Kaimusailing

Something I had said a while back about the NY Jets roster, with a roster of elite players, if the team should fail, it will be on the coaches. They have the means at their disposal to win against any other team. On Sunday the Cowboys destroyed them. I blame it on the coaches.
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It is now a week to go for my hip replacement surgery, so I am finding almost anything else to do instead of properly planning for it. My bicycle front axle was so loose the wheel was flopping back and forth so much that it was contacting the brake pads. I had meant to fix this recently but the skewer, the quick release bolt that goes through the axle and clamps onto the forks, was frozen with rust. Now I used 3-in-One oil to get things loose to remove the wheel and work on the wheel in the cabin while it was raining outside.
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The clouds and rain bring gloom. I was able to tighten the wheel bearings and the skies outside began to lighten. The rain stopped and it turned into a beautiful day. The bike was now fixed and ready to go, but the wind came up and I didn’t feel like biking.
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Taco Tuesday at the Legion, but the cook had left to be with his girlfriend in Ohio, the Legion was advertising for kitchen management, and instead of tacos we could have shrimp pasta salad, which was really shrimp louis with pasta on iceberg. I had ordered first and said the dressing tasted like Old Bay and mayo. The ladies didn’t want anything spicy. Earlier the commandant of the Legion had passed around southern style baked beans which were available as a special. Cuddily had that, I thought it was too sugary, but tasted fine.
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The day had been almost perfect, mid 70’s, clear blue sky, light winds, biking was very pleasant. My sunset photo was featureless, I showed it to Teri, the artist, and said kind of like
Rothko, she agreed. Knowledgeable. The image is that photo.
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The next day I continued my preparations for the upcoming surgery. I parsed out groceries so there wouldn’t be anything left on the boat when I went for the surgery. I would probably not be back on the boat for a couple of weeks.

Sunday dinner was Shepherd's Pie at Cuddily's home on the water. Wine and Irish whiskey flowed. It was a very nice evening and my return to the marina was very late. I called my older brother in Hawaii an hour later than my usual time. The Dallas Cowboys were visiting the New York Giants for a rainy 9/11 anniversary game and they demolished the Giants. The Cowboys were 3 ½ point favorites but won 40-0. Uh oh. The Jets would play in that same stadium on Monday night, 9/11.
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The next day I had to visit the orthopedics in Salisbury and take another step toward my hip replacement surgery. My car service sat outside listening to music and accidentally left her lights on, killing her battery. We were able to get a jump start and returned to Crisfield. The orthopedics gave me a walker for after the operation.
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The Monday Night Football game started with a 9/11 tribute. A huge american flag was stretched out across the field while a NYC police department lady officer sang the national anthem. Emotions were running strong as the game started. Incredibly Aaron Rodgers played 4 snaps and then went down injured. He was carted off the field, obviously suffering a severe injury. The roar of the crowd was now hushed.
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The game was described as "a roller coaster ride". The Buffalo Bills were favored but the game was tied, went into overtime, and an undrafted free agent rookie, Gipson, took a Bill's punt all the way for a touchdown to win the game. It was only the 3rd time in league history that a punt was run back for a touchdown in overtime.
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Now the Jets fan base is in shock. Rodgers had a ruptured Achilles tendon, out for the entire season. The Jets go to Dallas next weekend to face the Cowboys.
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I learned my older brother was medevaced from Hilo on the Big Island to Honolulu on Oahu. His speech was affected by something, maybe a ministroke. This happened just a couple hours after I had talked with him. I didn't notice any speech problems at that time.
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Steaks were on sale at the Food Lion so I bought a couple and some romaine hearts. I biked to the Legion for Taco Tuesday, but on the menu board when I came in was Garden Salad with Chicken for ten bucks. I was craving garden salad. I ordered Sierra Mist with a little ice and a glass of merlot. I sat at the high top with a view to the North, what a beautiful day. Teri, the artist, came in and ordered wine and sat at another high top across the room. She didn't want to sit with me? In fact, without her glasses, she has some trouble with her sight. I thought about moving over to her high top and began gathering my stuff to take over. What if she really wanted to be alone. Then a handbag was draped over the seat next to me and it was Teri. I didn't see you at first, she said. She had to take two trips to get the rest of her things. Then Cuddily came in and joined us. She had whiskey.
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I ordered my Garden Salad with grilled chicken and raspberry vinaigrette dressing. It was good but the vinaigrette was too sweet. Just my taste. I've never tried to make raspberry vinaigrette dressing. Cuddily got blue cheese, Teri got ranch.
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It looks like the Legion has lost its cook, but I think the menu might get better some how. He would have had the tacos out tonight, the salad was a refreshing change. They are advertising for a kitchen manager.
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The next day I was sore and achy. For dinner I made steak salad with my vinaigrette dressing. YouTube was my entertainment, mostly about the NY Jets. It's like the hype bandwagon just keeps going on, Aaron Rodgers or no Aaron Rodgers. The Cowboys were 3 ½ point favorites, now are 7 ½ point favorites.
