Sunday, October 7


The Annual USCGAA Fishing Tournament took place on October 6, 2007 under blue skies and some light fog. I fished on the "Patricia Ann" with John & Trish Bock. The 2 other boats that participated "Osprey" with Mimi & John, Mark Leonard and Bill Jordan, "Our Pleasure" Nick Golio & Peter Miller. "My Mercedes" dnf'd due to the first mate being stuck in Arruba. Peter & Nick took top honors for the most fish caught . We came in second with the 2 I caught (more weight than the "Ospreys 2 legal fish, Jordan tried to sneak in a day old one).

I have one objection to the prize situation.
Prizes
  • 1st Place A scale
  • 2nd Place Nada
  • 3rd Place Kid's fishing kit
  • Biggest Fish holder for Grill
  • DNF Fishing Net

What happened to second place awards?? We certainly did better than the DNF'r Something to be considered for future events. You can check the link section for the rest of the pictures.
Posted by Picasa

Saturday, March 17

View From Villa- looking down on Chocolate Hole


Well, we made it!! This is the view from the porch looking down at Chocolate Hole and on the left Hart's Bay and on the right Great Cruz Bay. The weather for the week was gorgeous 80 to 85 during the day and mid 70's in the evenings. We flew out of Logan non-stop to St. Thomas on Friday March 2. The ride on the bus from the Myer's house to the airport was cold and rainy. At least we did not have the snowstorm that was originally predicted. We had a nice flight down but arrived a little late. The Myers & Bocks headed right for Redhook and the Ferry. The Jordans & Keoghs took the scenic route over the top of St. Thomas to Drake's Seat and then into Redhook to Marina Market for food shopping. We caught the 6pm ferry which did not leave until 7:15pm -island time. So we arrived after dark at the villa. It wasn't until the next morning that we saw what a great view we had.

After breakfast we headed off to the beach. For our first day we went to Hawksnest Bay Beach. The water was warm with blue skies. We did a little snorkeling on the reef, finding many small fishes. A lot of the small coral was dead from the bleaching from the extremely warm water last summer. The large coral- the Elkhorn and Brain corals seemed to be OK but there was a lot of color that seemed to be missing. All the beaches we went to had been damaged in the same way. The fishes were still around, lots of Blue Tangs, Butterfly fish, Parrot fish, and Bonito. we even watched a 3 foot Barracuda cruise the beach.

The beaches we went to were Hawksnest, Maho and Francis. Good snorkeling on all the reefs and in the rocks. I am always amazed about the amount of time I spend in the water and how easy it is to float. At home on Buzzards Bay, an hour for the whole summer for me is normal. I was in the water for at least 2 hours a day around St. John. On the way home from the beach we would stop at one of the drink shacks in Cruz Bay and get a smoothie for the ride home and then a swim in the pool before dinner.

Saturday night we went out to The Lime Tree Inn where we had a very nice dinner and would highly recommend it. The staff was courteous and friendly. We also ate out at the Paradiso in Mongoose Junction. The appetizers were really good, especially the portobello mushrooms and the calamari. The salads were also fresh and bountiful. The entrees on the other hand were not well prepared. A good place to graze but we would suggest eating somewhere else. We also went to Skinny Legs in Coral Bay for lunch and all had some great hamburgers.
And on Friday before we left we ate at the Westin on the Beach. Great meal and great location. The other nights we ate in the villa, dining on Ribs, Coconut Shrimp, Chicken Divan, And Sirloin Strips.

I wasn't able to do any hiking. My right leg was still booted up to protect my broken leg. I was able to take the boot off to go swimming and found it was easier snorkeling with only my left foot in a flipper. Caused some strange looks as I walked up & down the beach. We definitely will have to come back because there were a lot of places I would have liked to have seen but couldn't get to this year.

The pictures of where we did go, can be found under my link section. There aren't enough words to express the wonderful time we had. Couldn't have asked for a better vacation nor a better group of friends to share it with.

Monday, February 26

Vacation_

Four more days and we will be winging our way south to sunny St. John. It appears the the winter is finally catching up with us however- snow's expected most of this week. For the last 2 years, when Ellen & I have gone south to visit Tim, we have had snow on Thursday night before our flight. We go to our friends, John & Annie's house , to watch Survivor and it has started to snow. Last year we stayed home because the snow had stopped by 9pm, but the previous year we drove to Providence and spent the night in a motel. Yesterday when I looked at the weather the prediction was for a sunny Thursday with some light snow/rain Friday evening. This morning they are predicting snow on Thursday extending into Friday morning. We will all be taking a limo from John & Paula's house in Bridgewater to Logan Friday morning. It is 84 in Cruz Bay, clear skies and the weather looks great for the rest of the week. Friday the temperature will be down to 81 under sunny skies. Can't wait!!

We got measurable snow today for the first time this winter. I was remembering on the ride into work this morning, as the snow was coming down and the visibility was lowering, the drives I used to make in my Healey from Woods Hole to Youngstown and back. (This is my - I remember when story- "When I was a kid we trudged thru snow 20" inches deep to get to school", story.), out in the snow belt on Interstate 90- The New York Thruway. I was driving A "59" Austin Healey 3000, which I had purchased shortly after I arrived on the USCGC Hornbeam in Woods Hole. It was a 2 + 2, bucket seats in the front and 2 hard seat cutouts on the back deck, convertible with sliding plexiglass windows. There were no roll up windows. The plexi frame was either on the door or in the trunk. Extremely drafty in the winter, heater barely worked, and the windshield wipers were maybe all of 8" long. But it hugged the road and I don't remember ever spinning out, being more concerned about the 6" of ground clearance between the muffler and the road.

