Gone Fishin' . Fish Gone  !

The real life documentary of T540's Sep07  Camp Experience

On a beautiful fall evening in September 07
Some say uncharacteristic weather for 540, almost heaven
The 540 boys launched for Henlopen State Park
Pressing down the highways until well after dark

Bout 9:30 when they got to the Delaware destination
Another half hour lost finding our campsite location
But found it they did, and proceeded to set camp
Heard many take note they were surprised we weren't damp

The last of them fell by 11:30 to bed
Exhausted from excitement, their bodies heavy as lead
Big plans lay in store for this trip to the shore
Gotta count them Z's, so's we can enjoy it much more

Morning brought sunshine and light breezes to our faces
Ate cold breakfast for speed, gotta get to the boat places
Arrived at the pier and launched on a boat 100 feet long
Hearty boys all, going fishin', team strength 44 strong

Now what passed for a light breeze back at the T540 camp
Was more like a stiff wind down at the boat ramp
As the good ship Thelma Dale turned her bow to the Bay
The stiff wind got even stronger and pelted our faces with spray

It's actually quite impressive to observe Mother Nature's great power
As the bay water sprayed up high and gave many of us a shower
Some of those waves were about 10 feet on that day
" How come the horizon is at 45 degrees" I heard one young Scout say.

We bobbed and we tilted and we were pounded by big surf
Made us all appreciate how small we are in this powerful sea here on earth
We hung on what a ride !!! we could tough this ride out
What was that - something about some kid named Ralph?

Well we got to a place where we put bait on hook in the water
With visions that would years to come be known as the " Great Fish Slaughter "
The good captain maneuvered the good ship to several good spots
Where he had seen before that the fishin' was hot

But funny thing, the fish didn't come, not a bite in the first hour
And that slaughter vision thing kinda started to sour
What could be happening, where could all those fish be..

Were they not out this day of high wind and high seas ?

Hearty souls pressed on working the rods and the reels
While the waves and the wind kept everyone rocking on their heels
In the end not one fish was caught by anyone on the good ship
The wild boat ride itself being the highlight of this fishin' trip

Back to shore, and the camp, for some lunch and some rest
To work on some badges and those requirements through test
Some choose to try more fishing from the pier,
Still yearning for some of those fishes to come near

By dinner time, it was on to the ocean - Ocean City that is
The lights, the sounds, the smell of French Fries was next biz
An hour drive south, the caravan of Scouts was the haul
Spilled out of the cars, to the beach and some football

It was Scout against Scoutmasters, an interesting scheme
Something like 30 against 10, sort of unbalanced the teams
Nevertheless, the Scoutmasters gave it their best shot
Rumor has it they won, but there is also rumor maybe not

On the boardwalk was dinner and games to be played
Ahh.. young Scout.. candy cotton and soda is not a balanced meal I'm afraid
Please eat something wholesome, with some protein and nutrition
So your mom will not kill us, when you tell her this at home in her kitchen

The Scouts had great fun - " We don't want to go home yet. " they did chant
But by 9 the caravan left to back to home camp
On arrival the troop had no more energy in store
And crashed on their pillows, some said to loud snore

We returned Sunday morn...another great day of weather
Richer for the experience of this weekend together
The dreams of more fishing may yet happen some day
There were some stories overheard about the big one that got away.

TEqCo 30Sep07