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Now, a couple days later, the Cowboys are 9 ½ point favorites. The previous night I was anxious because I had to get up early to go to Salisbury for another Dr. visit. I set my alarm for 6AM. I awoke at 4AM. No sense in going back to sleep. Do the Washington Post crossword puzzle. Do the rest of my morning games. A little after six I made coffee and a nice egg, toast, ham, and cheese dish complete with runny egg yolk. I thought of Hollandaise , the inventors must have started with runny egg yolks. I had time to enjoy my breakfast but had to be ready to leave. When I came back from the men's room Skittlezz was idling at my dock. I hurried to get my things and hop in her vehicle.
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On the way to Salisbury I followed my instructions to sign up and sign in to my Pennisula Orthopedics account. I filled out form on my phone in tiny print made more difficult to see by the bouncing vehicle and the early morning sun blinding me at times. Later I would enter most of the same information on paper forms.
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The visit was an indoctrination session that lasted about 90 minutes. It covered the A to Z of joint replacement surgery. I had a few questions and when the presenter, who met each patient individually, listened to may questions she said she would have to talk to me after the session.
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She used a slide show, but of course now it can't be slides, it's a graphic display she could edit on her laptop. When the show was over she began meeting with those she said she would meet with after the session. My questions were about gummie supplements I was taking in the morning, and where I would go after surgery and how would I get there. TBD.
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When I got back I was hungry and realized my breakfast was much earlier than usual. I made a ham and cheese sandwich on sourdough with mustard. I had a glass of pinot noir with it. Soon after I felt very tired and began to nap. That didn't last long.
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Cuddily texted me about how my appointment went. We then talked about the jazz festival coming up on the weekend. Perhaps I would go to it. Cuddily said she and Cornelia Marie would not be going, something about sitting in the sun at the City Dock. The festival is on Saturday afternoon and I also received text from my Ph.D chemist friends, Geoff and Karen, will I be in Crisfield on Saturday. Of course. I sent a link to the jazz festival, wondering if they would want to go. Tickets are in advance. I didn't feel like going myself.
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We will probably visit the Legion on Saturday.
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I made a salad of romaine and ham with vinaigrette dressing later. My lack of sleep had me drifting off early. Then I was up at 4AM again. The whole rhythm of life is out of kilter. Early breakfast, too early. I found some leftover pork mole soup in the fridge, must be 2 weeks old, heated it up and tasted it. Doesn't taste spoiled. Cuddily texted me about crab cakes at the Legion, but I was of course not hungry and not ready to go out. My fault for not getting in touch.
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Geoff and Karen, Ph.D chemists from St. Marys, arrived at the Tawes Museum and they took me for a ride around town, take a look at the city dock where a jazz band and food trucks were congregating, and ending up at the Legion where we could sit outside in pleasant weather and hydrate with adult drinks. They wanted crabcakes or crab. Surely we could find crab in the Crab Capital of the World. Not so easy. We ended up at From Scratch, an alcohol free restaurant, and they had crab cakes and I had flounder. We returned to the Legion in time for a beautiful sunset. The posted image is of that sunset.

One of the items that came in from TEMU is an inexpensive rice cooker. It is actually a kind of slow cooker with two settings, 600 and 200 watts. The higher wattage is to get it boiling and the lower wattage is to slow cook. Supposedly it has a temperature limit control that automatically shuts it down if it detects that the liquid has boiled away or in the case of cooking rice, when the rice has absorbed all the liquid. I put 3 cups of the pork mole soup and some uncooked rice in it, plugged it in, and let it rip.
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My sporadic TV viewing, mostly to watch NFL preseason football, brought up a disclaimer by the local cable company, Spectrum, that Disney has demanded a higher premium than what Spectrum had offered, and now ESPN, a Disney company, is no longer available on local cable. They want big bucks.
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The invite came in to have shrimp and salad at the house. I had the pork mole and rice cooking, so took a helping of that and found the rice was not yet fully cooked. I biked to the wine store, then to Cornelia Marie’s. Cuddily and Buster arrived with ice, beer, and irish whisky. At the end of the day I set off on the bike to the marina. About halfway there there was a loud POP and my rear tire was toast. I kept riding. The aluminum rim was protected by the remnants of the tire.
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The next morning I was up early and ready to go to the MacReady Health Pavilion for pre-op tests. Oops! Have to change out the rear tire and tube. The bike ride to the health lab was not too difficult in spite of the humidity and adverse breeze. They took blood and an EKG test. The grocery was nearby, so I stopped in there for water, ham, and brown rice. I was wind aided on the way back.
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Overnight my phone started to have difficulties. It was not charging fast enough to keep up with ordinary use and it ultimately quit, dead. Normally I can just leave it on charge. I am compelled to use an inductive charger because the USB charge port is disabled due to “detected moisture”. The phone is absolutely dry. It charges more slowly with the inductive charger but it hasn’t been much of an issue. I did buy a second inductive charger when I had this problem a couple months ago. There are conditions that will affect the charge rate, such as high temperature. Perhaps there is something else limiting the charge rate.
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The phone did not go into its charge mode as usual. It began strobing once per second with no indication of charge state no response to the usual buttons to turn it completely off or anything. I began to worry. I had two impeding medical appointments and without a working phone I could only imagine how it would turn out. My long awaited hip replacement could be jeopardized by my wonderful phone. Now I would have to go to the Shanty to go online with the laptop to see if there was any solution to this problem. My next appointment is early Monday, so it is unlikely I could get a phone in my hands quickly enough for that.
