Boston Boating Blog

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

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.

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

Stardate May 16, 2009

It was time.  All good things must come to an end.  Donna J – the real thing, was in NY for an event, but I went out into the deep blue sea to watch the Volvo Ocean Racing sailboat leave Boston Harbor.  It was a foggy day as these guys headed to Ireland.  Also, the race began, which must have been planned for a year, and, while again tuned to channel 67 on the VHF, we heard the announcer say, base on the fact it was too foggy to see them, that an oil taker was coming down the middle of the harbor.  Delta Loyd and Telefonica Blue stopped racing and according to the announcer were waiting for the marshals to signal a restart.  That never happened and all the boats kept racing.  Very strange.  I figure all the Bostonian power boaters were just tired of the sailboats and just said, ‘who cares’.  Pretty poor form for Boston if you ask me.  Anywho, all the boats raced around their respective buoys an headed off to Ireland.  It was great to have you all and we look forward to your next stop here on Bean Town!

Posted by Captain Steve

BTW: If you have been following me on Twitter as Captain SteveK – I am moving to my original identity – skenniston.  I’ll be sending out a Twitter note too.

Stardate May 9th 2009

This weekend my friend Tom wanted to see the Volvo Ocean Race – Boston In-port Race Series.  At first I thought that it would be just ‘okay’ fun.  I have to say I was blown away.  First, there were over 200 boat that headed out to Graves Light just outside of Boston Harbor to watch the race.  On the way out, we saw one of the most interesting boats made.  It is called the Forge and was at the Boston Boat Show for the past two years but this

was the first time I had seen one in the water.  Very interesting boat.  The race was supposed to start around 12:00.  I think due to the lack of wind the race officials were trying to see if they waited for a bit, if the wind would pick up.  I mean what good is a sailboat race without wind.  It was amazing to watch these boats set up for the start of the race.  It was also interesting to watch as the race started, it looked like one set of boats went one way and the other boats went the other way.  It was all in their strategy to get the best tack to get ahead of the other boats.  Very cool to see.

While we in floating around and watching and trying to figure out what was going on, I was flipping through the VHF Radio channels and came across a British guy giving a play by play of the race.  He was the funnest part of the day.  He had a ton of funny analogies for what was going on in the water including the title of this piece.  You have to laugh, a 5 knot wind, boats going anywhere from 5 to 7 knots is not really a drag race, but that is exactly what he called it.

I am not going to try to show off all the cool photos.  Instead I am going to point you to a web site, where all the photos taken are courtesy of Tom who took some outstanding photos (http://bostonvolvooceanrace.shutterfly.com/).  I will show off only one photo.  It is the American boat Puma – pronounced Peu-ma by our now famous British announcer.  Nice pics Tom!

The race ended and we headed back into the harbor.  The boats take off to Galway Ireland on the 16th of May so I encourage you to check them out at Fan Pier before they leave.  I also understand that Ireland will be hosting the festivities on Thursday and Friday nights (the 14th, and 15th) so you know there will be lots of Guinness.  When they do leave on Saturday, it promises to be real exciting.  They will leave Fan Pier and head down the channel toward the Constitution.  They will go around a marker and head back up the channel and out past Deer Island and off to Ireland.  GO PUMA!

Lastly, my other hobby, watching the Bruins, they play the Hurricanes this week and need to win in order to advance to the next round of the Stanley Cup.  Go B’s!

Another great day on the water.  See you around the harbor.

Posted by Captain SteveK

Stardate May 2nd / 3rd 2009

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.

Stay safe.

Posted by Captain SteveK