What’s the story behind the mysterious boat found adrift in the Gulf Stream?
Captain Jon Cameron and three fishing partners aboard his 32-foot Cape Horn center console headed out of Marlin Quay Marina in Murrells Inlet recently looking to take advantage of a nice ocean to fish offshore.
The plan was to head to the south-southeast to the Gulf Stream and troll for pelagic species such as dolphin, wahoo and tuna, with perhaps a little deep-dropping for deep-water reef species mixed in.
At about the 70-mile mark, the crew, also including Captain Dan Connolly, Vince Nicolau and Chad Reese, saw a rip, or current, in the water, clearly indicating they had reached the northward flowing Gulf Stream.
In the cobalt blue water, they spotted a boat in the distance that at first glance appeared to be trolling for the same pelagic species of gamefish.
“We started trolling to that boat,” Connolly said. “As we got closer and closer to it, we said ‘What is that?’ ”
The foursome had happened upon what was clearly a homemade boat that was drifting with the current of the Gulf Stream and had some Spanish words on the side.
“We noticed as we passed by it had spray painted on the side “OK” and “No Mas,” (followed by) something else,” said Connolly. =
A spokesman at the Charleston Coast Guard Command Center said he was not familiar with the abandoned vessel when questioned.
The construction and contents of the boat, estimated to be 12-14 feet long, amazed Cameron.
“It was a very interesting vessel,” said Cameron. “It was made out of styrofoam blocks with roofing tin on the bow. They had it painted blue-green – except for the little sail it was camouflaged with the ocean. The inside was an old diesel engine mounted in the bottom of the boat, like an inboard. They couldn’t have had much diesel fuel to move it very far. The boat was full of grocery bags of orange peelings, I guess they used (oranges) for hydration.”
Any fisherman worth his salt knows a free-floating object, especially in the vicinity of the Gulf Stream, has the potential to hold pelagic fish and other species. That train of thought certainly held true in this case.
“There were thousands of mahi (dolphin) around it,” said Connolly. “There was a big mola mola (ocean sunfish) around it, bar jacks, a shark at one point. It was pretty wild.”
After eyeing the dolphin holding under and around the boat, Cameron and crew went to work trolling ballyhoo around the makeshift vessel.
“We already had our lines in coming up on it,” said Cameron. “As soon as our lines drug close to the boat we got a triple hookup and we wore the dolphin out. Right when our lines came close to it, it fired off. We caught four the first pass, and every time we went by it we picked up one or two. Then the other boats showed up.”