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I made my breakfast and settled into gotta-do mode. I noticed the phone was changing its stroboscopic antics and showing a charge percent, 0%. It slowly began charging. Something is definitely amiss. By the end of the day it was only about 30% charged. Maybe it’s time to get that new S23+.
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My experiment with the cheap Chinese rice cooker was not very productive. The lower 200Watt setting was still too high to simmer. I would have to turn it off like I do with my stove top pots to avoid burning and overcooking. I may try to actually cook rice with it. Maybe it can be used for that, but my stove top poaching method with ordinary pots is perfect for cooking rice and beans.
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It was Thursday night and the opening game of the NFL season, Lions vs Chiefs. The Chiefs are the reigning Super Bowl champions and were of course the favorites. I watched the first half of the game before calling it quits. In the morning I was shocked to see that the Lions beat the Chiefs 21-20. I watched game highlights on YouTube. The Lions had an interception run back for a touchdown, a Pick Six. The errant pass was actually thrown perfectly by Patrick Mahomes but the receiver let it bounce off his hands and into the hands of the defender.
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When a team beats another team they not only get a win, they show other teams how to beat that losing team. The Jets will see the Chiefs in week 4.
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As I hemmed and hawed about what to make for supper Cornelia Marie texted about going to the Fisherman’s Grille for drinks and maybe appetizers. I was raring to go and she picked me up at the dock and we drove to her mom’s house on the water. Orange Crush drinks were made, some white and some red wines were poured. Teri, the artist, was present. We all left in Cuddily’s auto.
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I had left my bike at the dock and could have easily biked to the Fisherman’s. The restaurant had an excellent location, adjacent to the North edge of the marina with nice views of marine traffic coming and going.
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The first little inkling of problems was very slow service and an unfortunate referral to the hostess at the other end of the restaurant. Once over there we found no hostess, but other staff saying we were sitting by the outdoor bar near the water and the bar would be our service.
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I recognized our bartender/wait staff as someone I sternly spoke to about a previous meal we had there. It was way over salted. We surmised the breading mix was just too salty, so onion rings and fried fish were almost inedible. We had to mention to the bartender this time, we need menus. And later, we need utensils.
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We had an assortment of drinks and enjoyed the view and the breeze blowing across the water. Cornelia Marie wanted a salad, but the two salads on the menu were not garden salad type of salads. One was shrimp salad and I think the other was a crabmeat salad. None of the appetizers looked appetizing. I saw Chicken Chesapeake on the menu and visualized chicken breast with crab imperial on top. Mmmm. As the orders went around the table CM ordered the Chicken Chesapeake as did I. When the orders came in they were overcooked, fried to a crisp and then some. The Chicken Chesapeake was a dense overcooked knot of meat and not much else to make it palatable. Our culinary experience was awful. I can’t emphasize how bad this restaurant is and we learned they are cutting back their hours now that the summer season is over. Fortunately we did not frequent this establishment much this year. It would be great if it was just mediocre, the setting and convenience of the location keep us maybe going there for drinks, but the dining experiences have been about as bad as can be.
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My phone now would go to a display of hash and would come out of it after pressing the power button over and over. One press would make the display go dark, the next press would bring up the hash. When it did come out of it, it seemed to function just fine. Lay the phone down and it could revert to the hash display. By turning the phone completely off when I wasn’t using it, it would turn on properly and function properly. Time to get a replacement.
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To replace this phone, a Galaxy S20+, T-Mobile will sell me a new old stock phone for about $41 a month for 24 months, so just under a thousand bucks. The latest model, the S23 has been out for about 6 months, that would be $50 a month, or $1200. I paid about $230 for my current phone about 1 ½ years ago, used, eBay, taking a chance. I really need this phone to last another 1 ½ years.
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The SailGP series has ended up in San Tropez and the races are available on YouTube. There was one moment very worth watching, Ben Ainsley and his GBR team putting a penalty on the Aussies and going on to win the final. The image at top is from Sail World. Here is a short video of that encounter: https://youtube.com/shorts/Ul12pWBmrRI?si=lzoYdGlKPV_XvLEP

An additional note about the Venus de Milo Seafood Chowder: the lobster, shrimp, and scallops are cooked separately and reserved, then added to the soup at the end. This way each piece of seafood retains its own unique flavor. Also the roux should be made with the clam stock before adding the tomato puree. I usually don’t use potatoes. Now I’m getting hungry again.
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I was concerned about hurricane Idalia in the Florida panhandle, but it looks like it won’t affect the St. Marys boatyard much and will also not affect us here in the Chesapeake at all.
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I organized car service for two upcoming doctor visits, one for pre-op screening, and the other for joint replacement training. We’re finally getting into the home stretch on this hip problem. .
My cupboard is now nearly empty, last of the chicken soup is gone, I fried a couple hotdogs and had them on my last slice of sourdough bread. I had one egg left. Time to hit the grocers, and so I did. Then I rode to the Legion.
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I had a Sierra Mist on ice and a glass of merlot. The place was nearly empty. I tried the taco salad, edible. I rode back to the marina.
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I now had cheese and crackers for a late snack with some pinot noir.
