A little help from Liberty !!!

As we continue to search for the crabs in the inland back waters,  the kids repeat lines from Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch. Complete with all the bleeps! Sarah slams her fist and exclaims, "I want the crab count and I want it now!" A regular Jr. Capt Sig. Never a dull moment with this gang.

And a special thanks to Clyde Umphlette of Liberty Marine ( a link to Liberty's website is in the Friends Section of the sidebar ). He met us in the river to tune the engine. I jumped into Clyde's boat and he hopped in ours. Josiah drove while Clyde did his magic. Now the engine runs GREAT !!!  After we switched back, Josiah said, "Dad, Mr. Clyde trusted me to drive while he worked." "Yes he did son. He sure did."  Josiah is a good 'hand' (deckhand), he has more time at the helm than most adults, he can read the water, and understands the rules of the road. 

Clyde's help was sorely needed because a good steady idle is important while pulling pots. We approach the pot from down stream so the boat is heading directly into the current. This does a couple of things. One, the buoy will be at the end of the outstretched line so there is little chance of getting the prop entangled. Secondly, it allows the driver to move gently up the line toward the trap so that the 'striker' (the person pulling the pot) is taking up slack rather than taut line. That makes a difference after pulling a pile of pots.

I have the only 11 year old who smells like Ben Gay!