Early Departure

Packing up and starting NOrth today (Tuesday.)  A couple of days early, but we're trying to surprise the wonderful Ford truck. Maybe we can make it home without breaking down.

Don Ho

I'm not a smart man.  And obviously, I don't know a lot about dinghy repair.  But I'm pretty sure this not what you should see after applying a patch.

The Gigantic N F M is finally over.  There is so much traffic on the road out front, that we don't dare leave, because it could take hours to get back in.  And, we wouldn't want to leave our slip because people arrived in small boats, and tie up anywhere they could.  The dockmaster had to move two boats out of a slip that was rented just down the way from us.
We did eat breakfast at the G N F M both Sat & Sun.  And even though I swore not to spend money on things I didn't need, I was able to find a nice fishing pole and reel, some back-up flip flops, a belt (to keep up with the Richman) some shorts, a fishing rod holder, some wire ties, etc etc--all these things I desperately needed. Pammie considered buying a bonsai tree for the boat, but decided it might need as much care as a dog.  It would, however, be considerably quieter.

But, as with any circus, the grounds were filthy.  All the animals (people) walking around.  Every time we left the boat, we had to get the brush-on-a-stick and scrub our toes.  (Pammie can reach her toes with a regular brush, but she refuses to scrub mine, so I need the stick.)

And there were even more dogs here during the G N F M.  So I got an idea that might work out well.  The animal shelter was here last week looking for people to adopt dogs.  If I could adopt an inventory of dogs, I could rent them out to folks who come to this "pet friendly" park without one.  And any of the small ones that turned out to be trouble, I could sell for shark bait.

Some like it hot

Perfect weather

 

Crab fight under the boat

 

Dolphin from fishing on Wednesday

 I think this will be the photo on our next boat cards

You can run.........

Yesterday, Pammie was sitting in the cockpit reading when some people in a dinghy asked if she was from Indiana.  She turned around to see Dennis and Kathy Fry.

The Frys are from Indiana.  We know them from our business at home, and Lake Monroe, and they have a boat at Burnt Store Marina where we kept our sailboat.  They didn't know we were here. They were just cruising in the area, and took a dinghy ride through our marina.  They have a nice trawler that was anchored outside the marina.  They wanted to come in and rent a slip for a few days but the marina is full.

That dark spot on the horizon is their boat.  Here it is zoomed in.

While watching TV last night, Pammie saw a grey streak running down the dock towards shore.   "Looks like Sammie."  We had seen Sammie's parents leave earlier, and didn't think Sammie should be out at night alone.  So Pammie tracked her down, and brought her back.  But the door on her boat was locked.   Sammie stays on deck on her boat during the day so Pammie left her there.  Sammie make a break for shore again.  Finally, someone on another dock said Sammie could stay with them until mom and dad returned.  So, about 9, Sammie's parents returned and Pammie ratted her out.  They said they left Sammie locked inside their boat.  They discovered that after they had left her there, Sammie opened a sliding window and jumped out.



My dinghy has an inflatable floor.  At least it's supposed to be an inflatable floor.  When I stepped in it today to go fishing, it was quickly apparent that there was no air in the floor.  I pumped it back up (along with the tube that leaks) and thought maybe I could make it last another day.  However, it was leaking too fast for me to keep up with the pump.  I could manage one leak but not two.  Pammie wasn't interested in coming along to pump while I was fishing, so I had to cancel my fishing plans, and do some dinghy repair.  I think the reason my first patch didn't seal up tight is because I didn't deflate it to put patch on.  And part of the reason I didn't want to do that is because I'd have to remove this humongous motor.

 I tied a line to it and told Pammie to pull it up off the dinghy, but that didn't get much response either.

The destructions say to wait at least 10 hours after patching before inflating the dinghy again, so my fishing plans are done for the day.

The reason that there was no room at the inn for the Frys is that the circus is in town.  You can see the big top being set up in the park. 

The Gigantic Nautical Flea Market is here this weekend.  I'm going to try to find a couple more this year.  The ones I got last year to replace Phyllis and Henry ran off as soon as we returned to Indiana.  They may be gigantic, but they're still impossible to find.

BTW, people expressed some doubt that the fish in yesterdays photo with a spot was actually a redfish.  My pal Brown O BoB said it certainly was, and it was a male redfish who simply forgot to shave his whiskers.

Loopers

The loopers are starting to depart.  Tuesday, we took Beth from "Kismet " to the grocery to re-supply before departing up towards the Little Shark River.  They plan to go up to Ft Myers and cut across through the Okeechobee to the east coast and then into the St Johns River. 

