The 46-foot bay-built fishing boat had only just picked up speed on its way out of Annapolis harbor yesterday morning. But Sgt. James Nickelson had long shed his crutches and stood watching the buildings of the city shrink into the distance.
Rachel Woolf — For The Capital Sgt. Jesse Bowser examines the 33-inch rockfish he caught while Sgt. Kevin Carsen continues to fish during the Maryland Saltwater Sport Fishermen’s Association’s second annual Wounded Rockfish Tournament yesterday. The event allowed injured members of the military and their families to fish.
“What part of non-weight-bearing does that man not understand?” his wife, Dennise, remarked.
Favoring his left leg, James half walked and half hopped back over to her and planted a kiss on her face. She smiled and returned to admiring the water.
The Nickelsons were among several dozen Wounded Warriors, or injured members of the military, and family members driven from Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., to Annapolis yesterday.
The only plan: To enjoy a day of fishing on the Chesapeake in a rockfish tournament sponsored by the Maryland Saltwater Sport Fishermen’s Association on the first weekend of the season.
Hank Sibley Bluewater Yacht Sales 