Boston Boating Blog

I have said that if you want the best fishing charter in Boston you go with Reel Pursuit captained by Captain Paul and now I know why.  On Tuesday I went fishing with Paul and one of his first mates Pat.  (Pat is my good friend Jimmy’s  (god rest his soul) brother and one of the best mates around.  In all fairness Paul’s primary mate Scott – who is no slouch himself, was on vacation so he couldn’t make it.  I say Scott is AWESOME because like anyone who love what they do, they tend to be very good at it and Scott loves to fish and I am looking forward to the next trip with Scott.

Now, that said, I learned more from Patrick in a few short hours (6) then I had learned about being a mate in a lifetime.

I will digress a moment on a couple of topics.  First, I have to be one of the luckiest people in the world.  I was able to get the time off and go fishing on a beautiful day and learn about doing something I have always wanted to do for years.  It was great.  Next, the day really was about Jimmy.  See our friend passed a year ago Tuesday so we went to the spot in the ocean where we spread his ashes to say ‘hi’ again.  It was very sentimental.

One funny thing happened to us.  It was probably Jim giving us a hard time.  See we were fishing and not catching much and saw fish jumping and birds swarming in a close by area.  So, instead of pulling up the anchor, we tied a buoy to the rope where the anchor was and motored to where we saw the fish and tried trolling for a while.  When that didn’t work we went back to the anchor line to anchor up again and keep fishing.  In the process of trying to grab the anchor line we ran it over (oops).  The line got tied around the prop and no matter how hard we tried, we couldn’t shake it loose.  So, you can guess what that means.  Yup, someone had to dive in and fix it.  Leave it to the ‘new guy’.  Funny thing though, I was wearing my swim trunks and I don’t know why that was the outfit I choose that morning but it turns out that it was the right thing so in I went.  MAN the water was cold.  Once I caught my breath I was able to untangle the rope and we were set to anchor up and catch some fish.  I don’t know what you call it but we caught everything in the harbor that day.  We caught 2 stripped bass, a lobster, a skate and a dog fish.  Nothing was a keeper except the memories.  Thanks Paul and Pat!

Stardate July 11 / 12 2009

Well the weather is really shaping up for July.  It was a great weekend.  Starting Friday afternoon I took Uncle Herbie and his close friends Jimmy and Sharon on a tour of the harbor to see the Tall Ships that were in town.  While Mayor Menino messed everything up for the Tall Ships (first time they have been here in 10 years) we still got to see them and it was a great sight.  I have to say, it was funny seeing the Boston Police boats in the harbor with their ‘extended’ families on the boats seeing the sights and then on the local news Sunday night for ‘misappropriation’ of funds / equipment – call it what you want.  It wouldn’t have been so bitter sweet if they hadn’t been such jerks on the water – but I digress.

Saturday was AWESOME as well.  My Dad came down to the boat for a trip to see the ships.  Can’t get any better – he loves boating, tall ships and the water – a true tripple play – well and he got to hang out with Donna and I – how does it get any better?  We took a nice tour, again, of the harbor and saw some very cool ships and then we took a nice tour of the inner islands.

The reality is my Dad took the trian down from Maine and paid $50 just to see if I had actually learned how to drive / park the boat.  I have to say, I did a good job given the pressure.

So Mayor Menino did everything in his power to screw up even the tall ships coming into Boston, but I have to say it was a nice weekend in spite of it all.

On Sunday, another great day, our friends Brian and Jenny came down for a boat ride along with our bud Steve from the marina.  Again we drove around the harbor to see the ships and then we anchored off of Peddock’s Island again to relax and feel the cool breeze.  While we were there we saw one of the coolest boats EVER.  It was probably 90 feet long and very sleek and stealth.  As we drove by it had its back open and had launced 2 jet skies and a tender.  Beautiful boat.

After we got back to the marina it was one of those nights where EVERYONE was there and having a great time.  By the time Donna and I got out of there it was 10PM and we missed dinner.  Oh well, I can eat any time.

Until next time this is Captain SteveK signing off.

Thanks for reading!

Stardate 7/4/2009*

Well, three times a year we have a BASH at the marina.  Memorial Day, Labor Day and yup, the 4th of July.  This year was no exception.  It ends up being a lot of laughing, lots of company and a huge eating fest with tons of meat – sausage, hot dogs and hamburgers.

