Fish Tale #1

Years ago, as keen crayfishers but not having our own boat, we went out to sea in a friend's rubber duck. Not the ideal boat for fishing from.  The ring-nets were set and we pottered up and down the Kommetjie coastline while waiting for the crayfish to start feeding on the bait.  There was a gentle breeze and the sun glittered off the azure sea.  Life was good.

Time came to pull the nets up.  Everyone leaned over the side in anticipation.  It's heavy, must be a jackpot!  One last heave and a net full of tail-flapping, water-gushing crayfish was dumped into the tiny space in the rubber duck, accompanied by a 3-foot shark.

Panic ensued as the shark thrashed about. Nowhere to go except overboard! Not even a gunwale to stand on.  Instead of grabbing the shark by the tail and giving it its first taste of space flight, somehow an oar got involved and smacked the shark's head against the air compartment of the rubber duck.

"Phhhhhhttt! as the air gushed out.  The shark's teeth had ripped the rubber!

Within seconds it was overboard, laughing airbubbles at us as it disappeared into the depths, leaving us with a rapidly deflating side of a small boat.  Strong hands held the side up to prevent us from taking on too much water as the skipper revved the engine and we headed back to shore at the rate of knots before we slid unceremoniously into Davy Jones' locker!  Much bailing of water took place on the way.

In a manner of speaking, we had had the wind taken out of the sails of our complacency, and we were once again reminded that the sea should be respected at all times, as the slightest incident can turn into a possible disaster when we are out of our element.

Although we have laughed about it ever since, we have never fished from a rubber duck again, and any future fish tales will be told from the deck of a sturdy 19-foot GRP skiboat with 2 engines and full safety equipment!!