Tuesday, September 6, 2011

46th TRIP AROUND THE SUN

Home in Port Charlotte
High of 88, rec'd 3 inches of rainfall

Without a tropical storm or hurricane, we experienced the highest tide ever since moving here in 2007.  There have been days of consistent off shore winds blowing water from the Gulf, into the Harbor, and into our canal.  Our dock has 2 levels and the lower level was well under water this morning.  Our little canal shore beach area was completely flooded.  I'm happy I added 25 yards of rip rap to our shoreline last Christmas or I'd have really been concerned about our salty piece of land getting eroded away.  We received 3" of rain today.  My 85 year old neighbor told me about a day in the 90's when our area received 15 inches in 15 hours.  Wow.

The winds have been so high I haven't launched the boat over the labor day weekend like I wanted.  I did however get some projects done.  All 4 batteries were serviced and charged.  Both my baitwell and my live well had stopped working on my last trip.  Turns out they were each solved with new fuses.  The automatic timer for the livewell has never worked right.  I found the timer module and ordered a new one for $20.

I fished aboard the floating dock on Sunday behind the house.  I had 3 strikes, 1 hooked and zero landed in 2 hours.  I used the floating dock to trim the neighbor's pepper tree up off the water to cut down on getting my lures stuck in it.

Out in the tropics, Hurricane Katia reached major category 3 strength today and then dropped back to a 2.  She doesn't appear to pose a threat to the US mainland.  Tropical Storm Lee came and went on the Louisiana Gulf coast without too much fan fare.  Today there are 2 other systems being tracked.  A tropical depression has formed 920 miles west/southwest of the Cape Verde Islands and may become TS Maria before the week is over.  I'm watching that one closely because I'm flying to Puerto Rico on Monday.  It is expected to pass by PR on Sunday as a low category hurricane.  Another low pressure wave is being tracked in the far western reaches of the Gulf of Mexico.  I don't think that has a chance of travel east toward Florida.

Today I discovered my company credit card had been cloned and used for fraud purchases in the Miami area while I was in Virginia and Mass.  I'm not responsible, of course, as my card is in my wallet but it still feels like I've been victimized.  I'm pretty sure the number was skimmed by a server at a particular Miami area restaurant on August 14.  No one else in the area had my card out of my sight.  I'm sure enough to not return there, even though it was really good food.  Sad.

I'm still hoping to get out on the water before the week is over but the winds will determine my fate.  Below are a couple of photos from the high tide at our dock today.
The recently broken low boy dock would be submerged even if not broken

This is supposed to be a beach, not a pond.

The dock kids are dipping their toes in the water for the first time ever

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