I went boating today, sort of ...
Beautiful day in Northern California. Blue Skies. Very light winds.
Mid-afternoon temps in 60's. So I prepped my Sea Ray 185 and my wife fixed
me a turkey, cheddar, avocado, and mayonnaise sandwich on an onion roll (my
picnic basket turned out to include chips, soda, water, and a Hostess
cupcake). She's a good wife.Well, it was a great drive through vineyards, orchards, and hills thick with
rich green colors and some mountains in the background dusted with snow. I
was driving to a lake I've never launched at, Lake Mendocino (Bill McKee
knows the lake). It was such a nice day and I assumed the lake would have
minimal traffic today. I just wanted to drive my boat around for awhile.
As soon as the lake was in view, I knew it would be great: I was going to
have the whole lake all to myself - not a boat in sight! Much to my surprise, when I rolled down to the launch ramp I noticed the
complete absence of boat trailers. Finally, there it was, the sign: Lake
Closed Due to Flooding and Hazardous Debris. Well, so much for a nice 75
mile Sunday drive. I thought I would salvage the day and stop at the lake closest to my house
on my way home. I saw lots of boats coming and going on the road to Lake
Sonoma, so I was glad for the chance to get the boat in the water, but not
looking forward to a crowded ramp. Not a problem. When I pulled onto the
ramp, again, not a boat in sight! The cables to the dock had broken so
there was no dock for me to tie off to for my solo launch. Well, a nice 175 mile Sunday drive with a boat tied to my tail and not a
drop of water. You gotta love it. I did get something tangible out of the
trip: now I know what my gas mileage is when I'm towing the boat; 12.5 mpg. Here's to the next sunny day free of any responsibilities. |
Bryan
Jan 23
2006
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| Further proof, that low power RF harms the brain as well as the taste buds. |
Calif
Jan 24
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| Don't be a hater, Shortwave. ; ) |
Bryan
Jan 24
|
| Shortwave, such negativity toward God's ready-made butter. It must be the
pits to see life through anti-avocado colored glasses. Get it, the pits! |
Bryan
Jan 24
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| > I completely agree guacamole looks like monkey shit Or $300,000 worth of whale vomit. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4642722.stm OK, it's a lousy segue, but I thought the article was interesting. |
thunder
Jan 24
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| using the left coast vernacular, gag me with a spoon. guacamole looks like monkey shit. avacados are a left coast conspiracy - probably cause cancer or
something. |
Shortwave
Jan 24
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| dont bother - i wouldnt feed them to the neighbors pigs. |
Shortwave
Jan 24
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| you know what avocados are? a tax shelter for people with lots of
money. florida/california - avocados suck. |
Shortwave
Jan 24
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| Tom,
I completely agree guacamole looks like monkey shit, everything is a
left coast conspiracy, it absolutely causes cancer, obesity and god
knows what else, BUT BOY DOES IT TASTE GOOD.
|
Reggie
Jan 24
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| C'mon Shortwave,
You gotta live a little.
There's nothing better than a few RIPE slices of avocado on a sandwich.
Except maybe a few slices of RIPE avocado on a cheeseburger. And don't get
me started on the joys of guacamole! |
Bryan
Jan 24
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| Maybe he ate those crappy Florida avacadoes. Only half the oil as a
California Avacado. |
Calif
Jan 24
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| Yeah, that's probably what happened. Maybe we should send him a crate of
ready to eat California avocados. Need to be ready to eat 'cause those
yokels from the terribly wrong coast don't know how to wait for their fruit
to ripen which probably explains why they think avocados aren't DEE lish
uss. |
Bryan
Jan 24
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| And we have lots of avocadoes. Yeeeeeh! |
Calif
Jan 23
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| If you can run shallow there are miles of little holes through the
mangroves you can take. We can usually stay out all day and not really
get close to another boat. The best nav aid in the back bay is a 1999 USGS aerial photo. (on the
FGU web site) They are shot in false color infrared. If you print them
black and white on a laser printer the deep water will be darker than
the sand bars. Once you start seeing the actual flow patterns the deep
water becomes apparrent. You can also see which "holes" actually go
somewhere.
http://webluis.fcla.edu/cgi-bin/cgiwrap/fclwlv3/wlv3/DBGC/DI135610702/DGcat/SSKIPk%3destero+aerial/RO1/RP33/CM33/P11 These are huge pictures 8 meg or so each. I can mail you a CDR if you
really spend a lot of time poking around back there and don't have
broadband. My email in the header is real. |
gfretwell
Jan 23
|
| Cures RA. ;)
I thought about the boat, as I ripped out the old deck in back of the house.
