June Ends, The Summer Begins

Yesterday we got out to the lake, and there was barely a breeze. The lake was glass. We opted to ski around the lake. Al did the full lake including large coves, which works out to be about 10 miles of skiing. I did just the perimeter of the main lake, which is about 7 miles of skiing. That made a great kick-start beginning for endurance.

Today the wind was slight, giving a very small wind chop across the lake. We were out a little later than usual, about a half hour after dawn. Great fun!

Al doing a nice on side cross.

Marsha doing an on side cross (skiing at 30 mph now, still a little slow but getting better.)

Thank You, Tropical Storm Debbie

It's been an ugly weather week. Tropical Storm Debbie slowly meandered across Florida 250 miles north of us. The outer bands of the storm provided us with much needed rain and some unwanted wind gusts and tornadoes. We've been trapped indoors by the rain, and everyone is bored and edgy from lack of exercise. We are pretty desperate to burn off some energy.

The bright side, and the side we are so very happy about, is that the lake is up a lot. It's within an inch of last summer's level! That isn't as high as other summers (last summer being a drought year without ANY tropical storms in our area) but it certainly eliminates much of the problems boaters have had so far this year.

Rain

We decided to go out this morning on the chance things would be good for skiing. It has been windy lately, and the winds have been from the northeast to east-northeast which puts maximum chop on our lake.

The rain has stopped for a while, and the dawn sun glows on wispy clouds.

We needed to run the boat, so the short ride to the lake was pleasant. The lake itself was choppy. We don't ski on choppy. Life is too short. We ran the boat a bit, then circled home, enjoying the birds and other critters along the creek.

A limpkin hunting snails and freshwater clams.

One of the local limpkins was searching for breakfast along the creek bank. Limpkins are a tad bigger than ibis, live in the marsh/swamp areas around here, and make a huge racket at any time of day or night. Having one of these birds living next to your house is an experience. Their call is an amazingly loud piercing wail, like the worst colicky baby ever.

But the real story is the rain. We've had a bit already, and there is a system in the Gulf that is intensifying. Regardless of which direction it heads, we will get rain this week. How much and for how long depends on its final direction.

A rain producing system is developing in the Gulf.

Better Late than Never

It seemed like it would never come. My first ski of the year. Finally.

We were out just after dawn. Al waits patiently while I get the boat in position for his start.

Al always skis first. The forecast is bad for the next few days, so he takes a long, enthusiastic ski.

I wasn't sure how long I'd be skiing, so I had Al take a picture of me and my ski just in case it was too short for a shot on the water. 

Al kept my speed slow (28 mph), and I found I had no problems! I'll get back to my normal skiing speed in a week or so.

I had a fun out there for a good long ski.

My first ski of the year, and I am HAPPY!

Happiness Is A Sunny Dawn

We've been happy to have lots of afternoon and evening rains this week. We've even had a couple of wet mornings. The lake level is coming up nicely.

The end of the creek by the lake at dawn.

It was clear, warm, humid, and barely breezy when we walked the cat and drank coffee before dawn. As soon as it was light enough, we headed out to the lake. The lake temperature is a pleasant 84 degrees and a nice contrast to the 75 degree air temperature.

Al had a long ski.

Al went out for a long ski, a good 4 to 5 miles of sking. That's about our average length for the middle of the season, but not for the second ski of the year. He'll sleep soundly tonight.

Once again I skipped skiing. It's been a long week with a couple of days where major knee and hip flares left me pretty much non-ambulatory. (Slow hunched limping does not count as ambulation.) The rheumatologist just shrugged his shoulders and said not to worry, the meds are kicking in nicely. I'm off for my next infusion treatment tomorrow, and I'm hoping to ski later this week...if only on a wussy kneeboard!

Out on the Lake (At Last)

A front is heading our way, and today is supposed to be windy. But around dawn the wind was gentle. We decided to head out and see if we could beat the wind and get in a ski.

All was quiet on the creek heading out to the lake.

Even the public boat ramp was quiet. Only one truck and trailer in the parking lot.

This is why you ski early. It is the best water of the day.

By the time Al was gearing up, the wind was already increasing.

We found the quietest water on the west side of the lake. Al had some fun.

The wind kept increasing. We called it a day and headed in.

Al's cleaning up the boat and gear, and the neighbors are barely up. (And they wonder why we're in bed so early every night!)

The lake is warm and skiing is great. I should be OK to ski next week. (Can't wait!)

Kayak Day

The sky is clear and beautiful, the air and water are warm. A perfect day. OK, so I can't ski this week. But we wanted to get out on the water. Solution: kayaks.

Our yard is easy to maintain.

The guy who built our house back in the 80s liked to fish in tournaments. He built a minimum maintenance house that had it's own boat launch (the only private boat launch on the canal system) and a drive-thru garage (garage doors front and back). The garage is the depth of the house, so it had plenty of room for him to pull his boat on it's trailer attached to the car into the garage. In the morning, he simply opened up the front garage door and drove off to his tournament. Pretty good design. We would never try to haul our ski boat out like that. The back boat launch works as a kayak area for us. And a great place for the local wildlife to hang out.

