Reinventing Mike Lake (10 page)

              “Those are just a few of the things people have caught while out on the boat.  The more expensive things people have taken with them.”

              “It’s so big out there, how often do people catch something that isn’t a fish?”

              Expecting the question, Tommy answered as soon as I sputtered the last syllable “More than you would think,” then announced to the rest of the collection of people, “Okay, everyone onto the boat!”

              After bringing the gear on and releasing us from the dock, Tommy got into the spiel he’s probably told a million times.  He told the adults they can wear a life-jacket if they want, but don’t have to, but all the children are required by law to do so.  He also introduced us to Bob, a man with long black hair and wearing a tie-dyed long sleeved shirt, and Casper, the boat’s captain.  All told there were about 15 of us on the party boat that morning.

              When we had been cruising for about 20 minutes, Tommy began to set up the fishing rods, and started talking to the party.

              “We haven’t caught too many record-breakers out here, but other boats in the dock have.  Now here’s the rule about that – in order for the fish to be considered a record-breaker you have to catch the fish by yourself.  For nearly everyone on the boat, and especially the children, that will be hard, but, if you think you have a huge one and want to try to be a record-breaker, you have to do it yourself.  If me or Bob here helps you drag her in we can still take a picture and get it cooked up for you, but sadly, your name won’t make it in the newspaper.  Anyway, let’s fish!”

              There wouldn’t be any record-breakers that day, but everyone on board seemed to have a lot of fun.  Some of the parents and I spoke lightly between bites about how our vacations were going, our professions, and the like, but for the most part I was left alone.  After reeling up a grouper that I was happy about, Tommy brought me back down to earth.

              “Nice catch, but every Johnny and Jane on this boat could have brought that guy up unassisted,” while laughing at his own joke and giving me a hearty pat on the back.  I laughed, and asked him how long he’s been working on this boat.

              “This boat particular, just a couple of months, but I’ve worked on all kinds of boats around the country.”

              “Are you like a party boat master – work for hire type deal?” I asked, also laughing at my own joke.

              “Not quite like that.  I have my own boat, and I like to just float around mostly wherever it takes me.  Only sometimes if I float around too much I run out of food so I have to come back ashore to make money so I can do it all over again.  No wife or kids, I have a few lady friends on shore here and there, but this is the life I want and wouldn’t want it any other way.”

              A man I can relate to, I thought.  Only problem was he was living it, and I was just stopping in for a visit.  When I was deep into my reading of adventure stories while I was trying to get out of my funk, boating stories were always some of my favorite to read.

              “Have you written about any of your adventures”?  I asked, wondering if I had read anything he had written.

              “I have a journal that I think about trying to get published at some point, is about it.  Say, how are you enjoying your stay here?  I’ve seen you sitting up on that dock a few times.  I’m guessing you aren’t a tourist, cause most tourists don’t spend their time spying on boats from the dock,” laughing again.

              After I assured him I wasn’t spying him, or anyone on the boat, and instead just passing time, I told him, “I guess I’m doing something similar to you, only in a car.  Just driving around and checking out parts of the country I’ve never seen before, with my dog.  I’ve liked it here so much I haven’t been in a hurry to leave.”

              Between Tommy helping the other patrons drag fish up on to the deck, and talking to me, I explained to him that my wife died, and that I was a writer, though lately I haven’t been much of a writer and that a lot of my hanging out at the piers was just my attempt at trying to break up the monotony.  I was surprised at how openly I had talked about my wife’s death with him.  It was the second time in just a few days, when you include my late night chat with Jean.  I thought me being more open was a good thing, though I still felt myself holding back on some things, afraid to open any hallways I was afraid to go down.  After all, on the boat, I was a few miles away from shore.  It’s one thing to walk home from a bar when I start feeling badly; it’s another to have to jump in the ocean to get back home.

              Tommy stared out into the ocean for a minute, thinking “If you’re really bored you can come work on the boat if you want.  Bob here is leaving in a few days so we’ll have an opening.”

