Aftermath 1: A Nuclear War Survival Thriller by Bobby Akart

Author:Bobby Akart [Akart, Bobby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Crown Publishers Inc.
Published: 2024-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

TWENTY-FIVE

Wednesday, October 16

Aboard the Dixie Bull

Georges Bank

BILLY TOOK ONE OF THE SEVEN-OUNCE BEERS and settled into the captain’s chair behind the helm. He studied the gauges and digital readout of the Dixie Bull to confirm Mickey had them on the desired course. He expanded his radar to identify where the targeted trawl lines were and the estimated time of arrival where the beginning of the first trawl was to be pulled. Satisfied that all was well, he planned on having just one or two of the Miller High Life Ponys, as they were called. This trip was for the boys to get to know one another. He was responsible for his ship, and he would always keep his wits about him when he piloted her toward the Atlantic.

While his sons got to know Daniel better, Billy’s mind wandered to the seas where he made his living. The Georges Bank featured irregular water depths, especially where the continental shelf and the Georges plateau met. Some of the canyons plummeted to thousands of feet in depth, while shoals closer to shore were barely ten feet from the ocean’s surface. The currents had thrown many a fisherman off course, especially for the unsuspecting who’d anchored to ride out a storm. Stories of anchor cables snapping, setting a vessel adrift, had been passed down over the years. Inexperienced fishermen would find themselves hundreds of miles away as the Gulf Stream captured their vessels and refused to let go of its grip.

During his downtime one winter, Billy had priced out a newly built replica of the Dixie Bull. The sum was staggering, approaching seven figures. He vowed to protect his family’s most valuable asset and increased his insurance coverage the next day.

That evening, they’d be traveling to the easternmost end of the Georges Bank, where they’d set a trawl line for the refurbished traps on the aft deck at first light. Then they’d spend the day hauling pots, harvesting the lobsters from the northernmost reaches of the Bartletts’ approved lobstering grounds. Next week, while the newlyweds enjoyed their honeymoon, the three Bartletts and their crew would head to the southernmost approved region for their trawl lines, where they’d pull up those pots for the season. It was perilous off the coast of Cape Cod for more reasons than the deadly nature of the Georges Bank.

There, he had to deal with the shipping lanes accommodating the massive vessels coming in and out of Boston Harbor. There were rival lobstermen known for encroaching upon the Bartlett permits. And lastly, there were the pesky draggers. These fishermen dragged nets along the bottom of the ocean, scooping up flounder, cod, and haddock. The draggers working the coastal waters, many of whom were from Rhode Island and Montauk on Eastern Long Island, cared little for the lobstermen’s trawls. It was not unusual for lobster traps to get caught up in the draggers’ nets, only to have their lines cut and thrown into the water to disappear. It was infuriating but part of the business, unfortunately.

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