TD2

No, it's not the newest Terminator movie, but the Weather Channel people seem to be saying, "I'll be back."

This morning when we turned on the Weather Channel, they were talking about Bonnie... the tropical disturbance in the Gulf that is now expected to become a tropical storm (and will be named Bonnie)... ALL of the computer models are showing it predicted to come across our home. Maybe a bit south, perhaps a bit north, but pretty much right over the top of South Padre Island and Port Isabel. There was a reporter from the Weather Channel standing on the beach on South Padre Island this morning. Did they get some sort of group rate to travel there??

Not expected to bring big wind or much storm surge; more of a heavy rain event. The area is saturated thanks to Alex's visit last week. We have pretty decent run off, thanks to being on an island... the rest of the Rio Grande Valley inland is flat; this is going to be a bad situation for that area.

Meanwhile, nearly 2,000 miles away, the weather is lovely: cool dry mornings, warming up to the 70s in the afternoon, a few puffy white clouds to enhance the views of the mountains.

Stalking the wild prey...

It's been a while since an Izzy update. With a day off for us today, Izzy and I went for a couple walks. There are a couple squirrels who tease Izzy when she's outside. She knows where they hang out, and today she nearly had them... she stealthily stalked them...


And then she made her move...


If not for her mean Cat-Daddy who held her back with her leash, she may have gotten them. Or not. Truly, I don't think the squirrels were ever in serious danger... they just like to play with Izzy... "Hey, cat! Here we are! Catch us if you can!"

When she thought she had them cornered up a tree, they just jump to the next tree... and then throw a pine cone down at her.

Days Last Rays...

The weather has turned to typical mountain summer: cool crisp mornings with generally calm water. As it warms up, the wind comes up. Sunny sky during the day with very comfortable temps in the low 70s. The chance of an afternoon thunderstorm always looms, as this mountain range is big enough to create its own weather system. Chop on the water during the afternoons, then generally laying down towards the end of the day. As always, Mother Nature is in charge and she can change her mind at any time.

Four evenings a week, we do a sunset cruise (alternating with the dinner cruises on the other nights). Sunset is one of the toughest for the captains because we spend much of our time facing into that west sun. While the morning cruises are my personal favorites, due to the light coming from the east lighting the mountains, as the sun's rays come across the peaks towards the end of the day can also be very pretty...


Another work week behind us after last night's sunset cruise and looking forward to some beautiful weather for our days off.

Holiday Weekend...

It was a busy day in the marina yesterday. One of the highlights for Joan and me was the opportunity to visit with our Florida friends, Bob and Marie (C-Dory folks). They stopped by on their way through, on an RV trip with their daughter and grandkids.

From the cruiseboat standpoint, it was what we expected for a holiday - lots of nice folks, full boats. Well, right up to about 5:00... much of the crowd in the park was drawn to the south for a large fireworks display in Jackson. In fact, we had only 6 guests for the 6:30 sunset cruise. I let those folks know that they were going to have pretty much a "private charter"; it was 3 couples who didn't know each other. By the time we were headed back into the marina, we were all visiting together. Some might look at a nearly empty boat as a disappointment, but this was an opportunity to meet new folks and get to show them the lake and the mountains from a perspective you can't see through the windshield of your car. I gave them some photo tips on how to get good silhouettes of the mountains with the sun behind them.

On the breakfast cruise, we had a newly-engaged couple... as in: he had just proposed the night before. I had the boat full of passengers give them a round of applause and while on the island, I was amused as guests felt compelled to give this young couple marital advice. One lady's response won't be forgotten; she said, "Honey, no matter what he does, you give him a big hug and say, 'You da man!' " ;-) That was way better than most of the "respect each other" advice I heard.

Happy Birthday, America...

It's pretty neat to be able to spend a major holiday in one of the most beautiful National Parks, and not have to worry about the traffic or getting a campsite. I let passengers know that they can kick back and enjoy the cruise... and not have to deal with bumper to bumper traffic or road construction.

Today, I participated in my first "rescue." No, no one was ever in jeopardy. One of our small rental boats called in to the marina - their motor had quit and they couldn't get it re-started. There was about 1 1/2 foot chop, and they were a bit scared. I hopped in our jonboat with one of the dock hands and we went out to find them. They were further out than we thought, so it took a few minutes to locate them. Once we got there, all they wanted was to get back to shore. We got their boat started right away (the vent on the fuel tank was closed), so we had them follow us back in. Once we got into protected water, they decided to go ahead and stay out for the two hours they had scheduled... the motor was running, the water was much calmer in closer, and they had faith that we weren't going to let anything bad happen to them. And, they had some fun on the water. This is a regular situation for the dock hands, but the first time I had time to go out and help.

It was a bit windier today and cooler. That did slow down the traffic a bit at the marina, but it was still plenty busy. Lots of people on their boats in the marina.

No fireworks allowed in the National Park, so I would imagine things will quiet down a bit by late afternoon tomorrow... there is supposed to be a fireworks display in Jackson that will draw people that direction.

Summer is going by fast.

Blue Shirt Day...

We pulled one of the cruiseboats out of service today to get some work done on it. Just so happens it was my day to be "second", so I was up as the service guy. The main project was getting the engine compartments sound deadened. In between, I got the steering connection for the trolling motor for one of the fishing guide boats repaired. By the end of the day, I had fiberglass from the insulation in my hands and face... but, the boat is quieter. With only one cruiseboat in service, no need for me to drive the second boat for the dinner cruise, so I actually got off early - only 8 1/2 hours today. ;-)

Hopefully, the last Alex update...

I just got a final e-mail update from our neighbor across the street, and he reports that damage on our island is minimal: some roofing/siding blown off a few places and a lot of palm branches down. The surge made it to the top of the sea wall in our neighborhood, over the wall in some of the lower spots. The surge is down now, back to the level of an extreme high tide. They hope to get the bridge open today and expect to have everything back to normal in time for the 4th of July. All very good news. I would imagine I'll have some dock repairs to do when we get home, but he hasn't had a chance to walk around our place, yet.

Mostly good news, considering.

Back to work tomorrow... I've had enough of the Weather Channel for a while.