829 Southdrive

829 Southdrive

A New Jersey state of mind



Sunday, October 31, 2010

Ivy Champs!


Princeton Mens' Water Polo.  Tim Wenzlau. 
Game and Tournament  winning goal.
My cousin Julie's son.  Larger than life. 
Such a nice kid. I love that guy.
 I'm so proud.

Raven

More Halloween Cats


Ghost

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Sunday, October 24, 2010

Indian Summer


October 24, 2010.  Still a decent amount of boats in the water,
though the next week or two will see a huge drop-off.  It was
positively balmy today with temps in the low 70's.  Hard to
believe Halloween is next weekend. 


Escapade, a Block Island 40, catches my eye every time we
motor by.  Turns out he grew up a couple miles from where we live.
Small world we live in, I often say.  He said he'd stop by the next
time he was in the area.  I'll be ready.

I know it's election season, but is nothing sacred?


You mean to tell me you've never fallen asleep in your drink before?


Ummm...can you bear off a touch so I'm in the sunlight again?


In the Spring and Fall, we like to sail back upriver rather than motor.
There's much less traffic, and it's just plain more peaceful.  We still
get some quizzical looks from powerboaters.  What do you think
sailboats did in the old days before engines, I feel like saying.
They're clueless, and will never get the satisfaction we do from
quietly winding our way back to the dock.  We had the Eagles-Titans
game on the radio and listened intently as Tennessee fought
back and won the game.  If the Giants beat Dallas tomorrow
night, things will be in order.  Sorry Phillies and Yankees.
I say go San Francisco Giants!

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Speechless!


Steve from The Log of Spartina tried out the oyster dish from a post
of mine from way back in May.  Evidently, he cooked the oysters
perfectly, with a slight curl on the edges, taking extra care so as
to not rubberize these gorgeous gems.  Those Lynnhaven River
monsters looked positively obscene, and I'm sure they would be
just as satisfying on the half-shell as they were poached.  The
addition of wild rice and toasted cheese and garlic baguette were
icing on the cake.  I'm honored.  Well done my friend!  

Friday, October 22, 2010

Good Eats



Boneless Pork Loin Chops, grilled.  Marinade includes: Ketchup,
Yellow Mustard, Honey, Worcestershire, Soy, Onion Flakes,
Ginger Powder, Granulated Garlic, Sesame Oil, and Olive Oil


We-pick Green Beans, boiled in salted water til just
tender, strained, then hit with liberal amounts of Olive Oil.


We-pick Plum Tomatoes, with our CSA Farm's Green Peppers
and Onions, and We-pick off the shelf Ken's Ranch Dressing.


Blurry....... sorry.  CSA Acorn Squash, halved, scooped out, and
roasted face down in 1/2 inch of water at 400 for about 30
minutes.  Turn oven off, turn squash upright, throw in knob of
butter, squirt honey and sift mace, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Return to oven to melt.  Bring out last.

Then sit down with wine and hopefully have a meaningful
conversation with the family.  More often than not, it's just that.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

Turkey Day is coming



Don't ask. And whatever you do, don't tell.

Monday, October 18, 2010

It won't be long


Fewer of our dockmates are seen milling around this time of year. 
Most of the boats are still in the water, but I imagine the majority 
have haul-out dates chosen and their owners are sitting on their
couches watching football or, perish the thought, baseball playoffs. 
And some may even be walking around their local orchards, choosing
pumpkins for their front porches or watching their grandchildren
enjoying the hayride around the corn maze.  Mulled cider and cider
donuts.  Bluegrass bands and funnel cakes.  I'm pissed.
I'm not ready for summer to be over.  I never even put my
hammock out in the back yard!  We didn't once even sleep on
the boat.  Probably the reason for both of those complaints
is that it was so goddamn hot this year.  Waaaah.

We did , however, race the boat twice this season.  The 
second race was the most thrilling one I've been in for
probably thirty years.  We were solidly middle of the pack
and I am still pinching myself, wishing I had a camera 
mounted to my head so I could relive it every day.  We will
do much more of that next year, I swear.  I also would love
to get back into smaller one-design races, but that's
another bridge to be crossed. 

