THE ACORN DOESN'T FALL FAR FROM THE TREE!!!!

Congratulations to the Smokin' Sparks!!!!! First place in pork, 2nd in sausage, 3rd in ribs, and SECOND PLACE OVERALL in the KC Corporate Challenge in KC over the weekend!!!!!

A COUPLE OF OLD PIRATES!!!!

When we were headed to Islamorada for Seaschool back in March we went via Fort Myers to catch Pat Dailey at the Laugh In Comedy Cafe. Managed to get up close and personal afterwards!!!

CJM

Just a Reference For Our "Next Time" And Maybe Yours....

South Bimini: Bimini Sands Marina, 242-347-3500, www.biminisands.com
Slip rental $1.10/foot/night
50A electric service $10.00/night
Water No Charge But Normally 20 cents/gallon

Grand Bahama: Old Bahama Bay Marina, 242-350-6500, www.oldbahamabay.com
Slip rental $2.80/foot/night, $2.40 for four nights or more
50A electric service $20.00/night
Water $10.00/day

Grand Cay, Abacos: Rosie's Place, 242-353-1200
Slip rental $1.00/foot/night
50A electric service $10.00/night
Water 25 cents/gallon

Green Turtle Cay, Abacos: Bluff House Marina, 242-365-4247, www.BluffHouse.com
Slip rental $1.40/foot/night
50A electric service & water $25.00/night

Great Abaco Island: Marsh Harbour Marina & Jib Room, 242-367-2700
Slip rental $1.15/foot/night, 10% discount Boat US member
50A electric service 55 cents/kilowatt hour
Water $5.00/day

Elbow Cay, Abacos: Hope Town Hideways Marina, 242-366-0224
Slip rental $1.25/foot/night
50A electric service $20.00/night
Water 25 cents/gallon

Great Abaco Island: Little Harbour, Pete's Pub, 242-366-3503, www.petespub.com
Mooring $15.00/night
Electric service & water not available

Great Harbour Cay, Berry Islands: Great Harbour Marina, 242-367-8005
Slip rental $1.20/foot/night
50A electric service 70 cents/kilowatt hour
Water 35 cents/gallon

North Bimini: Bimini Blue Water Marina, 242-347-3166
Slip rental $1.00/foot/night
50A electric service $10.00/night
Water 50 cents/gallon

OUT OF THE CLOSET AND DOIN' THE DANCE!!!!

Yup....it is now official....my Captain's License in "in the mail"!!!! I don't have to endure any more of those...."Well, that's why I am a Captain and you are not," comments from CTM! Or, "Do Captains scream when they are in 12 foot seas? That's probably why you aren't a Captain!" Well, I will probably continue to scream when in 12 foot seas...or maybe a REAL Captain should think twice before going fishing in 12 foot seas?????? Phew....it's been a long road!

CJM (FINALLY)

FOR REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Woo Hoo...my Captain's application has now moved to the next level..."For Review!" Gotta go...heading to the closet to practice my Captain's Dance!!!!!

ACJM

The Stats

Here are the stats on the cruise. The trip was 1019 nautical miles long (about 1200 statute miles). We cruised about 100 hours with an average speed of 10 knots. About two thirds of this was just cruising from port to port and one third was fishing. I'm not real thrilled about the ratio, but Mariah would not cooperate. It took about 1500 gallons of fuel. We spent 30 nights on the boat. 28 of them were at 8 different marinas and 2 nights were on a mooring (anchor). It took 25 cases of beer (we had some help drinking the beer), a 12 pack of diet coke, 2 regular cokes (for Freddy) and about 30 gallons of water for drinking, making coffee, etc. For fishing we used 6 dozen ballyhoo, 6 pounds of squid, 60 pounds of chum, numerous hooks, sinkers, etc. on the reef, 3 Billy Baits were lost and we broke one rod. We reef fished 5 times, 3 of which were fantastic. We fished offshore 6 times and only got skunked once. We cooked fish on FF III that we caught 8 times and had our catch cooked 5 times in restaurants. We had only one major mechanical problem if you don't count the toilet holding tank situation and the little hole in the water pain in the @#%. We did have to pump up the dinghy 9 times. We went to many interesting bars and restaurants. We witnessed a wedding and got in the middle of a Hooter's photo shoot. We walked on many uninhabited beaches and visited many quiet harbours. All in all a good time was had by all and no one got hurt or sick.

