HTHM

Well, crap! I'm sorry to hear about this setback Wayne. I wish you strength in the days ahead.

So the much anticipated weekend has arrived......I'm goin' up to the kawarthas to meet and greet some fellow OFC'ers. Big Cliff is first on the list. He sends me detailed directions....I have a GPS. Need I say more? Yes I do. I plug his address into the GPS, it finds it no problem at all. So up the 115\35 I go. I recall that I need to drive to the first light, la de da de da, I drive PAST the exit for 35 to Lindsay 'cause there is no light to be seen as of yet. When I get to the 7a exit I'm thinkin' (a rare thing for me), I didn't think I needed to drive all the way to Peterborough.....This is at 6:30 in the morning, Cliff said that he is up at 5 am every morning so I reluctantly decide to call. I wake up his wife, (an incredibly warm woman BTW), and she gets out of bed and goes to the top of the driveway into the shop and lets Cliff know that I need directions. (All of this time my GPS is telling me that I need to go back, but, NOOOOOOOO I know better because I remember the directions that Cliff gave me. Well to make a long story shorter, I managed to find his home, (nestled right on the shore of Sturgeon lake), and sat down to a coffee, while waiting for Beans, my fishing partner for the day. We laughed about my misadventures on the way up, and put that down to experience. Beans arrives, introductions are made, equipment compared, anticipation of a good day is in the air. The downpour had stopped, the sun was out, life is GOOD! So, off to the launch we go, the launch went smoothly, Beans is in my, (yet to be slimed), boat, with no trouble at all. I park the van and trailer, make my way to the boat, fire her up and help Beans into the dodge van captian's chair that I had mounted on the front bench seat of my 14' narrow beam boat. Now, a word about Beans.....Besides being one of the nicest and most worthy of respect men that I have had the pleasure of meeting, he is also an very experienced fisherman. He's gotta have 30+ years of experience on me. As well, he is a large man, in heart and goodnature as well as girth. OK here is the situation, an older, robust man sitting on a seat that is elevated 8 inches above the gunwales supported by a 10" circular base fastened to a fiberglass bench seat . The base is 12" high. Nothing wrong with that picture, right? So here we are on the lake; Beans has pulled in two perch, I am still waiting to get a bite. I ask Beans how he likes the seat, "It is very comfortable" he says. I am curious as this is the shakedown cruise with the new seat. I believe him and envy him as it does look very comfy. Beans leans back as he says this, and to my abject, unaldulterated, complete HORROR! he continues to lean back and back and into the drink he goes! I still have a vivid mental image of Beans' head entering the water, he completley upside down, still seated in the chair, legs kicking vainly in the air for some type of purchase, with a look of absolute shock and surprise etched into his face. Now at this moment in time I am thinking that I have killed him, he is going to drown, and it is my fault. So I do what any reasonable man would do, I panic. Thankfully he does not. Beans makes his way to the surface clutches at the side of the boat, and says something to the effect of " That was interesting", and I am thinking how the *(*%*)%((*#$%# am I gonna get him back in??????!!!!! Fortunatly there are two men nearby in a bass boat, I call them over and they CALMLY get us cooled off, well Beans was already cool, he was IN the water after all, and get Beans into a life jacket, haul him into their boat, and transfer him back to mine. They were the true heros of the situation, regretably we did not get their names. (So if you recognize this situation, and lurk the board, THANK YOU!!!!!!) If you are members here, stand and be counted. During all of this Beans is concerned for me, because he can see the huge impact that this has had on me. I am not doing well.... Need less to say, that was the end of the outing. And now the turnabout, "cause that's fair play... Old Ironmaker and I had arranged to hook up for perch last Saturday. We met at the appointed time in the appointed place, got introductions out of the way, transferred rods and tackle into his boat, and down the road we went. Destination Port Burwell. Upon arrival it was scene out of traffic nightmares...in the space used for 6 truck and trailer combo's there was 20, we get lined up to launch, enquire about minnows, none to be had. Well shucks we can't launch without bait, made inquiries and found that there were minnows available just down the road. So off the Port Stanley we go. The launch at Port stanley was amazing! Ten bucks to launch, and they have a young fellow to help with your bow lines, hold your boat, whatever needs to be done. We were very impressed by the service here. Minnows were 5 bucks a scoop and quite a few in a scoop as well. Down the river we go to the perching grounds. Two clusters of boat to choose from , we get to a respectful distance and anchor. While fishing for perch, (they were on smoulder but we did OK), it happens. The anchor rope wrapped around the locking latch and released the seat base. Base of the seat comes out, I fall backwards and perform a less than graceful backwards cannonball into the SIXTY TWO degree water. I can only imagine the look on my face as I tumbled over the edge of the boat. I felt my sunglasses slip of my face and start the downward journey to the bottom of erie. Made a feeble attempt to grab them, but missed due to the fact that I was more concerned with getting to the surface than saving my glasses. Make it to the surface, grab the gunnel and there was a conversation regarding getting back in boat, made my way to the back of the boat and climbed up the boarding ladder. Handy things i tell ya! Offers to return to shore are made, declined, squeeze out the water in my shirts and return to fishing. The ensuing conversation included a reference to this story, as I told Old Ironmaker about it and now, as a result, Norm can see turnabout comes to those that wait. I still feel bad about what I did to you Norm, it was absolute foolish design on my part that put overboard. If this case it was a simple error in tie-off of the anchor rope. All's well that ends well, as they say.

