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Long Overdue Thanks to Nick Berto and Chris Ferry!

I've been meaning to get this posted, because I wanted to share an experience that I had on Lake Washington a few weeks ago on a mid week outing.  After launching at Mercer, Austin Heyer and I recognized Nick's boat as he and a buddy were close to the I 90 bridge.  Little did I realize how critical that would be as we put the hammer down and headed all the way up past juanita toward Kenmore.  Everyone knows how rough the lake can be when the wind gets up around 15 MPH and this was no exception! I've had my boat on plenty of big rough water including Lake Erie so I wasn't concerned safety wise but it did make for a rough ride and some tough fishing.  After making it up to the North end of the Lake and fishing for about 30 minutes, Austin finally put a largemouth in the boat, and after fishing for another 30 minutes and fighting the wind we decided it was time to move into a more "protected bay".  We moved south to Juanita Bay and pushed back in and started fishing but the bay wasn't protected at all and we ended up working with the wind as it pushed us due east towards the back of the bay.  Just as we reached the end of the docks we decided we needed to keep moving back south as the wind seemed to be getting stronger and stronger and the whitecaps were steadily blowing straight into us.   We were setting in about 5-7 feet of water off the end of the docks and I turned the boat straight into the whitecaps trimmed all the way down and prepared to holeshot out of there when in a split second we crested a wave at the same time I hit the throttle and I felt the skeg and prop bottom out and boat alarm went off. I quickly shut the motor off but as I slammed the shifter back into neutral I knew something was very wrong!  I had no resistance in the shifter in either forward or reverse and as the wind kept pushing us further into back into the bay I jumped on my trolling motor to keep us out of the docks and although I like to believe I can keep a pretty calm head in most situations knowing I was without any power other than my TM and no boat launch anywhere close to where we were; I have to admit panic started to set in.

 

As I wrestled the waves with the TM, I trimmed the outboard all the way out of the water to look for visible damage.  My 3 blade stainless had some dings on the blades which indicated I likely hit a rock and a small chunk out of the skeg between the prop and the skeg indicated that something might have been temporarily wedged between the prop and skeg until something gave.  Later I'd find out that something that gave was my driveshaft as it sheared in half, but for the time being, there was no other damage showing and no oil or fluid leaking so it was hard to tell the extent of the damage. 

 

My first call was to Limit out Marine where I talked to Chris Ferry and Daniel but knowing the motor would start but there was no shifter resistance didn't give them many options to have me try.  Fortunately Chris's tournament partner is Nick and he knew Nick happened to be out that same day, and he was able to reach Nick and then get me his number.  I felt horrible that I had to cut into someone elses fishing day and to have to ask for help but I had absolutely no options.  Nick was completely selfless and although he wasn't anywhere near us he quickly agreed to come to our rescue.  I honestly still wasn't sure what our next move was because the wind was just getting stronger and this was going to be a hell of a tow to the closest launch.  We quickly got our tow ropes together  and created as much distance between our boats as possible and Nick proceeded to tow us down past Yarrow Bay towards the small launch in Kirkland off 85th.  As we approached the small dock my heart sank as I quickly noticed a concrete divider post setup and locked right in the middle of the launch lane at the base of the ramp.  I tied Austin off at the dock with the boat, and Nick waited offshore as I scrambled across the lot looking for anyone associated with the launch.  As luck would have it, I actually found someone and after a few calls and a bit of begging, she agreed to get the key to unlock and remove the post, and to wait for me while Nick took me back to the launch at Mercer, and I grabbed my rig and drove back to the kirkland launch.  So in the end alls well that ends well but what an adventure!

 

My boat is currently waiting for a new Lower Unit to arrive, and although I'll be out a grand for my deductible, I'm thankful that my insurance covered the remainder.   So now that all the dust has settled I wanted to recap my little adventure and to dole out some praise where it's long overdue.  First let me say that I've helped my share of fisherman and pleasure boaters and I've never hesitated to do so but this is the first time I've had to be truly rescued and it's a sucky feeling.  Nick and I had never formally met before that day but he could tell how upset I was given the circumstances and the first words out of his mouth were "hey man we're family this is what we do"!  I can't describe the feeling of relief I felt just hearing those words it meant the world and it's the epitome of the class and selflessness that we should all strive to exhibit both on and off the water.

 

The other thing that this experience drove home for me was just how important it is to be prepared.  I fish by myself quite often and I never really think too much about the "what if" scenarios that frankly can happen in an instant!  What if we didn't have cell phones?  My wife was the only other person who knew I was out on that body of water.  What if neither Nick nor I had a sufficient tow rope...between the two of us we were covered but if all we had was a relatively short rope, it would have been impossible to control the tow, and likely resulted in another accident.  If Austin hadn't been with me, I would have had no choice but to tie my boat off at the Kirkland dock and hope for the best which could have resulted in stolen tackle, a smashed boat from the waves or who knows what.  All I know is i was thankful he was with me!

