Boston Boating Blog

Captain’s Blog – Stardate 4/24 – 4/27 2009

Let me set it up for you – here was the outlook on the water for this weekend so lets just say we were very excited to be on the water this weekend.  The weather was to be summer like all weekend and it was.  First, we spent the evening on the boat on Friday getting ready for a nice weekend.  It was great to see everyone and we had Donna’s friend Catlin and her new boyfriend out for a lovely evening cruise.  It was great.  Seeing Boston Harbor in the evening from the water is beautiful.  We spent the night and then the next day Donna and I took a ride up to Danversport Yacht club to see the new Cobalt 37 (that is for sale by our friends at East Coast Flight Craft) in the water.  I was supposed to test drive it on Friday, however a few technical difficulties, as well as  time, didn’t give me the chance to take it for a spin.  That is okay, when it is time to upgrade, that will be the vessel.  Here is a shot of what she looks

like in the water.  It truly is a beautiful boat.  It was a great day for a ride too.  First things first, we needed to fuel up at our favorite fuel dock, Mystic Fuel (I mention them because they are really great – friendly and fair, good service and the place is very clean), so 125 gallons later (at $2.60 a gallon, and they aren’t taking my $.20/gallon discount card this year) we shoved off.  It was warm and it was nice to take a long ride from Boston to Danversport.  We even went though the bridge in Salem that needs to swing open.  The boat also ran fantastic.  We are starting the summer with 290 hours on the boat and we shall see what we get for time on the boat this summer.

Here is a photo of me, proud as the day is long on our journey.  After our trip north, we came back and hit another one of our favorite spots which is an inlet near Peddock Island in Boston Harbor.  We anchored and had some lunch and read some magazines.  Very relaxing.   That night we felt like we had sun stroke so we had dinner at the 99 restaurant in Charlestown and then hit Target for some snacks and supplies – like a nice movie to watch that evening.  I have to say we fell asleep right away.

The next morning we hung out with our friends at the marina for a bit – they are called out below and affectionately called, the “Cast of Characters” (see below).  There were a bunch of people saying that the boats from the Volvo Ocean Race would be coming in that day around noon.  Donna and I didn’t know what that was but after a few questions, we were told that some big sailing race boats were coming into the harbor.  Well, they didn’t make it at noon, but some friends of ours did.   We got a call from our friends Paul and Betty Ann (Paul runs Reel Pursuit Charter Fishing and is docked next to us) and they had come to the marina for a visit – as Paul’s boat isn’t in the water yet.  Donna and I picked up Paul and Betty Ann and we then ventured back into a nice leisurely trip around Boston Harbor and Spectacle Island.  On the way back, around 4PM we saw the Ericsson 4 Sailboat come into the

harbor near Deer Island Light, which marked the end of the journey to Boston for these guys after a month or so at sea.  It was pretty amazing, they had 2 ‘protector’ boats around them, 2 Coast Guard boats and the MA State Police.  Once the boat got into Boston Harbor near Logan Airport the Boston Fire Boat lit off it’s hoses and gave them a real parade through the harbor.  There must have been 30 other boat around them as you can see in the photos.

We then headed back to the marina to call it a weekend after a tremendous day on the water.  We got back and for the 3rd straight time, I have been able to easily dock the boat, I think I am finally getting the hang of it.  We cleaned the boat down and sure enough it became a cast of characters evening.  We started out having a couple of cocktails and before you knew it, 2, became 3, became 4 and we were laughing and having a grand old time.  We even laid out a secret plan to ‘Jack Rabbit’

people that miss behave at the marina this year – more on that later, but don’t get caught miss behaving.  The other strange thing was it went from 88 degrees while the sun was up to about 40 degrees, it was freezing and here you can see Mike and I bundled up, float coats and blanket.  It finally got too cold and the next day was a work day so we buttoned up the boat, said good bye to our friends and we are looking forward to perhaps a nice Thursday evening cruise and another fun weekend next weekend.  That is all for now.

Posted by Captain SteveK

The ‘Cast of Characters’ from E Dock

Stevie - Dive In - NICE!