All stories are worth telling, please enlighten us.

You're never gonna let me live that down are you?

It prompted me to send him an email complimenting his skill as a writer. Fantastic read.

That was hilarious. There is a live stream to watch online if you wish.

Mine would have the performance of an Allison, the casting deck of a Ranger z series, the freeboard of a Starcraft, (for the grandkids), fuel consumption of a weed wacker, the ability to pull 4 cannonballs, a glass bottom so I can see all the way to the bottom of the lake, and have all the migratory habits of all species programmed into the 32" fishfinder that also acts as an autopilot.

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/cn-train-derails-south-of-timmins-ont-1.2237139 No injuries have been reported after a crude oil train derailed and caught fire near Timmins, Ont. late Saturday night. The eastbound CN Rail train came off the tracks approximately 80 kilometres south of Timmins shortly before midnight, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada said Sunday in a statement. The derailment occurred on a stretch of rail between Gogama and Foleyet, in an extremely remote area that cannot be accessed by road, provincial police said. "There is a fire at the scene, but the derailment occurred in a snow-covered, remote wooded area and there are no reports of injuries or community impacts," CN Rail spokesperson Patrick Waldron said in an email to CTVNews. Emergency crews will conduct a full site assessment to determine whether any oil was spilled. Waldron said that 29 of the train's 100 cars were involved in the incident. Seven of the cars were affected by the fire. The cause of the derailment is under investigation, but Waldron said the train was fully inspected four times and passed a safety detector approximately 30 kilometres before the incident with no issues identified. The track was visually inspected on Saturday morning. As a result of the derailment, which is still blocking a major rail line, Via Rail has cancelled all trains between Toronto and Winnipeg. Via will provide alternate transportation to customers already en route or scheduled to travel today. Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/cn-train-derails-south-of-timmins-ont-1.2237139#ixzz3Rr1KRFyx

In niagara area: https://www.facebook.com/sc.gameandfish

Dinner at Shakespeares.

The next one....

TAke a trip to Woodstock, they have a very nice selection. While you are there take along all of your rods and reels, and have the pro match reel to rod. He really knows what works well together.

Another vote for lifeproof.

I'm thinking the boat and trailer belong to someone else. Otherwise they would have been seized as well.

Get back at 'em by bumping up the reserve on your losses for that insurer....

Scam. I saw a real good deal on a boat, and it turned out to be a scam. That is a 12K motor all day long.

Been here before, but....

Google Boat surveyor that is the technical name for that service.

Our ten thousandth member arrived without fanfare. Congrats on both milestones.

I would like to when the time comes, but I don't know if that day will ever come.

Inner bay of Long Point bay

I went to the boat show yesterday, and was amazed at the price for a brand new Ranger bass boat. Over 90,000 with all the bells and whistles. Don't see one of those in my future, ever.

I was referring to this thread: http://ontariofishingcommunity.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77449

Well now I feel un-observant.