The Canadians on "Something Special" are going up to Ft Lauderdale to wait for "Brown Eyed Girl" and two others to catch up, then the four of them are heading out to the Bahamas.

This 1964 Chris Craft Roamer "Seabiscuit" is from a marina where Dawg, Richman, and I stayed on the Ohio River.  It's a 38', steel hull.  One of the few steel boats that Chris Craft made.  The admiral of the boat is named Pam, so their dinghy is Pramela.  I think they plan to depart after the Gigantic Nautical Flea Market this weekend.

It's of the same era as the 1963 Trumpy.

One fish, Two fish....................

I went out to my secret spot again yesterday.  As usual, I caught a hundert trout, but I also caught some different fish.  I think this one is a blue fish.

And, although I haven't seen a redfish in a while, I remember that they have a spot on their tails.  So I'm thinking this must be a redfish.

Later, I was using phish heads for bait on one one pole, and shrimp on the other.  I thought the phish heads might make good shark bait.  I was drifting along, eating lunch when, of course, I got strikes on both poles at the same time.  Since the phish head pole was in a rod holder, I set the hook, put it back in the rod holder, and grabbed the pole with the shrimp.  I figured it was a shark on the phish head, and I would just let him run til I got the other pole out of the way.   I got the trout off that line, and turned my attention to the "shark".  When I started reeling in the line, I saw that it was slack.  I thought the shark must have gotten off the hook.  Then I realized it was swimming towards the dinghy.  Fast.  As I was trying to catch up reeling in the line, the fish jumped out of the water right beside the boat.  About 4' in the air.  Fully expecting it to be a shark, I screamed like a little girl.  However, it wasn't a shark, but instead a ladyfish that was about 3 feet long.  One of the largest ladyfish I've seen.  It finally threw the hook, so there's no photo.


 I finally found a school of tarpon in a feeding frenzy.  Unfortunately, I was having dinner at the time.

While I was out fishing, Pammie was shopping or doing whatever women do, and the "service engine light" came on again in our wonderful Ford truck.  So I don't know if we'll make it back or not.  I'm trying to convince Pammie that we might as well stay here as be stranded along the road in Georgia somewhere.  Again.

Tail

Yes, I'm a long-haired freaky person--at least that's what the sign said.  I have Pammie put my hair in a pony tail most days, and I stick it through the back of my cap.  Problem is, Pammie thinks I should be able to put my hair in a tail all by myself.  And in order to coax me to start doing it myself, whenever she does it, she pulls my hair extremely tight.  Not only does it hurt when she pulls it, but sometimes she pulls so hard that it stretches my face so much I can't close my eyes.  I've learned to squeeze my eyes shut really hard when she's pulling my hair, then when she's done, I have enough slack to blink afterwards. 

I've heard that saying that shows up on the back of my hat from some of my pals.  I always think of them (you know who you are) when I put it on.  It has mosquitoes on the front of the hat, but I'm hoping the fish see it.  (Insert a joke here about fish going to school and being able to read.)

We took the dinghy over to Snake Creek and toured the canals today.  I stopped to fish for a while, but only caught some small stuff.  This pelican was anxious for me to throw some of them back his way.

Ant attack

I stuck a patch over the hole in the dinghy last night.  This morning, I pumped up my dinghy, and it seemed all hard and ready to play.  But when I sprayed soap on it, I could still see bubbles coming out around the patch.  So I did what any prudent mariner would do.  Threw the pump in the dinghy and went out fishing.  It's a slow leak, and the water's not very deep.
It was another great day.  I caught a hundert trout.  It was an opportunity to taste test Gulp shrimp vs real live shrimp.  I had two poles side by side, and the live shrimp caught twice as many trout as the Gulp.  (34 for the Gulp--66 for the live shrimp.)

Since I had caught some sharks yesterday, I thought I'd try some cut up ladyfish for bait today.  I have read the chunks of ladyfish are also good bait for tarpon, redfish, and many other species.  The only problem is that the chunks of cut up ladyfish looked a lot like lunch.

 

So the trick is, always buy sardines in mustard so you don't get confused.

BTW, I caught almost as many trout on the chunks of ladyfish as I did on Gulp shrimp--but no sharks today.  I guess you could say I was sans sharks.

One trout today was over two feet!

 Size 13.

I tried Phil's kneeling position on the way home today, and it did inflict less pain on my back.  However, it's far too late for me to think praying would help.

