Bear's Life and Tides

I got up at five a.m. to go fishing with Greg Goddard. He called last night and invited me salmon fishing on his boat. Beth gave me a little stink eye when I brought it up; but, she relented. I had to get up early to drop by my boat to get my rod, reel and tackle. I met Greg and his friend Mickey at seven a.m. I was a little late because there was traffic on the bay bridge. I did not expect it. Things are returning to normal (in a bad way). We headed out the golden gate into a pretty good swell. It was a solid 5 foot swell all day, with a few bigger. Greg had good info re where the fish were biting - 18 miles out! It took us over an hour to get there. South west of the gate. Surprisingly, there were a lot of boats out there fishing. My guess is that there were 30 or so boats. First Fish Feel the swell of the ocean in this video Note to self - check ears before taking pic I'll spare you the details of hours of trolling around - "we" caught five salmon. Greg three; Mickey t...

I met Mark Lillge in Mill Valley this morning for a bike ride. We rode up through Mill Valley, over the hill and dropped down into Muir Woods. Past Muir Woods, all the way to Highway One. North on Highway One, we climbed north toward Stinson Beach. This is one of the most scenic stretches of road in Northern California. Winding road on a cliff high above the ocean. We continued north, past Stinson Beach to Bolinas. We turned right and proceeded east up the Bolinas Fairfax Road. Big climb. About 1400 feet over five miles or so. At the top, we turned right on Ridge Crest and climbed the "seven sisters" toward the summit of Mt. Tam. Beautiful clear day. You could see all the way to the Farallon Islands. 20 miles out Bolinas and Duxbury Reef in Background Back down Mt. Tam to the cars. I had to hustle home to prepare dinner for Pete and Thomas. I stopped for a few things at the Palace Market in Pt. Reyes Station. A store clerk sat out front of the store with his guitar, monitorin...

Our First Dahlia Another day in the life. No pictures. Just words today. Not sure where we are going. No notes. I'll just wing it again. Nice warm day. A bit windy. Beth and I got up in Inverness. We toured the garden and meditated. We decided to go our separate ways today.  Beth drove to the city. Had lunch at the Ferry Building. Not that she told me - I got the receipts by email. She is having a sleep over in SF with her sister Carol. Good for them. They have a sweet caring relationship.  A little sister fun in the city.  I had an electrical project on the boat. It was really a pretty minor project. However, I am not a marine electrician. For a beginner there are many possibilities... I spent about five hours on the boat. The electrical project took me about a couple of hours, including a trip to the marine hardware store. I had to change an electrical outlet. The challenge is connecting the wires so that the connection is solid and watertight. ...

I took my friend Kabir Sawhney fishing yesterday. I got home exhausted and fell into bed at 9 p.m. No blog last night. We left Lumina at 6 a.m. Got the boat ready quickly and left the dock at 6:20. Longest line of boats ever for live bait at fisherman's wharf. Good weather + weekend = long line. We also got ice. I wish I had a picture. You pull your boat up to an overhead wharf and open your ice chest on the deck of the boat. The ice man deftly throws huge shovel fulls of crushed ice into the cooler. Ten dollars for a cooler full. Pretty good deal. We debated about whether or not to get ice since we both forgot to bring any. I have lots of fish so we considered just catching and releasing anything we caught. I decided we should get the ice - just in case. We pulled out of fisherman's wharf and headed to Angel Island where I have had a lot of success recently. We had two quick LDR's (long distance releases - meaning we had a fish on the line and fought it for a while but it ...

Nice to be in San Francisco on a Saturday morning because we get to go to the farmer's market at the Ferry Building.  Summer has officially arrived: sweet corn from Brentwood. We marketed and noshed for a while. Then home for a nap. This afternoon we attended niece Becca's 8th grade graduation party at Joe and Wendy's in Sunnyvale. I looked forward to it. Before we went, it occurred to me that something was odd - why was I excited about an 8th grade graduation party! Ordinarily, I would have gone only out of obligation. This time, however, I could not wait for the party. I told Joe last Tuesday that if we caught any salmon, I would bring some. I also packed some halibut.  It is these strange times. We sheltered in place so long, deprived of social contact, that we yearn for parties and get togethers. Everybody felt that way. Joe barbecued the salmon and halibut.  Joe and Wendy put out the fixings for a taco bar. There was a full bar. It was a good party. It...

Beth and I did some gardening and tree pruning in the morning. Then, we packed up and drove to San Francisco. Having dinner with Greg Goddard and his wife Miguelina. They invited us over to their house for hors deouvres - salmon carpaccio. Delicious.  Greg grilled up some salmon filets. We all drove over to our condo for dinner. Miguelina cooked a Puerto Rican dish, Arroz Con Gondules, ( rice with pigeon peas). A feast. After dinner, Greg and I discussed fishing. Here he is showing me how to read the coastal water temperature charts for salmon and albacore fishing. Be th and Miguelina chatted on the couch. We listened to Sweet Honey in the Rock. Ella's Song We who believe in freedom cannot rest We who believe in freedom cannot rest until it comes Until the killing of Black men, Black mothers’ sons Is as important as the killing of White men, White mothers’ sons the bear