The day started around noon.  The usuals were there, Paul, Betty Anne, Frank, Dale, Donna, Steve, Ron and Mary Ann and myself.  The visitors

were Megan (Donna’s friend) and her daughter Isabella and Megan’s Dad, Steve, who we affectionately call Steve 19.  Then of course, it wouldn’t be one of the holidays at the marina without Uncle Herbie and Jimmy.  Then more folks showed up.  Scott, Paul’s first mate and Betty Anne’s nice showed up Kerri and her friend, who we met the previous week, Julie.  Also, for the first time, Donna’s cousin Felipe came to the boat.  Scott, Kerri, Julie and Felipe came to the marina later and stayed for the fireworks, the rest of the folks headed home to watch the fireworks.

Earlier in the day the U.S.S. Constitution was moved from it’s slip and taken out into Boston Harbor.  This year I was on the dock at the marina versus being in the water.  I was actually closer to it than you can get if you were to be out in the water.  This year it was a bit less impressive.  The ship is undergoing some construction so as you can see, the masts are half off, and the deck is covered as they do their work.  Regardless, it is exciting to watch the oldest commissioned Naval vessel move from her slip and the production it takes to make it happen.  There were 4 tugs, 2 smaller Coast Guard boats, 1 Coast Guard cutter, multiple Boston Police boats, multiple Environmental Police boats and, of course, tons of boaters trying to catch a glimpse or trying to bypass the show to get up the Charles to anchor for the evenings festivities.

After I watched the Constitution head out, Jimmy and Uncle Herbie showed up.  Jimmy’s wife Sharon made an outstanding grape salad.

Then the meat fest started with the George Forman grills.  We spend a lot of time grilling and cleaning and getting ready for the next meal, or should I say meals because once the grilling begins, it usually doesn’t end until the traffic from the fireworks is over.

It started to get dark and at 8:41 4 F-15′s did a flyover the Lenny Zakim bridge and up the Charles River, it was pretty awesome.  Steve and his family headed up to the Charles to

watch the fireworks, but more importantly, they stop every year and linger around the locks to see all of the boaters, with little to no experience try to navigate the locks.  It’s not hard, but when you have 1000 boats trying to go through in a day mixed with little experience and perhaps a few adult beverages, you get chaos.

We had the radio’s on the boat going and Ron even brought out his TV so we could hear and see the Boston Pops, live with Neil Diamond.  Oh yeah, ‘Coming To America’ and ‘Sweet Caroline’.  We were belting it out on the dock for all of Boston to hear.  And then the show started.  Boston ALWAYS does a great job with the fireworks.

After they were finished, we cooked up another 10 hotdogs, I think we all had one and then hit the hay.

The next day was beautiful too.  I think we ‘willed’ the weekend to give us nice weather.  It was too windy all weekend to get in a good boat ride, but it was really nice to be outside all weekend.  On Sunday we all just sat around, enjoyed the sun, worked on our boats, relaxed, read, ate some more meat and had a fun day.  Well, right up until the Boston Police Department showed up.

Each year, around the July time frame the BPD comes by to make sure everyone has their morring permit.  (Why on God’s green earth they would show up on a holiday weekend on a Sunday at probably double time pay when the state is in such dire straights with the economy is really assinine but I digress.)  Well, because Donna and I moved this year, the address on my boat documentation and the address for the moring permit were differnt so they couldn’t send me my permit – forget the fact that I paid for it 6 months ago and have called them 3 times to see where it was and each time they said, “Oh, yeah, we see you have paid, no problem, we are just a bit behind and we will mail it out to you soon.”  Yeah right.  Anyway, I got that taken care of this week so we shall see if they finally send it.

On a side note, Ryan, Mike and Kevin headed to Newport for the 4th.  I am anxious to see if Ryan is going to send me some photo’s to update the blog.  We missed them this year but I am sure they had a great time.

Signing off for now, Captain SteveK

Oh, the tall ships are in this week – stay tuned for more pictures and an update. Read the rest of this entry »

Stardate 6/27/09

I know a lot of people have been complaining about the weather, but really.  I look at it like, there are really only about 18 to 20 good boating weekends in New England and you have to make the most of all of them and I think Donna and I do a pretty good job.  We are about 35% of the way through the boating season and we have already put about 50 hours on the boat.

