My live in girlfriend and I eat fish for dinner at least three times a week. Our favorite fish is Flounder because it does not take long to prepare and it tastes great. We buy our fish at the local market and trust the dates on the package to know if the fish is fresh. One day after shopping I opened up my package of Flounder and it smelled awful. There was something wrong so I returned to the market and asked for a refund. The manager offered me a replacement and explained that occasionaly a spoiled batch gets thrown in with the fresh fish and it is impossible for him to control. He said the only way to be sure that the fish was fresh is to catch it yourself. I thanked him for the advice but refused the exchange and had my money returned.

After both deciding that it was wise to catch our own fish,the next weekend we both were at the boat dock at six in the morning. There we saw two fishing boats that were going to spend the day searching for Flounder.One of the boats was brand new and had a sign up saying that this was going to be its maiden voyage. We marveled at its beauty and start going abroad. On the boarding plank stood the captain. He was dressed in whites and wore the most impressive cap. It had a gold eagle broadly displayed on the brim. He introduced himself and spoke about his ivy leauge education and his top grades but he admitted that he was never out to sea. My girlfriend was so impressed with him that she was ready to sign on. but I said before we do that lets check the older fishing boat and find out why it seems to be getting more fishermen going on board. We then spoke to the other captain who was an old man with over fifty years of fishing experience. He said that his boat may be old but it was sea worthy. I spoke to some of the fisherman on board and they told me that they never returned from a fishing trip with less than twenty five fish. I was sold and ready for a fishing trip on the old boat. But my girlfriend insisted on going on the maiden voyage with the handsome new captain. We compromised and decided she would have her choice, but I would stay with the experienced captain and we would meet on the dock at six on the return of the boats.

At six oclock I was waiting on the dock for the return of the fishing boat with my girlfriend on board. My fishing bag was packed with ice and there was over fifty large Flounder in it. At nine there was no sign of the boat she was on. I asked some of the workers on the dock what had happened to the boat that was on its maiden voyage. They replied that it had run aground and was being towed in. At midnight I saw a broken down boat coming into port towed by a coast guard cutter. My girlfriend was on the deck and weeping. I welcomed her as she came down the plank. We then went home and had a great Flounder dinner. She promised that she would never go on a boat again with a captain without sea experience. Even if the captain was handsome.

melpol