Still No Captain's Dance....

Well, as you can imagine I have been wrestling with the U. S. Coast Guard over the two issues...a passport photo and sea service forms. As it turns out when you get a TWIC card (which I have in my wallet) the Coast Guard just uploads your photo from the TSA for your Captain's License. For some reason they said my photo was NOT in the system....hummmmmm...and that I should call the TSA and ask them to upload my photo. I faxed a copy of my TWIC card to the Coast Guard AND called the TSA to ask them to upload my photo into the system. Naturally the TSA acted like they had no idea what I was asking them to do (this after being passed along to three different people)! The second issue of the sea service form was they wanted me to fax them the Articles of Incorporation for Pontiac Boat Dock, Inc. since on one of my sea service forms I had listed Pontiac Boat Dock, Inc. as the owner of the vessel there at Pontiac Cove I had been on. Now, keep in mind, they NEVER asked CTM for any of this........hummmmmmm... O.K...so I faxed them the Articles. I got an e-mail from the Coast Guard last night that said the photo issue had been resolved and they could now (miraculously) upload my photo but since Joe Morgan was the original incorporator of Pontiac Boat Dock, Inc. he would need to sign my sea service forms!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now....if the vessel I had been on was owned by the Ford Corporation would they want Henry Ford to sign my form???????? I toyed with the idea of just signing "Joe Morgan" to the form and be done with it rather than try to explain that he has been DECEASED SINCE 1983! Naturally, I took the upper road and am NOW trying to convince them that ALREADY CTM and I ARE the owners of PBD, Inc. and that asking me to send them the Articles of Incorporation wouldn't show them anything about me (I wanted to say, "I told you so" pretty bad). Again, I am trying to cooperate and be as nice as I can (working pretty hard at that) so my application doesn't get shoved to the bottom of the pile. I have been secretly practicing that Captain's Dance behind closed doors and am cocked and primed for the day when I can do it! Stay tuned!!!!

A HARROWING CROSSING!!!!!!

We got up on Saturday and checked out wind (you know...lick your finger and hold it up in the air) and weather predictions and it looked like the wind was calmer than the day before but would be even calmer on Sunday. Since the previous fishing day was really rough wind wise and Sunday looked even better than Saturday I was leaning toward "hanging out" one more day in Bimini and looking up Sherry for some conch salad. (We did make it back up to her place Friday evening for a drink and a hug but no conch salad.) Well, CTM doesn't "hang out" very well and I could see the darned handwriting on the wall. There were a couple of fellows from Miami that were in a smaller boat than ours and were heading out. We asked them to call us back on the VHF and give us sea conditions. I was secretly hoping for "NO WAY!" But, shortly they called back and said (as they say in the Bahamas), "NO PROBLEM!" Darn! We scurried around and packed up, paid up, and headed out. NO PROBLEM my - - - !!!!! Soon we saw that it was going to be a loooooong day because we were heading straight into the wind and Gulfstream. To make matters worse the storms soon fired up when it was too late to turn around. At one point I suggested to CTM that we "PUT ON OUR LIFE JACKETS!!!" and "WHERE IS THE DITCH BAG?????" Rain, wind, lightning, and at one point we even saw a TORNADO hanging from the clouds!!!!! I'm pretty sure that I have a ruptured disc from that 9 hours of pounding!!! If you look close at the GPS screen you will see FF III right in the middle!



Well, obviously we made it back and we are fine. We crawled out of the boat, showered, went out for some red meat, and were in bed by 8:00 p.m.! Doing laundry, packing, cleaning, and heading north soon. Might just "hang out" today and might go for one last day of fishing. Oh dear, I can see that darned handwriting on the wall!!! Catch you on the flip flop.

ACJM