The Little Black Book of Hot Numbers
by Herb Allen
It's been said that nothing is impossible.
Oh, yeah! Just try to get a LORAN-C or GPS number to an angler's favorite fishin' hole or offshore reef.
We know of at least one top Florida west coast fishing guide who reportedly keeps his LORAN numbers in a safe deposit box. We've heard of another who has his numbers book written into a will to be passed on to his son upon his death.
Frankly, I too have a few productive numbers that I guard more closely than I do my virtue. And, no, don't ask because I ain't telling.
However, Capt. Rod Stebbins and his wife, Susie, of Tampa, Florida, have almost as many coordinates as Ross Perot has dollars. Unlike Perot, Rod and Susie are willing to share.
Their numbers appear in a new and updated publication, Coastal LORAN and GPS Coordinates, now available at many upscale marine and bookstores.
This latest edition contains more than 1,000 new coordinates, and has new sets of coordinates to artificial reefs and wrecks in the Marquesas Keys and Dry Tortugas, plus the "last known positions" of more than 650 ships and planes lost at sea.
The couple also have published more than 23,000 pairs of geographically correct latitude and longitude coordinates in three separate volumes that cover the East Coast from Florida to Canada, the Gulf Coast, the Great Lakes, the Caribbean, Hawaii, the U.S. Pacific territories, and the West Coast from Alaska to Mexico.
Stebbins, who retired to Florida from Chicago in 1981 where he was a civil engineer, began publishing his books in 1986 after being frustrated by the secretiveness of his boating, fishing, and diving pals to part with numbers. His first book carried 650 coordinates for Florida waters. Now, in a multi-volume series, there are in excess of 30,000 and growing.
What started as a hobby of collecting numbers has now turned into a business. To personally verify many of the coordinates, Rod and Susie have worn out four powerboats in 10 years and annually log more than 1,000 hours of engineer operation.
Probably the most discouraging thing for veteran anglers and divers who hoard numbers accumulated through years of trial, error, and dumb luck, is the possibility that many of their secrets are included in Stebbins' tome.
Now, even us mortals can become instant experts by getting the latest edition of the Atlantic/Gulf version of Coastal Loran Coordinates for $39.95.
All Outdoors enthusiasts who are unable to find the book at logical sites can get up-to-date information by writing Stebbins at 1355 Snell Isle Blvd. NE, St. Petersburg, FL 33704. Or call 813-894-4116.
