Shakedown Cruise: He’s Sending Out an S.O.S

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“He was going to call for an S.O.S.,” a client told Your Survival Guy as I sat in the comforts of my office this week.

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“My friend refitted his fast trawler during the offseason and asked me if I wanted to go out on it,” he said.

Now, being a boater, my client immediately realized this was not going to be a wine and cheese deal. This was a shakedown cruise.

“I’ve had my fair share of those,” he said to me. “I kindly took a rain check.”

“My friend brought along another captain,” he said. “He was twenty years old.”

Uh oh, I thought.

“They’re out there,” my client said. “And all of a sudden thick, black smoke starts billowing out of the engine box, and the water alarm starts sounding (taking on water), and the young captain starts freaking out.”

The young guy’s going crazy.

“Abandon ship,” the young captain yells, grabbing the marine radio about to hail the Coast Guard with an emergency S.O.S. (is there any other kind?). The older captain grabs the kid’s arm, sits him down, and says don’t move.

Calmy opening the engine box, engulfed in smoke, and coughing up a lung, the older captain reconnects the exhaust tubing to one of the big diesel Yanmars, connects the cooling hose that was bringing water into the engine compartment, and with a few screams, gasps, and grunts gets the situation under control.

Motoring back to port, passing my client’s house, without saying a word, the old captain—looking like a chimney—just waved. The young captain, sitting with his sparkling white polo, looked like he was going out to dinner.

Action Line: Boating is a list of problems. You either solve ‘em, or you don’t. There’s a sea of young armchair admirals out there. I’ll take an experienced captain any day. Have a safe weekend.

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E.J. Smith - Your Survival Guy

E.J. Smith is Founder of YourSurvivalGuy.com, Managing Director at Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd., a Managing Editor of Richardcyoung.com, and Editor-in-Chief of Youngresearch.com. His focus at all times is on preparing clients and readers for “Times Like These.” E.J. graduated from Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, with a B.S. in finance and investments. In 1995, E.J. began his investment career at Fidelity Investments in Boston before joining Richard C. Young & Co., Ltd. in 1998. E.J. has trained at Sig Sauer Academy in Epping, NH. His first drum set was a 5-piece Slingerland with Zildjians. He grew-up worshiping Neil Peart (RIP) of the band Rush, and loves the song Tom Sawyer—the name of his family’s boat, a Grady-White Canyon 306. He grew up in Mattapoisett, MA, an idyllic small town on the water near Cape Cod. He spends time in Newport, RI and Bartlett, NH—both as far away from Wall Street as one could mentally get. The Newport office is on a quiet, tree lined street not far from the harbor and the log cabin in Bartlett, NH, the “Live Free or Die” state, sits on the edge of the White Mountain National Forest. He enjoys spending time in Key West (RIP JB) and Paris. Please get in touch with E.J. at ejsmith@yoursurvivalguy.com To sign up for my free monthly Survive & Thrive letter, click here.