If you're thinking something is wrong with the photo above then
well, you are correct
In the early hours of Tuesday, July 12th, Mike was headed up the Naknek River for his first opener in the new district. After sitting out for 48 hours, which is mandatory after transferring districts, everyone was rested and ready to fish.
Suddenly, the engine died. Mike did everything he could think of to get it going, but nothing worked.
Fortunately, the weather was good, and they were able to get towed by a group member out of the fishing lane, and into a safe area to set anchor. They were towed back to Naknek after the opener, and hauled out of the water.
With the help of an awesome mechanic, they found the apparent cause was a faulty injector that filled the crank case with diesel. They ordered a new set of injectors, and they were in Naknek by Wednesday afternoon. Bristol Bay is very remote, and while they have some parts around, most have to be shipped from Anchorage or Seattle. They installed the new injectors that evening, and got ready to launch at 3am Thursday morning.
Mike started the engine after being towed back to the river, and it didn't sound right. He turned around, went back on blocks, and discovered a bunch of bent rods. The mechanic had high hopes he could fix it by installing new ones, but it didn't work. The Courageous engine is toast, and while there's a small chance that we can install a new one in time to catch the tail end of the run, it's likely the boat is done for the season.
We are in good spirits. While we're sad to be sitting on the sidelines of the biggest Bristol Bay harvest of all time, we are thankful to have caught a lot of fish already. Mostly, we are thankful that the engine failure happened in good weather, and that everyone is safe.
Mike is planning his next move. The crew might hop onto another boat to finish the season. Mike will try to find a boat that needs a relief skipper (something very in demand this time of the year) and will likely finish out the season that way. He's not quitting early and still plans to be out for another few weeks.
This is fishing folks. Sometimes it's really great, and sometimes it's really not.
The good news is, we already caught plenty of fish to keep everyone's' freezers full. So don't worry about that one bit!
We'll keep you posted on what happens next. Right now, we're just living hour-by-hour, trying our best to stay calm. Writing these emails helps me ;-) If you have a chance to send Mike and the crew some positive thoughts, please do! I know they could use them.
When life kicks you down, let it kick you forward...
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