All Dressed Up, But No Place to Go. Really Bad News for The Crew. Poor Us!

By Jim Field

Oregon Inlet Journal Entry #2: A short entry this, unfortunately. The week after Thanksgiving the Crew in its entirety--Dan, Jon, Bob, and Jim--headed south to Pirate's Cove with visions of big-time tuna. Collectively, they were suffering from shack fever, desperately needing to get out on the water with a rod in hand. The weather forecast the previous few days was steadily on-the-edge--the next 24-48 hours could go either way: fishable or unfishable. Hours before they decided to make it a "go," the next morning's forecast called for 4-6' seas, 15-20 knot winds from the NE. The feeling was they could get it done, although work would be required.

Later that night, after arriving at the slip and breaking out the gear, an occassional sportfisherman would drive up and ask if we were planning on going. We consistently replied: "yes." Waking the next morning, however, we encountered deflating news. The charter boats a few slips down were not going to go; they had driven over the OI bridge on a scouting mission and conditions in the inlet were deemed "extremely rough." A few more checks with other boats pounded the nail in the coffin: it was a "no go." In one of his more insightful moments, Bob, the quietest member of The Crew, let it all hang out. "Jim," he asked, "know what 'NE' stands for?" "No," I replied, expecting to be goosed. "Well, it means never ever." Thanks Bob. Bummed out, we decided to eat breakfast--hey, what else was there to do? So here we were, ready to go, but reduced to sitting on the pier, like some kind of pathetic bird, gazing into the wind.

What kind of a bird, you ask? Well, a buzzard, if you must know (like that shown in the picture). And why a buzzard in particular? What do you mean by this?

Aha. Ahaaaa. The answer to come: in the next Sportfishing Terminology posting. Can't wait!