From last night's sunset cruise...

A couple photos from last night's sunset cruise...



Love that little glimmer of light on the water as we made our way deep in Moran Bay, with the view of the distant mountains through the canyon.

A short driving day...

Only 9 1/2 hours... almost felt like a day off. ;-) The season has certainly changed - we had no children on any of today's cruises; well, one cruise with a family of 4 with an 11 year old and a 16 year old... but, no crying youngins.

It was a beautiful day: a few puffy clouds, very little breeze, and temps in the 70s. Plenty of sunshine. We are now starting our last cruise at 5:30, so I am done by 7:00... it's still light out! I even had time to take Izzy for a walk after work - makes her a very happy girl.

A blue shirt day tomorrow, I'll start winterizing motors as we begin pulling some of the rental boats. We're on the home stretch now!

You know what bears do in the woods?

Another close up of little Izzy...


On our evening walk, we came across something new: scat. As in: "Who Pooped In The Park?" (a cute kid's book). The first was fresh deer scat. The second was bear scat! We will be making more noise on future walks.

It works!

After the breakfast meeting, I got out for a motorcycle ride. Down to Jenny Lake, there is still plenty of traffic in the park. All the parking spots at Jenny Lake and by the marina in Colter Bay were full. Surprising, but good.

Lunch after the ride, and then a short nap. Glorious! I loaded up the Hobie and headed for the lake - time to test the furler in "the real world." Not much wind today, but enough to tack all around the marina, working my way through the mooring balls; then out into the bay. Here's the furler...


I may have to paint it black to make it look "professional." But, it works. And for less than $4, I can roll the sail up in about 2 seconds...


To make sure that it will function when needed, I rolled it in and out a bunch of times. It rolls better on the "furler drum" if you keep a small bit of tension on the line when you pull the sail out with the main sheet. And there is considerably less wind resistance when pedaling into the wind with the sail furled.

Here's a look at the sail when opened...


As I was coming back into the marina, I could hear the 3 female staff in kayaks on their way out: "Maybe he needs to be rescued?" "Does that sail thing work?" "Do you think he can hear us from here?"

No. Yes. And definitely YES. Just for the fun of it, I put my feet back in the pedals and ran circles around them. It was after rental hours, so the three of them were just having fun... it's been a long, tough season - they deserve it. Two of this crew arrived after we were up and running and didn't get in on our "pre-season kayak training." Of course, there was the inevitable water fight, started with the first splash from a paddle... I stayed away from that. It's a beautiful afternoon, and great to be able to be on the water.


I loaded up the kayak, visited with one of the other captains and first mates, then headed for home. It smelled great in the coach - Joan has been slow cooking a pork roast, and I get pulled pork for supper!

Little Izzy got her 3rd walk in today, and played "jungle cat"...


Nice day off; back to the grind tomorrow, but no more 6:30 am boat prepping!

High level talks...

A breakfast meeting this morning with the captains, marina manager, assistant manager, village manager, and the general manager. Decent discussion. Like most big corporations, I have little doubt that any changes proposed will take time. Much like trying to get something done with the government. ;-)

I miss the "old days" when we ran our own business - if a better way to do something was proposed and agreed upon, we made the changes immediately. Of course, there are some of those "old days" I don't miss, or we'd still be doing what we did. Closing in on 4 months here, all three of us have itchy feet... and, while it's been an interesting summer, being retired is still my favorite job.

Another day off today, and it has been a chilly start... 29º on my way to the breakfast meeting. I need to drag the kayak to the water and try out the furler in real-world use and get a motorcycle ride in. Looking at the 10 day forecast, this may be the last play-time with those things before we go. Daytime temps are supposed to be around 70º for the next few days and then dropping; a definite chill in the air.

Furled sail...

That's one of my favorite podcasts: Furled Sails (www.furledsails.com)... they haven't added any new podcasts in over a year, but I still enjoy re-listening (is that a word?) to some outstanding interviews.

But, this post isn't about podcasts. Last week when we went to Jackson, I picked up some PVC pieces to make a furler for the sail for the Hobie. I have about $3.50 invested. Less than an hour of drilling and fitting. And, it works. The white PVC may not be the prettiest addition to the Hobie, but I can furl the sail in just a couple seconds - one pull of the line.

I coulda used that last week when the winds got gusty. I haven't tried it, yet, on the water, but it sure worked well with the kayak sitting on the picnic table. :-)

Reading materials...

Before we retired, we had somewhere around 30 magazine subscriptions between us. We started trimming those down in the months before we retired... to where we now receive zero. Both of us satisfy much of our reading cravings via the internet - immediate, current, and no lengthy delay and expense in getting magazines forwarded to wherever we happen to be. Still, there is something to be said for being able to stretch out on the couch, or even the hammock, and lazily read an article.

Last night, Captain Ron (the real one I work with, not the movie guy) stopped me as I was coming off the cruise boat... "I thought you might like to read this." He handed me a copy of Heartland Boating, a midwest oriented boating magazine. On the cover: a shot of several C-Dorys cruising at a gathering on the Mississippi River. Yep, made me even more anxious to get back to Wild Blue.


Book sales of Cat On A Leash continue. We make our weekly trek to Jackson for supplies, lunch out, and stop at the Post Office to ship out books. Some of our co-workers here have bought the book; certainly opened up some nice conversations. Seems there is frequently a copy of the book at one of the rental stations. Pat is one of our fishing guides; he is one of the first I met when we came here last year, and is my friend... gruff, but likeable. I always recommend our fishing guides to our passengers on the cruise boats. One couple who had a great time with us on a breakfast cruise later went out with Pat on a guided fishing trip. Before they got back, Pat called on the VHF and asked if I had any more books... he started telling this nice couple about the story while out on a trip, and they wanted a book. They were kind enough to wait, as I was coming back from a rescue. I may hire Pat as my rep! Beneath that tough exterior is an old softie when it comes to his furry family members. Seems that there are a lot of us like that.


Great bunch of people we work with here, from the captain and first mate crew, to all the dock wranglers, and Joan's inside crew. The marina jobs are not cushy, the pace is often hectic, but the friends we've made are the best part. And, the view from my "office" is pretty special, too. ;-)