DEAD

Killing that BlueFin Tuna was bad karma. Lots of bad stuff happened right after, and the loss is as permanent as the life of that valiant fish.
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Maybe we had lost it a while ago, without realizing or acknowledging it. The Taoist Masters warned me not to care so much.... but I didn't listen.

Tuna Wars

BLUEFIN TUNA
Order - Perciformes
Family - Scombridae
Genus - Thunnus
Species - thynnus

Obviously, we were successful this morning in our quest to rid our waters of the BlueFin Tuna. ~
We might have to grill and eat this one to drive our point home.
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I'll give you more details, but I'm too damn tired from getting up at 3:00AM to meet this 150+ lb. behemoth out on the NorthWest Corner of Stellwagen Bank.
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Ryan Nestor and Chris Crawford did the heavy lifting. Mike Nestor drove the boat, and I stayed out of the way. A true team effort.
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We initially caught a respectable stripped bass, who rost to the trolling squid spread. Federal regs require that stripers be released on Stellwagen and we unhooked him as soon as possible. By 6:30AM, Ryan's trolling rod bent violently and unmistakenly.
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After about 1/2, the fish was close to the boat, and Ryan tried to muscle him over the gunwale. Mike grabbed him before he was pulled overboard, and Chris got a gaff into the tuna. We all humped him in, bled it, then deadheaded for Salem Harbor, arriving at the Richard Rockett Landing around 8:15.
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By 3:00PM, 12 hours later, the adrenalin was completely gone and I was completely spent. Couldn't even rally to Blog until now!!!

Week 26 - 2007 Peeps of the Week

I tried to get the new bench installed on the WhaleEye in anticipation of the run out to Stellwagen tomorrow morning with Ryan, Chris and Mike. But the existing helm seats seem to be welded to their pedestals, so I backed off and concentrated on powerwashing the deck and installing the new deck caps.

The POTW selections are all female. That's just the way that it goes. It's not like I can control it or anything. So back off on the gender thing!!! Stupid Jerks.

Announcing....
Nanepashemet Peeps of the Week for the 26th week of 2007

Stacey Butler
Katelyn Nestor
Jill Phillips
Emily Ingardia
Laren Rathbone
Mary Endres

Now I can concentrate on the tuna trip tomorrow.

POTW Day

I've got a lot of stuff to do today.
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Mike is flying home from Charlestown, SC and Ryan wants to go tuna fishing tomorrow morning.
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The cleaning of the deck was begun yesterday afternoon, but the powerwasher ran out of gas, so I have to go the the station, grap some gas and finish this job. Also the leaning post was delivered from Boater's World and I have to frabricate a wooden knob for the sawed off railing on the WhaleEye. The installation of these on the boat will take some time.
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Plus, the Nanepashemet Project balls have to be kept in the air.
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And you expect me to select the Peeps of the Week by this evening???? Shouldn't be too tough with the great candidates this week. I'm open for nominations as long as you don't nominate yourself. Although that would be annoying.... which is a valid category for selection.
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My temples are throbing. I can feel my head starting to explode.
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A lesser man would wilt.

Killer Ap

The Apple iPhone is going to give Nanepashemet Telecom more work that we can dream of. It is the killer application that will cause people to demand more bandwidth from their wireless network providers.
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To provide the level of video and data proposed by the iPhone, you need more antennas, more equipment, more services by Nanepashemet Project Management, Inc.
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Thank you Steve Jobs.

Ebbs and Flows

We had a nice harbor cruise with Lynda and Will Murray this evening. Very relaxing. The Murray's are fun and great company.
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Note to Self: Never ask Lynda Murray to help tie up your boat.
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I took care of a sizable financial obligation today and was treated very fairly. It's weird how making a payment can almost be as satisfying as receiving one, in the right situation. Money itself - how it comes and goes, ebbs and flows - is also mystical at times.
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Although I need to get more of the flow and less of the ebb pretty soon.

