Lessons (Re)learned

by 12

We had a chance on Veterans Day, officially observed this year on November 12, to do something I’ve thought about doing for a while - take some vets out on a free fishing trip. As I’ve said in previous issues, I’ve always believed that it, along with Memorial Day, are our most important holidays. Most basically, we wouldn’t have the other holidays without the sacrifices our military members have made. My own dad and uncle served during WWII in the Army Air Corps and Navy CB’s, respectively, and my brother was an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers during the Viet Nam era, so the day has great meaning personally! The actual genesis of the idea came after I did a “Make a Wish” trip for a young boy a while back. Several friends/customers told me that they would be honored to contribute to any similar ventures. In further discussing that with one of them - Tom Khoury, owner of Action Machinery in Bethlehem, PA - the Vets Day trip idea was born. Tom really provided the impetus when he volunteered to cover all my expenses, if necessary, to make the trip work. All I wanted was fuel, bait, ice and mate money, but Tom insisted that he would even provide breakfast, lunch and, if they wanted, a “cook your catch” dinner at Alonzo’s for the guys as well. I told him that I had multiple resources for contributions and wanted the trip to be a group effort, in order to get as many people involved as possible, but Tom’s offer took the pressure off and really got the ball rolling. He even provided cool Action Machinery logo ball caps for the guys too. My next move was to find a contact who could identify some deserving vets for me. I didn’t want to pick them myself, because I didn’t want it to look as if I was just trying to get a free trip for me and some buds. Two regular White Tarpon morning coffee club guys, Dave Ballard and Paul Burkhart, veterans themselves, suggested that I contact George Brentnall, the Monroe County Director of Veteran Affairs. I did, and he was nice enough to take the time to quickly identify a boatfull of deserving vets. We originally had six, but one had to drop out just before the trip, leaving five. They were a National Guardsman and Air Force Reservist who served in an intervention in the Dominican Republic in the 1960’s; an Air Force Viet Nam War vet; an Army Airborne Ranger Viet Nam War vet; an Army Desert Storm vet; and a recent Marine who served in the Middle East. I was originally going to name them all, but because some details of what happened on the trip - i.e., seasickness - might potentially embarrass a couple of them, I decided to just identify them generally. Out of simple respect for their service time, I don’t wish to risk even a small chance of embarrassment for any of them. Once I was sure we had a trip in place, I sent e-mails in October to several friends/customers advising them of the plan and asking for small contributions. The response was quick and gratifying. I actually had to convince some people to donate less, to try to get everybody involved who wanted to participate and to avoid making a profit for myself. After all, the idea was to make a little sacrifice, not make money. Several people almost fought me to take more money from them, then made me promise to do so if I fell short of my needs. One of them was Brian Ford, the Vice President of Business Administration of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who also took it upon himself to send me Buc ball caps and cheerleader calendars for the guys, me and my mate as well. Fortunately, lots of people came through and it wasn’t necessary to ask for more. Part of the reason was that Gene Smith, owner of the A&B Marina, A&B Lobster House, Alonzo’s Oyster Bar and the White Tarpon Deli Grill, a twenty year vet himself, donated breakfast and lunch sandwiches for the guys. First lesson (re)learned: I have the greatest friends, neighbors and customers any human being could want! Everything was covered - had the guys, had the money - or so I thought. Unfortunately, I didn’t have Mother Nature, at least not on my side. We were set to go at 7 AM, and the wind was howling long before then - 20 MPH+ out of the ENE, with predictions of 5 to 8 foot seas offshore. Potentially great fishing condions - and the offshore dolphin bite had been awesome the day before at about 600 feet - but not a day for timid souls (obviously not a problem with vets!) or touchy stomachs. (As Shakespeare put it, “Ah, there’s the rub!”) The ride out beyond the reef was a roller coaster and, unfortunately, two of the guys got queasy before we ever put a line in the water. Hey, even “tough guys” can get seasick. I tried to slowly nurse the boat out to the desired 600’ depth as smoothly a possible but, after taking a couple of hours to do that with ever-increasing waves as we went, it became obvious at about the 500’ mark that at least one of the guys was going to be absolutely miserable or worse all day. So a quick group decision was made to troll back in to calmer water and then run back to the dock from there to mercifully curtail some needless suffering. The attitude was classic military response - take care of your team members. Second lesson (re)learned: “The best laid schemes o’Mice an’ Men gang aft agley” (Common translation: “The best laid schemes of mice and men often go awry”) (Robert Burns) When we got back in after a total of about three hours with no bites, the two guys who were feeling “punk” got off the boat, as did another who was the friend and driver of the sickest one. I knew the sick guys felt that they were ruining the day for everyone else; I had two guys who wanted to fish all day; I had enough in donations to burn some extra fuel; and my mate and I had nothing better to do. So we decided to head back out with the two remaining vets - Ray Mongeau and Dave Boehringer - and see what we could do in five hours or so to try to save the day. With healthy anglers and knowing there had been no great action in shallower waters, we ran out to the 500’ depth we had left to resume our search for fish. We got a “schoolie” dolphin in about 600 feet on a short “shoestring” of combined sargassum and bay grass. Then, in about 650’, we found a long grass line - a lot of bay grass (not good) but also a good amount of sargassum (very good). We turned and followed it east and found a pallet on it about a quarter mile later. Two passes netted no bites, but I decided to try the old “stop and pop,” i.e., I slowed to a stop, let the baits sink a little, then popped it into gear. Bingo! 20 pound+ wahoo! After that, we continued to get consistent dolphin bites as we went east, boating a dozen more ranging from five pounds to the high teens over the next two hours, losing two other nice big ones right near the boat. So we returned to the dock with one nice wahoo and thirteen decent dolphin in slightly less than five hours of additional trip time. Ray and Dave were rewarded for hanging in and making the best out of a possibly bad situation in the true military spirit of completing the team’s mission even when part of the team goes down. My mate and I felt gratified that we had enabled those guys to enjoy their day and receive at least a small reward for devoting a significant part of their life to serving the rest of us. Third lesson (re)learned: If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, try again.” (William Edward Hickson) So, what could have been a total failure - a fishing trip lost totally to Mother Nature - had a happy ending. Even the guys who didn’t make it out for the second part of the day at least got to know that they didn’t spoil the day for the others, while the two lucky guys who did decide to go back out had a great experience and a Veterans Day to remember fondly. The reason we were able to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat was due totally to my benfactors, who had been so generous that I had no qualms about the cost of the extra fuel involved in making what was essentially two separate trips. They included customers, friends, neighbors, and even a couple of relative strangers who just heard about the idea and wanted to help. I won’t name them all individually, because I don’t want to miss anyone; you probably wouldn’t know them anyway; and they didn’t do it for personal recognition. But they are great people and have my heartfelt gratitude! Interestingly, all of my benefactors told me that they thought that they should be thanking me for letting them contribute, rather than the other way around. Even better, just about all of them said they wanted to do something similar again. So, for Memorial Day next year, we’re going to try to identify a local family, preferably with kids who love to fish, that has lost a member in Iraq or Afghanistan, and provide them a free trip on that date. I know that’s a ways off - May - but it’s never too early to plan. If any of you know of such a family and wish to nominate them, please contact us or the magazine and let us know who they are. Fourth lesson (re)learned: It really feels good to take the time to “give back” and say “thanks.”