Thursday, June 19, 2008

CAPSIZE IT

My name is Zelda and I live in the Florida Keys, this day was a day to remember. A beautiful day down in the Keys as it is in Paradise. A couple of friends and myself set off to do a little dophin fishing. Out pretty far in the shipping lanes where we finally hooked a good one. I founght the dolphin for over an hour until I finally landed it and brought it into to the boat. A 48 pound bull dolphin tucked away in the fish box, one for the trophy wall.

Satisfied with the days catch, it was time to head back in and get cooking. Well as it sometimes happens we couldn't get the boat started, with all the distractions we never looked around us. Coming toward us was a freighter, we got on the radio and tried to call them. Then it was time to shoot some flares, well that didn't work, tried to shoot one across the bow as the freighter came closer and closer. Nothing was happening but all we knew was it was too late for them to turn the freighter now even if they did see us. Grabbed some life vests and put them on made our last frantic call to the coast guard. Jumping in the ocean and starting to swim as far away from the aproaching freighter as we could get.

Closer and closer we were screaming at them and didn't see anyone on deck as the freighter passed the boat so close that it capsized!!! I can tell you it was a scary sight, bad enough our legs were dangling with a couple thousand feet of water under us and now almost run over by a freighter, they wouldn't have even felt a little bump had they hit the boat. All the panic over with, all I could think about was my fish in the fish box, what can I do? I swam up under the boat and unlatched the fish box grabbing my prize dolphin, nearby was a life vest. I put the life vest on my fish so that we were all neatly floating and waiting for our Coast Guard rescuers.

After floating for over an hour the Coast Guard arrived to rescue us, coming over quickly thinking we had a child with us, but it was my fish in a life vest. The officer told us that they wouldn't be able to let me take the fish. I simply told them to forget it, because I am not loosing this fish after all that work, I will swim back. The officer called the boss and we all got rescued.

What happened to the frieghter, well the Coast Guard finally caught up with it in Lousiana, and there was nothing they could do to them. The boat, well the tow service came out and called it a salvage job, for 12 thousand dollars we could have it back. All I know is I have a beautiful trophy on my wall.

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