This afternoon, there was another concert in the park.   In addition, the animal shelter brought some dogs in hopes that people would adopt them.  I'm sure Phil and Cathie would have adopted one if they were still here.  (Dogs are part of the reason they're not still here.)  I tried to get a couple of small ones to use as shark bait, but Pammie didn't like that idea.

There's an older fishing boat that just arrived in P & C's old slip.  It must have been sitting in storage somewhere.  Pammie noticed that it had ants all over it.  Next thing you know, the boat next to it has ants.  Tonight, we found ants on our boat. So we went to the hardware store, bought some ant killer, and sprayed our docklines.  It may be easier to repel rats than ants.

goo goo g'joob (again)

After I patched the dinghy today, Pammie was running water in our sink.  The drain for the sink is just above the waterline of the boat on the port side.  Here's the water trickling down from the drain, and being recycled.

In case you've forgotten, when we were here last year, a guy on the hot dog boat came out on the dock and shouted  "Look, a walrus!"

Shark attack

Today was one of the best fishing days ever....................right up until things started to go bad.

Except for a few days of rain and wind, the weather has been great.  But today, it's just too hot.  (Insert one of my evil laughs here.)  It's 85, and Pammie thought it was too hot to go out fishing.  Since I love hot weather, I went fishing by my self.  About 5 miles up to my secret spot in the Everglades NP.   I always seem to catch more (and bigger) fish when I'm alone. And before you say "sure, there's no one to verify my stories" I have photographic proof.

I caught about a hundert of these nice trout.

 

Then I got into a school of large ladyfish.   They're closely related to tarpon.  They're know as the poor mans tarpon, because they fight and jump like tarpon.    At my age, very few things make me giggle.  It's a short list that includes grand kids, catching ladyfish, and maybe a couple of other things that I can't remember.  I tried to take a photo of ladyfish jumping, but they all turned out like this.

Pretty comical actually.  Me holding the pole with my left hand, digging out the camera and trying to catch a ladyfish in mid jump.  I think some of them cleared the water by 5 or 6 feet, but I was always too late timing the shot.

Then, I hooked something bigger than a trout or lady fish.  It's another shark.   (But not as big as the monster from a few days ago.)  I'm able to get this one to the boat, and get a few photos of it.

 

It was pretty easy bringing this shark aboard, so the next one I catch, I slide right up on the side of the boat for more photos.

 

Shortly after taking this last photo, and releasing the shark, I start to hear a hissing sound.  I'm thinking maybe the vent on the gas tank, or perhaps a diet coke in the cooler.  It didn't take long to realize that it was a hole in my rubber boat, and the air was leaking out.  I found the hole (coincidentally, right where the shark had been.)  I put my hand over it like the little boy with his finger in the dike  (Dike like a levee.)  Since I was having such a great day fishing, I thought maybe I could hold one hand over the leak and keep fishing with the other hand.  That proved to be quite cumbersome, and every time I moved my hand over the hole a little, I could feel a puff of air escaping.  Plus, I'm a long way from home, and I wasn't sure just how hard it might be to return across the bay with one side of the dinghy deflated.  So, I reluctantly quit fishing and started for home.  As usual, the wind had increased, and was right on the nose crossing the bay.  I'm trying to hold my hand over the hole, but for each wave I hit, a puff of air escaped.
Obviously, I made it back to the marina, but I wasn't sure there for a while.  I dug out the dinghy patch kit, and stuck on a band aid.  I think I'll throw a roll of duct tape in my dinghy box.  That should slow down any new leaks long enough for me to keep fishing for a while next time.

Swimsuit model

Yes, I am a swimsuit model.
Today, I was once again a boat / swimsuit model.  George Sass wanted a few shots of a Rosborough under way, so I took our boat out for him to take some photos.  And yes, I was wearing a swimsuit.  (Although he wanted the doors closed so I would not show up in the photos.) 

I was a boating / swimsuit model a little earlier in my modeling career as well.  In 1965, my parents were staying at a cottage on Lake Wawasee in northern Indiana.  One morning, some people came knocking on the door wanting to know if there was a guy living there who was about 20 years old.  As usual, my mom checked to see if they were police or FBI, and asked what this hypothetical 20 year old might have allegedly done.  They said they were looking for someone to drive their boat while they took photos from a scaffold they had built out in the middle of the lake. So she admitted that yes, I was there, and she would see if she could get me out of bed to drive their boat.  Turned out those folks were from the Starcraft Boat Company, and the photos were for their 1966 company brochure.

