03.22.21 It's started somewhere.....

       Found this photo on a Striped Bass private group site on social media. Not sure which bay it was caught at, but it could have been the Chesapeake, Delaware or Raritan, by quest is the later. Water is starting to heat up a bit, but slowly, as I am noticing a bump in the flows coming down out of the rivers. Over the weekend highs in the Raritan were 46 and the Delaware near me 44. 

     Also over the weekend a "memory" popped up on my Facebook page. It was from 2014 and it had to do with my first Jones Brothers 19'10". I really did that boat right. The only thing I didn't do was replace the tank, which is a common thing for the JB boats built before 2005 as they have metal tanks. It was that year I purchased a new dual axle trailer which I did because it would be the first, and only year, that I ran some trips out in Montauk. 

      Below are a few pics of when I first got that boat back in 2011. I put a lot of time and money into that boat and now wish I never had to sell it. But I had to, money was tight, reality hit, and with us opening a private practice you can't have it all. Some people out there can and do have it all, it takes a ridiculous amount of money and luck to be a successful full time guide. Full time meaning, full time, like you work in construction January through December. Now teachers work full time, but have a lot of time off. and generally aren't bank rolled by trust funds, good fortune, or luck with the lottery. But God bless those guides that can and do pull it off. 

     As I looked through the blog archives for some early pics of the boat I found this from nearly 10 years ago.....my heart skipped a beat. I know that feeling, I know that view, I know that nauseousness. 

     Prior to finding that Jones I had delusions of using an old family boat that was rotting in my Dads's construction yard. That was about 2009 or 2010. I spent too much time taking off the teak and cleaning her up, even naming her "Wet my Line", a phrase used often during my time in the fire department. In the above picture that's me and Erin, she's probably about 4 years old, now going on 16. 

     With spring arriving its time to take off the cover and see if anything hibernated in the engine cowling. I hope this week to charge the batteries, hook ups some water, and fire her up. I release after looking at the pics of my old boat just how much of a project my new boat, Jim's old boat will be. She'll be a fine boat, and hopefully I will be able to get more time out of her before the dreaded tank replace and deck repair have to be done, and then there's always that 24 year old HDPI that runs, but for how long. SANd then there's the radar, what to do. Last season, without knowing how it was stabilized, I almost ripped it off the deck and through the center console it a few big ocean days, once with Erin and once with Leif. I see more smaller boat guys going to the radar, so for now, it stays. I wouldn't even know where to begin to try and dismantle it anyway. 

     So hopefully in about a month she will be wet, in the Raritan and Delaware, and more hopefully, whatever I use to back her down the ramp doesn't get wet as well.