Boston Boating Blog

Stardate August 16, 2009

I am one of the luckiest people around.  Last weekend I had the distinct pleasure of taking out what I would call my best friends on a trip to Stellwagen Bank to go see some whales.  These are friends of mine I have had for years and don’t get to see all that often.  They are ALL not only friends by mentors as well.  There is Ed, who was the CEO of my last company and sold it to the company I currently work for EMC. and Ed is local to Boston.  Next there is Bob who is the managing partner at Ridge LLC.  Bob has had every cool job on both coasts there is to have including working for Scott McNealy from Sun Microsytems and has some great stories.  There is John who is a brilliant engineer, partner at Ridge and sold his first company to Nortel for north of $5B, Bob and John are from Reno, NV (or Silicon Valley).  Then there is my friend Brian who is an investor, working for an investment firm and has such a great grasp of technology and business its staggering, another local friend.  Then my good friend Mike.  Mike is a business, technology and M&A guru, from NJ.  When we get together it is one story after another about technology, business, M&A everything and it is fun, exciting, intellectually stimulating and can even be heated at time.

This weekend they were all in Boston and we took a trip to Stellwagen to see some whales.  The trip out was fantastic. It was like a lake on the water all day.  I was a bit nervous as we got out there and floated around for a while we didn’t see any whales.  We made some lunch, had some great conversation and then, as always, Stellwagen didn’t disappoint as witnessed from this video from Ed’s camera and a couple of pictures.

You can see how flat calm the water was.  After we saw the whales we took off and headed back into Boston Harbor.  It was hot on the dock when we left, but being at sea we were at least 10 degrees cooler.  Also, at one point I checked the water temperature while we were out there and it was over 80 degrees.  That is super warm for the ocean.

We got back to the dock around 3:30 and decided to hang out and wait for our other good friend Tom (who went with us and took the great pictures of the sail boats earlier this year.  Tom joined us and we spent some more time, having a few cocktails, having some snacks and just having a great time.

Next weekend doesn’t look so great for boating due to the hurricane (Bill) coming through so perhaps I can get caught up on a bunch of stuff I need to do this summer, like mow my lawn for a change.

I want to say thank you to Ed, Bob, John, Brian, Mike and Tom for making the day a great day.  I want to thank Donna for letting me take off on such a great day and say I can’t want to hang out again, soon.

See you all on the water.  Captain SteveK

Stardate – August 8 / 9 2009

We all try to take care of each other at the marina.  We all have different skills.  Reel Pursuit needs help with its internet

marketing to drive traffic to the site to get more charter fishing.  Paul can lean on Mike and I for that.  The Donna Julie needs help with it’s water pump.  We can lean on Steve for that.  Others need help with fiberglass because they always seem to have a hole in their dingy.  Kevin has been dealing with this all summer and its a good thing he has Mike.  The other day, one of the patches Kevin had put on his dingy to cover a whole came off and his boat had about 20 gallons of water in it.  Needless to say he was having some performance issues with the dingy.  Mike stepped in to help out patch up that hole good as new.  Good luck with the holes for the rest of the season Kev.  We don’t want to have to come rescue you on your way back from the Barking Crab one afternoon.

So later in the day, after (I was going to say helping but more like getting in the way taking pictures) hanging out with Mike and

Kevin, Donna and I decided to go for a ride.  It was just going to be a nice ride in the harbor.  And here is where I noticed a couple of things.  First, since later this summer I will be heading to Germany for work, I did notice an interesting sail boat.  It had is spinnaker raised and it was the color of the German flag.  I thought that was pretty cool.  (Sorry for the picture quality, but that wont happen anymore.  Donna got me a nice new camera for our anniversary so all future pictures will be great!)

