Bounty Hunter

It was quite a month on dry dock. There was a lot of cold rainy weather but they worked as much as they could every day until it was done. We’ve had many days of below freezing weather which made things miserable for all this outside work. The Coast Guard gave Mark a list of things they wanted done and he and Kyle worked nearly every day on it. The boat looks great.

There are new CG inspectors from Mobile this year. They have a different criteria than the past inspectors. The bi-annual “hull” inspection is supposed to focus on the hull and structure. The annual “topside” focuses more on safety things like drills, fire extinguishers, life jackets, paperwork, etc. These new guys are training so they spent a lot of time inspecting things that are  normally done on topside. That was a surprise.

Mark and Kyle fixed everything they wanted fixed and the inspectors came back on the 9th and checked us off. While they were there, the “lead” inspector stepped on the plexiglass escape hatch on the bow and smashed it. Everyone in the whole boat yard looked up from what they were doing when they heard it break. Mark was less than pleased. One more thing for him to address. Doug Flowers came yesterday and repaired it. The Coast Guard will be getting that bill! Hope we get reimbursed something in this lifetime.

Kyle has gone commercial fishing and Mark is working every day getting ready for topside inspection. It never ends! We make it a point to get all the inspections over with before the season starts so we don’t loose any valuable days. We’ve got a bunch of trips booked for the season already so that is a very good sign! Looking forward to going fishing.

Mark and Kyle took the boat to Freeport on Monday. There was ice in the Destin Harbor! Unfortunately Mark didn’t take pictures of it. You don’t see that too often! Friday was the original departure plan but it was just too cold and windy to go. The north wind blows the water out of the bay which makes it very shallow in places that it usually isn’t.

Dry dock is a dirty business but one that has to be done every year. We had our Coast Guard inspection last Wednesday and it went pretty well. They gave us a list of  things they want us to take care of. Nothing major that the guys can’t handle. The props are already in Pensacola for their tune up and Mark is going to replace all 4 cutlasses on the shafts.

They have most of the bottom sanded and when the weather is right Mark will be able to fiberglass the 4 small places that needed it.  Eric Smith from the Miss Nautica  is giving them a hand with all the work and we appreciate his help.

Saturday poured down rain all day and night and today is very cold and windy  so nobody worked. It gives them all a chance to rest up for the rest of the week . They start in tomorrow morning with sun and warmer temperatures.

Well 2009 is behind us and we are getting ready for a new fishing season. We had a few trips on the books for December but could only run one because of the weather. Lots of rain and wind!

Mark has been busy since his hip replacement. He’s been in the garage lubricating all the reels, and redoing the fishing rods that needed repair. He’s working on speed baits painting them and replacing the big hooks. All the bait traps and the big holding pen were covered up with oysters and needed repair. He finished all that this past weekend. He’s got a good jump on the season!

Friday Mark and Kyle take the boat to dry dock over in Freeport. We’ve got our bi-annual hull inspection with the Coast Guard on Monday. The CG inspectors will go over the boat’s hull to make sure it is not compromised in any way… like delaminating. If it is, Mark fixes it by sanding it down and repairing it with new fiberglass. They check lots of other things too but we don’t anticipate anything being wrong.  The boat doesn’t go in the water again until everything is up to code. The CG is going to make sure that the boat is totally safe.

The bottom of the boat gets scraped, sanded, and repainted. The propellers get taken over to Pensacola to be balanced. Then the boat gets waxed, buffed and the new stern letters get put on. It will look like new when all the work is completed.

The temperature is supposed to be 43 on Friday with a low of 22. Hopefully the weather predictors are wrong . This could be a very cold dry dock!

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was a great family time. We got a last minute trip from the Prescott and Costopoulos family who found Destin to be a good half way meeting place for all 28 of their family members.

Donna’s son Jamie went along on this 4 hour trip as well as Bong, Mark’s physical therapist and his little girl. Everyone caught a king and there were lots of happy people!

The Captain is doing well with his hip recovery, is already working on the boat and has a production line going on in the garage to get the rods ready for next season.

Hello everyone, we made it through Ida with a little help from our friends. Captain Art and our mate Kyle were good enough to go tie up the Bounty Hunter for the storm.  Mark wanted to go to the boat really really bad but that would have been very foolish 7 days after a total hip replacement with all those stairs to navigate. It just about killed him not to go to the boat but he stayed home and survived. The boat is fine and all is well.

Had the follow-up doctor’s appointment yesterday and all is well with the hip. They took out the staples and sent him on his way. Now it’s up to him to do his exercises and recover. He took a few steps yesterday with the cane (Capt. Art’s “captain’s cane”) and felt pretty good about it.  Had a real good physical therapy session with Bong and is real sore today.

Mark had his total hip Monday morning and went home Wednesday night. He’s doing pretty well but is still dealing with lots of pain. Now he has a matching set! He won’t let me post pictures yet! He’s got a lovely shade of purple going on. Update the progress soon.

Well, the rodeo is over today and we had a pretty good month. We had a lot of weigh-ins and were on the board quite a bit but unfortunately they didn’t last. Close, but no winners. At any rate, everyone had fun and we ran a lot of trips so all is well.

On Monday Captain Mark will have his hip replacement first thing in the morning. He did great last year when he had the left side done and we are hoping for an even better recovery this time since he knows what to expect and what his limitations will be. I’ll update as soon as it’s over. Maybe even include a picture!

Kids and the Rodeo

These two little boys had a great time catching their fish. Then it was on to the rodeo docks to weigh them in and get their fishing rod. All the little ones get their own fishing rods when they weigh in. They both had big smiles on their faces last Thursday when they were celebrities for the day.

The weather has been pretty good and we’re putting up good catches.  Amberines,  blackfin tuna, and a few wahoo. We’re on the leader board in 1 category. Our next few trips are short ones, but have been getting some nice inshore catches. Black-fins and sailfish!  Wahoo have been coming inshore this year. So lets stretch some string !!!

2nd place Junior divison King mackerel

Had a nice 4 hour family trip on Thursday with Kevin Thompson’s family. They had a good time and Alexis got to weigh in her 19 lb king mackerel. As of the 11th  she is still in 2nd place in the junior division for king mackerel. Good job Alexis! Hope it lasts!