So, even though the weather forecast didn’t look good for the weekend, Donna and I headed down on Friday night and spent the night.  It is

always good to watch a movie on the boat and be rocked to sleep.  We got up the next morning and it was beautiful.  We decided to make a steam out to Stellwagon – we still haven’t done that this year.  As we were heading out to sea, we were around Graves Light and I could see the fog coming at me faster than I was headed toward it.  So we turned around and when to our favorite anchor spot by Peddock Island.  Well, something when very right that day and we picked the perfect spot.  The fog did roll in, but we were in the sun for about 6 hours.  It got so foggy we couldn’t see the city but above us is was very nice.

It did start to get a bit chilly and cloudy so we headed back to the marina.  When we got there, Paul, Betty Anne, Steve and Betty Anne nice and some of her friends were all there.  They had said, the day was beautiful on the doc too but it looked like it was going to rain.  The thing I love about the marina though, it didn’t matter.  We all hung out, under the tarp on Paul’s boat and played some games, had a few drinks and a ton of laughs.  I forget sometimes – its a family there – a very fun family.

Next weekend – 4th of July – I can’t wait!  Until then…

Posted by Captain SteveK

Okay, I am not one to complain, but the boating season in Boston is really only about 16 weeks long (unless your hard core like Donna and I and pull out about 20 to 21 weeks) but its not that long.  Especially when you consider that you really only use the boat on the weekends and there are maybe a handful of weekends where you get an extra day here or there.

The past two weekends have left us with only an afternoon or evening at the boat, some dinner with great friends and then home to get out of the rain.  I mean, it doesn’t stop Donna and I from watching a movie or two on the boat, in the rain and then heading home.  Oh well.  Maybe next weekend we will get out for a nice long ride.  Still looking forward to that first trip to Stellwagon to see some whales.

Let me leave you with a really nice photo some of the gang took after a rain storm.  See you on the high seas.

Posted by Captain SteveK

Startdate June 6^th / 7th 2009

Donna went to Maine for work on Friday and then hung out with Kim, my sister on Saturday so I headed down to the marina to help Paul on Reel Pursuit.  Paul has been busting his bee-hind all summer getting his boat ready for the charter fishing season.  (If you ever want the best charter fishing in Boston, you need, no, you MUST talk to Captain Paul and his first mate Scott – more on Scott in a minute.)

Paul spent the better part of 2 weekend (4 full days) sanding down the teak on the back of his boat.  It looks fantastic.  But wouldn’t you know it, when you sand 1/8^th of an inch of wood off, the screw holes for all the gear that goes in these holes no longer line up.  That wouldn’t have been such a big deal except the week before we had rebunged most holes on the teak as it was.  Now Paul had to fill in the holes and wait 24 hours before he could actually finish the job.  That said, I saw the finished product on Sunday, it looks great!  Time to go fishing Paul!  Paul captaining his vessel this Tuesday in a bass fishing tournament in Boston Harbor.  Good Luck!

Now, commotion number 1 (and here is where we get back to Scott).

Mike the owner of Mic Mac and Scott, Paul’s first mate, Boston Fireman and all around great guy took off fishing for the illusive tuna at 3:30 this am.  And by god they got one.  If you have ever been tuna fishing, you know this is a) a very hard fish to catch and b) a great day when you get one.  The fish weight about 150 lbs, was 60″ long and (if you ask my wife) was pretty tasty.  Mike and Scott fought the fish (on the Mic Mack) for about an hour until they landed the fish in the boat.

Now just when they thought they were done for the day and could come home, is when they were faced with a new challenge.  See, the weather and the seas were a bit on the rough side.  In the distance, about 1/4 of a mile or so away, Mike and Scott saw some folks on a 31′, center console fishing boat.  The guys on the boat were waving their arms like they were in trouble so Mic Mac raced over to see that their boat had been back to into the waves and had taken a couple of 5′ swells over the stern of their boat and it was sinking.  Mike and Scott, worked very hard and rescued the three fisherman from their sinking boat, while some jackass (yes, I said it), who was closer at the time, took pictures and video from his boat and did nothing to try to help save the fisherman. You know, I do believe in karma and one day, he will get his. Mike and Scott are true heroes. As Mike and Scott headed back to Boston, the Coast Guard came by to take the fisherman off to the Coast Guard Station to ensure that the men were okay and not under the influence.  Apparently when the Coast Guard showed up, one of the first questions they asked was “How much fuel did you have on boar?” to which the answer was “About 150 gallons.”  Wrong answer.  Keep in mind all you boaters out there, if you ‘spill’ gas into the water, its your responsibility to clean it up, which really means pay for the clean up.

