posted 08-16-2011 01:43 PM ET (US)        

Tamira and I arranged to meet Tony and Edie at their Bodega Bay marina on August 9th. After a morning and lunch in Muir Woods we drove up the coast to Bodega Bay and at mid-afternoon found Tony and Edie waiting for us in the parking lot. After quick introductions, Tony got us all aboard “Strike 3” and we got underway. What a beautiful day. All morning long the coastal fog had been hanging around and even with our arrival in Bodega Bay it was still there, and as you can see by the pictures it didn’t hang around long!

Past the Coast Guard Station and out the breakwater to Bodega Rock – loaded with wildlife. Then back to the harbor where Andy Roberts (Fishcop) invited us aboard the California Department of Fish and Game patrol vessel “Marlin” a 58-foot catamaran with twin 660-horsepower diesel-powered engines. Nice boat! Stay on Andy’s good side because that cat can catch you!

Upon returning to the slip, Tony put “Strike 3” away and Edie took Tamira and me up to Bodega Head for a great view of the coast and bay. And after that we took the scenic route to a Mexican dinner in Hearldsburg – up the Russian River along River Road (116). After dinner, Tony led us back to 101 and got us headed south to Santa Rosa and he and Edie headed home.

A very fun afternoon of yachting. Tony and Edie were great hosts! Thanks Tony & Edie!

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v395/jimp/Yachting%20with%20Tony%20and%20Edie/

posted 08-16-2011 02:52 PM ET (US)            

Best regards,

posted 08-18-2011 01:54 PM ET (US)            

Say, since this all started with you posting about looking for a portable/automotive GPS, and you settled on a Garmin, I have a question about it. I have a TomTom, which we did not shop for, my wife just brought it home one day because it was on clearance at Target and she couldn't resist. I have had no complaints with it until now... what I have discovered is, when you search for POI's, (points of interest), if you add or leave out a single piece of punctuation that shouldn't be there, it will say, "no POI's found". An example would be, if you type in "Starbuck's". It will report back that it can't find any, even if you are parked right in front of one. There is not supposed to be an apostrophe. So the TomTom has no, "did you really mean xxx?" algorithm. As far as you can tell, does the Nuvi?

posted 08-18-2011 02:43 PM ET (US)            

Sorry we missed you too. We had a great arrival in Santa Barbara - warm & sunny weather!

The Nuvi is pretty good with POIs. It gives you a list of POIs: Lodging, Attractions, Gas, Parking, etc. That covered everything we needed on the trip. I can't remember being able to type in the name of something. You can type in an address - which I did for the hotel in Santa Rosa (got the address off the hotel website). Well, the Nuvi took us shortest distance (though all types of neighborhoods and back roads) to the address indicated and left us at some dark intersection in the middle of nowhere, at 10 PM! So, I went to POIs, Lodging, and the hotel showed up. Hit the "Go To" and it took us right there. The original website address was off by 3.9 miles. The hotel was actually 200 yards off of 101 (the main drag through Santa Rosa). You learn as you go.

Overall, I'm happy with the Nuvi.

Jim

posted 08-18-2011 03:01 PM ET (US)            

Jim & Tamira: My boat partner Matt came down from Placerville yesterday and we tried, without a great deal of luck, for salmon and halibut (none of those 75-150 lb S. Alaska kind down here, unfortunately). Matt has visited Juneau and spent some time telling me how beautiful it and the surrounding location is. How about some photos? Edie sends her best regards.

posted 08-18-2011 03:22 PM ET (US)            

As for those cohos/silvers you're trying for down there...

Record Coho caught by California man at White Stone Harbor (25 miles SW of Juneau).

There's a new record coho catch for the State of Alaska.

The monster coho was caught at White Stone Harbor in Southeast Alaska.

We spoke with Bob Piorkowski who is the Fish Resource Permit and Trophy Fish Programs Coordinator in the Department of Fish and Game.

He says he received a call Tuesday that a large coho had been caught in Icy Strait.

The official weight ended up being 26 pounds and 11 ounces.

Piorkowski says that surpasses the previous record of 26 pounds that was caught in the same area in 1976.

The lucky angler is Steve Atkinson of Huntington Beach, California.

They had two hand scales at White Stone Harbor that had the fish weight at 27 pounds. They knew the state record was 26 pounds so they chartered an aircraft in order to get it on the official scale at Jerry's Meats in Juneau as soon as possible.

Piorkowski says he'll be issuing Atkinson a trophy fish certificate.

The coho would have won last weekend's derby. The winner is a 24.8 pound King.

But, of course, it was caught two days after the derby and White Stone Harbor is outside of the derby boundaries.

I'll see what I can do about adding some pics in Photobucket.

Best to Edie.