Otter stories; I've been fortunate enough to have a few close friends with really nice boats from Grady White's to big sport fish boats & I've traveled from Md waters up to NJ & down as far as SC. I've done this many times both the Atlantic coast & the ICW.
Along those travels, in a few diff marinas, otters were a royal PITFA. Little swimming " thieves in the night " that were pretty much unstopable. They would get on the swim platform & up over the gunwales & into the boat & into the fish & bait cooler. I've had to put the huge " beer cooler " full of beer & ice on top of the bait cooler to " try to " keep them out of it. This kinda thing happened numerous times, in multiple marinas. But one particular time, I had been out drinkin & skirt chasing until waaay too late & I decided to sleep on the boat in the cutty cabin of a 23' Grady White Gulf Stream & a fam of 3 otters were on the boat when I got to it. The bait cooler lid was up & they were chowing down & they had made a big effing mess all over the deck already. They all went overboard when I showed up, but they did not leave! They kept coming back the entire night, to the point that I got pissed off pretty good & I grabbed an oar & started trying to play " whack-a mole " with them while they were swimming around the boat laughing at me & taunting me, actually turned the whole thing into a dang game. I couldn't help but laugh at them, and myself bc they were wearin me out. One of them even came right down on the step inside the cabin & started barking/laughing at me while I was tryin to pass out. I'd get up & chase them off the boat, whack at them like a lunatic & within a cpl mins after layin back down, here they'd come right back in the boat. They actually managed to push the huge beer cooler " full " off of the fish/bait cooler & beer & ice went everywhere & they were right back in it. I got zero sleep that night & they wiped us out of Ballyhoo & Butter Fish as well as eating several King Mackerel & Mahi. I've had many encounters with otters, they are super smart & friggin relentless when they want something & it was pretty cool to see them turn messing with me into a night long game. I ended up growing pretty fond of them.