posted 02-17-2010 10:29 PM ET (US)        

'Tweren't freezing; sure wasn't any 85 degrees; but Bodega Bay offered its usual fare weather-wise, with some sun, lots of blowing advection fog, relatively smooth seas (at least where we cruised, south-southeast of Bodega Head, which protected us some from the northwesterly breezes which built to perhaps 15 knots by the end of our cruise).

Here's a shot of John at the bow of my boat with our "Jingle Bells" buoy behind him (residence as usual for several sea lions) and behind the buoy, Bodega Head and the approaching fog.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b309/elaelap/JimenezCalistogaRdICU048. jpg

John and his cousin obviously know their way around boats, and in fact I was glad to have John on board and paying attention when, as usual, I blundered an approach to a harbor restaurant's floating dock by two or three feet and John just calmly reached out, dug his fingernails into the dock's wooden deck, and pulled my boat sideways 'til I could make her fast to a cleat.

Anyway, lots of stories and tons of fascinating background on the early days of this great website and many of its personalities who I only know by their comments here. Wish the weather had been a little better, but what can you say about this strange place? At least we got out on the water in late February...that's something.

Next time mo' time, John. You honored my little skiff today with your presence, and your cousin is terrific. Made my week, especially since it was thrown together at the last minute. Have a good flight back to snowy Michigan, and see ya soon again, I hope.

posted 02-18-2010 12:03 AM ET (US)            

Thanks again Tony - it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance in person, and Cousin Anne and I truly enjoyed the opportunity to be squired around Bodega Bay by someone with the knowledge of the area and the generosity of spirit that you have.

I hope I have the chance to repay the favor some day soon when you visit the Great Lakes.

Our best...

posted 02-18-2010 12:04 AM ET (US)            

Thanks again Tony - it was a pleasure to make your acquaintance in person, and Cousin Anne and I truly enjoyed the opportunity to be squired around Bodega Bay by someone with the knowledge of the area and the generosity of spirit that you have.

I hope I have the chance to repay the favor some day soon when you visit the Great Lakes.

Our best...

posted 02-18-2010 11:25 AM ET (US)            

I feel very fortunate to have this wonderful site, a gracious and hard working host, and a fellowship of good, decent and generous individuals who live in all corners of the globe.

I feel fortunate to consider myself a (small) part of that fellowship. I have met in person only a few of you, and spoken and exchanged emails with several more. Each exchange has been gracious, and I feel this site has helped me forge new relationships where I otherwise would not have.

I hope to meet more of you over the coming years, and perhaps play host to New York City/New Jersey area visitors if scheduling allows. I am not yet at that point in my career where hooky is easily played.

Thanks to Tony and Kingfish for the quick diversion. It's time to get back to work.

posted 02-18-2010 11:45 AM ET (US)            

Also, through this website I've become part of a now 4-year-old Whaler boat partnership with a couple of guys I consider good friends, plus gaining the friendship and acquaintance with dozens of others here. I've bought and sold boats and boating accessories via the Marketplace forum as well (and in fact my current boat wasn't even advertised--I mentioned that I was looking for a classic Montauk and was contacted soon after by a CW member who had been thinking about selling his).

A great place, and it was especially fun for me to hook up with John--one of the small group of original founding members way back when--and 'gam' a little about the origins of these fora.

Jim Hebert deserves constant hugs for creating and maintaining this place, which has had such an important place in our lives for many years. Thx, jimh!

Tony

posted 02-18-2010 03:44 PM ET (US)            

I love the photo...if I didn't know better I'd say that might be Kingfish's Baby Picture.....I'm almost sure he was born with his finely manicured beard....

Glad you guys had fun, now get on over here to the Great Lakes Tony!

posted 02-18-2010 04:31 PM ET (US)            

For another example of CW interwoven-ness, John F was the one who sold me a Mills mooring cover for the boat he rode in yesterday (yours). It came loose and got torn up in a major windstorm, but it kept your boat dirt- and spider crack free for several years!

posted 02-18-2010 05:41 PM ET (US)            

Back five years ago or so, with the Iraq, uh, situation broiling and an unfortunate amount of political blather going on here, Larry/LHG and I got into it pretty heavily, slangin' away angrily at each other from our very different political vantage points and not always sparing the personal shots. Meanwhile, I had just purchased a 1988 Outrage 18 and had repowered with a Yamaha F115 four stroke motor. I had some questions about props on my new rig which I asked about in the Performance forum. Within a day or so I received a fairly long, detailed, and very helpful email from guess who...Larry. Not a word about our rancorous debate; just a thoughtful note from a guy trying his best to assist and advise a fellow CW member.

When I told John that story yesterday, Larry, I expressed my thoughts about that email and its sender with this simple phrase: class act.

Tony

posted 02-18-2010 06:29 PM ET (US)            

Anyway it was a good thing Larry, and I would use the same term to describe Tony that he used to describe you - a class act.

posted 02-18-2010 08:25 PM ET (US)         

And John, nice to see you showing up here again. It's kind of a different place than it was back when you "retired", with some of the characters mostly missing, but still good fun and information.