Geez, it's been awhile! Since my last posting I've gotten addicted to clay shooting, and most recently, shooting steel.

Tom, Gary, his daughter Autumn, and I went shooting on Nov 7, with pretty much everything; pistols, rifles, and shotguns. It was the first time I took out my shotgun other than shooting a box of shells at the indoor range. I'd never shot clays. Gary brought his clay thrower and we went shooting. I had a blast!!! Ever since then I'd been hooked on shooting clays. I normally shoot trap at Cedar's every thurs nite and skeet either on tuesdays and wednesdays depending on my mood and how far I want to travel. APG skeet is close, but the people who shoot there are not, shall we say, hardcore. They'll shoot a couple rounds and then call it a nite by 6:30pm. Most of them don't believe in shooting under the lights. Oxford is another story. It'll take about 45 mins to get to, but a lot of the shooters there will shoot at least 4 rounds of skeet and wobble trap.

Back in December, Tom shot my chronograph, as in he hit it with a bullet. He was trying to test some loads but the chrony kept giving Err1. Tom was getting frustrated, which sort of struck me funny. We moved the chrono back and forth to see if it would help. I was trying to hold back from LOL but I couldn't anymore. We just sat down after moving the chrono and then I started LMAO. After I got it under control, Tom's next shot went thru my chrono. He just bearly hit the top of the chrono. It was coincidence that he hit the chrono after I couldn't control myself. I started apologizing, but he got me a new chronograph that works great! We got the extension rods to make a bigger shoot thru area on the chrono which helped a lot. Tom was shooting his AR15 with the scope mounted high on the handle. This caused a problem up close to where the bullet was actually travelling. Tom was looking thru the scope to the middle of the shoot thru area, but in reality, the bullet was shooting low and just clearing the top of the chrony, which caused the Err1.

In February, Tom, Gary and I shot our first PA Steel fun match at SLCFSA. We had a blast! I am definitely hooked on this. Starting at the surrender position and hearing "shooter ready?... standby... BEEP!" really took me back to the days when I was shooting IPSC/USPSA. Tom was only 6 seconds behind me using the low ready instead of drawing from the holster like I was doing. Yesterday, he had me worried. I was rushing the first 2 stages and not doing well at all while he was shooting steadily and making great time. I slowed myself down and put the pressure on Tom. He missed a few on the 3rd stage but not as many as I did on the first stage. All in all, I think Tom is going to prevail. We had a record turnout yesterday with 18 shooters, versus the usual 12 to 13. Tom and I were approached by Jeff and asked if we would RO in future matches. Too bad we have bass tournaments thru most of these shoots, otherwise we would've took him up on it. We would probably shoot more at the Delta Steel Challenges since it fits our schedules better. The only thing me back is Cheryl's ever changing work schedule.

This pinched nerve is killing me. I was nursing it all yesterday during the Steel event and was probably why I did so bad at trap on Thurs. Tom scored 20 and 21, his personal bests. Gary did average about 17, and I was bearly making double digits. Hopefully, I could get an appointment soon and get my neck back to the way it was.

Sorry about not posting lately. I had my appendix taken out the Tuesday after the Gunpowder tournament.

I was feeling queezy at about 2pm during a meeting at work on Tuesday. I thought it was the meeting that was nauseating me, but when I got home the pain set in in the middle of my stomach. The pain moved down to my lower right region by dinnertime. I went to lay down with a heat pad on my stomach, but that made it worse. Everytime I touched my lower right it hurt like hell. Cheryl did a search on appendicitis and learned that I wasn't supposed to put heat on it because it would cause it to burst! I really started to feel nauseous and diarrhea set in. I went to the emergency room by myself since I wasn't sure what I had. It wasn't worth waking up my kids for my wife to take me to the hospital. I was admitted at 9pm and at around midnight they confirmed it was my appendix. They did a Cat Scan to make sure at about 3am and I was in the operating room at 5am. I woke up at 6:30am in the recovery room and in my hospital room by 7am. What a crazy 12 hours!

I learned later on that Cheryl's aunt Patty had an emergency appendectomy at about the same time I was having mine; what a coincidence!

Anyway, I owe you what happened at the Gunpowder tourney on 10/17. Well, it rained... and it was cold. I could handle one or the other but this was a double whammy! The day before, I was stressing out about the forecast and went on a shopping spree. Thank god I did because it rained the whole time we were out. I probably could've stayed a whole 8 hour tnx but we all agreed to fish 5 hours. I didn't get a single bite... but at least I got to test my gear and what I bought. Most everything did pretty well considering. The neoprene gloves I got kinda sucked. Advertized as waterproof, but they were anything but! They kinda absorbed the rain and the water pooled in my fingers. Everytime I raised my hand it poured water in my sleeve.

This past tnx at Conowingo was tough. I was feeling pretty exhausted by all the yanking I did to unsnag lures. Again, it rained for about half the tourney, but at least it wasn't cold. I think I really need to invest in a good rainsuit, or at least get good pair of bibs. I've been using athletic warmup pants which happened to repel water. These don't do a good job when the material is stretched while kneeling and sitting. Anyway, a lot of people got skunked. I'm thinking getting the boat fixed and going to the power plant during the winter.

Redemption

"Red skies in the morning, sailors take warning. Red skies at night, sailors delight".

Despite that morning's omen, I finally caught a keeper at the Suskie tournament! Thank God I'm not going to end the season a complete ZERO!

