By Captain Larry Jarboe
Will Akerstrom took this photo of the three explorers who ventured out of the depths of the mangrove forest. His wife, Margaret, is in the bow. My wife, Carlene, is the flag lady.
There is a rest of the story about our afternoon:
Will and Margaret come down to visit about 4 times a year. We had planned to take a trip out on the Line Dancer. Upon the routine engine check, I spotted a sheared motor mount on the port aft side of the engine. I delivered the bad news that the trip was cancelled but recommended a kayak adventure.
Will is not a small boat person but the ladies were game.
My S4 with the 4 stroke Tohatsu seemed like a good boat to do the job. Of course, it was.
Knowing the tide schedule, I chose the mangrove tunnel that I call Jurassic Park. The ladies were in awe (and, it takes a lot to impress my wife) of the strange animals and eerie quiet vibes in those narrow confines. I assured them that they need not be afraid of alligators and pythons as the crocodiles have eaten them all.
When the creek opened to the ocean, we saw thousands of fish and lots of lobsters in the shallows at the ocean opening.
We took pictures with my disposable flip phone but have yet to figure how to get them out.
My wife noted that the sun was going down soon and we would have to paddle fast to get back.
I said, “No problemo, senora.” One pull on the 3.5 Tohatsu, and we motored our way against the tide through and out of the tunnel.
Upon coming out of the main creek, we spotted Will at the public beach with his camera. He thought we were only going out for fifteen minutes not an hour and a half.
At least, it was not a three hour tour, a three hour tour with Ginger and Mary Ann and Gilligan…
Wow!
Thanks Larry, beautiful photo!
This is definitely not a solo skiff, but a full fledged one.
With the outboard motor and three persons on board, the payload here is around 600 lbs, and the boat hardly drafts at the bow, while drafting about 8-9 inches at the stern.
If Margaret sat on the casting platform while facing backward, with her feet still inside the hulls, the boat would have been a bit more level.
6 lbs of payload for every lb of Polyethylene in the boat – Not too bad!
But these are just a technical comments – The boat looks great, and so do the passengers on board, and everything looks great! 😀
Yoav
Yes Yoav,
Will captured a great picture of three Memorial Day Weekend warriors out on a Wavewalk S4. Our joy is tempered with the memory of the men and women who sacrificed their lives to insure the freedom we enjoy.
I move as much as possible astern with such a passenger and motor payload. Power boats do not see the S4 as a kayak. They slow up for the tippy yaks like the little Hobie whose paddle we recovered after he lost both a paddle and a fish. Planing yachts see the S4 as another real boat and, generally, do not come off a plane. Thus, I try to keep the bow up to ease through close curling wakes.
Larry J.
I get it. Makes sense.
Worse comes to worst, there’s the Wavewalk spray shield 😀