I love the water but don’t spend much time on it. Yes I go to the beach a few times a year. Yes there is plenty of water around this area, but I don’t make the proper use of it. The air smells so clean on the water. The views kind of etched in the memory banks. The quiet and no cell phone bring a calm. The feeling of mother nature being in control. The sport of catching a fish. Watching might ships navigate the waters.
Saturday morning on the Chesapeake Bay.
Photo by Mike Hartley
Yes those were some of my feelings yesterday as we pulled out for some fishing with wonderful friends and their families yesterday. Above is our first mate Scoot preparing for the days catch. It was fairly windy but we didn’t care. After last years surfing with a 46′ Markly this trip was a breeze. Speaking of which there were a few sailboats out also taking advantage of the wind.
20+ mph winds kept these guys moving.
Photo by Mike Hartley
I’m guessing a lot of people have pulled their boats from the water already in preparation for winter. I didn’t see the volume of boat traffic I expected for a pretty sunny day overall. Of course out in the middle of the bay it was pretty choppy.
Whipping along.
Photo by Mike Hartley
And yes we also caught some fish. Which was our intended mission. And boy were they good the same night off the grill. Of course I can’t claim the title (Master Caster) this year because one of my best friends Kim, laid claim with this catch. I usually don’t put pictures of friends and family in this blog, especially without their approval but I think he might like this one time. Congrats my brother.
Yeah Buddy, the big one of the day.
Photo by Mike Hartley
So I have been blessed with another great day on the water. Surrounded by my best friends. Time never to be taken for granted, especially when we get to the number of years on our calendars. And when some live far away it always makes it special when we can say we have an officially full sanctioned event.
So as we gather for our last evening together tonight, till the next trip, I think about what these special people mean to me. 3 of them are brothers. And while we are not blood brothers we may be stronger in some ways. It is a relationship with each that I feel I’ve been so lucky to have had and have. We are part of each others family and always will be.
