"NOYB" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote in message
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"NOYB" wrote in message
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"IBNFSHN" wrote in message
news:IzROc.924$Yf6.253@lakeread03...
Very well put Doug!!

--
Bill
Chesapeake, Va

I live in Florida. In the Summer months, we do all of our boating
early
in
the day, and try to get off of the water before the afternoon
thunderstorms
roll in around 2 pm. I'm in the process of breaking in a new motor.
I
have
19.4 hours on it since a week from last Friday. I worked Monday
through
Thursday this past week...which means I've had 5 days to put those
hours
on
the engine. I didn't go last Saturday, but did go the other 4 days. I
take
my young kids with me, which means I'm seldom out the door before 9am.
So
in 4 days, I averaged about 5 hours of boating per day...from 9am
until
2pm
each day.

The reason I don't talk about boating on the internet, is because when
I'm
in the mood for boating, I go boating...rather than just talking about
it.




I'd like to do the same, but almost-daily, unpredictable visits from the
lightning vendor have made boating a major pain in the ass around here
this
summer.


This has been one of the worst summers that I can remember for electrical
storms. Usually, you can count on them to hit in early to mid-afternoon.
Lately, they're popping up at all hours of the day. I went out about
8:30am
today. Seas were 4-6, tightly spaced, and white-capping. I got out about
5
miles, fished for an hour, and by 11am, a storm had chased me in.



In my case, "chased in" could be dicey. My 14' yacht will get me through
anything, but sometimes slowly. But, the worst part is what happens at the
launch ramp. It's a town ramp, staffed by the most ancient guys you've ever
seen. With a storm behind me last week, I lined up with a bunch of other
boats to pull out, and watched as some putz straightened out his boat,
rinsed his fishing buckets and put his canvas in place before pulling his
boat out. At the same instant, 3 of us started yelling at the guy, and
another boat began blowing its horn. Some old geezer hobbled out of the
ticket booth and said something to the asshole. He didn't budge. Finally,
the coolest little Coast Guard boat* cruised in from the inlet, pulled up
behind the guy, said something, and he was out of the water in about 8
seconds. Afterward, 3 of us were out in under 5 minutes, by helping each
other. It also helped to chase all the dumb sightseers off the dock,
especially two enormously fat ladies who thought it was helpful to make the
floating dock list at a 30 degree angle.

* CG has a couple of new boats here. They look like inflatables (round
around the outside, maybe 30' long, with small center cabins where a center
console would normally be. They seeem to fly through any kind of turbulence
without bouncing. Amazing.