Down the creek to the lake.

We headed out to the lake. The water level is still very low due to the drought. Plenty deep for our ski boat, but there are some people who have big heavy v-hulls. Those boat might have a problem until we get more rain.

Out on the lake.

We spent most of our time paddling around the lake. We saw a number of gators (and heard several more in the reeds close to shore). Alligators stay away from people (unless some fool has been feeding them...) Their skittish nature makes them fun to chase in kayaks. You spot them swimming on the surface, head towards them, and down they go...only to bob up a hundred yards away. Repeat the chase. (Cheap thrills...)

Boat Traffic Sign

Catfish Creek

Catfish Creek runs through our neighborhood. A series of canals, each about a third of a mile long, comes off this lovely creek. The canals and residential areas are on its west side. The east side is wetlands and orange groves. Most days you find turtles, little green herons, great blue herons, playful river otters, egrets, wood storks, anhingas, ducks, and an occasional alligator on the creek and in the canal system.

Home

The boat launch works great for the kayaks.

It was a pleasant kayak ride around the neighborhood. Kayaks are not much in the way of excitement on calm water, but the views and wildlife make up for what they lack in thrills. (If you want thrills in a kayak on an inland lake, go out when there are a bunch of wake boats and wakeboarders out on the lake. Those boat throw up really big rolling wakes. If you don't topple out of your kayak playing in these wakes, you are doing something wrong!)

Getting Closer

The rheumatologist has told me that he has finally gotten insurance approval for my RA meds. Now I'm just waiting on the infusion nurses to get me scheduled. Things should be sorted out in the near future. Sweet...

A Waiting Game

Our first ski is getting a bit more of a delay. My rheumatoid arthritis has become active again, and I need to get back on regular medication. The rheumatologist got all my testing up to date, and the office filed for insurance company approval for the meds. I'm not worried about getting approval, it just takes time as all the ducks get put in a row. I have no complaints: the medicine is crazy expensive. It's a case where insurance may be a pain, but it is a necessity, too. But until I'm back on the medication I am bouncing between brain fog and fatigue of the RA and the spacey sleep deprivation caused by the prednisone, the temporary medication that tamps down the immune system. At any rate, skiing -- or driving the boat for Al -- is a no-no till this is sorted out.

Rain Dance

Our next door neighbors apparently gave up on using their ski boat for a while. Their last job before heading home to Miami was to put their storage cover on their ski boat and park it in their garage. It looks like they will make do with pull toys and their jet skis for a while.

It's hard to say whether the low lake levels or the high gas prices were the culprit. Ski boats are gas guzzlers, to say the least. We only use ours for ski runs, but many people use theirs more as run-abouts for cruising the lake and hauling family and friends about on pull-toys. Since the weekend people need to drive from the coast to get to the lake, they already are spending a fair chunk on gas before they fill up their boat(s).

We'll see what people say as the season progresses.

The weather hasn't been favorable for us to hit the lake. It has been windy, and the lake is choppy even in the early morning hours. Al continues with his projects. He's added gutters to three sides of the boat house so that his dock stays neat and tidy. There are also gutters now above driveways, walkways and doorways. I'm happy since there are no ugly downspouts with the installation design. (To each their petty hangups. Al hates drip lines on docks, driveways and walkways. I detest downspouts.)

We watch the weather with great expectation. Time for rain to christen the new gutters. Otherwise, I truly fear that I will soon see Al dancing a rain dance out on the dock.

Wake Boards

In the mid 80s, a California surfer crossed a surf board with a water ski and called it the Skurfer. It was the dawn of what was to become wake boarding. The Skurfer did not have bindings, but early on it got foot straps. It was thick and very buoyant. It had a monster fin. It was pretty tame compared to today's wake boards, and because of the buoyancy and the one-size-fits-all straps instead of bindings, it required a lot of finesse to do much of anything on it. But it was new, and it was fun. You had a pretty fair chance of taking a showy fall every time you took it out on the lake.

By the mid 90s, the boards were compression molded and much, much thinner. They still had footstraps, but a heel strap was added which helped some. There were multiple fins on the tail of the board, but they were considerably smaller than in the 80s. The graphics were much much better. This board cut better and was more maneuverable.

Finally, by the late 90s, wake boards took on the appearance of the boards that are around today.

Our original bubble gum pink Skurfer from the 80s is hung on a wall below our last wake board.

The 90s version hangs above our front door.

We decided to give up wake boarding a few years back. Wake board tricks can be quite high impact. We plan to keep skiing for many, many years to come. One bad landing on a wake board can do very, very bad things to ankles and knees, things that older skiers like us can't really afford. Some things are best left for younger skiers!

But I sure am glad we got our fill while we could. It is fun.

Red Plaid Water Skis

Of the vintage water skis from Al's mom's cottage, the ones that get the most comments are the red plaid fiberglass combos. Red plaid. No joke. Red plaid. The best guess on these is that they are Kimball skis from the early 60s. They are 65" long. The slalom ski has a tapered tail and a metal fin. The other ski has a squared end and a long wooden fin. And they are red plaid!

60's Preppy? Oh, yeah....