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The street in front of the marina experienced a water main break. When I heard the news I immediately took a shower while there was still water. I biked past the flooded area. The street looked like an asphalt snake that had eaten too much, it was bloated with long cracks with water pouring out, not a geyser, just lots of cracks and water, flooding the streets around the wine shop, oh dear.
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It took less than a day for the public works to fix the problem. I think I almost met the mayor, because there was a businesslike woman at the site of the flooding, it must have been her. There have been a lot of improvements to the town that calls itself a city. I heard someone say of the mayor, she’s done more in a year than the previous did in ten years. I rode past her with my shopping bag of wine.
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The fly problem has now settled down, now that I have learned the flies come in and accumulate when they can’t find their way out, and now I kill them while they are here. I zap them with the bug zapper which works by U/V light, they sometimes land in the bowl of apple cider vinegar and detergent, I swat them with the comical Chinese telescoping fly swatters, and some of them end up on the orange colored, orange size and shaped fly trap. It’s sticky and they get stuck.
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Pork butt is on sale for $.99/lb. This spurs me into action to make my Ole Mole Pork Soup. I’ve made it many times before and have had many positive comments about the aroma of the stew pot. Basically it’s pork and spinach with onion and the ole mole spices. It calls for 3 quarts of water and there is a note that a pork butt might provide too much meat for the soup. Instead of regular chili powder I will be using my stash of ancho chili powder and some red habanero chili powder.
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The wind, unfortunately, was from the North and it made my progress toward the grocers difficult. I found one pork butt on the shelf there and it was less than 7 lbs. so I bought it. My grocery package was not that heavy. The trip to the Legion was like tacking a boat upwind. On some tacks it wasn’t so bad, but other times the 10-20 mph wind would be blowing right into my face and I struggled.
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At the Legion I asked if they had fish basket like they had shrimp basket. The server said no, but the chef was right there and he agreed to make a flounder basket with onion rings and sweet chili sauce. The place was dead. My order came out quickly. I liked it. After another glass of merlot I packed up and left. People were starting to fill up the place.
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Sunset was just around the corner. The super moon would be visible tonight. When I got to the marina the gates were still open, but perhaps they were slow in closing it. The moon didn’t come up till well after sunset. It looked huge on the eastern horizon. I tried to take a photo of it with the S20+, but magnification and red eye reduction ruined it. I must have fallen asleep afterwards and woke at midnight. Take my forgotten evening meds and drift off back to sleep.
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The next day was beautiful, cooler, and with clear sky and light breezes. I biked around the marina looking at the preparations for the big Labor Day event. I think they have crab boat docking races, crab races, rides for the kids, food trucks, and live music. I will be making my soup.
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To get started I have to sharpen the edge on my elegant stainless knife that someone threw away in the boatyard in Georgia. It holds an edge well, but has to be honed every so often. The tip goes first. Perhaps I just have to sharpen the tip. I did so.
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Trimming the pork shoulder butt is difficult in that it is a big piece of meat, almost 8 lbs. and I don’t have a large kitchen to work in. I used a dinner plate to hold half the butt, trimmed off unwanted pieces of fat, bone, and gristle, placed them in a zip lok bag for disposal. The Chinese cutting board was used to dice the meat into small, maybe ¾ inch dice, chunks, then stowing them in a large bowl. Then grab the other half the butt and do it the same way. At least 3 quarts of diced pork, maybe more. I did a large yellow onion next.
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The pressure cooker body was used as a stew pot and the meat was seared over high heat. Liquid smoke was added, maybe too much. The spices, cumin, habanero powder, ancho powder, cocoa powder, peanut butter, and orange marmalade, were added while scraping the bottom of the pot and mixing the stew. The diced onions went in. Four large cloves of garlic were sliced and added. About a half tablespoon of garlic salt was added. A quart of water was added in two stages to keep the mixture bubbling.
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I had an idea, why not use the poaching method on this stewpot? As it was bubbling a bag of spinach was added, allowed to wilt, and mixed up, maybe 5-8 minutes, then shut off the fire with the pot covered. Wait 15 minutes to bring it to a boil again, and so on.
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I received notice that a part for the Raritan toilet on board was on its way. It is a sort of plastic elbow that takes the brunt of the pumping action of the head. It is a manual toilet. It is probably original and thus going on 45 years. I thought I would have to buy a complete pump assembly, but through the manufacturers website I found a service dealer in Maryland, in Dundalk, near Baltimore. The price for the part was just about 30 dollars and they said they would email me the invoice. It sounded like it would be drop shipped from the manufacturer in New Jersey. I was shocked when the bill for shipping would be also 30 dollars. Dundalk is about a 3 hour drive from Crisfield. I checked UPS shipping rates and I could ship the part anywhere in the US for about 15 dollars. The service dealer would not reduce the shipping cost, so I looked around and found I could get the part for less than 20 dollars, with shipping and tax I would save about 20 dollars over the service dealers invoice, I canceled my order with them. The part will be here tomorrow.
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The marina is filling up with yachts for the annual Labor Day activities. If you watch the video “Ape Hole” on YouTube, you will see how the crab festivals carried on before the pandemic. Crabs are available at the American Legion on a special night for $20/dozen. Oh boy!
