Running With The Bulls...

No we haven't crossed over to Pamplona, Spain or even purchased a Lamborghini Murceilago to "Run with those bulls" either.  This story is about Bull Redfish and the Fisher King!   With life on board replicating life on land for the last few months off shore sailing and fishing was nil.  Even though the bull redfish were on the channel markers the logistics of fishing and holding/drifting through the channel or abouts were not appealing.   We had been to the bridge several times catching a few fish including the Cobia but still all summer long produced no redfish from out adventures.  Yesterday one of the "locals" at the dock brought in 3 redfish from the bridge.  They had been caught on the much abundant pinfish swimming around the dock.

So today we launch Tin Tin Boo Boo from the resting place on the dock and off we (I) row to the bridge.  Seems like we spent a couple hours with the anchor down in a few places waiting for the first bite then...  Tin's rod bent over!   He set the hook and started to reel!  The excitement filled the air.  He had hooked the bottom. Yes it was a pretty pink soft coral or fan fragment that he landed.  That was the only bite we have had.

The Fisher King with his first Bull Red!  (yes he had a hair cut)

No that we had been on an 8 foot dinghy for a while with 5 fishing rods and gear the little man was starting to get aggravated.  "This isn't any fun" didn't take much longer.   His request for shallower water became more and more.  He had just watched the "Sportsman's Best Red Fish" video and knew that the chances in the grass may be good and we had the tackle on board.

I started rowing against the current heading toward the "spot" where I caught the Cobia earlier this summer.  The more I rowed the more the current seemed to slow us down.  Then knowing we would be leaving soon I decided to row out to the power line tower.  We had stared at this structure on almost every trip across the bridge and especially on all the fishing trips under the bridge.  Today was the day.

It wasn't too much longer and I was slipping the anchor on the steel bar attached to the side of the concrete monstrosity.  Drifting back about 12 feet to keep out of the firing range of the feathered guards.  We now call the tower the "Bird Cage".   We had two pinfish down and I was casting a Gulp shrimp underneath.  Still no bites not even on the shrimp!  My back was to Tin and suddenly "Dad, Dad!" rang out from the stern of the little boat.  As I turned around his rod was almost touching the water.  You should try to catch a fish half your size in a boat twice your size,  obviously it can be done but it sure makes balance a necessity.

Once the red was abeam Tin Tin Boo Boo we could see that it was over the slot.  I pulled it on board to take the photo for the blog and history.  Trying to get the big fish balanced in his hands was also a challenge then.. there the perfect frame...Damn! the iphone overheated in the sun! It will not take a pick!  So we made our way back to the other camera with fish in tow.

Smile!

Now off for more Bull Reds and some to eat.
Wes

PS:  We ended up with a cooler stocked for the next few days

Day one: Blackened Redfish while listening to New Orleans Cajun radio on the WIFI.  A classic moment
Day two: New Orleans Seafood Delight,  Spicy pasta Alfredo topped with blackened redfish and shrimp.
Day three:  Grilled Orange Ginger Redfish and brocoli
Day four:  Hmmm Grilled or Blackened sandwiches maybe.
Day five:  Mushroom, pineapple, pepper, pepperoni pizza from Papa John's! lol

Honey Ginger Sea Bass

Thanks to a Bee Keeper friend in NC we had Honey Ginger Sea Bass tonight.  This is the first time in over a week we have had fish!   The Fisher King's taste buds cried "Unkle" on eating fish 5 nights a week so we took a week off for Mexican and Pizza.  Hopefully the change in scenery soon will change the fish in the diet.

Honey Ginger Sea Bass, thanks Rick!

The projects has been dragging out due to other obligations, softball and the damn cold!  The mid 40's keeps you in the cabin.  Hopefully the warming trend will allow us to get some of the necessary things done.

W

The Fisher King still needs a donated laptop!  Wouldn't you hate to be following an unedumacated person?

Project 7 complete...Project 0 making headway, project 18 almost complete!

Project 7:  Well after staring at a new Standard Horizon VHF for months (16+-) I have finally installed it and removed the old Uniden.  I will donate it to the community table at the marina.  Once all the Lowrance is up and going I will enable the DSC on the Standard Horizon.  Funny how 4 screws and 3 wires can lead to such procrastination.

