A long time ago I worked as a line mechanic at a large Honda Dealership here in Orange County. Over the two plus decades that I worked there I had met several fellow technicians who also had a keen interest in fishing both the salt and freshwater fisheries. One such person was a tech whose first name was Mike (real name). He worked several years at our dealership and left to go work at a new Honda dealership down in San Juan Capistrano which was closer to his home in Dana Point. Mike also was the owner of a 24-foot Grady White Cuddy Cab boat with a Yamaha 200 horsepower two stroke outboard engine. He really loved to go fishing offshore and anytime there was a yellowtail or tuna bite he would be out chasing kelp paddies fishing.
One day, I got a phone call from him asking me if I wanted to go out on his boat for some inshore fishing on Sunday out of Dana Landing, where his boat was stored. He said one of his work buddies Hector, was also interested in going and that it was his birthday so it would have been a nice way to treat a friend on his special day. I agreed to join them and would meet them at the launch ramp at 6:00 AM with my fishing gear ready to go.
I drove from Santa Ana where I lived, to Dana Point feeling excited because the local fish reports showed fisherman catching Dorados locally under the kelp patties fairly close inshore to Dana Point. Catching local Dorados is something that you don't often see much of here in Orange/LA County waters so there were a lot of guys going out fishing on this particular weekend as the launch ramp was a beehive of activity when I showed up at 5:30 AM.
When I arrived Mike's boat was nowhere to be seen. I called his cellphone and he picked up my call. "I'm at the bait dock getting bait, I'll see you at the launch ramp in a couple of minutes" and he hung up. I was really glad he was getting bait because this would mean a jumpstart on the other guy's paddy hopping and not waiting in the long boat line for bait that morning. A few minutes went by and Mike motored his vessel up to the dock. Hector was already on board and I quickly loaded my gear and off we went.
Heading out of the harbor mouth it looked like everyone was sprinting towards Oceanside pushing their vessels to full throttle. There was definitely going to be some competition this day for finding paddies holding Dorado. Mike was one of those guys that just loves driving his boat and when it came to locating fish he would drive and drive for miles to locate a kelp paddy to fish.
Being this was Hector's birthday; he had made special plans with his wife and daughter to meet up at one of his favorite restaurants that evening when we returned from fishing. As luck would have it, we found a paddy and threw out some bait and Hector managed to get bit. I also hooked up but anyone who has fished for Dorado can attest that hooking one up and keeping it on the hook can be a tricky proposition and mine spit the hook. Hector on the other hand managed to bring in a nice Dorado. It was maybe in the 8-10 lb. class but a nice catch. Off we went seeking another paddy. Mike kept driving further and further out to sea in the direction of San Clemente Island.
For those of you not familiar with how far San Clemente Island is off the Southern California coastline its 60 nautical miles and a very long boat ride. Hector and I were getting somewhat concerned about Mike's driving habits and we were looking to be at least 30 miles or more from Dana Point Harbour. Mike reassured Hector we would be back in plenty of time to make his dinner appointment with family. And so he continued west in the direction of San Clemente Island. After a while, we could make out the faint outline of the island in the distance.
On this day the seas were flat with very little swell. Mike pushed the throttle down and was off to the races, heading towards San Clemente Island at full speed. We shouted to him this was a bad idea and to turn around but to no avail. He wouldn't listen to either Hector or myself. It was like all reasoning had left his head despite our complaints. His destination was Pyramid Cove on the south end of the island to which we had arrived a while later.
Our bait that still remained after the rough full throttle ride to the island was just a few sardines, most of which devoid of scales, red nosed and barely alive. The waters inside the cove were flat and there was little current but Hector and I threw out some sardines and caught a couple sheepshead. They weren't very big and barely large enough to call keepers. After about a half an hour fishing our bait ran out and so did the bite.
I looked out to the mouth of the cove and became alarmed when I noticed the size of the swells just within view. The afternoon breeze picked up and so did the sea swells. " Mike, we need to leave right now and get back home" I firmly asserted. Hector agreed that we were long overdue to returning back to port. So, we left Pyramid Cove and started our return trip.
As soon as we exited the cove it was rough seas. The afternoon chop was really starting to develop and there was no motoring back at full throttle in store. His Grady White boat was very bow light. You could really feel every bump as we hit the swells at awkward angles. I was standing next to Mike and Hector went below to try and get some rest but I didn't think it could even be possible with the boat slamming from one large swell into the next.
After about an hour of hard driving we made about 10 miles from the island and the engine made a loud clunk then just stopped dead. I looked at Mike, and he looked at me with bewilderment. We both were mechanics and in a nano second, the worst thoughts possible in terms of mechanical failures were present to both of us. " That didn't sound good Mike" I uttered. " Yeah, I know" was his reply back. He tried to restart the motor but it didn't crank over. It just made a clicking noise on ever turn of the key.