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After the first 15 minute poaching session a 24oz. Jar of medium chunky salsa was added. This is Food Lion’s house brand, generic salsa, and I found remnants of plant stems, etc., once. The brand I prefer is Herdez and it is on sale at Food Lion, but not at our store in Crisfield, a monopoly. A taste test revealed our pork mole stew was tasting very authentic, spicy, and almost ready for dinner. The salsa has to cook too, so I probably have 45 minutes to go before I can eat it. No crabs, just pork.
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I ended up taking a taste and then another, and so I had a bowl of it, it was ready so quickly, not hours, maybe 15-20 minutes. The poaching method works so well I will try it on other dishes. This time the pork came out very tasty and tender. I started by searing the pork and some diced onions, this caramelized some of the onions and seared the pork with a flavor enhanced. The sauce can be played with a bit. Each time I eat it or a version of it I experience different flavors and ideas associated with the flavors, a complex sauce with a complex message.
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Poaching cooks food without destroying it. Flavors remain intact in poached meats or vegetables. It’s much nicer to taste the individual flavors of the ingredients of a dish rather than a mish mosh all blended together. Keeping the veggies crunchy is a plus also. I can’t wait to try it again, except for the eight servings of pork mole soup that have to be donated or eaten. This poaching process kind of opens up a new avenue for me to pursue. I don’t need the mexican spices as much as the cooking process. The mexican soup is remarkable in that a little goes a long way, I have a lot of it, so I might not be cooking anything new until 2024.
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I received delivery notice that UPS had delivered my Raritan toilet part at the house. I texted Cornelia Marie and she called and said she was going to the Legion and did I want a ride. The place was a swarm, it was a big weekend in Crisfield and the Legion had their security door unlocked. Swarms of people were enjoying a special crab dinner, $20 for a dozen crabs and two ears of corn. This place has no wait staff. The line at the bar was long, 10-20 people. I was glad to pick up the tab for those who braved the mobs to bring me merlot. Not my preferred, but beggars can’t be choosers.
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What a contrast to the quiet weekday evenings at the Legion. We could enjoy the excellent weather, and very nice photographic late afternoon illuminations, the reds slowly creeping up. I interviewed an ornate old veteran, 93 years young. I took a photo of him instead of the landscape. We left to pick up my package and I was back at the marina.
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The next day I removed the broken handle socket, that’s what they called that part, replaced it, and now the head pumps even better than before.
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The image is of the blue moon rising a little after sunset.

I had a lot of difficulty posting my last post. Because the internet is so weak in the marina, I have to use my phone to post to the blog. Photos are edited on the laptop, so I would bluetooth the photo from the phone to the laptop, do what I had to do using GIMP, export from GIMP to desktop, save the blog text .odt file as .txt to the desktop, then bluetooth the text and photo files to the phone, upload from the phone to sailblogs.com. Now the bluetooth connection isn’t working between the laptop and the phone. I can get internet at the Red Shell Shanty and I am left with the problem of getting the photo from the phone to the laptop. I send it as an email attachment to myself.
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The two bottles of vinaigrette dressing, one made with Carapelli EVOO and the other with Food Lion EVOO, were compared using a simple spinach salad. The FL EVOO bottle used Good Season’s Italian Dressing mix, and probably the same for the other bottle. The Carapelli EVOO has more aromatic flavor and that is what I will shop for next time.
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Forget about the war in Ukraine, the war against the flies in Crisfield is intensifying. Every year, while the Red Shell Shanty was still open as a dockside bistro, flies would come out of nowhere, attracted to the contents of Orange Crush cocktails. We would put our phones face down over the cocktail glass to keep them from imbibing. This year the Shanty is only operating as a TV lounge and the flies understand this and give it a wide berth.
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Aboard SUNSPLASH, however, flies come and go as they please, there is no way to stop them without suffocating the beleaguered captain. The vinaigrette dressing seems to be very attractive to the flies. They can’t wait to frolic in the salad. They don’t shoo away. Our preliminary attempt at fly control consisted of several fly traps made out of empty water bottles of various sizes. The top of the bottle is sliced off and the spout inverted back into the body of the bottle. Fly attractants are introduced into the trap.
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I tried 3 different kinds of attractants and none really worked. A mixture of tuna can liquid, detergent, and apple cider vinegar did drown several flies, but it took 2 years. Not very effective. A smaller trap with apple cider vinegar and detergent killed one fly and it only took 2 months. We have to do better.
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The Chinese vendor TEMU offered some very cheap anti fly implements. Telescoping fly swatters that looked silly on the internet, in real life looked just as silly. However, I just nailed a fly with one. Another device is a U/V lamp and bug zapper that might not work out. The flies can’t see the light during daylight and I haven’t seen them buzzing around after dark. Perhaps it will serve as a night light for the captain. Yet another device is an orange colored sticky ball about the size of a real orange. I hung it up and after a couple hours a fly stuck itself onto the ball. We’ll see how that goes.
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Allies have made their presence known, swallows, small insect eating birds, must have heard about the fly problem and they occasionally show up and perch on the lifelines and stainless pulpit rails. When they are around the flies seem to be gone, either eaten or aware of their danger and lying low. A spider or two set up shop now and then, but I don’t see much activity. There are mantises around the marina and perhaps one will become a welcome resident, if mantises are attracted to flies.
