Slippin' Off

Slippin' Off was a 1978 Mako 19A. She was a great boat, solid as a rock despite her age. I bought her from a boat dealer in Birmingham, Alabama in 1998.

I was told she had been used as a flats boat in the Florida Keys. There were stickers on the hull for the Florida Keys Professional Guide Association and the Ismoralda Island Professional Guide Association. I was told the guide service that used the boat sold her when the newer shallow draft flats boats came out. The Mako 19A is a deep V hull and poling Slippin' Off through flats, especially with some wind, must have been difficult.

Apparently she spent several years tied to a dock at a lake in Georgia before being sold to the Birmingham dealer. She was in pretty bad shape cosmeticaly when I bought her. Someone had stolen the original teak compartment covers so I fashioned replacements from plywood. They didn't hold up well and I eventually had to replace them with Starboard covers. I re-wired the entire boat in '98 and added electronics and other equipment over the years.

My mother insisted I take the loop off the S in the painted on name Slippin' Off, because the loop made the S look like an F, and Flippin' Off just wouldn't be an appropriate name.

I traded in Slippin' Off last summer to help pay for a re-power on our nicer, bigger and newer Boston Whaler Outrage 22 (yipee!). I don't really regret trading her in because a local guy bought her and is giving her the attention she deserves.

My wife, Paige and I had some real adventures in Slippin' Off. In fact, I bought Slippin' Off right after I met her and we fell in love during the same time I was just getting to know the boat. The picture above was taken during a trip to Petite Bois Island off the coast of Mississippi in early January of 2000.

Paige had a job writing an article about the Gulf Islands National Seashore for Southern Breeze Magazine. We packed up our camping gear, food, water and warm clothes and set off across Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island. We found our planning was lacking when we arrived at Dauphin Island expecting to be able to top off the gas tank only to find all the marinas closed for the season. We decided to risk it (crazy, yes, we would never do such a thing now that we have a child) and continued on our journey to Petite Bois.

Paige wasn't too comfortable crossing the current-churned pass between Dauphin Island and Petite Bois, but Slippin' Off did just fine. It's a good thing becasue we probably would not have survived a swim in the cold Mississippi Sound waters.

We found a nice protected cove where we were able to pull the boat out of the surf and set up camp nearby. It was pretty cold that night and, although there was plenty of driftwood to burn, the wind kept us from enjoying a hot fire. We turned in early and woke up early to enjoy a cup of coffee with the sunrise. We had planned to get an early start back to home but the tide had gone out considerably and we had to wait a few hours for Slippin' Off to float again. Nature has a way of slowing things down for you like that.

We did enjoy the morning and eventually pushed off for Dauphin Island with hopes of finding some gas. The pass was not as trecherous as it had been the day before and we were able to buy some gas at a marina at Dauphin Island. I remember Mobile Bay was smooth as glass that morning and we could not have asked for a more beautiful boat ride.

Unfortunately the 1979 Johnson 140 didn't survive the trip. We made it halfway up Weeks Bay almost to the mouth of the Magnolia River when the motor started sputtering badly. I think the water pump must have gotten clogged with sand and the motor just burned up. We were able to limp home on one cylinder but that was the end of that motor.

Luckily I was able to find a trade-in 1982 Johnson 115 to replace the burned out motor without breaking the bank. I imagine the new owner of Slippin' Off will have to do a re-power before too long, but the 115 did just fine while I had it.

While my little story is mostly about the boat, Paige wrote a delightful and informative story on the Gulf Islands National Seashore which you may be able to find on-line.

I would definitely recommend a visit to any of the islands in the Gulf Islands National Seashore. I understand they have taken a beating in the last few hurricaines, but they are still there and they belong to all of us. There are some great resources on-line for information about the islands and the recreational opportunities they provide. They are visited by sailors, motorboaters and even a few sea kayakers.