The snow was always bad,( as it still is today) from around Erie, PA to the other side of Buffalo. The trick was to find a truck and keep in his slipstream letting him do the snow plowing and hoping that he wouldn't stop. Then after Buffalo the snow would ease off but the temperature would drop. I would put a piece of cardboard in front of the radiator trying to keep the temperature up. Rolling along with gloves on, my wool peacoat with the collar up and long underwear. The Healey did not like running cold and would stall out if I didn't keep the throttle up when we went through the toll booths. Don't ever remember getting stuck with the Healey anywhere. The only other bad experience, other than those long cold late night drives across I-90, was the time during a January thaw, when I had driven to Norton to visit my mother with the top down. She was doing PR at that time for Wheaton College and had an apartment in Norton. The weather was warm so I had the top down and the tonneau cover in place. I was heading back to the ship on Sunday evening and around Taunton the temperature dropped and it started to snow. I had snow on the windshield, both inside and out. The wipers were useless, and hoping that it was just a short squall, I sat up and tried to see over the windshield. But it didn't let up and I finally had to stop to put up the top. It wasn't a push button, but canvas stretched over a frame and and then snapped onto the car body. Enough of that.



If I can find a computer, internet cafe maybe?, in St. John I will update, but if not you will have to wait until our return.

Wednesday, January 24

Wedding_

August 5Th 2006, will go down in the Keogh/Methot family trees as a day to long remember and cherish. Pictures are worth a thousand words, but what I remember most about Sean & Nicole's wedding and the days leading up to it and away from it, were all the smiles on all our faces. As the parents of the groom we couldn't have been happier. Norm & Sandy, as parents of the bride, were beaming from ear to ear. Sean & Nicole did such a fantastic job bringing everyone together to celebrate their wedding, families, old friends,(maybe I should say long time friends ), new friends, young & older. I am going to let the pictures speak for themselves. The photos can be accessed from my link section. If you have any photos you would like to share, e-mail me and I can upload them to the album. Eventually there will be a separate post on the rehearsal dinner and the horseshoe tournment.

Tuesday, January 23

Weather_

Last night we finally had our first measurable, stick on the ground snow. We got all of 1 inch. The plows were out sanding & clearing the rosds. We must have a lot of extra money in the budget. The harbor is beginning to ice up around the edges but it will take more really cold days and nights to completely freeze over. I will be putting out the triceratops snow measuring device this week. Pictures to follow if we get some blizzards or a lot of media hype. I was beginning to think that we were going to escape snow this year. Yesterday, if you have forgotten was the big storm of 2005, 22 inches in Marion, and over 3 feet on our porch roof. Today would have been the day that Ellen & I shoveled out the driveway. A nice sunny day as I remember. And actually it is clear skies and sun today. I am officially off the crutches, but still in the boot for 2 more weeks. I am glad that we did not have snow or ice for the last six weeks. It certainly would have made my getting around more difficult.

Thursday, January 11

Home_:Update 2006



Well good readers it has been a while since I posted anything. I had plans to tell you about our summer cruises on Branwyn, Sean's & Nicole"s wedding in Westport, climbing Mooselauke and North Kinsman in New Hampshire, and hiking with the AMC in the Blue Hills, but everything sort of ran together and here we are in January of 2007. I would like to say that the reason this so late is because I had a broken arm, but it turns out it is my right leg. You will have to wait for that story.

We did a lot of work on the boat over the winter. I stripped the bottom and barrier coated and bottom painted the hull. That should take care of the major bottom work for the next 10 years and protect the hull. We had the injectors rebuilt. I varnished the topside wood and oiled the whole interior. We had new sails made and all seemed set to go. The boat was launched in early June, but we couldn't start the engine. After numerous trips out to the mooring my mechanic determined that the engine needed to be rebuilt. When he told me that we wouldn't have the boat until the middle of August, I got a second opinion. The head mechanic at Burrs, thought it was just valves and timing. So they sent the injectors back out and when they put them back in and adjusted the timing the engine wouldn't start. They found that the exhaust was completely closed up. New exhaust system, muffler, and we were underway. The first sail of the summer took place on July 30. We had a great sail with Sean, Nicole, Norm, Sandy & Ellen. The water was warm enough that we all went for a swim off the boat.
Everyone had a problem getting over the bar on the stern pulpit when getting back in the boat. So I cut it off. I am going to have to do a little reinforcing this year to make it stronger but it should make it a lot easier getting up the ladder and into the boat. We never went overnite this year. never had the time. Made it once to Quisett for lunch. Other than that daysail out into the bay. The new sails work really great. The boat moves along quite nicely. Much better than with the bags that came with the boat. The boat is now comfortably tucked away in the front yard. All covered up and awaiting some spring time varnish. The only plans for this year will be a new VHF and a new boom cover. Should be in the water for the first of June. With that we will put the boat away and get ready for the next update.