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The next morning I was appalled at a huge number of flies trying to go toward the daylight, all massed at my cabin windows. Where did they come from? I opened the hatch and shooed them and they left. Perhaps they are breeding on board. They could be coming in and not finding a way out. I have various fly attractants at work. Maybe it’s the orange Chinese sticky ball. There are now lots of flies stuck to it. The bug zapper goes off at dawn and dusk. The flies aren’t active in the dark and can’t see the U/V light in the daytime, but when it works, it works to perfection. If you like seeing little defenseless flies vaporizing, it might be for you. One little fly was zapped and killed, but his fly corpse was not finished, the zapper kept zapping him (or her) with a series of bright flashes.
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One of my noxious fly traps tipped over into the bilge. Ugh. Maybe the flies got together and did it.
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My paranoid nature got me searching for a possible breeding place. Each place I looked had me apprehensive until I uncovered the hidden location, such as the grease trap on my camp grill. No fly activity there, but it needs to be cleaned out.
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Another order came in from TEMU. It is satisfying to shop for stuff and only pay pennies, and surprising when the product comes in, in about a week, and the quality is sometimes quite good. I bought sports “rugby” jersey, green number 8 on white, size XL, which is OK, maybe a little big, but it was $14.72, Aaron Rodger’s Jets Jersey, without his name or the team logo, but a nice jersey, stitching, etc. The USA vendors want $68 or so for almost the same thing. Also came in a pack of 6 or 8, who’s counting, black cotton/spandex gym shorts, black and very sexy. Those Chinese. I have another shopping list made up. I should take a break from this.
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The day started out with overcast, sprinkly, chance of thunderstorms, and morphed into a beautiful day, not hot, windy from the South, too windy to go out across town on the bike. Not too windy to bike to the wine store. I do need to get out, farther than that. I called Cuddily about her boat and had she heard from Cornelia Marie. She said Buster, her old boyfriend, had gotten injured at the floating dock, injuring his right hip, right knee, and maybe broken rib or two. Sounds like me except for the rib stuff. I had a glass of wine.
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Another product that came in was a new screen protector for my Galaxy phone. 3 for $5.98. How are they? The included dry and wet wipes were very tiny and the wet wipe wasn’t wet. The screen protector fit perfectly and now the phone looks like new again. If you are as intimate with your phone as I am, you’d like it to be clean, new looking, young looking. Beautiful phone.
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I am now wearing my Chinese faux Aaron Rodgers/Jets jersey, the black gym shorts under my Chinese black shorts that I got a while ago. Maybe I should learn Mandarin. I have been cooking Mexican, can I go back to Chinese dishes?
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I also bought a cheap rice cooker, but I’ll review it after I use it. It’s kind of a light cream jade green, not really nautical. Belongs in a dorm room.
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Oz Perlman, the mentalist. Look him up on YouTube.
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The invite was to go to Ray’s, a Chincoteague fish market and restaurant, for dinner. I owed Cuddily and Cornelia Marie a dinner and CM’s birthday was coming up, so here we go. The feast included lobster for me, haven’t had it in years. I also had the Newport Soup, which was a seafood chowder. We discussed the recipe for Venus de Milo Seafood Chowder, a pink chowder I’ve made a few times.
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Venus de Milo Seafood Chowder

INGREDIENTS
2 cups potatoes, 1/2-inch dices
1cup lobster meat (about 8 ounces)
1 cup small sea scallops (about 8 ounces)
1 cup small gulf shrimp (about 8 ounces)
3 1⁄2 cups clam juice
4 ounces butter
1⁄2 cup flour
1⁄4 cup minced onion
1⁄4 cup minced celery
1 cup tomato puree
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 1⁄2 cups light cream
• salt, as needed
• 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
• 3 bay leaves

• DIRECTIONS

• Peel and de-vein the shrimp and cut into bite sized chunks.
• Wash the scallops and drain.
• Place the clam juice in a stock pot and bring to a boil.
• Cook the shrimp in the clam juice then remove and set aside.
• Do the same thing with the scallops saving the stock.
• Cut the lobster meat into bite sized chunks.
• Wash the diced potatoes, drain and place in a stock pot with the hot clam stock.
• Bring the potatoes to a boil, add the bay leaves and simmer until the potatoes are tender.
• In a separate stock pot melt the butter and sauté the onion, celery, and garlic until the onions become transparent.
• Add the tomato puree and cook for several minutes.
• Add the flour to the butter and onion mixture to make a roux and cook over a low heat for several minutes.
• Add the hot clam stock through a strainer a cup at a time and whisk until smooth.
• Add the remaining potatoes and bring to a simmer.

• Add the light cream, black pepper, and the lobster, shrimp, and scallops and return to a simmer.
• Adjust the seasoning.
• Serve at once with oyster crackers.
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The next day would be the day of the Snoopy Bowl, the annual Jets/Giants preseason game. In the old Red Shell Shanty I made sure the game would be on later in the evening. I propped the door open to allow air circulation. The air conditioning is weak. I received another call, from Cuddily, she and CM were preparing seafood chowder, inspired by the meal of the night before. I asked if she got the NFL Network and it was confirmed. I went back to the Shanty and closed it up.
