the time the thing was stuck on the bottom all the fish were able to nibble away on the two fresh herring except the two unlucky ones who got hooked. So I spent more time getting them unhooked and releasing them. Then we moved to a spot where there was less wind, and almost immediately dad hooked his rig on the bottom. More maneuvering etc. to get it unhooked. Meanwhile Marv and Kelly had "nada" as they told us over the radio. We all moved to another cove across the strait. The wind was even stronger and there was no luck.
But wait, the best was yet to come!
Moving away from the windy cove, Marv and Kelly were headed around to the other side of the island. We were following, at about 25 mph in clear water well away from shore. BOOM grind grind, the boat shudders, I switch off the engine instantly and we slump to a halt. What was that? I look around and don't see anything, but we surely hit something, I was wondering if we were going to sink. I run to the front of the boat but there is no apparent hull damage. I get on the radio to Kelly who is headed into the distance: "Kelly, we have hit something and I've stopped to assess the damage." He turns around and we can see him coming back to our position. Dad and I look into the water, can't tell if the prop has been damaged. We start the engine, but the boat doesn't move and we don't see the prop turning. We turn the engine off. Then, Kelly pulls up: "Raise the engine." I had not realized the same motor that lets you trim the angle of the prop also lets you raise the engine completely out of the water. We raise the engine. There is no prop. There is, in fact, no bottom half of the engine assembly. It is completely broken off just below the water line: gears, prop and all are gone. After rigging up a tow line it takes us an hour and a half to get back to the dock. And of course, Kelly is going to be out $2500 in repairs which probably wipes out his profit from our week at the lodge. Dad, always the joker, suggests that since the boats are new, "maybe it will be covered under the engine warranty."
On the plus side: Dinner was delicious!! Also, I got a couple good scenic photos in the morning. And we saw a huge gathering of sea lions on and around a rock in a place where the currents from two inlets mix and create strange turbulence in the water. It probably messes up the fish and creates good feeding for the sea lions. There were also hundreds of seagulls there.
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