The three stooges were amateurs at screw-ups when compared to us.
Don and Paul and I have been fishing together for years. There have been very rare occasions when nothing bad happened, but that has not been the usual. Yesterday was another regular trip for us, the first of the year.
Connie asked why we going when rain was forecast. I said we were only fishing in the morning and rain wasn't forecast until afternoon. I didn't take a raincoat and neither did Paul. When we stopped at Don's he had on a raincoat, probably because his wife, Pat, advised him on that. Paul borrowed a raincoat and I dug my emergency raincoat out of my boat tackle bag.
We have always tied the boat to the dock when launching. This is to hold the boat while we get in. Lately instead of just tying up, I have asked Paul to back the boat off the trailer before tying to the dock. Don and Paul always handle the boat tie-up while I return the trailer to the parking lot. Yesterday they decided to do something different.
Since it was the first trip of the year, the fuel lines were not connected to the motors. This proved to be a disaster as Paul and Don's new thing was to drive the boat to the dock and then attach the the ropes to the dock...except Paul couldn't figure how to attach the fuel line to the motor. Granted the 9.9 hp motor has a different connector than the 25Hp motor, and it certainly confused him. I didn't realize what was happening, but as I walked down the ramp toward the dock I saw this.
With a steady west wind Paul was a long way out with no fuel line attached. I tried to yell across the lake to tell him how to connect it, but he could barely hear me. As he drifted away Don told me they had decided not to tie up like they usually did. I kept yelling "it's the silver connection above the tiller"
Finally Paul figured out the connection and got the motor started and came in to pick up Don and me. This was, of course, my fault for not connecting the fuel line before going out. Somehow in the confusion the connection to the fuel tank was also reversed so we were also leaking gasoline. We got that fixed and finally started to fish.
The lake was really full of algae and we didn't have much luck. Eventually we headed for a cove and Paul caught a crappie. A while later I caught a bass, and Don caught a really nice saugeye.
Don wears a nice Gilley hat which is an expensive fishing hat like the one Paul wears. We moved out of the cove into the wind and Don swore and said "My hat blew off". He also said "it should float", so I turned the boat around to try and fish it out. It was soaked. Note that Don is wearing my ugly emergency hat as a replacement.
Then it started to rain. It was only 10:00 am but obviously the forecast was wrong, again. We headed to the dock. I gave Don my keys so he could back the trailer in. As Paul and I waited we heard the usual car alarm and we both said "Don found the truck" because Don always pushes the wrong button.
As we waited for the trailer, I connected the 25 HP motor and eventually got it started. We had plenty of time as Don usually makes gets the trailer sideways a couple of time. I did snap a photo as he finally lined up the trailer. I shot a video of his attempts but it's too long for this feed.
So do you think we are the latest version of the three stooges? Nyuck, nyuck, nyuck!