Both Lowrance units and GPS antennae waiting for final wire runs

Project 18:  Another item that moved on board with me last year was a Lowrance GPS/Sounder with Radar capabilities.  While camped out here in PC I have managed to get the transducer epoxied into the hull and the wiring rough ran.   Seems I need another foot on the transducer (or a different route) and I definitely need more feet on the GPS antennae.  The biggest hold up on the completion of Project 18 is buying more overpriced proprietary wires.  A NEMEA starter kit, 6' NEMEA wire and a GPS extension should do it...or in another text...$200+ bucks!  The final mounting of the "Mother Unit" is waiting for me to decide the route I will take for project 9, the Dodger.  For now we can tie it down and see our position and FISH.

Project 0:  I have also back tracked and am working hard on Project 0.  Project 0 is the storage on s/v Gemini Dreams.  I have taken one of the diagrams of the Vega and labeled all the compartments I needed.  This diagram will correspond to a spread sheet saved on all computers. a hard copy and in our email.  This is in an attempt to get things stowed!

Lots of places to loose things aboard

Last year I moved aboard with way too much stuff.  Now that Tin is here and has his needs too, things have become even more disorganized.  I am tired of too many items without homes!  With this I can categorize items and store them DEEP into the boat.  Items that are for non emergency repair can be buried under food storage or daily items.  I would hate to have to buy a new block if one fails because I can't find the ones I have.  This will allow much more dense packing freeing up more room in daily use areas.  After living 10 months on the boat I hope my location decisions prove to be wise.

Emergency repair items easy reach

Wet with Wet

Dry with Dry

Daily use readily available

monthly use shallow

yearly use deep in the hold

The Fisher King needs a laptop to surf the net and do his school work on!  His was damaged beyond repair a couple weeks ago when the screen shattered.  If you precariously live through the life of a 10 year old that gets to sail and fish freely in today's world please help!  He is a sad little boy.  We are not asking for your cash just your old laptop.  If you have a spare email us for the correct address of the moment.

If you are looking for adventure try out the s/v Wee Happy crew on board s/v Way Happy!

s/v Way Happy

W

Project 8 nearing completion... Cockpit Sole

Project number 8 is nearing completion.  The old cockpit sole was broken and leaking water into the keel during every rain.  I kept worrying about taking a wave into the cockpit or an actual named storm dumping inches upon inches of water into the cockpit.  I only have to bed the inserts for the 1/4-20 screws and all is complete.

 The Fisher King does the inspection

Out with the old in with the new!

This project was way more expensive than I wanted it to be!  The lumber alone retailed for $450.00!  It also took longer than expected due to manufacturing differences in available teak (some are 3.75 and some are 3.875 wide).  I found this out on the last board and had to source a replacement.  lucky to find one the correct dimensions on the last road trip.  No it is not perfect but with the tools available on s/v Gemini Dreams, it will do.

It FEELS so much better under bare feet!

W

s/v Wee Happy is now Way Happy?

For those of you that were following me last spring on this blog you know that Wee Happy (Albin Vega) and Gemini Dreams (Albin Vega) went out to Los Tortugas together.  Capt. K and Lala were awesome cruising buddies and we still keep in touch.  They currently purchase another, BIGGER boat Way up there in New England.  So they are currently faced with the sail all the way back to the keys again.  Wish them luck on their repeat trip down the east coast.

the blog of s/v Wee Happy

A few months ago the roller furling on Gemini Dreams blew up, actually the new line on the drum took up too much space one day winding all on the top half.  A post on Cruisers Forum asking for info on the furler lead to the typical condescending messages posted on that board by the self appointed experts. Their response was a $750 to $1000 dollar dent in the cruising kitty.  Thanks to Richard one of s/v Gemini Dreams' previous owners I contacted HOOD and had all the replacement parts I needed for only $140.  I have since made a second order for back up parts and a new extrusion to gain about 14 inches on the roller luft.  This project is soon as  I want to finish it before wee head south.

S/v Gemini Dreams now has a new HOOD 150% Genoa and a back up 135% North Sails along with her HOOD Asymmetrical Spinnaker with HOOD snuffer.  After the furler rebuild I will retire the current flogged out Genny.  If the price was right I would still add a drifter after the winds from last year.

HOOD sails

North Sails

Currently I am running the lines aft to the cockpit.  Seems like things take for ever on island time to complete. I completed some teak spacers last week and hope to get it all mounted (or close) this week.  There is also the cockpit sole that has drug out way too far.  Seems the vendor for the teak has 3.75 width boards and 3.875 width boards with the same SKU# on it and they are back ordered.  We found the one we needed to finish the project on our road trip.  Now to fill it with epoxy and drill the mounting holes.

