The above pic is the cabin of a recently restored sailboat.  Wreckless web surfing led me to this beauty – I think somebody on Facebook posted it. My ADD keeps me from creating a lengthy write up – the pictures speak for themselves anyhow. Visit The Spider T website!

This last weekend Ellodine was detached from her jig and manhandled by me and my wife into the upright position. I’m still a little bit surprised that this finally happened.

I feel bad when the nozzle drips a little at the fueling dock.

Some quick vid clips (all the video was 2 hours worth) of our bareboat charter from Port Charlotte to The Dry Tortugas. Rode a front down with 35+ knot winds for 20 hours. The waves looked much bigger in person – I swear! Even though we were sailing a 39 ft. Island Packet. Sailmonster.com is planning a trip coming this November.

Well I finally caved in and bought a gas grill for WindSong.  I have been kicking it around for a while; times are a little tight and my thinking has been that blowing cash on anything as extravagant as a GRILL (for the boat? Oh come on….) was just being plain dumb.

But, I just re-filled our propane tank for the house gas grill for the  2nd time in 6 weeks and it is already kicked.  One of the things that I do year-round besides trying to use the boat (& drink beer) is barbecue.  Why not combine that with the other two?

West Marine has a closeout sale on their 152SS propane grill;  a little one (15″ diameter) that is manufactured for them by Magma. My local store had one as open-stock for $99.99.  I wanted one in a box so they referred me to the Belmar, NJ location where (supposedly) they had three left.

Upon arriving at the Belmar store (actually a very nice West Marine – if there is such a thing – they cater to the commercial fishing fleet)  I learned that they’ve never even heard on the 152SS, much less the special closeout sale.  The day was starting to look like a cluster… but beings I was there already I wandered around the store, and lo & behold (over by the books/charts section) I spied a box wayyyyy up in the back, on a top shelf, covered in dust, the was emblazoned “West Marine PRO Grill.”  The picture on the box showed a stainless steel gas grill.

After a brief and futile attempt to get a store-person to help me I got on my tip-toes and pulled the (very heavy) box down.  No price tag.  I took it the checkout counter.  The conversation went something like this:

“Hi, I was wondering if you could scan this for a price-check…”
“Well Sure! Gee this is old, I don’t think I’ve ever seen on of these.  It’s $76.”
“I’ll take it.”
No luck though finding a mounting bracket to fit it.  What I did find was a stack of canvas grill covers that said “West Marine PRO Grill Cover & Tote”.  Price tag said “Was $49.95, NOW $13.95″.  I took it to the checkout counter.  The conversation resumes:
“I think I’ll get this too…”
“Fine. Geez, that’s a closeout too. $1.22.”
“One dollar and twenty-two cents?”
“Yup. Sure you want it?”
“Here’s my card. Look me up at my Gettysburg Address.”
The West Marine store in Somers Point was very helpful in finding a mounting bracket for me.  Call me crazy, but it really only cost $5.66.

We will refrain from commenting about the Toms River West Marine store.  It is obvious that they only hire people who don’t play well with others. 

SoNJSailor is a new contributor to PyratSail. Read more about him on our Contributors Page.

The menu says it's Fish Friday.

This has to be one of the luckiest/strangest catches in Boca Ciega Bay – or maybe it’s common here and I need to fish it more often. This last Friday the 24th I had Mariola out in Boca Ciega Bay for a easy day sail with family visiting from North Carolina. We noticed some bait jumping around the boat and I drug out our only fishing pole that is eternally rigged with a small silver wire leadered mackerel plug. It was deployed, stuck in the pole holder and forgotten.

The excitement of the jumping bait had faded as we sailed around the school with no results. Back to the rum punch and chin-waggin’. About an hour later my noon sandwich making was interrupted by a familiar noise I couldn’t quite identify. Finally I figured it out, drag flying out of a reel - fish on? As I began to reel, it was evident whatever was pulling back was big, I thought it HAD to be a big catfish or maybe a redfish. I’m still dumbfounded that the above fish would hit a mackerel plug drug behind a sailboat in the middle of the summer, in 9 feet of water at the East end of Boca Ciega Bay. The goofy fish measured well over legal – 26 inches. With no gaff or net, I had to drop the ladder and gently grab it by the mouth – a little tricky after 4 or 5 rum drinks. The capture and subsequent digestion of this suicidal grouper was a heroic team effort. It’s amazing how Mother Ocean always has a new surprise waiting out there for you – even minutes from your home port.

RumHead, unamed grouper and Cuzin Dave

RumHead, “Delicious” and Cuzin Bubby.

An interesting blog about a family of four and their brand-new 56′ Oyster that they intend to sail around the world. The journey began this month from the U.K. - http://rock2rock.co.uk/

Problem. You have a canal system that runs through your country, transporting people and goods. At one point in the system you need a lock that can lift your boats 24 meters – gulp. Time to put down yer whiskey and wake up the brain cells. There’s engineering to be done man! CLICK FOR FULL STORY AND MORE PICS.

Not to poo on their engineering feat, but doesn’t it look like it should spin the other way?

Grab your shield, atgeir and favorite horned helmet – we’re going cruising! This unique vessel was advertised in the July/August isse of WoodenBoat Magazine. It must have taken thousands of man(or women)-hours and a tanker load of varnish to complete this project. The entire boat is finished bright - inside and out, even the sinks. You can see more of it here: www.langskip.com The site was a little clunky so I pillaged a few pics and linked to them here.

More pics here: Construction, Gallery

At 17 stories tall and four city blocks long the SS United States could hit 44 knots – 14 knots faster than today’s largest cruise ship. She now sits at a Philadelphia pier with an uncertain future. There was a bid by Norwegian Cruise Lines to restore the United States, but that fell through. It seems that this ol’ girl is destined to be cut up for scrap unless the SOS conservancy can make something happen.

I saw this story in Sea History, a quality quarterly magazine produced by The National Maritime Historical Society. The article says that after recent tests, the ship’s hull strength is 92% of original condition from when she was built in 1950. The building of the SS United States was a joint partnership between the U.S. government and United States Lines as a passenger ship built to Navy specifications so that she could easily be converted to a troop transport ship. Technically, I guess she belongs to all of us. Hopefully the story will have a happy ending.

Another good article on the SS United States in Popular Mechanics .