Thanks very much to Dim Jay and Bubble boy for teaming up on the solution...After the 9:06 pm edit/correction for consistency - I now think we have the best 2 probable root causes. That is provided that the rope thingy Stinky Matt mentioned was in fact utilized in the earlier attempts.
Thanks Driftwood for providing a copy of the theme song used during the brain storming session...
This thread can be closed now...and we can go back to fishing