30 year old redwood. Substructure is shot. Was in the Napa Valley Friday
and Saturday. Our kids gave us a trip on the Napa Wine Train. delicious,
well presented food, no sandwich. A seared Ahi appetizer, with a stuffed
pepper for a salad, and followed by a beautifully done Filet. With a
Chocolate Pot Pie desert. Each course accompanied by a local Merlot. Was
the Merlot Varietal dinner. one good merlot, one not so good and a great
one. And with a night at the Elm House B&B, I have scored many boat points.
Saturday we visited the Copia wine center and museum. The way a museum
should be. Interactive exhibits, and wine and food tastings. Drove wife's
car, and have no idea what the mileage was. Probably 18-19 mpg overall.
Today, spent 4 boat bucks for new pressure treated lumber for the new deck
substructure. Bay look beautiful on TV. |
Calif
Jan 23
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| I was thinking of how beautiful our area can be to visitors, especially
dependent on where they are from; there are many great places and each with
it's own flavor. My only regrets for this part of the country are the
greens fade to soon to browns (pleasing in their own rights) and the warm
water summer starts too late and ends too soon. While I was on my way back
from my attempt at Lake Sonoma I was tempted to stop any one of the several
Dry Creek Rd. wineries for a taste, but thought better of it without a
designated driver on hand. If you can find it, try a Greg Norman Cabernet
Merlot, especially with rib eye steak marinated in something a little spicy;
you might like it. And, my redwood deck needs replacing as well. I'm flipping back and forth
between a concrete patio and a redwood deck replacement. I started to tear
it out last summer, but we bought the boat and ... |
Bryan
Jan 23
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| i hate avacado - nasty left coast crap is avacado. |
Shortwave
Jan 23
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| boooooo.... |
Shortwave
Jan 23
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| Thanks but I have broadband and will try downloading them. Our
shallow draft boat is an inflatable with 15 hp Merc. It will go OK in
about 15 inches of water but it's no jet boat or air boat. We also
need to be able to anchor the trawler somewhere within a few miles
since we live in Cape Coral. There are some interesting mangrove cuts
on the SW end of Pine Island if you ever get up that way. We
discovered them by taking the dinghy east under the Sanibel power
lines until we got to the end. |
Wayne.B
Jan 23
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| eeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww |
Shortwave
Jan 23
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| Now *that's* a sad story. I went to a fishing show up in Maryland. Listened
to a talk by one of the renowned striper fisherman in the area who gave a
couple of good tips on trolling techniques. Then went down to the various
stalls to check out the prices this year. Not bad. Picked up a few Bass
Assassins for jigging and casting, and ordered a set of rod holders. These
are aluminum, fit into a side rod holder and hold two rods each. Much
better than clamping rod holders to side rails. Not a fantastic day, but perhaps better than yours. The Mustang, without a
trailer, got about 21.5 mpg. So I can't complain.
--
John H ******Have a spectacular day!****** |
JohnH
Jan 22
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|
Up at the horsie center? I went yesterday. I couldn't believe the prices
on those edgewaters. |
Harry
Jan 22
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| Sounds good, except I'd go for provolone instead of cheddar. |
Harry
Jan 22
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| Bummer. Should have kept heading east and visited Derby, Kansas. Eisboch |
Eisboch
Jan 22
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| Didn't look at them.
--
John H ******Have a spectacular day!****** |
JohnH
Jan 22
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| Try it, you'll like it. |
Bryan
Jan 23
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| Someday. Maybe. While I'm out visiting Party Cove at Lake of The Ozarks. |
Bryan
Jan 23
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| >Bummer. Should have kept heading east and visited Derby, Kansas. Nah, way past there, all the way to FL. We spent the weekend on the boat, nothing too ambitious but a nice
cruise over to Sanibel Island on Saturday morning, Saturday night
moored behind Ft Myers Beach, and a Sunday morning dinghy cruise
through the back side of Estero Bay. Very windy today but warm and
sunny, can't beat that for a January weekend. |
Wayne.B
Jan 22
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|
Yup tougher places for a January day. We were poking around in the
mangroves in Estero bay saturday and sunday. |
gfretwell
Jan 22
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| It's an interesting place. We went in through Hurricane Bay at FMB
and went up through the north channel as far as the haulover. I'd
never appreciated how much is back there. |
Wayne.B
Jan 22
|