It seems that not everyone believes everything I write on this blog, so in order to document my story, I "googled" 1966 Starcraft brochure. Since it is such an important historical document, I easily found it.  Click on the links to see the brochure pages.  Here in the top photo, that's me driving the Mustang 14.
And here in the bottom photo, that's me being a swimsuit/boating model in the back seat.   All true.



This morning, we thought we'd go out to Indian Key.

 The waterway through the Keys is not very deep.  Mostly 5' or so.  We followed this larger boat for about 10 miles.  His draft must be about 4.75 feet, because he left an easy to follow trail.

Along the way, we picked up a pod of dolphin, and took them surfing.

 

Here's a short video.  If you can't see it in your email, go to the website.

Our boat had 200 hours on it when we bought it in 2008.

We're gonna need a bigger boat

I've really enjoyed the new dinghy motor.  So I figured if bigger is better, maybe I should do something like this.

Those twin 150's are on the back of a nice TomCat that belongs to George Sass.  George took us out fishing today on his boat "Viewfinder."   I took him to my secret trout spot (at least I told him it was my secret spot.)  He did catch dinner.

Later in the day, I went back out in the dinghy to fish a little more.  George is a freelance writer and photographer for the marine industry.  You may have read his articles in Yachting, Passagemaker, or Soundings.  Anyway, George had to write a review for an Australian boating magazine this afternoon, so I went out in the dinghy alone.

When I fish for trout, I use a popping cork and hang a jig with a live shrimp about 2' below the cork.  The popping cork is concave on the top so when you jerk the line, it sounds like a fish feeding on something.  The trout swim over to investigate, smell the shrimp (I bite off the tails), and then they eat the shrimp, and I reel them in. 
It works.

So today, I'm drifting along, popping the cork, when I see a dark shape in the water behind the popping cork. I'm thinking if that's a trout, it's a giant.  Then, the unmistakeable shape of a dorsal fin starts showing above the surface.  It's a shark.  And a big one.  I thought the shark was going to eat the popping cork thinking it was a fish in distress, but at the last minute, it ate the shrimp and took off.  I'm hanging on for dear life as the shark is towing me and the dinghy around, stripping more and more line off my reel.  After a while, the shark tires slightly, and comes near the boat.  Naturally, I want to get a photo of it, but I was pretty sure I didn't want it in the dinghy.  (Still got a scar on my ankle from a previous shark encounter. Plus, we're talking about a blow-up boat here.)  Then I decided that I didn't really want to try to stick my hand near it's mouth full of razor sharp teeth to grab it with the Boca Grip.  So while holding my pole with one hand, I dug around in my box of stuff looking for my camera, but it wasn't there.  Then, I tried to dig my phone out of my pocket to document the enormity of the monster, but just as I got my phone out, the line broke, and he was gone.

Cold Front

The rain finally stopped, but the same cold front that swept across the mainland, came down here as well.  It dropped down to a frigid 54 degrees for our overnight low the last two nights.  That wouldn't be so bad, but the wind was gusting to 40 mph.  I know it's snowing at home, so I don't expect much sympathy for our less than perfect weather the past couple of days.

Phil and Cathie on "Buddy" decided they wanted a change of scenery, (or maybe some different boat neighbors) so they loaded up and trailered their boat up to a marina near Venice, FL.  Phil sent us photos of the bathrooms there, and it does look like a nice place.  (However, it was 32 degrees there last night.)  In spite of the freezing temps, we are considering going there next year.  It costs a little more than here, but it's not as long a drive, so we would save on diesel fuel and toll road fees.  We kept a sailboat at Burnt Store Marina in Charlotte Harbor for a few years, so we're familiar with the area, and still have friends nearby.

We've met a lot of nice people here in the marina who are doing the "loop."  This is a good spot to spend the winter months.  Tonight, we took loopers Dean and Beth, and Sid and Evelyn over to the Island Grill for happy hour.

S & P

Due to the similarities in hair color, there were questions yesterday as to whether Sammie and Pammie were from the same litter.

 

I admit the resemblance is striking, however, Sammie is much younger than Pammie.