Ryan - Life Less Ordinary

Mike - no name - Working hard!

There will be more photo’s of the cast of characters as the summer rolls along so stay tuned, and thanks for all your comments and feedback.

Captain’s Blog – Stardate April 19, 2009

(Late post) – After not heading to the boat all day on Saturday for fear of rain, Donna and I went down and spent the day at the boat and marina on Sunday.  We cleaned her up – spic and span and she is REALLY ready for a great season.  We also spent some time getting caught up with some of our pals; Steve from Dive In and Ryan from Life Less Ordinary.  We had some drinks, dinner and spent the night on the boat.  The new mattress pad worked out super well so I thank the folks at Portland Boat Mattress.  I watched Miracle (for the 40th time) and fell asleep.  We woke up to a cold Monday – Patriots day but we had a nice time walking around Boston and going to the IMAX at the aquarium.

This weekend is supposed to be ROCKEN… 75 to 90 degrees all weekend.  Time for some boating.  Also, all the folks from the slips around us will be in so I am sure there will be some fun times.  Donna and I are also going to take the 37′ Cobalt out for a drive, just for fun and to dream…

Catch up with me after the weekend for an update on what happened and follow CaptainSteveK on Twitter for real time updates.

Posted by Captain SteveK

Captain’s Blog – Stardate April 17, 2009

There it is, look at that weather post for yesterday.  Easily the best day of the season so far.  After a failed attempt last weekend – due to an torrential downpour, we postponed the boat launch until today.  I headed to the marina at 6:30 am, took a taxi to East Coast Flight Craft (where I have the boat serviced – and they do an outstanding job) where we would take the boat to Salem for an early launch on a high tide.

I happened to mention to Dale, great service guy at East Coast, that last year one of my trim tabs had stopped working, so in a jiffy, Dale did some troubleshooting and found the problem.  This put us behind schedule about 2 hours, but it was well worth it in the end.

We trailered the boat through Middelton and Danvers and launched the boat in Danvers.  Every thing went smooth.  Boat was waxed and looking sharp, it started right up when we put it in the water, I backed it off the trailer and was on my way at about 10:30.  It was warm, and sunny, and the water was nice a calm.  I brought the boat out the channel and after the no wake zone fired her up to about 2800 rpms and in no time flat was easily doing 30 knots.  I took the boat around to Presidents Row in Boston Harbor in about 45 min where I coasted in the rest of the way at about 10 knots and enjoyed being one of the only boats in the harbor.  I gave a call to Donna Julie, working in HER new showroom at Venegas and Company in the Boston Design Center.  I drove by the ICA, the New England Aquarium and the left side of the shoreline.  I put up all the ropes and fenders and called in to Constitutuion Marina on Channel 69 so see if my slip was ready to pull into.  It was, and with that I headed down the fairway and – all by myself, put the boat in to slip E 60.  I washed her down, powered her up, and covered her and we are now, officially ready to start the 2009 boating season.  Stay tuned for more updates and follow Captain SteveK on twitter for updates.

Posted by Captain SteveK

It is time and I am very excited. Dad is coming down from Maine on the early train and we are driving to Salem and launching the Donna Julie II. We will be brining the boat from Danvers to Boston into Constitution Marina.

Some times they say, an uneventful trip is a good trip and in this case it certainly was. We left the Danvers river at approximately 12:20 and made it to the slip at Constitution Marina by 2:30 – then it took me another 20 minutes to park – ha ha – I still need to get my parking act together. It was a good day on the water.

We did see one dive boat but other than that. Just a simple good day.

Looking forward to blogging all summer long about our adventures.

That is right. This winter I took classes every Monday this winter for 16 weeks (4 more classes to go) I worked on achieving my captain’s license. Believe it or not, this would actually allow me to drive a boat of 100GT (gross tons). Can you imagine that?