The following day, Seatow went out to the spot where the boat had ‘sank’ and the nose of the boat (just like in the picture) was still above water.  Seatow put a rope on the front tow ring and tugged on the boat.  The word is that the boat ‘popped’ out of the water, self bailed and Seatow towed it back to Boston.  Now, because this is considered a ‘salvage’ they own the boat.  Not a bad days pay I’d say.

Mike and Scott got back to the marina around 1pm with the fish and told us both stories.  What a day.  Mike and Scott cut up the fish and handed out tuna steaks to a bunch of folks on the dock. Bruce, our next door neighbor, took one of the steaks and cut it up and some of us had Sushi right there on the dock with some wasabi, ginger and soy sauce.

Begin commotion number 2.  This is when things went a bit south.  The ‘gang’ decided to make a few drinks, which led to a few more and when ever you mix tequila with anything it can get a bit messy.  Well, I’ll spare all the details but lets just say it’s really important for all of us to remember that we are a family down at the marina and we all need to respect each as well as each others space down there.  There are folks that live on their boats year round and others of us that just come and go as we please….  Let’s just say that Saturday was a learning lesson for all of us and hopefully we are all the better for it.  It was an early day that day.

Sunday was a fun evening on the water.  In the afternoon we had a nice bar-b-que at the house with the family.  Monica, Ryan, Adel, Herb, Felipe, Manny, the Oxnars and surprise, Donna’s cousins from CA were there Mark, Heather and their son Miles.  It was a very nice day at the house getting all caught up. After eveyone left, that evening Donna and I and the cousins from CA all went for a fun boat ride in the harbor.  It was a perfect ending to a perfect day.  It was great to see you guys Mark, Heather and Miles and you are all welcome to come back any time.

Posted by Captain SteveK

(Let’s hope this is still the case when Monday Night Football comes on!)

The text message I got from my friend Kevin this past Monday night after work was simple, BOAT RIDE = NOW. My reply was even more simple and to the point, DONE. That is how it all began, we had the engines turned over and the lines off Second Beach faster then ever before. We had a simple plan, take a quick run into the harbor and come back to the Marina. We could not have asked for better conditions in the harbor as the water was like glass and the weather was perfect. We could have ended the night at that point when we docked at the marina, but are friend Mike had just returned from his first day of work after 2 months of vacation. He had the look on his face of a kid who has just had his summer vacation come to and end when he has to return to school. In one of those strange moments that we all come up with the same thought Second Beach was heading back out to go through the locks and catch the sunset on the Charles. We hit the dock which we have affectionately named point “alpha delta” and turned just in time to watch a phenomenal sunset. The return trip to the marina was amazing, I have traveled over the Zakim Bridge many times in my life but few know what it looks like from underneath on a boat at night. I will leave you all with this final thought. Try something different next Monday and I am sure the rest of your week will continue to get better.

Posted by Ryan

Note from Captain SteveK

Ryan, I have to say these pictures are AWESOME and you truly have captured what life is at the marina and on the water.  Here’s to a great summer!

Stardate May 29^th 2009

Okay, so I am a bit late on my posting.  The nice thing about having a decent amount of knowledge in the social networking arena is it helps me to propagate the blog.  Last week I saw a comment on my Facebook page from Amy suggesting that Donna and I take the boat up to Salem and go to one of their local watering holes at the marina there.  Amy is John’s wife.  John is a good friend and colleague from work.  Donna wasn’t feeling up to it this weekend, so I offered to John and Amy that if they were up for getting off the North Shore for a bit and wanted to come to Boston I would be more than happy to take he, his wife and their two kids for a fun ride around the harbor.

Around 1:30, after I spent an hour helping our local sailing buddy Mike with his sails (trust me it was like the blind leading the blid), John and the family showed up and we took a great ride around the harbor.  It was a bit breezy but we got to see the city from the harbor and we saw Codzilla running about as well.

It was a very fun afternoon except for the parking job that day.  The wind had died down right up until it was time to park, isn’t that always the case?  I made it down the fairway and just in time for the turn, the wind came up, took the front of the boat and pushed it right back where it came from.  Well, of course I panicked (but kept cool) and with the help of ALL of our friends on the dock, I was able to get the boat into the slip.  Whew…  We did have a fun ride.

