Another Big Fish Story

"When you make a vow to God, do not delay to pay it; For He has no pleasure in fools. Pay what you have vowed--  Better not to vow than to vow and not pay." 

Ecclesiastes 5:4-5

     When we left Spain in 1964 we were sent to Key West, Florida.  It was a beautiful, interesting place to live and although we were broke most of the time, there is so much to do and see in Key West that you don't have to have a lot of money to really enjoy the place.  There was deep sea fishing, swimming at the beach, water skiing, picnics, fish fries in the park (almost every week) for a nominal fee.  For that reason our friends and family loved to come visit us.  This was wonderful for us since we had been overseas for almost three years.  Also we had qualified for Navy housing.  Although we were in the Air Force we were stationed at Boca Chica Naval Air Station.  Our house was brand new and beautiful, probably the best place we ever lived in the Air Force.  It was a duplex separated by a large car port.  It had gorgeous terrazzo floors, tiled walls in the kitchen and bathroom, three bedrooms and a large patio that looked out on the Gulf of Mexico.  It was great for guests and we were very proud of it. Shortly after we arrived there we began begging our friends and family to "come on down". 
     The first ones to visit us was the Ezzy family.  Gregg and Suzanne Ezzy had been stationed with us in Constantina, Spain and were now in Aiken, South Carolina.  We were so excited when they said they would come and began planning a full week of fun things for us to do.  We borrowed a fourteen foot motor boat from the base so we could take them deep sea fishing.  We planned to take them on a tour of the Island, a picnic on the beach with the kids and shopping at the quaint little shops in town.
     They arrived, for some reason in the middle of the week and Gregg was eager to take the boat out.  Suzanne and I wanted to go shopping right away and the kids were clamoring for a picnic at the beach, so we were able to hold Gregg off until  the weekend.
     We started out early Friday morning, fishing gear in tow and lunch in a sack.  We had hired a baby sitter for their two little boys, and our two youngest kids, Kelly and baby Timmy.  The four of them were all under three years old and couldn't possible be kept safe on a fishing trip.  Joel, on the other hand was five and already a seasoned fisherman, so he went with us.
     Our house was built on a man-made canal that had been dredged up out of the Gulf so we launched our boat from the back of the house around 8:00 a.m. and set out into the Gulf of Mexico.  Suzanne was armed with her camera and Gregg brought along a World War II German rifle that he had purchased from an army surplus store on his way to Key West.  We assured him that he wouldn't need a gun on a fishing trip but he hadn't shot it yet and insisted on taking it along.  We were looking forward to our day's adventure and hopefully hooking a big one.  Deep sea fishing is one of the most exciting things we'd ever done.
     We had been out for about an hour just sightseeing, when some unplanned for excitement started.  It was getting on toward nine-thirty and we had already seen giant Manta Reys, several Portuguese Man-o-Wars, and a small hammerhead shark.  We had motored over beautiful coral reefs and had an argument over lunch.  Suzanne and Gregg were Catholic and Suzanne was very devout... apparently more devout than her husband because she wouldn't eat the bologna sandwiches I'd packed because it was Friday. At that time Catholics were not allowed to eat meat on Friday.  If I had been more thoughtful I would have packed some cheese or peanut butter sandwiches, or even tuna, because they were allowed to eat fish,  but it never occurred to me.  Gregg was hungry and had asked for a bologna sandwich.  "God will punish us if you eat that bologna, Gregg!" declared Suzanne.  He laughed at her but she was very serious.
     "Here, Gregg," I said, trying to be the peacemaker,  "have come potato chips."  I handed him the bag and he handed it back.  "No thanks, I really want a sandwich." he said.
     For some reason the salt air, sunshine and ocean breezes makes a person hungry.  I had experienced that myself so I'd made at least ten bologna sandwiches.  When I told them that, Gregg said, "Don't worry. I'll eat Suzanne's."  Of course that was like pouring fuel on her fire and she sat there with her arms crossed, smoldering.  About 9:45 Ted parked the boat over a coral reef so we could eat some of our lunch.  This was always a fascinating place to stop because there we could look down on the reef and watch sea creatures swimming around searching for their lunch... not to mention the beautiful colors of the reef itself.  One could look at it for hours.