              “That’s a very nice offer, but I don’t know the first thing about working on a boat,” I replied.

              “Well, I saw you bait your own line, that’s about half the job.  The other half is being a nice enough guy.  You seem to have that covered too.  It’s very low stress, and we’ll pay you under the table, though the pay will be mostly in fish,” Tommy said, laughing, and then added, “If your dog’s nice, she can come too.”

              I immediately wondered if Bahama would jump into the ocean when she saw a fish, but the walls of the boat were probably tall enough to alleviate most of those concerns.  I answered, “Let me think about it.  You said Bob is leaving in a few days?”

              “Yup, couple days, just show up Thursday morning if you want on.”

              When we got back to the dock, empty handed, having just caught a few small ones and tossing them back, I walked back to my room thinking Jean will be proud of me.  This was indeed very keysey of me.

15

              On Thursday I started my new job.  I arrived at about a quarter to nine.  I came solo, which I did the entire time I worked on the boat.  The thought of Bahama jumping off the side of the boat and ending up who knows where – maybe the Bahamas – was too big of a concern for me.

              Tommy smiled when he saw me.  “I was hoping you’d come.  Welcome to the team!” 

              Casper gave me a slight nod from the wheel, and said, “Welcome aboard, matey.”

              “Should I get here earlier, I wasn’t sure?”  I asked.

              “You can if you want, but I won’t dock your pay if you don’t show up till later,” laughing, he continued.  “I get here about an hour before we head out just to get things going, if you want to help, cool, if not, no worries, matey.”

              “Oh.  Okay.”  Feeling nervous, I stared out into the water.

              “Remember what Bob did a couple days ago?  He just went around being friendly and asking if anyone needs help when they got a bite?  If any of the little ones need help with their life vests or anyone asks for a drink, there’s a cooler in the back.  They are free – they should be for as much as we charge them to go fishing for a few hours.  That’s all I really need you to do.  If you have any other questions when we are out there, just let me know.”

              Quickest training I ever received for any job, but, then again, I hadn’t had a “real” job since college—if pizza delivery is considered a real job, that is.

              We pulled away from the dock.  Tommy told me that I would only be doing the 9 a.m. because they had a full crew for the 2 p.m.  That was fine with me because I didn’t want Bahama’s entire day to be cramped in the room.  Also, it gave me time to write before it got too late, should I have chosen to write.

              The group was very similar to the 9 a.m. boat I had done just a couple of days earlier, lots of families of three to six, vacationing, and hoping to catch Moby Dick, or at least catch a big one to take a family photo with to put back on their office desk in Real World, U.S.A.

              My first trip out was pretty uneventful.  Most of the time I helped children bait their hooks when the parents didn’t want anything to do with it, or know how.  Being a novice myself, I had many of the children laughing at my futile efforts, despite Tommy showing me how to do it properly more than once.  Most of the bait, to me anyway, just seemed like smaller versions of the fish that the tourists were trying to catch.  It was obvious to everyone on board, including Tommy, that I was ignorant to just about anything to do with fishing, but luckily they didn’t care that much.

              About halfway through the trip, one of the father tourists on the trip brought up a decent-sized grouper.  He had no desire to keep it, and was about to toss it back over board when I saw Tommy stop him.  Tommy put the fish in a giant cooler located in the center of the boat, while explaining to the father tourist that groupers are one of the hardest fish to reel on board, and that it was a small miracle that he did it so easily by himself.  Grouper, I learned from Tommy, and later watching others drag them in, dart around frantically, smacking against the boat repeatedly.  It’s not uncommon for it to take 30 seconds to bring it to the side of the boat, but ten minutes to drag it in.  This didn’t explain why Tommy wanted to keep the fish, but I didn’t think much of it.

