It's called fishing, not "catching"! (Posted 2/12/2012)

People are always asking us if we fish a lot from the boat. We always said no. I just didn't want stinky fish entrails or stinky bait on the boat, and as everyone knows I have very little patience. I have looked for years in stores and online but no one sells patience!! But Linda always said she liked to fish as a kid so this year for Christmas I bought her fishing license and a rod and reel and some lures, hooks, and other tackle.

Here is a photo of her getting ready for her first cast:

After trying many different types of lures and talking to all the fishermen who fish at the park to learn what to do, we still have not caught any fish!! I, of course, then realized that it is called "fishing" and NOT "catching"! Apparently a true fisherman doesn't even care about catching a fish they just go fishing! Well, being the goal-oriented type of guy that I am that is NOT enough for me. There is a large school of fish that swim around the boat when I am fishing. They are big fish, probably 12 to 18 inches long. They just roll their eyes at me and make what I believe are obscene jestures with their fins! I am pretty sure that I heard them giggling a few times. :-( I am convinced that I should have bought a shotgun instead of a rod and reel!

Here is a photo of them "giving me the fin":

Our little harbor has gotten busy this winter. We never saw more than 3 boats in here at a time in the past but we have had 10 to 15 boats anchored here for the past couple of months and some are staying for quite awhile. We all need to stop telling our friends and everyone on the internet about how nice it is here. Otherwise, we may need to go and string a rope or chain across the access canal!! One cruiser who was only going to stay one day came by the boat in his dinghy after they had been been here for several days and said, "I can't stop smiling! This place is great!" I told him not to tell anyone else, but I suspect he told all his friends.

About a week ago we had a potluck dinner at the park one evening that 7 of the boats participated in. We had lots of food and met some very nice people.

We have had more visits from cruising friends, both by boat and by car. Dee and Lee on their catamaran, "About Time", came in and anchored for about a week. They loved it here, found some great restaurants that we didn't know about, and will be back. Bob and Kim on their Morgan Out Island 41 came in to anchor for a few days clearing the 55 foot high power line across the canal with their mast by only a couple of feet!! We had a nice lunch with them and visited them on their boat. They then headed down to the Keys where they work for the Boy Scouts Sea Base and take groups of 6 boys out sailing for a week on their boat. Merrick and De Anne, who sold their boat a couple of years ago, stopped by in their car on the way to Homestead, Florida where they were going to close on a condo they bought there.

We finally sold our car the other day. It had always been a bit of a burden as we had to find someone to take care of it while we were off cruising, find places to park it (not as easy as you might think as many places don't allow overnight parking even in municipal parking lots or on the street!). And, of course, we had to rent cars and make long trips just to go and move it to new places as we moved about. We can rent a car whenever we need it for much less than what the insurance, fuel and maintenance cost per year. So we are now back to walking so that we will stay in better shape and keep the weight off! :-) And there is a great bus system where we are now and also up in Sarasota and Bradenton where we spend the summer.

One benefit of walking instead of driving is that you see things you wouldn't see if you are flying by in a car. We saw a burrowing owl the other day right by the sidewalk! They are getting scarce and are protected. He or she posed for me to take a photo with the iPhone:

Linda has been very busy with her sewing. She is making lots of doll clothing for Laura and Olivia's American Girl dolls. Here is a photo of a coat, hat and stuffed dog she made for them:

Guess that's about it for now. Here is the obligatory sunset photo for those of you up in the gloomy cold north: (Evil grin on my face!)