     Ted had thrown a trolling line off the front of the boat when we first launched.  It was a rather large rope with a Jew fish hook on the end, baited with a large fish of some kind.  Gregg had asked him if he was fishing for a whale and he had replied, "You never know."  Jew fish are huge, spotted creatures that can weight up to a thousand pounds or more.  I don't think it occurred to any of us that if we hooked one, it could be a threat to our little vessel.  To a large Jew fish we would be shrimps!  (We don't know the guy in the picture above but this is an example of a Jew fish)
     As we sat eating our lunch and exploring the reef to see what we could see, Suzanne was in the background reminding Gregg of how they had "taken a vow" to abstain from meat on Friday and how he was breaking it and how she could exist on cookies and potato chips and she didn't understand why he couldn't.  Suddenly I had the distinct feeling that we were moving, ever so slowly, over the reef.  No one else was paying attention.
     "You're going to hell, Gregg!" said Suzanne and I interrupted her, "You guys... I think we're moving!"
     "Why do you think that?" asked Ted.
     "Because we're almost off the reef and there's a small wake being kicked up on both sides of the boat." I answered.
     Ted put his hand in the water and we could see it moving past his fingers.  "Maybe you forgot to anchor us." said Gregg.
     "No, I didn't." said Ted and showed him the anchor rope at the back of the boat.
     "Pull it up," suggested Gregg "and throw it out again."
      So he pulled it up and threw it over the side.  Now we were moving faster.  We were fairly skimming through the water.  Ted checked the trolling line and found that it was taut.  He began pulling it as hard as he could but couldn't budge it.  He called for Gregg to help and the two of them began to tug on it but to no avail.  "We need a knife!" said Gregg.  "Did anyone bring a knife?"  We all looked at each other and shrugged.
     "We've hooked something and it's not letting go." said Ted.  "We have to get this line freed.  Help me Gregg, maybe we can untie it."
     It was beginning to dawn on all of us that we were in trouble.  Our boat was a fourteen foot, aluminum motor boat and collectively we didn't weight over 600 pounds. That fish could take us all the way to Cuba or turn us over or dive and take us with it to the bottom.  We had been told not to go out very far and in fact we were still in sight of the Submarine Base at Key West.  We had been assured that we should be safe if we didn't go too far out.
     I heard Ted and Gregg discussing our situation and it really didn't comfort me much.  "What could it be?" asked Gregg.  "I don't know." said Ted.  "Maybe it's a Jew fish.  I don't think it's a shark because it's not surfacing."
     The whole time they talked and worked I kept my eyes on the wake being made in the water as our boat knifed through it.  "Ted," I said, "I think we're going faster!"
     He put his hand in the water again to feel the force and said, "We're definitely going faster."
     Suzanne began to cry and talk about how God was punishing us for Gregg's sin.  He said, "Shut up, Suzanne!  If your so concerned, pray!"
    But she wouldn't shut up. As a matter of fact, the farther we got the louder she got...
sermonizing to the top of her lungs and crying the whole time, but finally she did begin to pray.  That's when I knew that Suzanne was a real  believer.
     I quietly tried to comfort her.  "Suzanne, I don't think God would punish the rest of us for Gregg's sin, especially an  innocent child."  Joel was sitting as close to me as he could get and still maintain his five year old "big boy" status.  He was wide-eyed and silent but his bottom lip had begun to tremble a little.  He looked at her and said, "Don't cry, Suzanne."
     "Oh you poor baby!" she exclaimed and grabbed him.  She sat hugging him for the next half hour.  I think it comforted her but scared him half to death.
     I don't know how long we were pulled out into the gulf by the monster on our line, but the shore seemed to be getting farther away.  I was feeling a bit panicky too so I sidled up to Ted and whispered a question, "Do you think we could have snagged a Sub?  We're pretty close to the Sub Base."
     "Shh!" he demanded and looked at Suzanne.  Then he added, "That line was not long enough to hook a sub... and we were sitting on a reef, remember?"  That comforted me a little and I settled back to watch the two men try to cut the rope by rubbing it along the edge of the boat, however it was not even fraying.  Finally Gregg suggested that they try to slid it around to the back of the boat and hope that the motor would cut it.  I didn't know if it was my imagination, but the front of the boat seemed to be dipping lower into the water.  I think Ted thought so too because he instructed me to get in the back with Suzanne and Joel.