I have also been noticing something else, sSomething that has been happening all year but I just haven’t said anything until now.  (And I am putting it down in deep in the blog to stay out of trouble – ha!) “Now I don’t want to get off on a rant…” (line from my favorite comedian – Dennis Miller) but…  I have been noticing a number of issues around boater safety and the enforcement of the ‘rules of the road’ in Boston Harbor lately.  Now, I took the time and actually went and got my captains license so I a bit more of an advantage than some I realize but come on.  If you are going to buy a boat, and take it in the ocean, read some boater safety hand outs at least before you hop in a boat and decide to be a menace to everyone you are boating around.  Learn the rules of the road, know what “no wake” mean, learn where these ‘no wake’ zones are and follow the rules – don’t just make a wake because you are in a hurry – stop being so selfish.  Also, the other bone I have to pick is with the local Boston harbor police and coast guard.  Their stations are right in the harbor and all of this, what I would consider unsafe, boating is going on right in front of their stations and nothing is being done about it.  I know the economy is tight but there is money in the budget to send the Boston Police to the marinas to collect on mooring permits, (on Sunday’s and holidays – for double time pay) so lets start enforcing some of the other rules.  I know there is more money in water fines than there is mooring permits.  (I mean which revenue would the state rather have, parking ticket or speeding ticket revenue?)  Anyway, the area from the Hilton Hotel @ Logan Air Port to the Charles River locks and in the Charles River is a NO WAKE ZONE – 5 MPH.  People LOVE to come through, especially past Constitution Marina pushing tons of water at 12 knots and causing all kinds of havoc to the boaters at the marina.  So I am not sure what I want to do here.  Do I want to enumerate what you should do or keep ranting?  I guess I’ll do both.  So, on the rant – Boston Harbor Patrol, Boston Coast Guard – start pulling some of these freaks over and giving them the business will ya.  Enforce the rules.  The other thing I take issue with is friggen sail boaters (at least the ones who believe they are so entitled they ‘own’ the  harbor).  Not that they are bad people, but who ever the hell decided to use the phrase “Sail boaters ALWAYS have the right of way – regardless” and then had it stick in the minds of everyone who owns a sail boat has caused TREMENDOUS issue and don’t realize that this is not the case at all.  To the point where they are creating unsafe conditions for people on the water who actually know what they are doing.  My advise, rather than list all the ways in which they DON’T have the right of way, is to say – GO READ A BOOK ON SAILING SAFETY!

Anyway – for any of you who know me, I rarely ever do this but I had to get it off my chest.

Until next time – see you on the water in Boston Harbor.

Captain SteveK

Stardate July 31 – August 4, 2009

Okay, I really hate bloggers that apologize for long delay’s between posts – I mean come on, I do have a day job.

So, two Saturday’s ago, friends of ours at the marina Dale, and Frank tell us that at our favorite hangout, the 2009 Aquapolooza (a large boat ‘raft up’ sponsored by SeaRay) is happening at Peddock.  Well, we steamed over to anchor up with the other 200 (that is right 200) other boats.  In the middle of the anchored boats was a very large party boat with 4 bands on board playing to their hearts content.  Everyone in the water was having a great time, even Donna. I got out our tube, blew it up and Donna was hanging out in the H20 having a beverage.  She then took a swim over to our friends boat and hung out.  Frank came and got me on the dingy.  Saturday was a lot of fun.

On Sunday we went home, did some errands and got ready for the next two days on the boat.  Sunday evening we cam back to the boat to sleep over (mainly because our air conditioner at home was on the fritz and we were getting some of the nicest days all summer.  We did what we do best, had a nice dinner, hung out and watched a movie on the boat and then went to sleep.

Monday was FANTASTIC.  We headed to Stellwagen Bank to see some whales.  People ask, why Stellwagen?  The ocean floor at Stellwagen goes from 200+ feet deep to about 90 feet deep.  Along the edge of the under water plateau, the water changes temperature and make it ripe for food to grow for smaller fish.  Big fish eat small fish as you go up the food chain so there are all types of fish on the bank.  (The picture on the left shows the ocean floor and the areas where fish gather.)

The trip out and back was great, the water was nice and calm but we only saw a few baby whales in the distance, nothing really spectacular.  We did follow a school of bait fish for a few minutes and Donna got on the bow of the boat and saw some tuna chasing them but that only lasted for a few minutes.  We floated around for about 2 hours, had some lunch and headed home.

The next day was super special.  We had yet to go to Spectacle Island, the island that evolved from dirt from the ‘Big Dig’ project in Boston.  We went with two of Donna’s favorite people, Uncle Herbie and Adele.  We had a blast.  We walked around the island, we walked in the water, we

took a little swim and we had some lunch.  Miss Adele was all to happy to eat Donna’s hot

dog for lunch.  After lunch we took a tour around the islands and then headed back to the marina so we could meet up with Donna’s colleague from work Meaghan and her friend and go for a little tour around the islands and just get out of the heat.  It was one of the first evening cruises we had taken all summer and it was wonderful.

The next day was ‘back to work’.  A total bummer but all in all we had a great time off.  It was very relaxing and I am very happy we are getting some good boating time in this summer.

See you on the water.

Captain SteveK

Meaghan tour

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 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

Stardate June 4^th 2009

We reinstated the Wednesday dinners at the marina this year, but this week we did it on Thursday.  We have ALL been craving Tony’s lasagna since, well, in my case, last year.  Tony made a double batch (I think he actually made like 10.)  We devoured his lasagna in minutes.  It was FABULOUS!  THANKS TONY!!!

And for a little walking music – here is a breif Animoto video I did of our boats at the marina.

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.