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I was offered a ride on Buster’s boat but I preferred to bike and get some ibuprofen at the grocers, also more water. I allotted an hour to bike to the store, shop, and then bike to the waterfront at Brick Kiln Channel. It only took me 29 minutes to make the trip arriving about a half hour early. The big bottle of Cavit pinot noir was available to hydrate with.
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Buster was watching a TV show about demolishing buildings and then put on the NFL Network. The pregame hype show was on. Teri, the artist, arrived and I sat on the sofa and watched the show, leaving my very red wine far away on the dining table. One spill of that stuff would wipe out the carpet or the furniture.
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The game was the debut of Aaron Rodgers as the Jets quarterback as well as other starters who hadn’t played in any of the preseason games up till now. The Jets looked good, took the lead, and won the game. The game was interrupted by the serving of Cuddily’s magnificent seafood chowder. I had sent her the recipe for the Venus de Milo chowder and I said tear that recipe up, this chowder is the best I have ever tasted. They didn’t give me their recipe.
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I biked back to the marina at dusk.
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We developed a theory about the fly problem on board. It seems that when the boat is closed up due to inclement weather the flies can get in but can’t seem to find their way out, so they accumulate. When the hatch is open there aren’t that many flies although a few do come and visit.
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The image is of a sign inside the entrance to Ray’s Shanty. It is a very nautical place.

Two days of high humidity and afternoons of severe thunderstorms, that starts off our week. It only got up to about 93 but humidity, the roasting on an unairconditioned boat, and visions of the deserts of Lawrence of Arabia come to mind.
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The Giant Duck was gone. A lady from the end of the dock said have you had enough of the big duck? Yes, I responded with OMG. I went to the old Red Shell Shanty and it was very hot inside. Back on board was not much different. I had paperwork to do and some research. I was soaked with perspiration. I had to read a lot and drink a lot of water. I felt tired and weak. I tried to nap. I needed to hydrate and it was late enough in the afternoon to have some wine and chili dogs are always a culinary wake up call, easy to make, very effective, my new technique is to put the dogs and mole sauce in a zip lok bag, throw into a pot of boiling water, turn off the heat and let nature take its course.
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While I was searching to improve my balsamic vinaigrette dressing I found I had lost my recipe, I didn’t even know what I was improving on. There was a YouTube alert, the Jets had signed Dalvin Cook, a wide receiver, released by the Minnesota Vikings, a player that was pro bowl caliber, ran and received passes for 1400 yards last year, astonishing. This is an obvious scenario of a player wanting to go play for a team that might win it all. The team now seems to be way overbalanced, like they are deep and adept at all positions. The coaching now comes under scrutiny. If you have so much depth and talent, experience, the bar gets raised higher, you have to win and win it all.
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You can’t spend your life in reaction, you have to step forward. I couldn’t find my dressing recipe, but the dressing recipe didn’t create me, I created it. So I can create it again, maybe better this time, step forward.
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After searching through the last two years of blog posts, yes, I did that, I found the recipe:

Italian Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

1/2 C balsamic vinegar
1 C EVOO
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Italian herb mix
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Simple, isn’t it. Like a 4 item grocery list that you can’t remember the 4th item. I need to get onion powder. But wait, I had a couple packets of Good Season’s Italian Dressing mix on board this boat. I opened a packet and poured the contents into a dressing cruet, then grabbed a bottle of very nice EVOO, and began pouring it into a measuring cup. What came out was not olive oil but dressing. I had made a batch of dressing in the nice bottle. Now I had to use the empty cruet with dressing mix in it, I added cooking olive oil and Pompeiian balsamic vinegar, shake it up, now I had two bottles of dressing. I won’t need to go shopping for salad dressing ingredients for a while.
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The noticeable thing is that the dressing from the reused bottle of fancy EVOO had a nice aromatic flavor. I assume I used that olive oil when I made the dressing. I will buy more of that, if I can get it. The other olive oil I have is generic store brand EVOO, nice color, not bad, but not anywhere near the other stuff.
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I also looked at comparison of romaine lettuce vs spinach and found spinach has more vitamin C and protein. When I shopped I wanted 50/50 spinach/spring mix, but the romaine hearts won me over. My next task is to compare the ersatz dressing made with store brand EVOO and Good Seasons mix, with the good stuff. Yeah, I should eat more salads.
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Yesterday was brutal thunderstorms, winds, rain, lightning, but today was supposed to be the same. The temperature hit 94, feels like 118, not unusual this summer, but very unusual here. In recent phone calls it is the main topic of conversation. Why are the king crabs gone in Alaska? Why are the reefs being bleached of coral in the Keys, why is the blue crab season taking a nose dive?
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The brush fires in Maui are an indication of climatic changes that extend all over our planet. You can take the position, politically, that it is a natural cycle and we can’t do anything about it, but the other political consequence is that the local and regional governments have their hands full. Everybody has a theory they believe in, until things change like this. Then we ask, why can’t anybody do anything about it? Our USA political machine is set up to struggle against itself just to do the obvious. I like the political system of Iceland. Also the populace.
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I ordered a bunch of stuff from China from TEMU. Fly swatters, bug zapper, I made a list of stuff and ordered it. Came to 31 dollars. Free shipping. Takes about a week.
