Deep Sea Fishing

Deep Sea Fishing Adventure

My wife and I got an invitation, through a friend, to take a complimentary fishing trip into the Atlantic, out of Mayport, FL. We did our best to prepare for the excursion by going to a local bar and celebrating our good fortune the night before. Thoroughly intoxicated, we then closed out the night by eating pork chops and eggs and biscuits with gravy at Famous Amos restaurant. We got up at five AM, still pretty drunk and still full of greasy food, and headed to the dock.

The weather report said we could expect 3-to-5 foot seas, which is not bad. As we headed out for the open ocean, the captain told me the seas would be more like 5-to-7 foot. It meant little to me at the time, but that is a huge difference. The boat does not just go up and down. It goes up and down and rolls from one side to the other and back. There were about other people on the boat, and I noticed that the longer we headed out, the fewer people I could see on deck. When a little boy about six years old hung his head over the side and threw up, I began to get a glimmer of what was happening. When I began to get dizzy and my stomach started rolling, I thought I would go down into the cabin and lie down until I was a little calmer. There was no chance of that because the cabin was full. Everybody’s face was kind of an ashy color.

I tried fishing to take my mind off of being seasick. It did not work. After a few minutes I brought my line in and sat down on the deck. My wife lasted a little longer than I did, but only a little longer. She finally gave up fishing, too. She reeled in her line and leaned her pole against the railing. She then stuck her head through the railing to throw up. We were using squid for bait and her squid was dangling over the railing. She would throw up, recover a bit, and then the boat would rock. When it did that squid would slap her in the side of her face and stick. When the boat rolled the other way the squid would slowly peel off her face, and she would be sick all over again.

It was the longest day of my life. I kept telling my wife (and myself) that seasickness does not kill you, but that was about the only consolation we had. It is not like having some kind of stomach flu; it is much worse. I was never seasick before or since, and I hope it never happens again.