IDLE THOUGHTS (while sitting in the slip)
Sweet little adorable cream puffs
Swans – ya gotta love ‘em – NO YOU
Anyway – everyone here hates them, so of course, I have to feed them. Everyone was astonished to see me feed them from my hand, but they don’t know how accustomed I am to having part of my anatomy grabbed with food. (Baylor.)
The babies are pretty good about taking food, but mom and dad are more aggressive. Usually when you feed ducks, you attract seagulls and there’s lots of noise and activity. Not one gull has the guts to come within 100 yards of these guys – I tell - you they’re baaaad.
Nasty, nasty bird evil
Crabbing has been put on temporary hold ‘til I get the nerve to toss them into a pot of boiling water – apparently the quickest and most humane method to cook the little buggers. I’m hot to fish – really want to try surf fishing up in Montauk. I can catch nothing there as well as here!
crabs that weren't so lucky
UPDATE - UPDATE - UPDATE - what you see in this bowl represents the total meat yield of six 4+" crabs - note quarter used for comparison purposes! I'm breaking out the dental tools for future meat extraction!
Sept 12 - The weekenders straggled in to their slips today, battered from the ride across the bay in a nasty east wind, bundled in warm clothes and probably for once, glad to pack up the boat and head home.
Greetings all around – this is a friendly group here in the
hood, at least 8-10 families who enjoy each others company and know each
other’s news. Still, it’s time to get
going – we’re almost ready mechanically, and we’re more than ready
mentally. I swear that if I spend one more week
here,
I’m going to start talking like a minor character our of the ‘Sopranos.” Omigawd, I’m
shuwa I’m sounding mowah Long Guyland with every clehk, fellow
boatah,
and non-Hispanic pehson I talk to. I
don’t think it’ll improve much in Sandy Hook,
Does this boat look ready to leave?
Bucky practices his woeful (and accusatory) look, while Baylor avoids my eye.
The boys have finally gotten the drill (I think.) Bucky started acting like his weird old self in the truck again, and seemed happy to get back to the boat. Baylor says he’s happy anywhere he can ay his big ol’ head and wander the pier in search of attention from other people. (He’s mad at me – I hurt his feelings when he stopped suddenly in front of me on the pier to study some crab remains and I took a header over him. I yelled at him and now he sneaks off, looking for nicer people. He’s been told ‘no more belly rubs from the wait staff at the Tiki bar’ but he’ll probably pop over there before we leave.
Little Foot (aka, queen of the netherworld) emerges from a blanket - her sister, Callie, checks it out.
The girls are more settled now – Callie is the ‘saloon girl’ and Little Foot tends the stateroom. If you think WE sleep a lot, you should see the Napping Queens in inaction.
Callie wants to sit in my chair all the time, and I keep
removing her to dad’s chair. Today she
got her nose out of joint with a chair removal and decided to go outside
and
see what was happnin in the hood. Nothing
of course, but to a cat, that’s no biggie.
She stalked up the ‘catwalk’ to the bow, checked out the fishing
action
and finished the tour coming back around the other side.
THAT”S how our cats get excitement. Hoo
hah.
Spray painted the valances – need a third coat. Tomorrow
I’ll take the
orbital sander to the
old name on the boat. Bill will check
the wiring up top, maybe, and help clear the back deck so I can have my
backyard
and patio again. THAT’S how
we get excitement!
Okay – so here’s the game plan. From
here to Sandy Hook. Then to the cut
to Delaware Bay. Then across the bay
to the D&C canal in
to the Chesapeake. Will try to hook up
with Khym Kreider’s friends at Triton Marina and find out what we can
about
mooring in the bay. Then we’ll hopscotch
down to Hampton,