seaman campbell
Chief Petty Officer
- Joined
- Mar 16, 2008
- Messages
- 411
Morning started off just like every other morning, except it was my b-day and my wife totally forgot, not a single word while I got ready for work, she called me later in the day and still said nothing, she was leaving for the condo @ north myrtle, she got down there and the kids said hey can we call dad to say happy b-day, so she calls and finally tells me Happy B-Day.
So I finally get off work (11 hours) and come home to load the boat up, for an overnight fishing trip, on the way to the ramp I lost one of my bearing buddies. (brand new) I got to the ramp and got everything ready then pulled down the hill to launch, holy cow the water was up by a couple feet vs. Thursday, (we've had a fair amount of rain this week) no big deal it was only 9 feet. So i took off to one of my favorite places with the intention of pitching a tent and fishing like a mad man. Well needless to say the river had consumed my nice sandy camping spot so I was going to stay on the boat.
I was sitting there and I heard something in the water near me, so I grabbed my spotlight to take a look and OMG a 4 and a half foot water moccasin is right near my boat. I watched it swim for a minute or two and I guess the light really bothered it, because this snake came straight for my boat. It got right to the side and was lifting its body out of the water trying to get over the side. I went fumbling through my gear looking for my machete, could not find the dang thing, I reached up on the dash and hit the ignition and fired the motor up hoping to spook the dang thing away, but, it was a persistent little thing, it made another lap or 2 around the boat and posted up on a tree, I shined the light at it and then disappeared. Let's say this, I HATE SNAKES, not to the point of freaking out or anything but I just really, really don't care for them.
When I got the the sandbar I had tied my boat to a tree (same tree the snake went to) we often use and deployed my anchor on the beach to help me stay put all night, I had also carried extra fuel with me that needed to be stored onshore so I had set those up on the bank as well. So now I decided I would never be able to sleep knowing that dang snake might try to jump in the boat. So I needed to get my things from shore and untie the rope. I could manage to pull the anchor free from the mud, but I had to get in the water to get the other rope and fuel. Holy Cow, It took every ounce of man I had in me to make myself hop off the boat into the water (shin deep) to go get everything. It took me about 15 minutes of searching around my area with my spotlight to make sure the thing was gone before I could do it.
I got the stuff back aboard and got under power to check out another spot, I got near it and what did I see? Another snake, bigger, out in the channel, I decided right then the next stop for the boat was the hill and on the trailer. I got to the hill and managed to get a nice 6 inch slice in my side as I came back from the bow to the cockpit, (got to love a walk thru windshield). I tied up and loaded the boat and came to the house where I knew I could rest.
Wow what a day. One positive for the outing though , I did not have any trouble loading the boat on the trailer, I have been having problems, and this is the first time I was able to drive the boat right up and on.
TC
So I finally get off work (11 hours) and come home to load the boat up, for an overnight fishing trip, on the way to the ramp I lost one of my bearing buddies. (brand new) I got to the ramp and got everything ready then pulled down the hill to launch, holy cow the water was up by a couple feet vs. Thursday, (we've had a fair amount of rain this week) no big deal it was only 9 feet. So i took off to one of my favorite places with the intention of pitching a tent and fishing like a mad man. Well needless to say the river had consumed my nice sandy camping spot so I was going to stay on the boat.
I was sitting there and I heard something in the water near me, so I grabbed my spotlight to take a look and OMG a 4 and a half foot water moccasin is right near my boat. I watched it swim for a minute or two and I guess the light really bothered it, because this snake came straight for my boat. It got right to the side and was lifting its body out of the water trying to get over the side. I went fumbling through my gear looking for my machete, could not find the dang thing, I reached up on the dash and hit the ignition and fired the motor up hoping to spook the dang thing away, but, it was a persistent little thing, it made another lap or 2 around the boat and posted up on a tree, I shined the light at it and then disappeared. Let's say this, I HATE SNAKES, not to the point of freaking out or anything but I just really, really don't care for them.
When I got the the sandbar I had tied my boat to a tree (same tree the snake went to) we often use and deployed my anchor on the beach to help me stay put all night, I had also carried extra fuel with me that needed to be stored onshore so I had set those up on the bank as well. So now I decided I would never be able to sleep knowing that dang snake might try to jump in the boat. So I needed to get my things from shore and untie the rope. I could manage to pull the anchor free from the mud, but I had to get in the water to get the other rope and fuel. Holy Cow, It took every ounce of man I had in me to make myself hop off the boat into the water (shin deep) to go get everything. It took me about 15 minutes of searching around my area with my spotlight to make sure the thing was gone before I could do it.
I got the stuff back aboard and got under power to check out another spot, I got near it and what did I see? Another snake, bigger, out in the channel, I decided right then the next stop for the boat was the hill and on the trailer. I got to the hill and managed to get a nice 6 inch slice in my side as I came back from the bow to the cockpit, (got to love a walk thru windshield). I tied up and loaded the boat and came to the house where I knew I could rest.
Wow what a day. One positive for the outing though , I did not have any trouble loading the boat on the trailer, I have been having problems, and this is the first time I was able to drive the boat right up and on.
TC
I've been on the river many times and this is the first snake of any size I have actually seen. 