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I had to do some account changing online as well as organize my orthopedic appointments prior to surgery for my hip. I took care of everything else while on hold with the orthopedics, and then when they answered they started to transfer me to my contact person, who was out to lunch, I protested, they said she’s back from lunch now. Finished in no time.
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The black clouds from the West were dangerous thunderstorms, just like yesterday, but they gravitated more to the North and we continued to wait for our 100% precipitation. It will come, it’s 100%.
I did not go out.
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I could make my chili dogs and go out tomorrow. I had a shopping list. Perdue chickens were on sale at the grocers. I could make chicken soup again, I keep trying. I tried calling Cuddily to say I’m going to the store and then to the Legion. No answer. She must be out on her boat.
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When I got to the store I was glad to go inside into the air conditioning. I found the chicken on sale and bought white onions, carrots, and celery, the mirepoix for chicken soup. I left and biked to the Legion.
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I was surprised to arrive a full 15 minutes early. I had worked hard not to be late. I ordered a merlot and a Fresca kind of drink, to hydrate. When they delivered the drinks, Teri came in. We organized ourselves at a high top table with 3 seats. I mentioned I had called Cuddily and Teri said, they said they would be here. So we added a couple seats to our little semicircular table, one for Cuddily, and one for Buster, her old boyfriend. He came down from Massachusetts after some medical tests.
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The old bad crowd of a couple years ago had fragmented and it seemed the town had imploded. But now, in walked Diana and Karen, both of whom I was glad to see. Hugs, now we had two tables of the Bad Crowd, missing Eve, the artist, of course. What a nice night.
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I bicycled back to the marina with a bag of groceries on my left bicycle grip, holding it. It’s easier to do it if you’ve had enough merlot and can remember the code to get in the gate at the marina. Each , part of the way I was careful to avoid nightime cars that could flatten me, I’m paranoid after watching the various “Idiots in Cars and Trucks” videos on YouTube. What chance do I stand.
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Is it my hearing? Will I be run down by a beast of a semi blowing his horn and I don’t hear and get flattened? Not tonight. I make it to the pedestrian gate and enter the code and set off, inside the marina. Almost home. Nice feeling.
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I did have a spill at the corner near the Red Shell Shanty due to a large pickup truck parked with its extended trailer hitch snagging my grocery bag.
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Back on board I signaled “SOB”, which means safe on board, not the other thing.
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There was blood, smeared, I had to be careful, how bad was it, get a paper towel and dampen it and wipe away the blood.
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After breakfast I had to wash a lot of dishes, pots, pans, chopping blocks, and some of the raw vegetables. I put 6 cups of water on the stove with bay leaves, ground pepper, sodium encrusted chicken soup base, mainly for the sodium. The chicken, complete with gizzards, livers, and etc. went into the pot. Bring it to a boil and shut it off. I prepped cloves of garlic, two white onions, carrots, and celery in the ratio 3:1 ½:1 ½.
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I was poaching the chicken, bring to a boil, shut off the flame, wait 10-15 minutes, fire it up again, boil, shut off the flame. After the second boil and rest, the chicken came out into a large bowl, covered, and cooled. The broth was skimmed of fat and debris, a cup of brown rice and a half cup of red beans (small) were added, the mirepoix was added and the pot brought up to a boil again. Then let it rest no flame. It takes about 3 sessions of boil/rest until the rice and beans are cooked. The chicken is disassembled. Breast meat goes into the fridge for future sandwiches. The rest gets picked over, diced, and added to the pot. This cooking method keeps the veggies a little more crunchy and prevents burning on the bottom of the pot.
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I took a break and went to the now defunct Red Shanty, now just a TV room, turned on the NFL network and found the game I wanted to watch was blacked out. But the footage they now put up was the NY Jets, Jets Media, how nice, just a half hour long. Back on board I put away 4 quarts of chicken soup in the fridge and had some for dinner.
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The next day was an early 10AM broadcast of the NY Jets game of the day before. Cornelia Marie called and said she wanted to take her boat out and could I help her launch it, etc. I had to hustle, take a shower, meet her at the front gate of the marina, ride cross town, and hitch up her boat trailer to her vehicle. We went to the nearby boat ramp and launched it.
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The engine was kind of reluctant to start, but started, and we brought the boat to her mom’s waterfront home. Folding beach chairs, umbrellas, towels, and beach picnic supplies were loaded onto the boat, then we took it to the nearby floating dock where Nori the wonder dog could jump on board along with Cuddily and Buster.
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I had joked that the engine would fail when we were at the furthest point from land and so it happened. We were in the channel North of the Jayne’s Island campground when the engine quit with a gasp of smoke or steam. CM tried to paddle the heavily laden boat, but the wind was setting us out to sea. She eventually restarted the engine and we limped to the beach.
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There were several boats already at the beach, it was a perfect day to sit and watch the sea birds and do nothing for hours. We then packed up and limped back to the waterfront home and dock, then to the launch ramp. Cuddily had a pork roast slow cooking and a blender full of Pina Coladas. We ate and drank. What a nice perfect day. By the time I returned to the marina it was past 9PM.
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I had to call my brother in Hawaii and then called a friend in NY. It was now about 1:30AM. I was quite ready for sleep. The image is a photo taken from the beach North of Jayne’s Island. Very Bahama-like.