Diverse Accomplishments

We got up in North Conway early, cleaned the condo and were back in Marblehead by 9:30AM. The lawn was a mess so I cut it immediately, but by 10:00 AM it was over 80 Degrees and getting hotter. I knew that I had to get a coat of paint on the deck railings, so I went into overdrive while fielding calls from the New Hampshire State Liquor Commission and Sprint.
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By 2:00 PM , the deck railings were painted and I was showered and ready for my pricing call with Tom and MIke. We covered a lot of ground with three potential customers by 5:00 PM and I also got some interesting calls from Wild Bill.
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At 5:30, before dinner, I went down to the Salem Harbor Mooring to check on the WhaleEye electronics, that Ryan had said blew a fuse. They were fine. Don't really understand what happened. I want the WhaleEye ship shape for when Mike Nestor is home with us for the next ten days or so.
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After dinner, I toured Marblehead Harbor in the Tender... a three mile row that basically qualified as a workout.. The leak issue is very minimal, but I have to tune a lot of stuff in the trailering process.
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Got the usual oohs and ahhs from people watching me row from their sailboats. The tender does cut a pretty figure... even with me rowing it.
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Tomorrow, I have meetings with Mike Rockett in the morning. Mike got some great press in the Salem Evening News today for the Salem Waterfront Hotel expansion. His photo, in a very visionary pose, was featured on the front page of the paper, and the Salem Mayor and State Rep went on record with supportive comments for the project.
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Nice Job Mike!!! I'm really proud to be associated with him and this project.
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Time for some Dark and Stormies.

Authorship

So I'm sitting here thinking about writing a series of books.
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At least five, maybe seven.
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The first will be about building boats - specifically, the trials and tribulations of building the Chamberlain Marblehead Gunning Dory.
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The second will be about fishing - documenting a season of chasing stripers and tuna around the the North Shore of Boston.
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The third will be about a fascination with maps and GPS.
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The fourth will be about the experience of running a business.
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The fifth will be a character study on someone who interests me.... like Donald Trump.
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Not sure about the sixth and seventh.
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Don't worry. I won't forget the Peeps who supported me when I was just a Blogger. BTW, if you find me a publisher, I will be sure to mention you in the acknowledgements.

Nice Office

The day in North Conway was a great success, with the sunset capping a fine 24 hours on Earth.
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Joanne and I went to the outlets then had a nice lunch at the Thompson Eatery in Jackson.
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After lunch, we took a ride to Conway Lake and checked out the boat launch ramp and the trailer parking facilities.
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When I got back to the condo, I took a couple of business calls and fired off some emails, which really got me pumped, because it is apparent that this virtual office gig is very feasible.
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I'll take the Tender for its first lake run in Conway, then later make the trek up north to Lake Umbagog.

Afflicted

I know that most of you envision me as a vigorous, mountain of a man, oblivious to the physical frailties that plague the majority of lesser men.
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Not So!!!
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Even I can be stricken by the afflictions that plague common people.
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Today the problem is the freaking Gout in my right foot, specifically the outside joint of my big toe.
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I could feel it coming on up in Burlington at the Wedding, but I viewed it as a byproduct of my aggressive dance moves. Luckily, I packed my Allopurinol and a green pain killer just in case the Gout made an appearance.
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So I'm thinking that the pain will soon fade into light headed euphoria.

Take Precautions

I can't believe the sympathy e-mails that I have received due to the insidious prank pulled on me by the devious Jill Phillips.
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Thank you for the kind sentiments.
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Trying to counterfeit a Dark and Stormy is about as low as you can go. At least she didn't try to pass a fake Lagavulin!!!!
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That would have been a capital offense.
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I took a mug shot of the culprit so that you can protect yourself from being victimized like I was.
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The good looking guy, Eric, has been posing as Jill's boyfriend for some time now. I'm not sure of his complicity in this plot.
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Kate and Emily may also have played a role.

Time to Regroup

We haven't been to the Northbrook condominium in North Conway for a while. Building the new Sundance school, the work on the Tender, and not wanting to go far while Will was getting ready to be born were the major reasons.
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In fact, the last time I came, I got some X-C skiing in.
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Everything was fine, except a couple of hornets decided to build a nest in our grill on the deck. Bad choice.
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We'll regroup here for a day or so, then get back to business at Nanepashemet Project Management.