Boston Boating Blog

Its been one of those summers. A lot of activity going on, a new puppy and the weather not always cooperating, there haven’t been a ton of days on the boat this summer. Kind of a bummer really. The 4th of July was fun, nice 4 days on

the boat but I think we could tell that after 4 days, little Diver couldn’t wait to get back on land.

We have also gone to dinner at the new harbor side restaurants, anchored at Peddock and relaxed some and gone out with family.

There has been some interesting sailing activity in the harbor this summer with all of the newness of South Boston.  This year we have also taken a few fishing trips on the Reel Pursuit which has been a ton of fun.  Our friends Brian and Jenny have had their twins Isaac and Phoebe and everyone is doing well.

The Dive Inn went on the Martha’s Vinyard shark tournament this year and they caught 3 dog fish and a 200lb Maco.  I am sure that was a great trip.  Wish I was there but while I thought I would have a lot of free time this summer, I haven’t had that yet.

Good news is we have been doing a lot of video.  We will be putting together some sort of compilation to show toward the end of the summer.

Good news is, Donna and I are on vacation this week so we are off to the boat today for a day or so, then the weekend, at least as long as the weather holds out.

Wow – What can I say?  I hate those guys who take forever to update their blogs but this season was a bit crazy.  I had a new job this boating season for a startup company and well, needless to say, seven trips to Israel later and it was tough to stay on top of the blog.  I used the time to be on the boat instead of write.  (The good news is we sold the company so I’ll be more up to date on the blog this season.)

Speaking of time on the boat, this summer was great.  Good weather and Donna’s family came to Boston for 2 weeks and we spend some great time on the boat. We also took the family fishing on Reel Pursuit charters with our good friend Captain Paul and the man of the hour was Donna’s cousin Cesar who caught a 36″ stripped bass.  We cooked it up and ate it and it was delicious!

We also did a lot of relaxing on the boat with the family.  Afternoons on the water, anchored and swimming.  It was all good fun.

Stardate September 6, 2009

It’s one of the weekends we look most forward to, as well as one of the weekends we look least forward to.  We look most forward to this weekend because it is one of the three weekends we all hang out at the dock or in the harbor for the whole weekend and we are with friends.  This weekend was no exception and this weekend was perfect weather.  We look least forward to this weekend because it means that the summer is winding down (even though I try to keep the boat in the water until mid Oct) there are only a few weekends left.

Friday Donna and I took her niece and their parents for a fun boat ride in Boston Harbor – it was a great way to start the weekend.

On Saturday Donna and I did one of our most favorite things – we anchored out at Peddock Island and just relaxed for a few hours.  Then Paul from Reel Pursuit wanted to have some photos of his boat taken so he brought his boat

out into the harbor and we met up with him and Donna took about 300 pictures with the new camera – here is a great shot of Paul’s boat.

After we took our photos, Paul, Betty, Donna and I along with Steve all went to dinner.  We wanted to get some good rest because Sunday was our big Labor Day party.  This weekend, we decided to forgo all of the hot dogs, hamburgers and sausages and try something a bit more creative than a simple ‘meat fest’.  The thing we tried this weekend was that each boat was to pick a country they wanted to represent.  Then, they needed to bring to the party a food an beverage from that country.  We had a diverse set of countries selected, Germany, USA (ha – Donna and I took the easy way out), Spain, BVI (British Virgin Islands – yeah, the Pussers Rum killed me), Italy, and Cuba.  We had a blast.  Some people even decided to dress up for the occasion.  I made this fun Animoto video from some of the pictures - I hope you enjoy it.  (If the movie below doesn’t play, select the hyperlink above.)

Stay tuned for some updates for the last few weekends and pray for an Indian Summer.

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 am not sure exactly how we decided to take this trip or why we decided to.  We all know Boston is a very popular place for the 4th with the fireworks and the parties on E-Dock which are always are a blast.  However this year we decided to take the boat to Newport, RI for a few days.  Kevin and Kristen on Second Beach had already decided to go so I along with Mike, Annie and Lauren decided to take Life Less Ordinary on a 4 day adventure.  Some high points of the trip included staying at Kingman Yacht Center on a mooring.  This is a great place to stop with a great restaurant right on the property.  The staff was friendly and very helpfull with whatever we needed.  Kev and Kristen get the award for making the entire trip on one engine.  Buzzards Bay lived up to its reputation and slammed us for  hours on the leg into Newport on Saturday Morning.  We had a blast in Newport watching the fireworks, having a party on Second

Beach, hanging out on the lawn at Castle Hill and lobster donuts at the Moorings for lunch.  What makes getting away on a boat different then taking a car is that the voyage is just as enjoyable as the location you end up at.  It is true we could have drove a car and been in Newport in  two hours but we would never have had some funny stories and memory’s from that trip.  Annie, Mike, Lauren and myself will always laugh about funny word games to pass the time, Lauren throwing Annie in the ocean, my famous line “there everywhere” and the boat on the rocks at Castle Hill.  I will leave you with this final thought, when we were heading through the Canal and the weather was perfect and Mike and I were driving the boat and taking in the sights.  He said this and I think it sums up the trip perfectly “It is always better to be the guy on the boat then someone on the shore looking at the boats going by.”

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!

Great conditions as you can see.

Air Temperature: 78 Degrees
Water Temperature: 51 Degrees – wish I had my suit.

Donna and I took the day off and did some power lounging on our power boat. We had a great day – again!

We took a ride up to Gloucester and saw some more of the sites in the harbor. We also say some big fishing trawlers heading out to drag the ocean.

We also saw various other sites while in Gloucester – a nice old wooden boat being restored, the lobsterman coming in with a flock of sea gulls and a good samaritan towing someone in.

As we headed back to Boston Donna drove. She is really getting the hang of this whole captain thing and I am really getting used to relaxing.

We took some time and floated out in the open ocean and saw the sites. The Environmental Police came out and said “hi”. Two trips two boardings. We have some safe waters here in Boston.

I figured out how to use the GPS to tell me which course to follow. I knew I would figure it out.

During our ride, we confirmed the new arrival of the Donna Julie II. We are very excited for that.

We pulled into our slip at around 6:30, and again, we did a good job parking. Now that I am used to it, I am going to throw everything off with a bigger boat. Oh well. Practice, practice, practice.

Another great day on the water.

Tonight our house is being shown so Donna and I decided to go for a boat ride tonight. I asked Sebastian (dock master at Constitution Marina) when the fuel docs close, as we need some fuel now. He said basically they all close at 4:30 and it’s now 5:00. We decided to stay on the dock and have some dinner.

I walked up to the hotel and on the ground floor they have a sandwich shop. I got Donna and I a couple of sandwiches, some chips and some beverages. Donna met some new friends – the ducks. She decided to name them David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez (from the Red Sox because the ducks seem to follow each other everywhere).

We hung out on the boat, did a little cleaning, had some dinner and then took a walk around the docks and checked out the other boats. We met some new friends (people this time) on A-Dock. They were just hanging out like we were, having some food and drink and just loved being on the water. Their boat is called the “Bad Puppy II” and they have two very nice looking Boxers.

Donna and I went back to the boat, shut it up and then headed for home.

Tomorrow Captain Mike is coming down to do the 30 hour service and Friday we are heading up to East Coast Flightcraft to look at the 323 – I am very excited about this. I am also looking forward to going for a boat ride soon.

Until next time.