# Tuna, Dolphin , Triple Tail and Coast Guard Tow-in



## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

WOW , what a weekend of fun , sun , good weather and decent fishing that all ended with a bang Sat night on the way to swordfish for the first time in a year.

Left the dock late sat because we had issues with our coolant levels after having the boat repaired last week. The heat exchanger was removed and worked on and the boat was put back together and ready to fish for the weekend. When we got in the coolant level was low , so we waited till the AM to get the guy who repaired her over to look. We topped her off with less than a quart of fuild and all seemed fine.

We pull out the pass at 11 am and by 1 pm or so we find a whale shark with tuna all over it. We stay there and fish for a hour or so landing 4 -30 pound class blackfin and headed on when the fish sounded for good with thier buddy MR whale shark. We then decided to head south to teh rip Roffs showed south of the squiggles.

Along the way we saw tons of bait and flyers but nothing really worth stopping and or trolling for. Around 5 or so we put the lines in blue water and trolled around the area roffs showed on the map as better water. We finally get one 20 pound dolphin in open water and nothing else as darkness fell . Lines in at 8:30 or so and onward to the spur while the ribs cooked on the grill.

At 9:30 i heard the engine making some power loss noises and ran to the helm to see we are over heating and pulled her back . Once i pulled her back she died and never restarted again. The coolant had leaked bone dry and the motor over heated and we where dead on the water 68 Miles from Port.

The next step after trying to get her back running was to hail coast guard on 16 but because of our distance and weak radio signal we couldnt talk , so i was able to relay position and issue to the CG through the other boat ( Thanks COOL BREEZE) till we got the telephone number to call them on the sat phone. All arragments where made through teh sta phone and they dispatched a 87 foot cutter names "COBIA" to come get us. 

well since it was going to be 5 hours till they get to us we decided to get the under water lights on and fish for swords and what ever we could catch. during this time we landed 9 nice dolphin fish and one triple tail that i netted up. Then around 2:30 am the coast guard showed up and boarded us to see if they could start us back up , and after seeing that we were dead hooked us up and towed us in at 10 knots toward Panama City Beach Florida.

At day break we put two lines in for the heck of it and began to fish and had decent luck hooking up but bad luck reeling them in at 10 knots so we only laned a few extra fish for the box , but heck we were fishing !

We get to 20 miles and see seatow waiting for us who then towed us back the last 20 miles staright to our dock where our misery ended finally. We managed to catch a nice box of fish and still make it home around the time we were expected and all were safe thanks to the US CG & SEATOW:thumbup:


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## WW2 (Sep 28, 2007)

Grats on getting out and glad everyone is safe.


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## team_A_II (Mar 31, 2009)

Sorry to hear, we were out at the spur doing some swording and went 0 for 2.... much respect for the USCG, they are always on the ball.


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## jennifershark (Sep 4, 2008)

Biologists at the University of Southern Mississippi’s Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) in Ocean Springs, Mississippi need your help!

In order to understand whale shark occurrence, distribution and movement in the northern Gulf of Mexico, GCRL biologists will spend many days over the next few weeks deploying satellite tags on whale sharks in the region.

You CAN HELP by reporting whale shark sightings promptly, so we know where to direct our search efforts. 

To Report a Sighting:
Please complete the survey at Whale Shark Research in the Northern Gulf of Mexico - Gulf Coast Research Laboratory 

Information that is helpful to us includes:



Time and duration of encounter
Location (GPS coordinates)
Approximate size and number of sharks
Observed behavior
Associated species
Photos/video (especially of the region behind the gill slits on the left side of the animal—this is used for identification) 
Any other distinguishing features (i.e. numbered marker tags located behind the dorsal fin—please notate number)
 
Your participation is greatly appreciated and vital to a better understanding of whale shark movements and habitat in the Gulf of Mexico. Thank you.

Now join us on facebook: Gulf Coast Research Laboratory Whale Shark Sighting Survey | Facebook


Reply:
If you are willing and able to help us spot while we are out there please contact me directly at [email protected] so I can tell you how to get in touch with us out there.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Keep us posted on what turns out with your engine/mechanic. Hoping for the best for you!


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## PELAGIC PIRATE (Oct 10, 2007)

MSYellowfin said:


> Keep us posted on what turns out with your engine/mechanic. Hoping for the best for you!


So far i was able to find out myself that the Heat exchanger i had worked on was the failure that caused the over heat. While putting the boat away on sunday i discovered by trying to fill the radiator tank that the water was leaking straight into the bildge out the pressure valve on the bottom of the heat exchanger. So for sure this was the cause of the coolant that lead to the over heat., Because the motor could not be filled at sea, nor at the dock due to the leak .....the motor will not start. We are pretty sure that the motor is fine but we will find out when they fix the exchanger and fill all the fuilds back up , change the oil and any rubber parts that could have over heated and crank her up.

There is no sign of water in the oil , and the motor cut off itself hopefully due to a failure system in the dash. If this is the case , i think we may have skirted total disaster , but wont know for sure till they get down there to do the work. 

On another note , my Mechanic has stated he will stand behind his work and fix me back to good again no matter what the issue may be at this point .........He said he will handle it and not to worry :thumbsup:


So for now we are sitting back and waiting for the news good or bad.



Thanks, Mike B.


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## lastcast (Oct 12, 2007)

Well hopefully your mech. will do you right, wish you luck.


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## MSViking (Oct 11, 2007)

Mike. I sincerely hope your engine is ok looks like you could be back up by the tournament!


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## HateCheese (Oct 2, 2007)

Sounds like one interesting trip, thanks for posting it. Sure stinks that you were towed in, but since you were that far offshore plenty of other worse things could have happened. glad they didn't and you got back w/ some fish in the box.


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