New mainsheet traveler

I have also solved one of our dilemmas.  So for reference if anyone else needs to know... the older ABI stamped stainless cowls and the Mariner's Hardware threads are the same.  There are 6 different available threads on the 4"' cowls!  Also note that while almost everyone knows Mariner's Hardware folded,  the Blue Water Hardware that took over has also folded!  If anyone has a 4" CAST stainless cowl from Mariner's or even just the 6 bolt plate and cap please let me know.

Cast Mariner's Hardware Cowl with 6 bolt flange

I have been shopping for a Sailrite LSZ-1 to do the interior and exterior sewing needs.  Once on board we will be able to supplement the income by doing work and repar for other cruisers.  Remember my ripped sail that cost $200 to repair?  Almost 95% of that was profit.  Somewhere around 20% completion of s/v Gemini Dreams sewing projects it will pay for itself!

Sailrite LSZ-1

I have also started shopping for a wind turbine!  First on the list is an Air-Breeze but that is not concrete.  I am hopping to find a good used one.  Anyone want to get rid of one?  With the Lowrance chart plotter/fish finder and a new upcoming refrigerator we need more energy production.

But "What has the Fisher King been up to?" you ask.

This is "Sergeant Stripes" he was just short of 20"

"Major Stripes" still taunts the Fisher King!

 Damn catfish and a huge 13.5" Sea Bass.  They don't get much bigger here.

The Fisher King continues to earn his keep by supply enough fish for dinner 5 times a week.  After that I make him release the extras.  Sergeant stripes fed us and the girls for dinner.  The sea bass will feed us tonight.

W

Road Survival

Well Tin Man survived a road trip.  I usually put on 2000 miles in a 3 day trip, this one was small with around 1500.  His last real road trip with me was to Disney. That one was easy, 8.5hrs and 10 days of fun before the return trip.  Long trips are mentally relaxing and soothing for the spirit.  When you go alone.

Man! they grow fast, yes he was a long haired hippie freak two years ago

Tuesday morning I was preparing to go and get documentation for his passport.  About 5 minutes into that I woke him up and said "Get ready!."   Thirty minutes later we were on the road in a rental car headed SOUTH!  Then after 5 hours on the highway and just as we got to I-95 we changed and headed NORTH!  No real reason just the traffic was too slow on that ramp!   We spent the night in Charleston, SC.

About 11am Tin asked if we could stop in and see some of his friends from his old school.  (Another Change in plans).  Recalculations.  Call to friends and family and we had a new plan.  Stop in Asheville to see his friends and his grandparents along with some of my old friends.  We found out on the way that one of his buddies was just arriving at the beach in SC as we left Charleston..  After logging on the net and finding a number and some phone tag later we hooked up with another of his friends for ice cream.  I think we averaged 82 mph from Charleston to Asheville to see his grandparents before they left back to TN.   His grand parents are great, they are kind of wham bamm thank you mamm, types.

Then it was time for him to meet some of my friends from the old work place.  I think his head is two sizes too big now!  They all commented on his star status on the blog!  The fact that people knew of his exploits boosted his ego!  Not like it needed it!.  Thanks guys nice to see you!  Hell I even said "Hi Robert, Bye Robert" as I walked by.  I still owe some of you some souvenirs.  RICK where were you! and thanks for the Honey!

Someone has been eating the Wheaties!

Just in case you are missing the fishing pics here you go!

 Spanish Mackerel caught with a Gotcha

More Flounder

W

PS.  Dana Smith, my best friend, just started the sale of her first book!  You can pre-order it here...  http://19reasons.com/books.html  for only $11.95 plus S&H.  Look for her at a signing near you!  The crew of s/v Gemini Dreams are so proud of her!  Love Ya!

Princesa de la Sirena and Madre de Piratas

PS.   Matt Rutherford is currently 100 days into a North-South circumnavigation around the world in an Albin Vega just like mine.  NON STOP1  I  have added the link below the heading until the journey is complete in honor of the attempt!  I'll take windy days in Florida any day over Cold Arctic Air and rain. 

http://www.solotheamericas.org/

You can donate to his cause on his site

The Fisher King

Funny thing happened today...

I was on the dock, I don't really remember what I was doing at the time.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Tin dancing.  He was whipping his fishing pole in little circles and twisting to the music only he could hear.  I think it was a "fish dance".  My first instinct was to tell him to stop before he fell in but, he wasn't hurting anyone or anything and was having a wonderful time.  So I started to continue with what ever I was doing.... then I noticed... NO TIN!  I called his name! No Answer. I was running to the spot I last saw him when I heard it..."Uh, Dad!"  Seams the edge of the dock was not long enough for his little ritual.  There he was trading water. Flip-Flop in one hand and his rod in the other.   I recovered the Flip -Flop and asked about the other since I didn't see it.  "It's on my toe" he responded.  Once he was free of his gear he calmly swam to the nearest boat with dive platform and lifted himself out of the water. ROTFLMAO!  What a trooper! and wisely found a way out of the water.  Also learned how easy it is to fall off the dock!  This adventure may save me telling him a thousand times "Stop before you fall".  Sorry didn't have the phone on my to take pictures.  He is now the "Fisher King"

Trolling as dad rows!

