After some serious deliberation, my wife & I agreed that I should launch the 'eye ship and go fishing. Sunday morning, PC skies, moderate wind, moderate temps. Hit the ramp on the Causeway off 334 in Seven Points ready to rock & roll.

Now, launching the 'eye ship alone (wife was home working on some higher education assignment) can be a chore but I've done it many times. Should mention here that I did leave many very critical items at home, like my cell phone and sun glasses (that'll play in later).

The 'eye ship has some excellent features, like the 24 volt bow mount trolling motor (must be fully charged for best results), the Bimini top (must have on board if you want full benefit), my devils tackle box (handy if you want to toss some devils tackle), seat for the front deck (helps if you want to use the bow mount trolling motor, also must be on board), and my brand new map of Cedar Creek Lake (helpful for navigating new waters).

Soooooo, I launched her with all these missing parts, figured I had the important things, like my fly rod and plenty of gas. Ran south of the 334 bridge, headed towards the bridges at 198. Boat was runnin fast (for a big boat) 45 mph at 3/4 throttle fully planed out, I saw the island.....

Figured I could go left or right, chose the left side, ran her hard into the sand in about a foot of water. Dangit, I saw the bottom coming up fast on the sonar, but not that fast, dangit!

Got my head together, no boat or engine problems, just freakin STUCK. Pushed and pulled for a while, no luck. After an hour, I figured I'd call the wife and have her find me some help, alas, no cell phone. DUMB

A good neighbor (I don't know this man, but a true gentleman) jumped in from shore, waded out and helped push me back to deeper water. Let me tell you, a 19.5 ft deep-v aluminum boat with a 150 hp outboard don't push through the sand real easy, but we got it out. Spent the next 2 hours cruising (very carefully) around Cedar Creek Lake, nice lake, lots of really dangerous shallow spots. Got some serious sun without the Bimini top & sun glasses, didn't have any tackle to toss on my recently re-strung spinning gear, dang trolling motor was dead, so no dock fishing (and I didn't have the seat anyway).

Thought about throwing a clouser on the 8 wt, shaking too hard to tie on a clouser.... Didn't eat much breakfast. Better next time I hope

BHR

There are some really tricky spots in that lake, especially with how low the water is. Its easy enough to get grounded in spots you are used to cruising through. Sounds like a rough trip, but at least she was running well!

Dude.

I'm sending SWTRHWMBO over there post haste to give you a crash course in list making and contingency planning.

I shan't lecture on the lack of sun protection, but you've got to remember that, even though it looks hilly around there, the underwater topography just isn't that far underwater...especially in a drought. Somewhere not that far from where you were there is a stump that is a few feet under the surface on wet years. It's probably currently a lower-unit assassin.

On the plus side, I'll bet it will be a while before you forget most of those items again. And maybe, just maybe someone* will read your post and think a little harder about what they have (and don't have) in the boat before they leave.

You're a good man to share this adventure with us and being able to laugh at yourself doesn't hurt. In that spirit, if you haven't already, have a look at my recent adventures in boating: http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbthreads.php/topics/6080399/all/The_Only_Thing_Worse_Than_Not_






*It wouldn't hurt me to check the boat more carefully before departure.

This is exactly what would happen to me if I owned a boat! Next time can I come along?

Tex,

I did need some better supervision/planning, but in my own defens, we cleaned out the boat Saturday, with most of the items I left behind stowed securely in the shed. Biggest thing was leaving the cell phone at home, we all make navigational mistakes now and then.

Matt, anytime bud. I'll need help pushing the boat out of the sand! (and, there's some pretty good fishing on Cedar Creek)

BHR

Yessir, you're right about that. I sure wasn't casting stones. My glass house is too close to the quarry for that.

No offense taken, we did laugh (really, LOL at our house yesterday). Will need to replace the prop, I have a new one in the box, never used. I've got a really good marine band radio on board, but the antennae is broke, so I need to fix that. Also need a good dose of COMMON SENSE, is there a pill for that?

What a day...