We went to the back of the boat and removed the large engine cover. Using a wrench from his toolbox it was confirmed the engine had locked up and was frozen. Mike was swearing up a storm saying " Not again, damn it, not again". I asked him what did he mean by that statement? " Well, a couple of years ago it broke a connecting rod and it was a very expensive motor repair" "It's acting the same way as last time", he muttered with a sad tone in his voice.
I was really concerned about our situation and then Hector came up from below deck asking why we stopped the motor? "Hector, the engine threw a rod, it's toast", Mike answered. " You have got to be kidding dude? Please tell me you're just kidding." His voice alarmly queried. "Yup, it's frozen", I added.
Most boater's that have a vessel the size of Mike's, often have a 15-horsepower auxiliary motor but Mike opted not putting one on his boat. We were a vessel 45 miles or more from the mainland, dead adrift, in what was becoming rough seas with 5–6-foot swells present. There was real danger present and we all knew it. "Mike, do you have a sea anchor?" I inquired. " Yeah, it's up under the bow storage" he said. " I think it's time you get it out because it's getting rough and we need to have the bow facing the incoming swells" I stated. He went up to the bow to rig the sea anchor. After he got it deployed the vessel 's bow faced the incoming swells and added a degree of stability to the vessel.
There was a proverbial large white elephant on board to which we all could not stand by and ignore. What next?
"Mike, you have Vessel Assist right?" I asked. "Well sort of" he replied. " I think my coverage lapsed a couple of months ago". " Well, I'm not swimming back so you better get on the radio and give them a call and get them out here" I stated. " Well, they're going to charge a lot of money to tow us back in. Let me see if I can get one of my buddies to give us a tow in?" he replied back. He then tried to get his friend on the VHF radio but to no avail. "Mike, give Vessel Assist a call please", I again requested. He radioed Vessel Assist on channel 16 to which the Long Beach branch office answered back. They asked for our coordinates to which Mike gave them. " Sir, you are 46 miles from Dana Point your home port" the man informed us. "We can't come out that far to reach you at this time because we had another call come in before you. I'll see if our vessel in Avalon at Catalina Island can come out and get you. I'll get back to you as soon as I can." then radio silence.
A little while later the operator from Vessel Assist contacted us to let us know that the boat operator from Catalina will come out to our rescue and tow us to Dana Point Harbour. I was relieved until they inquired to Mike's membership number to Vessel Assist and they found his membership indeed lapsed several months ago. We were to be fully charged for the tow. Mike started to inquire if he could get some discount having been a longtime member in standing who just let his membership lapse but they weren't giving any charity to him. I turned to Mike and with a very angry tone in my voice stated " Stop trying to bargain with our lives Mike. Tell them we'll pay and to get here fast as possible because the sun is going down". Hector also agreed with my statement to Mike with a nod of his head. "Please send your tow vessel out, we'll be waiting" he replied to the man on the radio with a defeated tone in his voice.
The sun was slowly sinking into the horizon. The swell was getting more alarming with every passing hour we waited for the Avalon tow vessel’s arrival. Finally, off in the horizon, a vessel appeared in route to our location. Once the tow vehicle arrived, we communicated as to how the tow operator wanted to hook up our vessel for the towing. He wanted to use the bow eye in front of the boat but due to the roughness of seas could not get his hook on our bow eye and was forced to do a cradle tow using both cleats on the sides of our boat. As he powered his vessel forward, we were about 25-30 yards behind him. Our vessel swayed in and out of the deep troughs created from the swells. To make matters worse, our tow vessel was a diesel-powered vessel, and the fumes blowing back into us were really toxic smelling. I don’t think I ever saw anyone throw up over the side of a boat more than poor Hector. What a rotten birthday present! I too, was close to losing my stomach contents more than once on our 6.5-hour tow back to Dana Point Harbour.
We landed at the guest dock at 12:30 AM. I got out of the boat back on dry land and the tow operator was tallying up the bill with Mike. The bill came out to $1200.00 to which Mike again tried bargaining down the sum of the bill with the man. The tow operator explained that the bill not only included him coming 18 miles from Avalon to us, then a 45-mile tow into Dana Harbour but also his time back to Avalon. Mike was really at a loss for words. He turned to me and stated his Mastercard wouldn’t cover the whole bill. He then asked me if I could cover the remaining amount of the tow bill to which I really didn’t see much of a choice in the matter, so I handed over my Mastercard to the Tow boat operator. Hector was the smarter person present and just left. I was charged $400.00 on my credit card. I told Mike I expected payment back to which he replied I owed him money for bait and fuel costs to which I agreed to pay and left to go home. I couldn’t even go to work the following day due the hour I had gotten home and was really beaten up from the previous day’s ordeal.
I tried several weeks later to recover monies owed to me with excuse after excuse to why he couldn’t pay me the money owed. Finally, I just gave up trying to recoup my loan. Its been 20+ years and I haven't heard from him. I figure he owes me at least $350.00. I believe in karma. I hope Mike fixed his boat only to watch it sink into the ocean and his boat insurance had lapsed. Final note : Mike, sending a check to the address on home page will give you a lifetime of good karma.