              In a lull in action, Captain Casper gave me a rundown of the best places to catch specific types of fish, most of which I forgot immediately.  He said the grouper we caught was native to a group of reefs where not many of the other party boats go.  He said he usually goes to this place because most people just want the thrill of catching a fish and having to fight a bit for it.  For some of the afternoon partiers, those that are just treating this as a respite until they can get to Duval, he heads out into the ocean.  The bites are fewer, but the partiers hardly notice, but when they catch one it can be one of many types of fish, delighting them.  I was beginning to feel sorry I wouldn’t get to be a part of the rowdier groups that hunt for the more exciting types of fish, but was happy to learn a solid lesson from Casper.

              When we got back to the dock, I helped the guys hose off the deck, and restock the bait for the next session, taking off in less than an hour from when we got back.  When I was getting ready to head back to Jean’s, Tommy stopped me, holding the grouper he had saved.

              “You know where O’Riley’s Place is, the restaurant around the corner?” he asked.  I remembered this was the restaurant I had watched the family go to with their catch unintentionally. 

              “Yup, pass by it almost every day.  Is this where this guy is heading?”  I asked while pointing to the fish.               

              “You got it.  Bring this over there, go in the back door, and give it to whomever the cook is today, probably Seymour.  Tell him to cook it up for us and have it ready at 7; tell him we want his famous sandwiches.  You’ll meet me there?”

              “Yeah.  See ya then.”

              “You can bring your dog too.  They have outside seating, plus I’m guessing she’ll like what we’re having.”

              “Great, she’ll like that.”

              I went over to O’Riley’s Place, handed the fish off to a large Samoan man with a bigger knife, giving him the specific directions from Tommy.  Seymour smiled and said, “No problem,” and went back to work just as quickly.

              When I got back to the room, Bahama gave me a curious face after she smelled me.  She wasn’t used to me smelling like fish, but, like Tommy had said, I was guessing she’d like her meal later tonight.  I showered, and threw my clothes into the hamper, realizing that I would have to do a lot more laundry if I didn’t want my room to smell like rotted fish.  Unfortunately, Jean did all the laundry, so I would have to talk to her about maybe doing my laundry every day.  After drying off, I went downstairs to find her, and asked about paying a little more per week in turn for more laundry service.

              “You’re working on the fishing boat now right?  I’m guessing you’ll have quite a few opportunities of bringing me some fresh fish?”

              “You got it.”  That was easy enough.  For the duration of my stay she began adding some fish courses to the nightly dinner.

              After taking care of Jean, or, more appropriately, Jean taking care of me, I went back to the room for a while and got some writing in before announcing to Bahama it was time to go.  With a cocked head, she jumped on the bed and waited for me to put on her collar and leash.

              I met Tommy at O’Riley’s, getting there just a few minutes before he did, smelling doubly as fishy as I had, having worked two shifts.  The smell of fresh meats cooking inside the restaurant drowned out that smell, and any other smell that may have been dragged in off the city’s streets and boats. 

              We ordered beers and a bowl of water for Bahama.  Bahama wasn’t as interested in the water as she was in Tommy, or more particularly his fishy smell.  Tommy didn’t seem to mind Bahama jumping in his lap, but I thought Tommy would probably like to enjoy his meal without a hound under his chin.  I picked up Bahama and sat her down on the other side of me.

              He asked me how I thought my first day went, and other small talk, but it was clear we were both just waiting for food.  After a long bout of silence, I asked if he knew the history of the restaurant or if he had met O’Riley himself.  After laughing at that question, he told me nobody knew O’Riley, and it was most likely that this restaurant was originally opened as a drug front, saying they fudged the books for this place in order to make money at their real jobs.  He explained that’s at least how it started, but the food here was so good that it became a must-eat for locals.  Tommy told me that many restaurants in the Keys claim to have “The Best Grouper Sandwich in the Keys.”  Tommy told me they are all lying, “The best one is here.”  A few minutes later I got my first taste.

              Having never eaten a grouper sandwich before I had nothing to compare it to, but it didn’t matter.  By default then it was the best grouper sandwich I had ever eaten, but it was also one of the best meals I ever had.  In addition to the sandwich, I had french-fries and a vegetable mix, though the latter hardly got touched.