Not Worth The Risk

In yesterday’s blog I told you that we had gotten my pontoon boat out of the garage and onto the scissor trailer in anticipation of taking my daughter and granddaughter out on the water when they get here, as well as enjoying some fishing.

The boat comes with two batteries, though it only needs one to operate, and the second is a backup. I noticed last season that one of the batteries would not hold a charge for very long. Yesterday I hooked a hose to the water intake of the four-stroke Yamaha outboard motor before starting it to make sure it was going to run okay, and both batteries were dead, even though I have a battery disconnect switch. I put a charger on them and let them charge for about three hours, and one would turn the motor over but was very weak, and the other one wouldn’t do a thing. I might be able to charge these up if I give them long enough, but it’s not worth the risk of being out on the water and having a problem. So today or tomorrow, I will run down to AutoZone or someplace like that and buy a couple of deep-cycle marine batteries. I’d rather spend the money now on new batteries and avoid any hassle later.

Speaking of fishing, I have told you before that we have some of the finest redfish fishing in the world right out our back door in the Intracoastal Waterway and Mosquito Lagoon. My neighbor and friend Jesse Bolton went out on a fishing charter in the Lagoon yesterday and caught this 32-inch redfish. That’s something Jesse has been looking forward to doing for a long time, and he said it put up a heck of a fight. I wasn’t there, but I was thrilled for Jesse to cross that off his bucket list. Unfortunately, Florida has a slot limit on redfish, and an angler can only keep one if it measures between 18 to 27 inches long, so Jesse had to let it go. But I wouldn’t be a bit surprised to hear he kissed it goodbye first. Congratulations, buddy, good work!

In yesterday’s blog, I told you that my friend Cleve Sylcox just released 13 Steps, the fourth book in his David Winter mystery series. But until blog reader Paul Tolsma reminded me, I had forgotten that the first book in the series, Fly Paper Soup, is also free on Amazon. Download your copy today.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. This one comes from my pal DC Stultz, who obviously has a better grasp of mathematics than whoever painted this sign.

Congratulations, Robert Stone, winner of our drawing for a copy of the new hardcover edition of the RV camping journal donated by Barbara House. Barbara makes several variations of these, and they all have pages where you can list the date, weather, where you traveled to and from that day, beginning and ending mileage, campground information including amenities at RV sites, a place for campground reviews, room to record activities, people met along the way, reminders of places to see and things to do the next time you’re in the area, and a page for notes for each day. We had 35 entries this time around. Stay tuned, a new contest starts soon. Note: Due to the high shipping cost of printed books and Amazon restrictions on e-books to foreign countries, only entries with US addresses and e-mail addresses are allowed.

Thought For The Day – It’s hard to win an argument with a smart person, but it’s damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person.