Ah, what might have been...

Dad called last night, asked if I wanted to go out 30 miles after some grouper with him and my cousin's husband and son. So I got down to his place at 6am, we got the boat loaded, and headed out. Beautiful morning - Lemon Bay was smooth as glass, just a whisper of a breeze. Had live well full of pinfish, some frozen bait, sandwiches and snacks, drinks. Folks have been catching their limits - 4 grouper each. So we could catch 16 grouper, plus maybe some other fish.

We motored out to the bay from my dad's house, through the No Wake Zone on the south side of the Englewood bridge, and when we got to the main channel, Dad gave the throttle to the twin 250 Yamahas. About half way to getting on plane, the port side motor revs up real high and we lose power. Dad throttled back, we looked at each other and both said, "Spun the prop!".

So we motored back in with one motor, put the boat back on the lift, threw the pinfish back in the pillow trap, put up the fishing gear, hosed down the boat, and Dad started calling around to see if anybody was open that would have a prop.

What are the chances of finding a 14 1/2 x 23 Yamaha counter-rotating prop on the Fourth of July? About the same as having Kate Upton, Jessica Biel and Sofia Vergara all call me in the morning to see if I'm willing to cheat on my wife.

Spent a couple of hours sitting around BSing and swapping fishing stories, then I headed back home about noon. Disappointed that we couldn't go fishing, but it's always good to spend some time with my Dad. So maybe next time we can go out and slay the grouper!