It had been a long couple weeks at work, and a while since I’d been on the water, so I took advantage of some beautiful weather to head out for a solo night of fishing. Normally I’m with my wife and children, or have a friend with me, which may explain why my night was just a bit off! My drive to the lake was uneventful, and there was no line up on the boat launches, great news. I put the boat in the water, calm as can be, and when to park the car. It was upon my return that things go interesting. Why was the boat sitting so low in the water? Uh oh…guess who forgot to put the plug in the boat. I quickly grabbed the plug, which was thankfully in close proximity, and stemmed the flood.

I made a quick assessment and thought I’d be able to drain the boat while driving it, and was relieved that I wouldn’t have to take it out and drain it. I was just getting ready to hop in when I hear a blast of air, and the sound of velcro giving way. What could it be? My mustang automatic life vest was resting on the floor of the boat, and the water that came in when it was unplugged reached the vest, and whoosh, it thought I was drowning and fully inflated. Good news, it works. Bad news, I have to replace the canister, deflate the device and attempt to fold it up again. The rough start was made a bit better by catching a few fish, and some spectacular scenery. As I say in the video, I’m the “amateur” angler, and sometimes it shows!