     I had just sat down at the back when suddenly the front went up abruptly.  Ted yelled,  "It let go!"  Gregg grabbed the line and began pulling. It was relaxed now and he pulled as fast as he could.  When he got it into the boat we all looked at the empty hook as the blood rose into our faces and we started to breath easier.  We never knew what took the bait.  We didn't see anything swim away, but whatever it was got our bait and gave us quite a scare... but not enough of a scare to send us home... yet.
     The guys were determined to catch fish so they turned to boat around and headed back closer to shore, this time without the trolling line.  As we neared the base again we began to relax and Ted cut the motor and threw out the anchor so we could fish.  Our little boat drifted around the anchor while we all fiddled with our lines and poles laughing about our "near death experience".  Even Suzanne was laughing, when suddenly we felt a bump and grabbed the sides of the boat.  Ted looked down and said, "Oh great! We're stuck on a sand bar!  Come on Gregg, we have to get out and push off this thing."
    Gregg was complaining as he threw a leg over the side, not wanting to get wet.  "Some sailor you are, Gehrke!"
     "Hey, I'm an Airman!...never pretended to be a Sailor!" said Ted with a smile.
     Suddenly Suzanne began to scream... "Sharks!  Gregg... sharks!.  We all looked at her in disgust, thinking that it was more of her histrionics, then we looked in the direction she was pointing.
     Ted grabbed Gregg's arm and yelled, "Get back in the boat.  There are sharks coming toward us!"
      Gregg threw himself back into the boat and it was a good thing he did because just as he landed in the bottom a big one swam close enough that we could have touched him.
     Now Ted and I had seen a lot of sharks in the short time we'd been in Key West, but never anything like those.  They were at least ten feet long and there were six of them.  They began circling our little vessel, staring at us with their big, black, glassy eyes.  
     "Will they attack the boat?" asked Gregg when he could finally speak.
     "I don't think so." said Ted.  "I hope they're just curious and they'll give up and swim away soon."
     Then Gregg delivered the funniest line of the day... "Well, I just hope they're better Catholics than I am and will only eat fish on Friday!"  Ted and I laughed.  I think we were all a little hysterical, but Suzanne started crying again.
      We watched in silence for a few minutes then Gregg said,  "I don't think they're losing interest but I think I know how to get rid of them."
     "How?" asked Ted sounding a little nervous.
     "I'm just going to have to shoot one of them." said Gregg as he reached for his German rifle.
     "Gregg, I don't think you should do that!" I protested.  Ted looked a little dubious but didn't say anything.  Suzanne just cried and clung to Joel.
      Gregg stood up in the middle of the boat, took careful aim at the closest shark and pulled the trigger.  We heard the bullet plop through the water and saw the fish immediately head for the deep, leaving a stream of blood in its wake.  Then the most gruesome thing happened.  I'll never forget it.  It was like something out a Steven King movie.  All the rest of the sharks in the school ran after him.  They caught up with him about an eighth of a mile from us and we watched as the water churned red, while they feasted on the body of their brother shark!
     Ted yelled at Gregg as he went over the side of the boat.  "Get our quick, and help me push the boat off this sand bar!"
     Gregg jumped out and the two of them freed us.  They climbed back in and Ted started the motor and headed for home as quickly as he could.  We'd had enough adventure for one day.  We went back to the house, cleaned up and dressed the kids then went out for a fish fry at the park, given by the local Catholic Church charity!
     We had a lot of fun reliving the day's adventure together that night but I dreamed all night long about sharks and Jew fish and my little boy alone in a boat.  The next morning I said, "Ted, I don't ever again want us to go out there with our kids in a small boat.  It's a lot more dangerous than I thought."
    He agreed.  We both knew that we had been in way over our heads and as I consider it now, it occurs to me that not withstanding the Catholic teaching of "only fish on Friday," we really did end up back home, eating fish that Friday.  Now, I'm not Catholic, but I have since come to view with a lot more respect, the act of taking a vow before the Lord.  That day, in the Gulf of Mexico, that seed of respect was planted.