Yup, got up with the sun (more or less).  Beautiful morning anchored in a little bay by ourselves.  Calm, sun just throwing an orange glow on the clouds above the hills of the island.

Made a cup of coffee, grabbed my fishing pole and sat down to see if I could find a fish for dinner.  Dropped the line around the boat.  No joy.  Made a few casts and dragged the lure across the mud – got a little nibble at one spot but cast to a few others.  Nothing.  Decided to cast hard out to the area I got a nibble.  It’s in towards the rocks.  I let the line drop all the way then started to drag in toward the boat.

Nibble, nibble, then a gulp.  I jerked the pole to set the hook and the race was on.  This was a big-un.  I just watched as it unwound the line from my tiny spool.  I bought a little spinning rod/reel combo before leaving.  It’s fun, but anything heavy and you have to be very delicate.  So now, I have set the drag for as tight as I dare and am just watching as this fish drags it out.  It’s all I can do to sit still, but I kept saying to myself, “He’ll tired soon.”

So here I am, old man and the sea.  He did finally tire and I was able to reel him in.  Check it out. And yes dinner was delicious.  We’ll have the other half tomorrow.

I gotta think there's a fish out there somewhere...

...hey, something's happening here...

Hey, look at this! A snapper! I think they call them that because the have two rows of very sharp teeth.

So after that kind of start to the morning, what could go wrong?

The head broke.  Yup, the toilet won’t flush.  Well, that’s why we do a shakedown.  Better here than two days out on a ten day trip.  It’s the same problem as last year.  The copper rivet that holds the flapper valve seems to have disappeared.  I think I’ve finally figured this one out.  I put a little white wine vinegar in the water when we leave the boat to keep the water in the toilet from getting foul.  The problem is this stupid little copper rivet com combines with the vinegar to create…a battery!  Yup, electrolysis.  We leave for a few months and it corrodes away just enough to work until we’re a couple days out at sea and then – BAM – broken toilet.

So…we looked at a beautiful day and decided…to go for a hike.  It’s going to rain tomorrow, so why waste a great day when we can do it mañana.  Fortunately I have the spare part.

Another day, another boat project.