Emotions are mixed right now.  I still have the desire to
sail, but the fall brings new responsibilities. Yardwork,
family obligations, the realization that nobody wants to be
on the boat and shiver at the same time.  I can somehow
relate to that.  Plus, the state marina wants my butt (boat)
out around Halloween.  That's scary.  I've got two weeks
to come to terms with this.  Honey, another hot-buttered rum?

Friday, October 15, 2010

San Francisco Treat



That piano makes me feel young.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Jack and Diane


Here's a little ditty
bout me and John McPhee
two homegrown Americans
in the land of the free.

I said "Hey John!"
love your book about Jersey
Devil and Pine Barrens
he almost called security.

And Davey said,
Oh Yeah, life goes on
long after the thrill
of reading is gone.

Here's a little ditty
bout me and John McPhee
two homegrown Americans
in the land of the free.

Shopping for some food
in the local Acme
John said "hey where's the sauerkraut"
I said check aisle three
and I didn't call security

And Davey said,
Oh Yeah, life goes on
long after the thrill
of reading is gone.

Here's a little ditty
bout me and John McPhee
two homegrown Americans
in the land of the free.

True story

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Saturday, October 9, 2010

O Dock!


Where art thou, Brother?

Thursday, October 7, 2010

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

The right thing to do

To all the parents of kids out there with Facebooks:
How about we do a little bit more monitoring of what
our offspring are posting on their public bulletin boards?
I personally do not have a Facebook account, but my
wife and older daughter do, and just like a bad car
wreck, or the "Real Housewives of New Jersey",
I cannot tear myself away from tuning in.  In defense
of my daughter, she shows good taste and restraint
when posting, which is more than I can say for some
of the younger kids with whom I am acquainted.
I mean, HELLO......are you parents reading what
your kids are writing?  I'm thinking not, I hope.
 I've been around the block more than a few times in
my almost 50 years, but some of this stuff even makes
me blush.  There were remedies for this kind of 
indescretion when I was young:  A wooden spoon.
A leather belt.  The bare hand.  The Phi Kappa Psi
fraternity paddle.  None of which are accepted forms
of discipline these days.  And that's okay,  I guess.
These parents about whom I speak probably don't 
read my blog. But if they do, I'm sorry.  We come 
from the same generation, but apparently not 
from the same cut of jib.  What our kids say, I feel, 
has a direct reflection on who we are as parents.
Call me old-fashioned.  I'll take that as a compliment.  

(thumbs up) one hundred people like this. 

Monday, October 4, 2010

The professionals know


Parts is parts, I guarantee.  Popeye's chicken is most definitely
the fried chicken for me.  And there's nothin like their chopped
cole slaw.  The mashed potatoes have a bit of white pepper in
them.  Delish. My wife has a problem with that. But I refuse
 to go to KFC.  Soggy and salty.  My opinion.
And Popeye's Laser masts tend not to bend too much. 
At least that's what the helpful gentleman from Laser
Performance Sail and Sport Rhode Island says.
And he should know.  I should think. 

Sunday, October 3, 2010

More Reality


Why, it seems like just yesterday that I saw her spectating at the
World Ducks.  It has always fascinated me to see the bottoms
of familiar boats when they've been hauled.  I see them all summer
long cruising up and down the bay, their wealthy owners at the helm,
seemingly without a care in the world. But when their bottoms are
exposed for all the world to see, they're no different from yours
 or mine.  And actually, I couldn't believe how crappy Cat's
Whiskers bottom really was!  I can only assume that next spring,
the yard guys will be hard at work scraping the decades of 
Interlux from Whisker's hull.  We'll need to check next October
when she's hauled once again. 


This boat will always mean something special to me.  Mary Ann
allowed my Dad, fourth from the bow, to place his butt on her
deck all summer long in 2002.  Looks like she's the last A Cat to
be hauled this year. Regarding things like this, last is good.


Hold tight!  You'll all get your turn real soon.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Face it, summer's over

Stack the Duckboats wide at Beaton's in Brick.
Shove them under and let me work—
I am the shed; I cover all.