The rain has finally stopped.  I don't remember that it rained here at all last year.  Although, several good things have come from all this rain.  First, I now know that my inflatable dinghy will not sink no matter how much water is in it.  I've also learned that I can sleep under a leaking hatch in the V-berth as long as it's only a few drips per minute.
This reminds me of a conversation I had with the chief designer of a sailboat manufacturer back when we were in the sailboat business.  One of our customers who had purchased a new 25' sailboat called me to complain that his boat leaked when it rained.  I'd rather not mention the name of the sailboat manufacturer, but when I called out to their office in Woodland Hills, California to tell them of the customers problem--expecting they would offer a solution--the head designer told me that I should tell my customer  "It's not a submarine."  I thought it might be best if I didn't pass on that sentiment to our customer, so I bought him a canvas cover for his leaking hatch instead, and that solved his problem.  Maybe I need a similar solution for my leaking hatch, as I know that my boat is also "not a submarine."

Circus Fish

The kid who lives next door at home (up NOrth,) used to train  "circus" fish.  He would lay on the dock and drop pieces of bread in the water, and the bluegills would swarm around hoping to score some bread.  Soon, he could just hold the bread down near the surface, and they would nab it.  Finally, when he got the feeding frenzy really wound up, he could hold the bread several inches above the water, and the "circus" bluegills would leap out, and grab the bread out of his hand.   That's what Pam was trying to do today with some cheez-its and a school of snappers.  They ate the crackers, but she couldn't coax them into jumping.

 

I mentioned earlier that there are a lot of dogs here at this marina.  One of the friendliest and best behaved is "Sammie".  I've learned that if you say "woof woof" to Sammie, she will kiss the person closest to her.  Today, when I said "woof woof", Sammie found someone whose hair exactly matches Sammie's.  

Bill and Joyce drove down today from Pompano Beach, and brought Bill's cousins John and Phyllis.  The rain continued most of the day...................

but we took the boat out anyway.  We made it out Tavernier Creek, back in Snake Creek, and down to the Islamorada Fish Co for a late lunch.  The usual three hour tour.

Great company, great lunch.

Rain

What do you do when it rains all week?  Same thing you do every other day. Go fishing. Catch a hundert trout and ladyfish.  Since Pam didn't want to go out in the dinghy during a thunderstorm, I didn't have anyone to take my photo.  But if I did, I might have looked like this old photo of Pam's dad. (sans pipe)

 (For those people living in Kentucky ( A ), "sans" means without.)

  

And what do you do when your daughter (my granddaughter) misbehaves?

Try feeding her to the dolphin.

And what do you do when it's blowing too hard to go out in the boat--but the surf's up?

Cowabunga !

When the weather is less than perfect, I get a little goofy (footed.)

Pompano

Beach--not fish.  On Friday, we drove up to visit our friends Bill & Joyce who have a condo in Pompano Beach, FL.  Their condo is right on the Intercoastal Waterway.  I could have spent the entire time we were there sitting on their balcony overlooking the ICW watching boats cruising by and waiting on the draw bridge to open.

 

 

As usual, my attention was drawn to this nice little 122' boat that was built in 1926.  If you'd like to charter it, here's the website.  www.marineriii.com

While the women went shopping, Bill took me to do a little "shopping" as well.  We first stopped at a car dealership that must have had a hundert new and used Ferrari's in stock.  Most of the used ones were around $300,000, but I did find an older 1988 that was only $70,000.

After that, we stopped at a boat dealer to look over a couple of new motor cruisers that were being prepared for the Miami boat show.  Bill finds it easier to tour expensive boats away from the show.  Otherwise, in order to board the expensive boats at the show, you have to be pre-qualified and show that you have the financial ability to purchase the boat.  The 72' boat we toured had 4 staterooms, a hot tub, beautiful leather couches, and the refrigerator is larger than the one in our home.  It was only $6 million. 

On the way back to the condo, we drove through some pretty nice neighborhoods.  I can't even guess the cost of some of those homes.  Out back of one of them, was a boat that was originally owned by The Donald.

Bill and Joyce took us to a really cool spot for dinner.  Cap's Place was built on an island in the 20's, and did a great business during Prohibition.  During that time, Cap's brother was the keeper at the nearby lighthouse.  He would signal Cap when a shipment of booze was coming in, and a different signal when the Fed's were headed towards the island.  Even today, the only way to get to Cap's Place  is in a small launch out to the island.  Lots of fun, and great food.

Yesterday, we all went to the Swap Shop.  The largest (by far) flea market ever.  I've never seen so much stuff.

Breakfast this morning.

 

On the way back out to Islamorada this afternoon, we saw this tow vehicle and boat sitting in a storage lot.  I'm thinking this truck might get the job done a little better than my wonderful Ford diesel. 

I'm not sure however, just how my Rosborough would look painted to match the truck.