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…
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.
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.
(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!
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!
* 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.
There was no large flat screen TV or comfortable overstuffed chairs. We were not at one of the many spectacular sports bars that the city of Boston has. To be honest with you the weather was not even that great. To make things even worse in my initial description of the evening the Bruins lost in overtime. However watching a play-off hockey game on the back of my boat a few hundred yards from the Garden with four really good friends is tough to top. The marina can bring together people who would normally never know each other if not brought together through a love of boats and the water. So for me sitting on the back of the boat with some Canadian Beer and bags of chips and watching the game on a 19″ TV was perfect. Thanks for joining me that evening Paul, Sacco, Mike, and Steve I had a great time and look forward to many more.
After my trip to Fan Pier I took a ride over to our marina and the whole gang is back in town.
The black boat on the left is The Donna Julie II (ours) the one in the middle is About Time, Frank and Dale’s boat and the one on the right is Reel Pursuit – Betty Ann and Paul’s boat from Reel Pursuit Fishing Charters (and a link on the right hand side of my blog) and I encourage you, if your looking for a GREAT fishing charter to give Paul a call. He and his first mate Scott (fisherman on the weekends and a local fire fighter during the week) will give you the best fishing trip in Boston Harbor.
And across from us, not shown in the above photo is Pipe Dream II, Tony and Kathy’s boat. We are all very much looking forward to a very fun summer.
Stay tuned, there is much more to come, and check out some entries from some guest contributors to the blog. Ryan Chmiel added a contribution just the other day.
It’s like saying “if you can’t beat them, join them.” For any of you who don’t know the clash between power boaters and sailboaters, well, lets just say, we all have to agree to disagree. Last weekend we didn’t do much boating, between getting some rest and not really sure what the weather was going to do we did some work around the house and took Donna’s mom to a dance show on Sunday, Alvin Ailey, it was very good. So on Saturday, I took a ride down to the Volvo Ocean Race Pavilion in Boston at Fan Pier. I have to say I was amazed.
First, they had a number of venues there from each racing sponsor. Puma, the American boat has a building built out of shipping containers and it was a party bar. Ericsson has a building you can walk through and a section of the building they have a mock ‘inside of the hull’ of these sailing vessels so you can see how these guys live while at sea for a month. The Chinese and Irish have a place to purchase racing gear and I hear on Wed May 13, the Irish are hosting a pretty big evening on Fan Peir with Irish step dancing and the works (I hope to catch that one). There are rides for kids, there is food, the folks from Sam Adams are there (for the adults), Volvo has a large building there sharing the events of the race (and they have a lego Volvo, actual size) and a host of other events. I was very impressed with all of the activities they have for folks, I HIGHLY encourage you to take a look, this is the last week they are in town before they take off to Galway Ireland on Saturday the 16th.
Additionally, they had all the boats out of the water and you could walk around these boats and see their shape (and some dings these boats get while sailing.) They also had all of their masts laid out and were inspecting them as well. These boats are made out of carbon fiber. Nice and light but brittle, when they hit something, they tend to break.
These boats are truly works of art and the guys that sail them and their teams are are pretty special group of folks. I don’t have much more to say about them other than thanks for making Boston a stop on your way around the world. I gained a whole new respect for sailing (at least the way you guys sail) and hope you come back to our town again. GO PUMA!
