On Sun, 28 Sep 2003 18:42:09 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

...interesting.

Stopped off in Chesapeake Beach for a look-see (lotsa damage and mess
from Isabel) and was pleased to see virtually everyone is back in business.

Got invited aboard a spanking new Grady-White 33' Express powered by two
250 hp Yamaha outboards, and took a ride out into the Bay for about a
half hour. It's an absolutely fabulous fishing machine, with a great
command console, hardtop and cabin, plus a huge, flat cockpit. The water
was pretty flat, but we did cross a couple of wakes - fast - and the
boat handled them nicely. We were top-ending somewhere in the mid-40's
(mph), which is faster than most of the twin inboard express fishing
boats I've seen.

Not the kind of boat I'd buy; I'm not that serious a fisherman anymore,
but if I were in the market for a rig in that category, I'd sure
consider it, and I usually do not like outboards on larger, 30+ boats.

Went to visit the lobster boat on her cradle and now am trying to decide
whether to splash her for the remainder of the season or store and seal
her up until next spring. Our season here ends as far as I am concerned
about mid-November, and unless it actually is snowing, starts up again
about the first week of April.

Finished up the boating day with a visit to the marina, but didn't run
into JohnH, who apparently stays away from the water on the weekends.
The marina had minor damage from the storm, including about 2 feet of
water in the clubhouse and office. They've stripped out the carpeting
and are getting back to business.

Minor modification on Yo Ho. Parker installs 12" windshield wiper blades
on the boat and when you need the wipers, they clear a mighty small
chunk of glass. So I wrestled the old bladeholders off, and installed
14" bladeholders and blades. They fit with an 1/8" to spare at the top
of the aluminum window frame.

I was going to take her out for a ride, but a guy loading up on a
trailer told me there was a lot of floating debris still in the Bay,
left over from Isabel, and some of it consisted of substantial logs
floating just barely breaking the surface. Hitting one of those would
not be a way to make one's day.

And what boating adventures did you guys have today?

I had gone up on Tuesday to check things out. Took the motorcycle, which went
on reserve on the way up to Deale. Thinking I'd get gas in Deale, I just kept
going. The guys were scraping mud off the floor in the workshop area, all but
two of the slips were empty, and the lot was full of boats. They had done a lot
of work getting the boats out of the water. I don't know if they charged for
this or not, but it had to have been a tremendous effort.

On Saturday I called to see if my boat could be put in the water. My brother,
from Seattle area, was visiting, and I thought we'd just go for a ride. Well,
Lynn said the boatel was still packed with boats, but that she's call if they
could work their way to the back end and get my boat out. She didn't call.

I called this AM, Tuesday, and they say they'll be able to get my boat out
today. My boat is all the way at the end of the boatel on the third level. Well
out of harm's way, unless the building goes down.

I don't fish on weekends during the summer because it's just too damn crowded
out there. I'll be fishing the weekends this fall though.




John
On the 'Poco Loco' out of Deale, MD