 

So that's my story..... Nick, you without a doubt saved my ass that day, and I can't tell you how thankful I am.  Chris Ferry, thank you so much for tracking Nick down and arranging for us to get in contact with each other.  Austin thanks for staying with the boat and reminding how great it was that you caught that fish early in the morning...if I didn't need you to secure my boat, I would have thrown you in the lake! :) HAHAHA...just kidding man!  Russ thanks for calling me back to make sure I got in contact with the right people despite the fact that you were in Pasco heading to your tournament!  Daniel, thank you for the quick teardown and assessment!  And last but not least Kirkland parks lady (I forget your name) thank you for having a heart and tracking down the people to unlock that post and waiting for me to return!

 

Thanks for reading....be safe out there, and remember..no matter how much experience you have, make sure someone knows where you are, have some essential safety gear with you and oh yeah, it never hurts to have a little luck on your side when you need it most!

 

Good luck and safe fishing!

Dave

 

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Comment by D.J. LaRoche on May 25, 2012 at 4:29pm

This doesn't surprise me at all.  Chris and Nick are both first class nice guys.  The bass fishing community in general is made up of solid people.  Chad, I can't believe a fellow bass angler just passed you up on the pass.  That really sucks.  I have, and will always at least stop to see if I can help.  I know most of the guys I hang with would do the same.  Now, a ski boat might be a different story. 

Comment by Ronald Hobbs, Jr. on May 25, 2012 at 2:51am

Good story guys! In the future for anyone else is out on Lake Washington and they have something go wrong and there is no other options, There is a vessel assist company on Lake Washington I have seen towing broken down boats, Lake Washington is also a navigable waterway so the Coast Guard also has jurasdiction over the lake, one other thing to remember is that the Mercer Island Police Department also is hired by other cities around the lake to patrol their waterways, even if they don't have a crew on the lake I am sure they would have contacts in order to get some help. 

Comment by kzoo on May 24, 2012 at 11:11am

Wow!  What a story.  Glad you made it out okay.  

Very noble of Nick and Chris.  Karma will return the favor.

It's always in the back of my mind of "what if you're stranded out there".  I looked into towing service in Lake Washington and nothing appears to be available at a moments notice.  

I fish quite a bit on Lake Washington and live a few minutes from the Newport launch.  I'd be willing to put my name and number for fellow bass fisherman is need of assistance.  

 

Comment by Tag Watson on May 23, 2012 at 8:35pm

Great story and hats off to Nick and Chris!

Comment by Nick Berto on May 23, 2012 at 1:10pm

Thanks for taking me away from the good fishing Dave (I caught one while I was on the phone with him too)! Kidding aside, I’m  glad I could help. Having my motor blow up on me last year, I know the feeling. I was staying out of the nasty weather that day and had planned on just staying down there but when I found out that you needed help and where you were , I didn’t even think twice about going to help, done! 

When Dave called, I could hear how upset and the concern in his voice, he didn’t know what to do but I told him my idea of towing him to Kirkland and bringing him down to his truck, he agreed and we were off. It was a LONG AND WET tow with fighting those waves but I’m just glad everybody was safe and our plan worked out.

I really do consider our bass fishing community a big extended family and would help most in need if I could, especially at a time like this. I would hope to get the same type of help from others if I was ever in this type of situation. I hardly know Dave but it didn’t matter, it’s what we do! And good karma will always come around IMO.

And Chris is no doubt one of the greatest guys I know, on and off the water (as most of you who have spent any time around him know). I’m blessed to have him as a close friend and fishing partner. If anybody has any boat issues, in an emergency situation like this or a simple fix, don’t hesitate to call him, his service is top notch and he’s always willing to help.  Russ is lucky to have him at LOM.

Comment by Chad Simon on May 22, 2012 at 6:11pm

Way to go guys! Nick and Chris were already first class in my book, but this exemplifies that. I've been on the sour end of what I felt was a classless act where I was broke down in North Bend heading toward Tri-Cities with my boat, and someone who will remain anonymous just drove right past with their boat in tow. I thought to myself, man I wouldn't do that in a million years to a fellow angler. At least pull off, and make sure there is nothing I can do to help. I feel we're indeed a tight-knit community, and what comes around goes around. Most people get it, and are genuine people! Good job gentlemen!

Comment by Jerry on May 22, 2012 at 6:02pm

Great post, David. Glad it worked out for you and great job to the folks that helped!

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