Bill and Cathy McArthur Spring/Summer/Fall 2008: 13
Monday, June 23, started with overcast skies and featured the rumbling of thunder from late morning onward. Bill started the day with a kayak paddle to the concrete ship. He was among schools of bunker and pods of dolphins most of the way. After lunch, we took all of the stuff out of our rusted-out shed under the house and demolished it with a sledge hammer. We folded the rusty scrap metal and carried it to the curb. A scavenger took all of it within minutes. We went to the 5:30 PM aerobics class subbed by Becky. She did a retro routine that we remembered from the past. We ran the air overnight because of impending storms which fizzled before they arrived.
Tuesday was a windy day, with West wind honking all day long. Bill joined neighbor Tom and his grandson Joey for a morning of fishing. They fished mainly in the Cape May Inlet, along the jetty rocks. They had no luck, but it was a nice day to be out on the water. Tom brought the boat to Breeze-E-Lee Marina to be hauled out for post break-in service on the outboard motor. Bill arrived home about 1:30 PM. We both spent some time searching on the Internet for a new shed. We finally found one that should fit and be adequate. We had a nice sunset as the wind started to drop a bit.
Wednesday started us back on a hot, humid pattern. Bill went out early with a kayak paddle to the third jetty of Cape May Point. Cathy went to Becky's aerobics class. After lunch we took a 10 mile bike ride, during which a lady cyclist pointed out that Bill's back wheel was very wobbly. Later in the afternoon, Bill jogged for 5K in the afternoon heat.
Thursday morning, Bill and Joe Link were supposed to kayak around Cape May Island, but SNAFUs with Bill's email and Joe's phone contributed to a miscommunication that caused Joe to be left waiting at his beach and then going around by himself in spite of heavy fog on the ocean. Bill left an hour later and did just a 12 mile paddle to the Convent at Cape May Point. We dropped Bill's bike at Algie's in Wildwood Crest to fix the wobbly back wheel and a broken spoke up front. Because of the broken spoke, Bill will get two new wheels by just paying the installation fee. We also stopped at Jim's Bait and Tackle to get new line on Bill's spinning reel. Bill learned that he should be trolling with a regular reel. In the late afternoon, we joined our friend Jenn Agostini in a trip to Ventnor to visit with another friend, Shelley Kapustin for a walk on the boardwalk, a good dinner at Jo Jo's, and part of a free jazz concert. We got home around 10:30 PM.
Friday was a hot and humid day. Bill started out with a 5K run before the heat increased. After lunch, we painted the base for our market umbrella with Rustoleum. We waited inside until a thunderstorm passed and then went on a 6 mile walk to the canal. We could hear the rumble of thunder on the way back, but the storm wasn't as near as it sounded. We grilled Mako steaks for dinner and viewed "Intersection", a pointless chick flick (redundant?). Bill headed to bed early.
Saturday morning, Bill went on a kayak paddle with Joe Link. Here is his account from his blog:
A Nice Little Adventure
This morning my paddling buddy Joe and I did one of my favorite kayak paddles around Cape Island. I have done this trip too many times to remember, but it's different every time. Today's trip had an exciting twist to it around the middle of the journey.
I brought 100 ounces of liquid with me, mostly Cytomax with one 20 ounce bottle of Gatorade G2 and one 16 ounce bottle of water. I carried a soft cooler with ice and a few of the bottles so that I could enjoy some icy cold drinking when we stopped for our break.
I packed a couple of power bars and put them with my pocket pc in my dry bag. I also had my marine radio in my PFD (life jacket). I had an extra paddle strapped on the back of my kayak and a couple of bottles of Cytomax in the cockpit with me.
I have equipped my main single kayak with a mount for a Garmin eTrex Vista GPS which can have local charts (marine maps) loaded onto it. In this fashion, I can see where I am on the chart as I paddle. I usually only bring my eTrex on open water crossings, so I didn't even consider bringing it along for this trip. What I did bring was my new Garmin Forerunner 405 GPS watch which my kids just gave me for my birthday coming up on July 1. This powerful tool (not a toy, ladies) allows for complete tracking of a workout.
I left from my beach at 6:39 AM and headed south to Joe's beach, a mile away. He joined me and we headed down the Bay, across the Cape May Canal and through the Concrete Ship. I was a little nervous about fog, but everything was clear as we paddled through the rips around Cape May Point. The ocean swells were pretty big and there were lots of standing waves in the rips, but we managed to avoid most of them by staying close to the jetties. We almost got involved in some life guard life boat races as we passed the Grant Street Beach, home of the Cape May Beach Patrol, but we saw the marker flags in time and swung further out into the ocean to avoid them. About that time we started to notice some fog settling in around the Cape May Inlet jetty. All of a sudden, we were in a white-out fog. We started to worry about getting killed by a speeding boat and Joe started blowing his whistle while I sounded the small airhorn that I carry. Also, we headed toward shore where we could hear the waves crashing on the beach. We used the sound of the breakers and the occasional glimpse of the shore to guide us to the jetty, where we turned right and followed it to the mouth of the inlet. As we turned in the inlet, The fog was gone and we had a relaxing paddle the rest of the way. I was back at my beach in 4 hours and 40 minutes.
My Forerunner 405 gave this set of statistics (which seems to indicate that we climbed a small hill, but actually, the wave swells on the ocean were pretty big and added up) for the trip and this map of the journey. I got back for lunch, which pleased my wife, and had a nice little adventure.
After lunch on the deck, we hung out and watched the meager boating activity on the Bay. We talked with Son Bill, Stacy, and their kids. Bill went out and cleaned the grill, watered the flowers, and washed his kayaking gear. Our friend Beth joined us for a dinner of grilled burgers. During dinner, our new neighbors from two doors down, Dennis and Marie, dropped in with a bottle of wine from their own winery. We and Beth watched one of the world's worst films, "Tenth Circle of Hell", where Bill was during the viewing.
Sunday promised to be hot and humid with a good chance of thunderstorms. We ate breakfast on the deck and Bill did last Sunday's Times Crossword on paper for a change. By the time Bill got around to his 5K run, it was already nastily hot. Cathy went out to do some shopping. After she returned, Bill went to Ace Hardware for some green and red lightbulbs and a couple of cleaning agents. Upon returning home, Bill cleaned the coffee pot and our carbon steel wok, which had gotten rusty. After lunch, we took a steamy walk to the canal. Around 5:00 PM, Sue and Jack Beatty, our friends from Boston, arrived. We enjoyed one of Cathy's patented swordfish feasts on the deck. Afterward, a beautiful sunset completed the evening. The night's activity was to watch the first show of SNL with George Carlin as guest host. We had a few thunderstorms come through after we all retired for the evening.
Bill and Cathy