Mike and I were up at North East in the rip-n-rap. When Mike told me "rip-n-rap" I thought he meant to throw a Rat-L-Trap. I tied on a sexy shad crankbait and started fishing. I looked over and Mike was still tossing a texas rig. I'm thinking "hmmmm... why is Mike still on a worm"? I got hung up and Mike moved the boat close. I freed the crankbait and then all the sudden I see this bass on the end of my line. I'm like WTF!?!?! I just stood there dumfounded for a second before I snapped out of it and pulled the fish on board. The best I could figure is it was a reactionary strike when I freed the lure off the rocks . Since I was so close, the bass bit my crank right at the boat and I pulled him up without feeling the bite. I was ESTATIC!!! I was sooooo happy I was finally on the scoreboard! I would've liked a fight, but ya know what? I don't care!

After that Mike wanted to see what I had on my line. He tied on something similar and shortly he caught his first bass on a crankbait. After that the bite died. We stayed for another hour then we left.

At the weigh in, it felt so weird because I wasn't used to bringing a fish to the scale. I can't believe there is a number next to my name, instead of "0".

Well, yesterday's bass tournament was a bust. Half of us didn't catch anything, not even a bite! I think I've got some bad mojo about bass fishing. I can't catch bass even if the damn fish was in a tank. Something weird is definately going on. Last time I fished was out on Tom's boat with Mark. I was fishing between them and using the exact same frog that they were using. I only got one blow up. Meanwhile, they were getting hits all over the place. Yesterday, Billy even gave me the exact same rig he was using. I cast to where he was casting and followed his instructions. Dave and I are the only ones in the club who hasn't caught a legal fish yet.

Shoot!

Well, I decided to put a new deck on my boat and now the front is all torn out. Found some ACX at Lowe's and decided to try painting the wood with exterior paint. I don't understand why people say that's a bad idea. They're recommending I epoxy coat the plywood. I think it's overkill.
I think I'm transitioning back to shooting. I spent one morning with Tom handing out flyers for the September Open Tourney and we got to talking about guns and reloading. I pulled out my Dillon reloader to sell it to Tom but then I changed my mind. I just had too much fun with it to let it go. Then I stumbled onto MDShooters.com and it was all over! I can't seem to stop thinking about reloading and shooting. This is probably not a good idea at this point in my life. I mean, I've got 2 young kids, and a mortgage that I'm barely making payments on. I can't really spend money on anything. But I'm just hooked on the MDShooters forum. I'm looking at what the IDPA competitions are like. I'm being sucked into a money pit and I can't seem to look away! HELP ME!!!

Launch

I finally launched my boat this morning. It was calling for rain later on and I took the opportunity to get the boat in the water. I just couldn't stand another weekend with the boat sitting idle in my driveway.
I'll tell ya, I was a bunch of nerves. With all that's happened to me in the past, with the trailer flying off the hitch, and almost being run over by my own boat in my own driveway; I was thinking "what's next?!?!?"
I ended up launching at Flying Pt since all the parking spaces were full at Otter Pt. I launched the boat with some minor hiccups. After I got the boat in the water the motor wouldn't start right away. I guess not running it a few weeks made it harder to crank. I pulled the cord without much luck, then I turned the key and started right up. Whew! I found out later that the motor will not go in reverse. It probably would've came in handy loading the boat back on the trailer. The other thing I found that didn't work is the livewells. The well on the starboard side fills up but the other one doesn't. In addition, I found that the wells don't automatically fill. The only way to get water in them is to use the aerator pump. If the pump stops, the well drains. I guess I would have to plug up the drain, but then if I keep the aerator going it is going to overflow. Hmmmm.... I'm probably going to have to redesign this. As it is, the livewells are too small for largemouth anyway. So I had been thinking of getting another livewell from Fishmate Pro. This is probably the way to go.
Anyway, I rode around the Bush for about an hour and got to a blistering 25 mph at wide open throttle. The motor was pulsing like there wasn't enough fuel getting to it, but it seemed to get less and less as the motor was running. But it was a blast riding on the water!
I've got to figure out how to load the boat better. I missed the rollers on the trailer. Because I couldn't back up I couldn't have another go at it. Thankfully, the boaters behind me helped out. I'm going to try to get the reverse fixed on the motor. I know it worked before when I first tested the motor, so I hope it isn't something too complicated to fix. Sorry, no pics. As I said, I was too nervous.

The boat is just standing by to launch. I'm beginning to realize that this boat may not get any use. I've been trying to find 3 to 4 hours to launch and enjoy the boat. I just don't have the time to devote to boating. I do weddings on the weekends, wife works weekends, bass tournaments once a month, the weather has to agree, etc. Also considering to use the boat primarily for crabbing. But I'm thinking that maybe I should sell the boat since it would probably be used only a few times a year.

I think I really hurt myself while working on the boat. I was trying to install boat cleats to tie off the boat. I had to make like a contortionist to put the nuts and washers on inside the boat. I had to lay sideways with my ribs on a ledge. Now my side hurts real bad. I don't think I fractured any ribs, but I probably bruised the muscle pretty bad. I hurts like hell when I cough, or take a deep breath.


My computer died after 6 years of hard use. This economy is killing me. I can't seem to get a loan, refinance, or get credit for anything. I settled on a Compaq from Best Buy since they were at least offering 6 month financing. I tried to get a sweet deal from HP, but they wouldn't give me financing since I've got too much debt.

A good part of my time now is thinking about the River Ratz website. I had worked out some ideas to make it easier to add stuff and navigate, but now its pretty much gone unless I could put the hard drive in another computer. I tried to trade the drive on the Compaq but it has proprietary connections. I should be able to recreate what I lost without too much time.

We had our July River Ratz tournament on the Bush yesterday. I have GOT to learn how to pitch/flip...WELL! Every tournament I've done the boater was fishing the docks and under trees. Yesterday, the only fish caught on the boat that I was on was caught by flipping. I was just outside with my spinning rod and I think I figured it out. I can't seem to figure out how to flip with a baitcaster effectively. There is just too much resistance on the spool for the lure to go very far. But people do it.