28 | BOATINGMAG.COM | MARCH 2018I LEARNED ABOUT BOATING FROM THIS ÉTHE SAFEST ROUTE
A fast-moving front teaches a long-lasting lesson.
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$100 West Marine gift card.T
hrough membership in an online B.A.S.S. forum, I met some great
fishermen across the country, befriending one who lived close to me
and planning a bass fishing trip on Lake Okeechobee with him. He
wasn’t familiar with Big O, but I have fished it for 40 years, participat-
ing in many open and club tournaments. As such, my friend placed all of his
confidence in my knowledge of where to go, what to throw, and not getting lost
in over 700 square miles of water and swamp.
My friend brought two buddies, with the understanding that one would ride
with me in my 15-foot Back Country flats boat, and he and the other friend
would fish his 17-foot Nitro. We launched out of Clewiston, taking the Rim
Canal to Bay Bottom, a long ride but
calm and safe, and one not requiring
formal navigation.
We fished through the morning,
exploring deeper and deeper into small
weedy trails. A few times we chewed
through it with our outboards. At about
11:30 a.m., I noticed dark clouds to the
south. But since they were moving
east, we fished on, and I kept an eye on them. Suddenly, the clouds changed
direction. There was a definitive squall line moving toward us. Fast.
“We have to go,” I stated.We had two options. We could go
back around the Rim, a 13-mile run
along the shore, or cut across the
open lake for about 6 miles. The sec-
ond option seemed better to avoid
getting wet. Now, I’ve never need-
ed a compass or GPS to fish Big O
and knew if I pointed my bow north-
west we would eventually see “the
Cylinder” — a large round weather
station at the end of the Clewiston
Channel leading us back to port.
We took off at wide-open throt-
tle across the lake. The others had
full confidence in my ability to lead
them to safety. Then the squall
caught up to us and, at the same time,
I heard a piercing beeeeep, beeeeep —
my outboard had started to overheat!
Mud and weeds were in the cooling
system, and I couldn’t clear it. Light-
ning was striking so close that the
hair on our necks stood straight up.
We laid all the fishing rods down,
and after reversing my engine several
times, I was able to cool it and run
again. The wind picked up, visibil-
ity went down, and since we were
now halfway across the lake, land had
disappeared. The swells were so big,
I kept stuffing my bow. We finally
made it to the channel and the docks
after overheating a few more times.
We were very lucky.
Looking back, we should have
chosen the safer but longer route
through the canal rather than head-
ing for open water with a storm.
It would have taken longer, and
we would have driven through miles
of rain, but we would have avoided
mortal danger and had a shoreline
available in which to ditch and find
safe cover.
Ronald Milisci
Plantation, FloridaThen the squall line caught
up to us, and I heard a
piercing beeeeep, beeeeep —
my outboard had started
to overheat!ILLUSTRATION: TIM BOWER