CLOSE CALL ABOARD THE "SNEAKY PETE":
After the war, my friend Jules "Pete" verga invited me to go fishing with him on his boat that he kept docked in Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island. We fished off-shore for Bluefish and caught quite a few. I had never salt water fished and became an instant addict. I became a weekend resident aboard the Sneaky Pete, the name of Pete's boat. We usually passed our days fishing and our evenings at Kubels Bar.
One day in late October, Pete and I were trolling for Striped Bass inside the breaker line along Island Beach, the island just north of Long Beach Island, NJ. The sun was warm for the season, the air calm, and the sea relatively calm. Pete had built an elevated seat for himself on the starboard side where he could control the throttle and steering wheel with his feet so he could cast and fish. All of a sudden, Pete hollered “Hang On” as an unexpected large wave came out of nowhere and broke against the starboard side of the boat and nearly beached her. The following happened in a second or two. Instead of standing on the deck, I was crouched down on the inside gunwale and staring at a startled surf fisherman on the beach. Pete’s legs were dangling and the Sneaky Pete was on her beam end. I figured the boat was going to capsize and I had two choices: jump out and hoped I would clear the boat or stay where I was and let her drop over me. I opted for the second one and then she righted herself. Fortunately, the wave, seeming to atone for its action, carried us out again into deeper water as it receded, leaving us quite shaken. This Sneaky Pete was a Carl Adams 26-foot sea skiff. Carl Adams was a highly respected boat builder on the Jersey coast. We decided the design of the boat saved the day from a calamity.
*for you land lubbers, starboard is the right side of a boat and port is the left side. Gunwale (pronounced gunnel) is the the side of a boat. (Copyright 2014 - Andrew M. Dolan)
After the war, my friend Jules "Pete" verga invited me to go fishing with him on his boat that he kept docked in Barnegat Light on Long Beach Island. We fished off-shore for Bluefish and caught quite a few. I had never salt water fished and became an instant addict. I became a weekend resident aboard the Sneaky Pete, the name of Pete's boat. We usually passed our days fishing and our evenings at Kubels Bar.
One day in late October, Pete and I were trolling for Striped Bass inside the breaker line along Island Beach, the island just north of Long Beach Island, NJ. The sun was warm for the season, the air calm, and the sea relatively calm. Pete had built an elevated seat for himself on the starboard side where he could control the throttle and steering wheel with his feet so he could cast and fish. All of a sudden, Pete hollered “Hang On” as an unexpected large wave came out of nowhere and broke against the starboard side of the boat and nearly beached her. The following happened in a second or two. Instead of standing on the deck, I was crouched down on the inside gunwale and staring at a startled surf fisherman on the beach. Pete’s legs were dangling and the Sneaky Pete was on her beam end. I figured the boat was going to capsize and I had two choices: jump out and hoped I would clear the boat or stay where I was and let her drop over me. I opted for the second one and then she righted herself. Fortunately, the wave, seeming to atone for its action, carried us out again into deeper water as it receded, leaving us quite shaken. This Sneaky Pete was a Carl Adams 26-foot sea skiff. Carl Adams was a highly respected boat builder on the Jersey coast. We decided the design of the boat saved the day from a calamity.
*for you land lubbers, starboard is the right side of a boat and port is the left side. Gunwale (pronounced gunnel) is the the side of a boat. (Copyright 2014 - Andrew M. Dolan)
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