Stardate May 23, 24, 25 2009 – Memorial Day Weekend ’09

Ah, one of the greatest days of the boating summer, Memorial day.  It started out ‘hot as hell’ on Friday evening and Donna and I along with our friends Kathy and Tony took a ride ‘off shore’ about 3 miles to cool off.  It was at least 20 degrees cooler near Graves Light than it was in the harbor.  It was fantastic.  This was followed by first, a fantastic parking job, again, by me, and then a few beers and not enough food.

I should also point out the great friends boat people become.  I arrived at the boat on Friday to find my water pump not working – I am sure some sort of user error on my part.  That said, I had no shortage of people offering to help me fix / replace it and offering up tools and tape.  On Saturday I picked up a new water pump – it was too choppy to go for a ride anyway, and by Saturday afternoon, the pump was replace and Donna, her friend Megan, her daughter Isabella and her friend and I all went for a nice boat ride.

We ended up near Winthrop and notices a boater (small motor boat) in distress.  His engine wouldn’t start, so we gave him a tow back into Winthrop harbor and he was most thankful.  See, I knew those captain’s classes would come in handy and SeaTow missed out on a few bucks.

Sunday was the day.  The E Dock Cookfest.  Way too much meat, and way to much Jamakin’me Crazy – a drink concocted by our good friend Tony.  Jamakin’me Crazy quickly turned into Jamakin’me Sleepy for some and a few caught a quick nap.

It started to rain a bit, but just as fast as it started it stopped and we were grilling again.

Uncle Herbie and Jimmy D made it down again this year.  It is always great to have them down to the dock.  They are like family now.  They know everyone and everyone knows them.

We also had a slight mishap on Sunday.  Pre-beverage even, Ms. Donna Julie herself took a dip in the water.  As she stepped off the Donna Julie II she missed the dock and went right into the water.  She is a bit black and blue, and was a bit shaken up but she is fine now.

There was also a funny story (isn’t there always).  Our good friend Steve on Dive Inn has

his favorite tin mug that every holiday he breaks it out and drinks what ever bug juice we decide to have for that weekend.  Steve loves to brag about his tin cup and how special it is and cold it keeps his drinks.  Well at some point this year Kathy and Tony found this illusive tin cup and brought one back for each of us and we surprised Steve – guess he’s not so special any more.

Then came Monday.  We followed our friends Frank and Dale in About Time as they, and Paul & Betty Ann and Steve went fishing.  Donna and I went for a ride around the Boston Harbor Islands and floated in the sunshine and relaxed for a while.

Around noon we decided to head it and, what I thought, was call it a weekend.  I radioed Frank to see if they had caught anything and they had not and were heading in to.  We got back in to the marina and deiced to fire up the George Foreman grills one more time and have a late lunch and early dinner.  It was a great afternoon to wrap up a

perfect weekend.  Mike and Ryan sat around telling us about their ‘Top Ten Day’ and how they had a ‘Top Ten Day’ (see Ryan’s post).  Not sure we had a ‘Top Ten Day’  but each day was pretty fantastic.

As my dad always says, a bad day on the water is better than any good day at work.  A men to that!

Check out this quick video I made on Animoto (you have to check it out www.animoto.com) of the weekend.

Looking forward to the 4th of July.  Not to say that next weekend wont be as great!

Posted by Captain SteveK

* Another great post by Ryan!  Thanks man for making this blog special!

Many great conversation have developed while sitting around E Dock at Constitution Marina. This past Memorial day was no exception. This weekend we sat around discussing what we like to call “Top Ten Days”. For those of you who are not sure of the definition, it is simply put, one of the best ten days in your life. The fun part of this term is that those days can change as you experience new things or can stay based on the importance or significance of the day. It is also great to sit around with good friends and share those days like we did this past Monday. The best part is to look back at the ‘Top Ten Days’ and remember why they were great. I will not go into specific details of my last ‘Top Ten Day’ in order to protect certain individuals future political careers, however, what made this particular data a Top Ten Day is very simple. First, we were on a boat which is always a great start. Second, I was with some great friends who always make you laugh. Third, our Captain on Second Beach Kevin took us to a destination we had never been to before. Fourth, we met new people some we will never run into again while others will become friends for a long long time. Fifth, and perhaps the most important, at some point during the day, I think everyone on that boat at one point or another thought to him or herself, “There is no place I would rather be then here.” I will leave you all with this final thought, continue to look for your “Top Ten Days”, and when you need to, remember the ones you have had. I bet they will always make you smile.

Ryan Chmiel