Its been one of those summers. A lot of activity going on, a new puppy and the weather not always cooperating, there haven’t been a ton of days on the boat this summer. Kind of a bummer really. The 4th of July was fun, nice 4 days on
the boat but I think we could tell that after 4 days, little Diver couldn’t wait to get back on land.
We have also gone to dinner at the new harbor side restaurants, anchored at Peddock and relaxed some and gone out with family.
There has been some interesting sailing activity in the harbor this summer with all of the newness of South Boston. This year we have also taken a few fishing trips on the Reel Pursuit which has been a ton of fun. Our friends Brian and Jenny have had their twins Isaac and Phoebe and everyone is doing well.
The Dive Inn went on the Martha’s Vinyard shark tournament this year and they caught 3 dog fish and a 200lb Maco. I am sure that was a great trip. Wish I was there but while I thought I would have a lot of free time this summer, I haven’t had that yet.
Good news is we have been doing a lot of video. We will be putting together some sort of compilation to show toward the end of the summer.
Good news is, Donna and I are on vacation this week so we are off to the boat today for a day or so, then the weekend, at least as long as the weather holds out.
My cousin is getting married. So at 45 I think it is more fun to do a bachelor party on the water. We gathered up the cousins in MA (I have to say that because our other good cousin in Maine, Lenny, was left out – very sad) and headed out on a “3 hour tour”. It was a bit like Gilligan’s Island (minus Mary Ann and Ginger) but we had a fun time. We brought with us, sandwiches, beer, munchkins, and good attitudes. We had a great time. It is always good to be out on the water relaxing. Here is a short video of the Fishin’ Magician in action. (Oh and by the way, CONGRATULATIONS Eric and Lee on the wedding!)
The rain here in Boston has given us a slow start to the boating season this year. However, this weekend should be good enough to kick it off with all of our friends down a the marina. Also, this year we have a new addition to the family – Diver Dog! She is AWESOME and we really hope she loves hangin on the boat.
We should also point out that as of right now the Boston Bruins are 1 game away from “winning” (need to say that like Charlie Sheen) their conference and going on to the Stanly Cup finals. This year has been a good year as a ticket holder and we have seen some great games. I do think they can take out Tampa but the next round will be hard. This will be their fist trip to the big show in at least 20 years. Lets hope they don’t disappoint. Go B’s!
Wow – What can I say? I hate those guys who take forever to update their blogs but this season was a bit crazy. I had a new job this boating season for a startup company and well, needless to say, seven trips to Israel later and it was tough to stay on top of the blog. I used the time to be on the boat instead of write. (The good news is we sold the company so I’ll be more up to date on the blog this season.)
Speaking of time on the boat, this summer was great. Good weather and Donna’s family came to Boston for 2 weeks and we spend some great time on the boat. We also took the family fishing on Reel Pursuit charters with our good friend Captain Paul and the man of the hour was Donna’s cousin Cesar who caught a 36″ stripped bass. We cooked it up and ate it and it was delicious!
We also did a lot of relaxing on the boat with the family. Afternoons on the water, anchored and swimming. It was all good fun.
Every 4th of July Donna’s uncle and his friends come down to the boat and this year was no exception. It was a wonderful day. Uncle Herbie, Jimmy & Sharon and Arthur and Lauraine came down for a nice ride. The sun was out, it was hot but the seas were very calm. Donna had got some lobster meat the night before so we were doing to have a feast on the water. We motored out of the harbor nice and easy and kept on going for an hour or so. Again, once off shore it was beautiful. Very clam and very cool. Here is a great shot of Jimmy with the city skyline in the back ground and a great picture of Donna Julie and her Uncle Herbie.
It was a great day on the water. We motored back to the dock and relaxed until the fireworks. This year, just across from Constitution Marina there were a lot of fire works and very impressive. Here is to another great 4th.
It has been an interesting season at the marina so far. I believe I had mentioned that Tony and Kathy upgraded their boat at the end of last season. Now I am not sure I’d call them empty nesters but their girls are out of the house and they love the water. They spent the winter visiting their boat in NC and then brought the boat up to Boston this spring. It is beautiful as you can see on one of our trips to Peddock Island this spring. The boat is a Meridan and has a great deal of living space on it.
Additionally, not that I may have mentioned it, but our good friend Steve has also been telling us for YEARS he is going to upgrade his boat a Carver. He has had his eye on a Post for some time now.
Also, Frank, in About Time also wants to do an upgrade. We too are thinking about it. We are spending some much time on it in the summer that it just makes more sense to have a bit more living space on the boat.
Frank has had some bites on his boat and has also found a boat that he likes so that may happen.
Steve showed up at the Marina the other night in his new 46 Post – Congrats! and was able to sell his Carver. Also, Donna and I have been speaking with Dan (who we bought our first boat from) and he has a leftover 37 Colbalt that could be a good fit for Donna and I.
The next trick is – can we all still be near each other on E dock at the marina? Stay tuned to find out more!
I have been meaning to write this post for quite some time. In the vessel behind Donna and I is the Veranda. Bruce, on the Veranda, has been very kind to us over the years and has helped to get the Boston Boating Blog on to a number of web sites including The Constitution Marina site. Bruce is a member of Save the Harbor Save the Bay and it is a great cause in taking care of our harbor’s and bay’s around Massachusetts. They put on a number of great programs such as the Parade of Lights every year where boats decorate themselves and travel around the harbor and light it up – it is very beautiful. They also do a number of things for kids to get them active in the harbor and take them to some of Massachusetts Islands and do a good deal of sight seeing.
You can hear Bruce on NPR 90.9 WBUR every once in a while and they just did a piece on Boston Harbor. You can also see him in the Globe speaking about Save the Harbor quite often. Bruce is also quite the fisherman.
If your an avid boater and love the harbor – look into Save the Harbor Save the Bay – it is a great cause and can help preserve the harbor for you and your children.
I remember my mother telling me when I was much younger that if you truly had one good friend in your life that could consider yourself very lucky. That thought has stuck with me over the years and I must admit I have always thought I was lucky because I have several “true friends”. Now that being said I need to recap a bit on a this past Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. As always we had a great party, good food from Blue Ribbon Barbecue as well as a strange concoction created by Tony. We also played a bit of a prank on a local E dock Legend. I will not go into all the details except to say a well coordinated effort was made to have almost 15 people dressed like Steve when he returned from picking up food. It was an inside joke for those of us on E dock and I am sure that other people in the marina thought us a little strange dressed like each other. However for us it was our way of giving Steve a hard time and letting him know that for all of us were are very lucky since we all share him as a true friend. Steve you help all of us with whatever we need and we would be lost without you. From all of us let me just say thanks.
Toward the end of May the whole gang was finally back at the Marina and the season was shaping up to be a great one. The weather forecasts for the summer weekends were looking good and it is going to be a fun relaxing summer. We launched the boat in April just before I was scheduled to take a trip to London (canceled due to a silly volcano in Iceland) and then to Tel-Aviv. As many of you may know I have a new job this summer (with not nearly all the perks = time off – as I had last summer). I am working for a company called Storwize - they do real-time data compression and I am with my good friend there Ed Walsh (the guy in the bottom left hand picture) who is our CEO. I digress. Needless to say I have been doing a bit more working this summer than boating but I am sure the end of the summer will see some catching up. Donna’s family from Peru is coming this summer and we are very excited to take them for some boat rides.
In the spirit of getting caught up, I’ll have a few short posts here just to get us back on track. Stay tuned!