I have to say I really took the class to be a smarter boater. (I really wish other Boston based boaters would do this – it gets crazy out there off the north east coast in the summer time.) We had an OUTSTANDING instructor. His name is Capt. Dyson. Capt. Dyson has a diving business and is one of the smartest guys I have met. The class was taught with the highest level of professionalism as well as knowledge that was practical to knowing how to proper operate a motor vessel. I have been very very impressed with this course.

So, I can’t wait to get on the water and use my new practical experience. See you all out there this summer.

Ah, you know know what that means? It means that in a VERY few short months, the boat will go back in the water and we will be having some fun in the summer sun!

Donna and I (and my Dad one day) went to the Boston boat show. It was great again! It was fun to “shop” knowing that no matter what, you were going to have your boat in the water in a few months. Donna was pretty funny. She decided to “board” the Environmental Police boat. She told them, they boarded us this summer so she felt it was only fair. Check this out…

Next we checked out this new boat we saw on the show floor. It was painted battle ship gray and was like no other boat I had ever seen. It was from a German company and they had already sold a half dozen of them. This was a pretty interesting boat.

We also spent some time on the new Cobalt 46 Yacht. Danny from East Coast Flightcraft had one of the new Yachts and it is beautiful. It was defiantly the princess of the party, the prettiest boat at the show.

Well, this winter I am going for my captain’s license. It is called a 6-PAK and I am pretty excited. I will be blogging about that until we hit the water again. Stay tuned.

Okay, so I have gotten a lot of crap for not rounding out the end of our boating year. A lot of people have asked, “Where is the boat?”, “Did you take it out of the water?”… etc

The answer is yes, but not before one of the GREATEST boat rides ever of the summer. My sister, my wife and I made one last run to Stellwagon and let me tell you we saw some of the greatest marine life ever, including this HUGE Ocean Sunfish (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean_sunfish). Here is Donna getting friendly with “Fred” as my sister affectionately named her / him / it…

As we got further out, we also saw a bunch of whales. In fact, my sister actually saw one jump out of the water and make the big splash while Donna and I were facing forward and missing the show. According to my sister anyway, the show was fantastic. We got pretty close to them as you can tell.
Donna also spotted a huge school of Tuna fish jumping which we weren’t as lucky to get so close too but it was amazing none the same.

We knew heading home that day, that we had one of the best days ever.

The next day Donna and I refueled the boat and headed North to Beverly where we would dock the boat one last time and our very good friends from East Coast Flight Craft would pick up the boat and store it for us over the winter.

Here is us getting ready to head North.

At least this is one guy I won’t miss this winter…

So that was our summer… It was OUTSTANDING. This winter we are really missing the boat.

Hence the title of this blog, Year End, Year Begin. What is it they say every “new year” “Out with the old, in with the new”? Well, you know what time it is? It is New England Boat Show time. That is right, January 12, to the 20th, the place where it all started a year ago is happening again.

My dad came up on Saturday and he and Donna and I walked around the show looking for that perfect vessel. We saw some interesting boats I will tell you.

Well, if you get a chance to make it to the show, maybe I will see you there. If not, I am sure I will see you in Boston Harbor – in April you can look for us, we can’t wait to get out there.

Oh, I also had a comment on one of my blogs from a guy in Florida who also owns a Cobalt. Thanks for the note. I will keep posting and hopefully people will keep reading.

Now it is time to sign up for my captains license…

Today I went out on the open seas with my friend Steve. I did not know this until today, however Steve is very famous. Steve has just been awarded a very prestigious award, from the Boston judges of news papers on his outstanding skills as a “witty dude”. Now, I have always known Steve to be witty, however, in this recent scare around identity theft, Steve came up with a very crafty title, in stead of “What’s in your wallet” (clever slogan from Capital One) Steve came up with “Who’s in your wallet!” I like that… but I digress…

Steve and I took a nice tour of the harbor of Boston and today I did something I had never done before. I went into Marina Bay, asked for a slip for lunch, parked and went to the restaurant and had a nice meal. I know, doesn’t sound like much but since my increase in driving confidence after my classes with Jim, I have a lot less fear about parking and going into places.

After our lunch, we toured around George’s Island and then back to the dock. Pretty easy trip today.