But in other news...  We (I) rowed out to Birdie Island as Tin calls it fishing yesterday.  On the way to the Hathaway Bridge we had a couple lines out trolling.  Yes while I rowed.  My reel started to sing and Tin asked to reel it in.  Another small shark.  This time it hit a white Calcutta swim shad.  Over by the bridge we caught too many catfish and a couple of lizard fish!  I would love to catch some fish that don't have terra based names!

A Dinghy from no name lounge came to our "rescue".  They saw us doing odd maneuvers and wanted to make sure everything was okay.

Also the night before the girls came over and his mom caught a shark also

We keep missing Jaws! One day the Fisher King will land him!

W

Labor Day: Intermission during shark week for dock line 101.

Well TS Lee missed us by a 200 miles or more but as he ripped through Louisiana and Mississippi on his way to the Appalachian Mountains he created a vacuum.  Trying to fill that vacuum the winds Saturday were clipping by at 20+ knots all day.  Then Sunday the day was a little calmer.  But yesterday, Monday, was ALL day long at 30-40+ knots!  Thanks to www.windfinder.com I had a good warning several days in advance.  We were having 2-4 foot waves here at this corner of the marina.  There is a 2 mile fetch from the SW to the stern of my boat!  I'm glad the Kiwi was here to block most of it!

A little bit like "Shaken, not stirred, please"

How many kids do you know that don't even flinch that his house is a blender?

But, the salt spray crashing over the 70' Kiwi sends him running. lol

Good thing is the peak 40kt time frame came with almost no rain, just a few drops.  Because for most of the day we "locals" at the dock and the dock staff chased breaking dock lines.  One of the pylons pulled sideways on Randal's boat and he asked to borrow a line from Gemini Dreams to help secure to another pylon.  The Hunter 28.5 broke a stern line and was rubbing a pylon.  Randal and I replaced it with line the owner had on board and put a square knot in the line that broke (the replacement soon broke).  The old Hunter Cherubini broke a line and eventually 3 guys showed up and retied her (Big politics on that boat between the owner and the caretaker!).  The owners of the 25'er were here and I offered another line to them as I could see some chafing on there bow line.

Just a little breezy today,  I disregarded the 90+ but had a few in the 70's

18.4 foot seas and Big gusts

I even added some old anchor line to make another spring line on Gemini Dreams (I have three of my lines out elsewhere and two tying gear down).  With Gemini Dreams taking the brunt of the waves I was worried about the solar panels crashing into the pylon with the right combination of wind and wave.  This pulled the bow too close to the dock.  So Randal and I tried to tighten the bow spring line! LOL First we lost ground then we could only gain it back and not get any further away than we started.  Plan B!  I dropped the anchor from the roller and gained 6".  This is all that I needed.

With all tied and everything done we decided to take a walk and check out the "local's"anchoring over at the "No Name Anchorage".  The barnacles grow so fast here you can not use line to make a mooring.   The barnacles continually "saw" the line making it weaker.  The FWL boat was out by noon the next day to document and tag the grounded boats.

 Turn the volume down!

 3 boats on shore!  3rd time this summer for the one on the right!

I'm glad we have 140' of chain on board!

Today is calm and cool, I think it was down in the upper 50's this morning.  That is a big change from our daily 90's!  It's time to re-camp for now.  Time to put up the rain-sun tarp, reorganize the cockpit and wash the salt off of everything.  Time to reclaim the lines for next time.

Tucked in a bayou just a couple miles away s/v Mini Pearl and s/v Raindrop probably had a peaceful day with only a few leaves falling.

s/v Mini Pearl and s/v Raindrop.

If you are curious what Tin did during most of this you could probably guess.  HE FISHED!  This is George.  He follows Tin all around even before Tin started feeding him.  He didn't fly too well last week when we noticed him stalking us.  We also have a friendly Pelican here, his name is Aristotle.

At least it wasn't a real storm!  The "mommy alarm" didn't even go off!
W

Estrellita and Shark Night #4

Estrellita fared well in the Irene here is a note from the captain.

