Thursday January 22: A Day Off to Fish

Steve had been watching the weather - waiting for the right winds (rather the lack of winds) so we could head out to fish.

Yesterday was finally the day! Just looking out over the bay gave us an idea of the low winds that were to be around for the day.

Even the resident crane and egret found the calm water a good place to look for breakfast.

So off we went to the ocean side to try our hand at trolling for mahi-mahi - or anything else that would bite for that matter.

Randy and Cindy joined us for a day on the water that was almost perfect.

It was still a bit rolly as we were 2 miles past Sombrero reef so even though it's calm with little wind, there are still rolling waves around. The deep color of the gulfstream is always fun to see though.

But sadly, no fish takers for the rigged ballyhoo Steve and Randy were using for bait. Usually we can pick up at least a mackerel or barracuda. Not yesterday.

Finally, it was decided to just find a place to anchor and still fish.

Using the "hot spot" chart of fishing places, we headed off to a new-to-us destination after the first spot we anchored didn't yield any success.

At least they weren't skunked ..... Two Bermuda Chubs - plenty for dinner for the 4 of us. I told the guys no holding the fish at arm's length to make it look bigger :-)

All in all, a nice day - and it was great being on the water!

In the meantime the stove project is nearing it's end.

I found a maple stair cap that had a nice rounded edge to it. This will finish off the top surface.

Not sure if we'll use it as a cutting board or not but it certainly could be used as that. Maple is a very hard wood and ideal for cutting boards as the grain is very tight (unlike oak).

Three cuts and it was ready to put into position.

Two coats of cetol on all of the wood in the galley area really helps the new doors blend in.

Sadly, the good old hot glue gun failed us - one of the handles fell off already!

Two part epoxy will take care of that - but another day.

In the meantime, the winds come back tomorrow so I think we'll be able to finish this project off - and if not tomorrow, then the next or the next ....

We ARE in the Keys after all :-)