Vintage Hydro-Flite Willa McGuire Trick Water Skis

In our kitchen, above the door leading to the garage, hangs the vintage wooden Hydroflite combo. These are finless trick skis, but each ski is 59 inches, almost the length of a slalom ski. They were called "banana peels" back when they were new in the 50s.

Al fondly remembers doing deep water starts--backwards, no less--on these water skis.

We've had other trick skis over the years. Our last pair, purchased in the 90s, got recycled into an outdoor table on a camper. But other water skis, early versions of what became wake boards, took their place on our boat, so the trick skis were abandoned to the "old gear" bin.

By now you are seeing a trend. Our home is decorated with old water skis. There are rules for this collection, though:

1. Only water skis we actually used can join the collection, and
2. For newer skis, only one of a type can be kept.

Why do we need these rules? Well, you get a lot of water skis over the years. New things get tried. Favorite skis get old. All collections need editing, or they become just a jumble of clutter...

Vintage Thompson Water Skis

About 15 years ago Al and I took a road trip up to Al's mom's lake place. Al's grandfather originally built the place, and Al had spent all the summers of his childhood there. During the visit he chanced upon the water skis he had learned to ski on. They dated back to the 50s and 60s. While Al is normally not sentimental about stuff, it was clear that these skis were different. So when he asked if we could use them somewhere, it seemed the skis needed to find a home with us. Not to ski on as that would be the water skiing equivalent of running with scissors. The bindings were shot, an invitation for an emergency room visit.

Since our decorating style was casual, we decided to use them as wall art.

The vintage Thompson combo skis now hang in our kitchen. The slalom ski of the pair has a huge metal fin. The other has dual shallow wooden fins. These skis are stable, to say the least. But that stability comes at a very steep cost: they turn slowly and with all the excitement of a cruise ship. The logos, on the other hand, are fabulous. Pure atomic mid-century modern design. Very, very cool.

The Thompson combos were not the only vintage Thompson items from the cottage. There is also a Thompson disk. It is large. It has no grips or padding. It was a favorite ski toy of the era.

At first we were puzzled about what we could do with it. Then it hit us that it was the size of a table. We scoured some local thrift shops for a base, settling finally on base from a sturdy mid-century patio table. Shortly after that we chanced upon 50s metal and curved wood dinette chairs being thrown away. We cleaned them up and upholstered them in canvas from an old jet ski cover. Thus we acquired our screen porch dining table and chairs.

In my next posts I'll show you the rest of the skis from the old cottage.

Almost There

It's early morning, and I caught Al organizing water ski gear. There are still pre-skiing prep jobs to do, but it warms the heart to see the gear moving into their ski season places.

Prep Time

Spring break brings the weekend people back to their homes at the lake. There is work to be done before Easter, and there are extra hands home from school to help.

Al went out for his first jet ski ride of the season. It was a very short ride, basically checking that everything was working. The water temperature was 73 degrees, still pretty chilly. Our afternoon temperatures are consistently in the 80s now. The lake will warm up quickly.

The rest of Al's morning was spent beginning cleaning up the ski boat for the season. Saturday is boat cleaning day all through the season. Al spends Saturday morning washing and detailing the boats, happily listening to bluegrass or blues. He socializes with the boaters heading up and down the canal, and he pretty much has a grand little time doing what would otherwise be a chore.

We aren't skiing yet, but it is only a few brief weeks away now.

Priorities

Al and I love to water ski. Years ago when we talked about retirement, we both agreed that water skiing had to be part of it.

You have to set priorities if you want to spend your retirement water skiing. You need a good ski boat and ski gear. And the boat needs to be ready to head out and ski with no hassle--every day. We're not the type that works on boats or builds stuff. Maintenance and improvements for our boat, dock, and boathouse are important parts of our budget. This year we decided to upgrade the boat house and dock (again).

Our soil here is sand. Sand shifts easily with waves. We have a seawall all along the canal, but boat wakes are always an issue. We are in a drought. Lake levels are low. Boat wakes have more impact on the sea wall and the sand near the sea wall than usual. In wintertime the boaters are primarily old guys in small fishing boats. Old guys don't speed in the canals. Summer brings lots of young jetski riders and showboating adults who forget the "no wake" rules. Complaining about them is pointless. (People in glass houses and all that. We did our share of dumb stuff when we were younger.) The best fix is a low secondary seawall under our dock to prevent the wakes from breaking on our primary seawall. That both protects our primary seawall and gives us a place to dump the sand dug out from under the boatlift to give us more depth. So that was this month's project.

The guys from the marine contractor built the mini seawall this week. We also had them fix some issues with the jetski lift's cables. This weekend they guys will be back to dig the area under the boats to give the boat cradles plenty of room for launching the boats. (The cradle of the ski boat needs several feet more depth than the boat so the boat can float in and out of the cradle.)

The cost of all this? About what we'd spend for a short vacation at a beach resort. The value of being able to get our boats out without a hassle during the summmer? Priceless.

Check Back in April!

The boats are tucked in their boat house.  But the ski season doesn't start until April for us.  Check back then!


Our Place (See the rock "lawn"?)



The Toys (ski boat and jet ski in their boat house)