Tomorrow the weather looks fantastic! Updates to follow.

Okay, so it has been a while since I updated this crazy thing. It is one of those things, you start and you have the greatest intentions, but then you get busy, and well, you know…

So this summer we have done a TON of boating. We have spent over 200 hours on the water, 150 on the Donna Julie II alone and this week we are headed out on vacation. I am not sure what we are going to do during the week but for Labor Day weekend, we are headed to the Vinyard. I am excited about this.

This summer we have seen some pretty cool stuff. We were out in the harbor when the turned the Constitution around. We saw the 4th of July fireworks from the dock. We have also made some good friends at the marina.

We have seen some pretty amazing boats in the harbor as well. This is a photo of the “Turmoil” owned by the Founder of Lands End. This is a beautiful boat used for exploring. After one of our new marina friends did some research we found that this boat had circumnavigated the North pole starting in the Pacific Ocean. The only boat to do this since the early 1900′s. Additionally this boat carried a Hinkley Picnic boat as it’s run about. (Very Nice)

Also, as you can see, my dad made a couple of trips down and this time he did some “skippering” of the boat. It has been nice to have him down for a visit. He takes the train, I pick him up, we do some boating, catch a burger and then he catches the evening train home.

A few weeks ago this summer, I went to Knoxville, TN to see the launch of the new Cobalt 47. This is one BEAUTIFUL yacht. It has a ton of cool features such as the Zuse drive system, a “skyhook” connected to the GPS system and an in-board modular control system by E-Plex. And for just $950K this boat could be yours. No, I didn’t go to buy one, but I do hope at some point during this winter I can help the guys at East Coast Flightcraft sell one and perhaps make some commission $$$.

Also, it is getting close to the time when I can start my captain’s license classes. Who knows, maybe if I sell a company or two more, I can retire and drive the Ferry back and forth to P-town…

Aside from just more of the same – heading out of the harbor on some new adventure, it has been status quo. I promise to keep up the blog – especially during this vacation and as we venture off to Martha’s Vinyard this coming weekend.

Keeping it between the buoy’s this is Captain Steve signing off.

Okay, okay, I have no excuses – I have been severely slacking in my blogging duties. So here is the news.

Donna and I spent a few evenings on the “old” Donna Julie a few weeks ago and then a week ago Thursday, my dad came back down to Boston and we took the old Donna Julie to Beverly and upgraded to the new Cobalt 323 – the Donna Julie II. We had a GREAT day for the ride to and fro. We filled up the gas tanks when we got back – OUCH!

That Friday my family and Donna’s family went to Maine to pay our respects to my grandma who passed earlier this year. I think Nana would have loved this new boat. It is very comfortable for her to ride on.

On Saturday we took the boat for a real ride. It was a beautiful day and we went to Beverly to Cocktail Cove – a little place where a bunch of people hang out in their boats. We then headed even further north to Rockport where we got married and checked out our honeymoon house again. We brought my sister for a ride. It was a BEAUTIFUL day.

On Sunday we took a bunch of Donna’s family out. Her Uncle Manny came, and her cousins Monica, Ryan and Ana all came out for a ride. It was rainy in the afternoon but cleared up just as we got out to the #2 Buoy. We had another great day.

The following weekend my mom came down on Friday and a good friend of mine and work colleague and I all went for a nice ride around Boston harbor. The next day Donna decided to do a yard sale so she missed a nice ride on the boat that my mom and I took again just out to the #2 buoy and hung out.

On Sunday it was rainy and we went to my ?great cousin’s? graduation party. It was a lot of fun. My cousin Eric informed me that I had dropped the ball on my blogging. Eric is also going in to the hospital to have some back surgery. I want to say here that I wish you all the best Eric and the minute you can hit the water – I am taking you for a day on the sea – anywhere you want to go. Get well soon cousin. And I will keep up the blogging.

Anywho – no sneaky trips down to the boat this week, I have been on the road all week. Four cities in 4 days. Looking forward to some nice boating this weekend. I will get pictures for the next one.

Happy reading everyone.
We will chat soon!