Hope everyone had a happy and safe Fourth of July. We watched the Provincetown fireworks from the deck of a friend's house. It proved to be a lovely night with lots of oohs, aaahs and wows. Since the 4th fell on a Saturday and fishing for fluke runs Sunday - Thursday, Captain Dave was on the road back to Woods Hole to pick up the Richard & Arnold at 1:00 AM. It was a good time to travel, but he was really tired when he set out off of Noman's Island at 5 AM. He still thinks he's forty years old. There are just a few boats working the area now. Dave counted six. Some of the fellows are fishing closer to Nantucket, but for Dave the distance would add a couple hours to his already tiring day.
We are talking and planning a trip with the Richard & Arnold this fall. If all goes well we will head out in October. First stop - Block Island since I've never been there. We will follow a plan, but we know that sometimes wind and tides dictate when and where we go. Our plans include stops in CT, Montauk, City Island, Sandy Hook, Cape May, the Delaware, Chesapeake,Orient NC, Darian GA and the inland waterway through to Florida. I hope to be able to blog along the way, maybe sell a few books as well.
In other news, our son Bob launched his 36' Harris on Thursday and yesterday he had it going 19 knots skipping across Cape Cod Bay. It has taken 3 years of work to get it back in the water. He put in a new/rebuilt engine, new fuel tanks, lots of fiberglass work. It took so long because he could only work on it when he wasn't on his three week rotation aboard the tugboat Yellow Fin in the Gulf of Mexico. The nut really doesn't fall far from the tree. Boats, boats, boats. Like father like son. And I'm proud of both my sons. Jackson loves the water, has a run about boat of his own and is a talented carpenter who is building beautiful homes.
And oh YES, the book is done and should be available at Amazon around July 20, 2015. Look for The Fishermen's Ball by J. J. Dutra and let me know what you think. It's a murder mystery set in Provincetown in 1938-39, a little different from the last one but still has some fishing included.
Nautical Twilight is still available, also on Kindle for those who use the lighted screen. I finally broke down and got one so that I could read at night and not disturb Dave with the light. I like it well enough but I still take a book to the beach because you can't see the screen in the sunlight. Mostly my grandchildren use it to play games, something the captain doesn't like, but I'm all for technology if it is tempered with lots of outdoor play time. It is recommended that for every hour of computer time a kid should play three hours outdoors. Sounds right to me. Fair winds fellow boat nuts, see you soon.
