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!
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.
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.
