Bootle Bay - The best weather window in 30 years!

dzank

A smaller than normal crew of "UpTick" guys flew into West End on 9/22 for a few days of fishing and diving. Two of our regular crew couldn't make it due to other obligations so John "Cookie" Thomas of "Walleye II" and "Mango Man" fame joined us. Cookie is entertaining to say the least! The weather reports were excellent but you all know how that goes! For once the weather reports were spot on and the next picture is a shot of us coming out of Bootle Bay around 8:00 am. . Coming back in that afternoon after diving up some conch for dinner we had an overheat alarm pop up on our starboard engine and after a quick couple of calls to Jamie at OBS- Freeport we discovered a faulty thermostat which we were able to replace the next day. . All was well from that point on!! Dinner that night was terrific. . I've never seen a guy eat so much conch! The next day had near perfect conditions and we ran north of Memory Rock and rounded up some nice strawberry grouper as well as tasty lane snapper. . The boat "Reel Healthcare" (on the dock adjacent to "Uptick") with a cool group of guys from Tampa shot a few quality hog snapper that were worthy of a picture for sure. . The weather continued to be awesome with glass calm conditions that gave us a good opportunity to run to some areas with brain corals that provided a little bug action. . . . Overall a fantastic trip with great friends and as always Linda, Vida and LaShanda took great care of us. . Thanks again to Jamie at OBS for quickly diagnosing the engine problem!

ScottR

:thumbsup

Pretty work!

Osprey45

:applause:applause
Fantastic trip Dennis one of these days I have to get over there while you guys are there

century7

another awesome trip. Nice to see the engine was a quick fix


Next time you are short some crew memebers feel free to pm me............:rotflmao

Plane Fish n

Dennis,

Greetings from Beijing China.

I'm glad you guys had a great trip. It looks like Uptick is doing just fine over there. When you get a chance, text me OBS's number so I have it when I'm over there. I would really appreciate that!!!

The house is coming along nicely and our new dock/lift is going in on Monday.

How is the NEW and IMPROVED Uptick? Is it home yet on the West Coast?

Keep in touch buddy and glad you guys had a blast.

Cheers

dzank

Thanks for all the kind comments as it was a great trip! The "UpTick" crew would love to run into you guys over there to trade some fish stories, Eric, the new Ocean Master is indeed at it's home in Dunedin and I am very pleased to date. The lifting strakes and the extended spray rail are solid improvements to the boat (a 1997 hull )that you see in the pictures above. Take care all! We are trying to get in one more run to Bootle in early November so we will post another thread if that happens.

Plane Fish n

dzank wrote: »

Thanks for all the kind comments as it was a great trip! The "UpTick" crew would love to run into you guys over there to trade some fish stories, Eric, the new Ocean Master is indeed at it's home in Dunedin and I am very pleased to date. The lifting strakes and the extended spray rail are solid improvements to the boat (a 1997 hull )that you see in the pictures above. Take care all! We are trying to get in one more run to Bootle in early November so we will post another thread if that happens.

Awesome!!!

Our crew is thinking of a trip across about the same time.

Let's plan together (except you can't have the apartment..grin )

Cheers

dzank

As it stands now we plan on flying in on 11/1/16 for five nights. Maybe we will run into you guys which would be great. I'll buy you a Diet Coke!!

Shoeless

Nice trip for sure. Could you share OBS number here so we can all have a backup plan incase the unfortunate maintenance issue?

dzank

The main number for Jamie at OBS Marine Freeport is 2423529246.

Plane Fish n

dzank wrote: »

I'll buy you a Diet Coke!!

Sounds like a deal.. :thumbsup:thumbsup

Shoeless

dzank wrote: »

The main number for Jamie at OBS Marine Freeport is 2423529246.

Thank you Sir!!!

mike_s

How did your boat storage building fair in the storm?

dzank

The boat, trailer and storage building held up well with some minor damage to the roof with shingles ripping off. My Suburban did not fare as well as it was moved to higher ground in Freeport and had two windows knocked out due to flying debris. The Hepburn family is safe as well as my friend Danny Wright but they are in for a long haul as West End was devastated. I will be shipping supplies including 4 generators in the next day or two and plan on posting a separate thread for those that want to help out. Anyone that considers helping I will assure you that the $ will get to the proper places. They lost power for over two months after Hurricanes Jeanne and Francis. I feel very bad for my friends in the Bahamas! Separate thread coming next.... web site for donations will be "gofundme.com/2t3utxw" for West End relief. I may be sending a plane in with supplies out of Vero in the next few days for those that may have an interest in helping.

dzank

Update from the "UpTick" crew regarding Bootle Bay and West End. We understand that OBB is shut down for repairs with the fuel dock inoperable. While water pressure was restored to Bootle and West End about 10 days ago there is no end in sight to restore power in the area although the power company says sometime in the next 7-10 days. Bootle has been operating on generator power and has used the down time to replace all of the roofing for all of the villas and the main Lodge. We expect all felt paper and shingles to replaced within the next few days. The villas are already done. We have adjusted our previous plans to go down in November due to Hurricane Matthew and now plan on heading over for five days beginning 12/3/16. Everything should be back in order and up and running by mid November at Bootle Bay. We've never been over there in December but look forward to the trip.