Thanks again Wes,

I am already back from the coast after spending only an hour or two cleaning up a bit.  Amazingly, Estrellita suffered not so much as a single scratch even in the water with a reported 12-foot storm surge at the marina and sustained winds in excess of 75 m.p.h.   The batteries (in their original bilge location) were dry and the bilge had but a teacup of rain water. ...     (Irene's)  Center passed within 25 NM of my boat. 

Cheers

Great news Paul!  It is good to hear that a Vega stood toe to toe with Irene when she was a H2,  I hope all the other Vega's did well also.  Hey Wee Happy! I see you are getting a lot of rain up there too at least the boat is dry in the keys.

w

Shark night number 4

 With new braid but little bait we had high hopes. We only caught one small shark tonight.  Better luck next time.  After all this weekend is survival of Irene.  

wes

Night #3, Da Dumm, Da Dumm, Da Dumm

When we went to the Hathaway Bridge fishing a couple days back Tin called me over to the rail.  He had found two halves of a pin fish trap rolling freely in the water.  All in good shape and unsecured by any means.  Got to love those tourists tossing things in the water.  With a couple tosses of the jig heads Tin now has his own pin fish trap.  It is one of the small ones kind of like two wire trashcans locked top to top.  For two days he baited and hoped to fill it.  This trap worked well except the little trap catches little pin fish but not to worry.  We gathered up the 750's and the light weights and went to the shark zone.  Once there we tossed out a couple of pin fish on the lines and took the light weights around the dock trying to catch a Sea Bass or two.

It wasn't long before Tin's "Got Something!" rang in the air.  He pulled up a Sea Bass and while trying to stretch it to 10 inches I hooked something also.   Mine turned out to be another Lizard fish, what good are they.  I left the lizard fish on the dock while trying to measure the just too short Sea Bass (it would be nice to catch some more legal ones).  Once the Sea Bass was back in the water and trying to figure out what just happened to it, I decided the lizard fish was bait.  This was not just any lizard fish but a large one, over a foot long.

I thought about cutting it up into chunks but did't want to catch a catfish so in through the tail went the circle hook and out into the bay went the lizard fish.  After about 15 minutes I reeled it in to "check" the bait.  He wasn't moving so a few incisions with a knife and back out he went.  Just a couple minutes later the drag began to sing!  zzzzzzzzzzzzz

The first run was toward the bridge about 100 yards plus!  I had walked the plank all the way to the end trying to keep the line off the dock.  When the fish started to turn it was time to ask if he was ready to take over. He gave it a little thought and passed. I think he was starting to hear, "Da Dumm, Da Dumm, Da Dumm".  His 750 combo is a bit oversize for him still and he struggles with the 2 foot sharks.  What ever was on this line was well over 4 feet as the 41" Cobia from May didn't test the light weight tackle this much.  It was now time for the second run and it was straight at us!  Winding in as fast as I could trying to keep the tension on and then he passed by.  It was not time to run to the opposite end of the dock while holding  the pole out as far as possible to prevent the line from hitting the dock.  The whole time the reel was screaming as line kept coming off again.  There is a light pole near this end set back 4 feet and a barrier to block passage and make you go around.  You actually have to do the bear hug thing and pass the rod around the pole to continue.  After passing the pole with line still pulling off the reel is when the bad news came.  The fish had threaded the needle and went under the sea wall and around the last pylon.  The line continued to sing.

Then the reel quietened down.  I broke the bad news to Tin that we may never see this fish.  We stood there patiently for 15 minutes talking with a couple that was "dock walking" and watched the whole thing.  Every couple minutes another 5-10 yards would pull off the reel.  Too even complicate matters worse (or maybe better) I handed Tin the reel while I tossed the second line back out.  After a few minutes the drag on reel number two started to make noise and I tried to set the hook on it.  MISSED!  So back to line number one.  I took the gaff and tried to find out if it was definitely under the dock or just hung on the side.  definitely under!.  So we continued to play tug-o-war with a creature from the depths of the bay.  The friction from the dock kept us from man handling him in but worked in his favor as he had nothing to loose at this point.  The outcome was looking bleak. He continued to take line every couple minutes but we could not reel any in.  Then it happened, the 80 pound braided line gave.  It had been sawing on the dock too many times.

Tin tried to cast out in hopes of hooking the line on the other side of the pylon with out luck.  That was only dreaming, pulling a line in snagged on a pylon, tying it to the broken line and starting all over.  If you catch a fish in St Andrews Bay area with about 100 yards of green 80 pound braid trailing behind please let us know what it was.

W & T