The Honeydipper

The Honeydipper was a flatbottom aluminum boat that we used at Fish Camp for backcountry fishing, and when he had campers staying on Tavernier Key (Cayo Tobamos), an island a mile off the mainland on the ocean side, it was used to transport human waste from the porta-john that was used on the island. I believe that's where the name came from: Honeydipper.

My brother Randy has a story that someone was locked into the porta-john and counselors rocked it back and forth, maybe even tumbled it over. I'll have to ask him about that the next time I see him.

Back to the Honeydipper. We were heading out from the dock one day, my brother Randy at the wheel in a 21-footer, the Almond I think, and another counselor in the other 21-footer. Jimmy Horne was ferrying out a group of campers toward the backcountry in the Honeydipper.

"Watch this," Randy said, with a grin on his face.

He drove next to Jimmy and slowed down just enough to put a huge wake out behind his boat and started circling Jimmy. Then the other boat joined in and both boats slowed down on either side of Jimmy in the small Honeydipper. Randy and the other counselor in the other boat sped up enough to overtake Jimmy. Both wakes behind the larger boats joined together behind the Honeydipper and pretty soon, that mountain of a wake in the middle caught up to Jimmy's boat and lifted his craft up onto the crest of the wave.

There was nothing Jimmy could do but try to keep his craft heading straight.

I don't recall any discussion of how to handle this situation during the Coast Guard talks that we had at the beginning of each session at camp.

Poor Jimmy.