A fuel storage tank for the dredge operation was placed near the boat ramp today. I would guess that the operation will begin next week. Today work continues on the tennis court. The court should be playable by Sunday. Bedingfield is here doing the pest control treatment and CMT is here doing the landscape work. John repaired the lights on the piers today also.
Last evening I actually caught a few trout on the pier. One was a keeper, but it fell off as I tried to lift it over the pier railing. I had not caught any kind of trout on the pier in a long time.
Yesterday, Diane(guest in 608) went with her son on a fishing trip out of Goose Island. They caught three trout, one red, one drum, and one sheephead.

The new boat launch ramp at the north end of the causeway is nearly complete. It is already operational. The ramp looks fairly steep and vehicles can launch without submerging the rear wheels of the vehicle. This will help too during periods of low tide. To the right of what is pictured is the three station fish cleaning stand and picnic area. The trailer parking area has been significantly enlarged.

Scott(702) sent an article that he found in a magazine that looks like a very good solution to the problem of boat trailer springs that rust so quickly. It was written by James Victory of Gautier, Mississippi.

Anyone who owns a boat trailer probably knows the frustration of having to replace rusty leaf springs. To put off this inevitability, I use a trick shown to me by a retired naval aviation mechanic. The method was used to protect aircraft landing gear from prolonged exposure to salt. Take a quart of regular motor oil and mix in a pint of STP oil additive. When thoroughly mixed, it has the consistency of honey. Then, with a firm paint brush, coat every inch of the leaf springs. The mixture is thin enough to work its way into the cracks and crevices, but thick enough to stick to the metal. When allowed to dry for 24 hours, the mixture firms up, and there is little or no loss when you hit the springs with a hose or submerge the trailer at the ramp. In fact, it is durable enough to provide an entire year's worth of protection.

Chuck Wright is under the pier here as his helper works above to replace or repair the hardware holding our breakwater together. The areas past the old 'L' are falling apart as are the areas on the south side of the breakwater. We may well be throwing good money after bad trying to repair this.
Rob is in the process of trying to purchase a barge to try to do the repairs on the piers as well as the breakwater. He says outsourcing the work will likely be very expensive and he can save us a lot of money even with a barge purchase.

Work began on the tennis court yesterday. The best bid was for $4,000 for the resurfacing job. The fence is another issue. The best bid is for $12,000 and that is way over budget. Justin is trying to see how he can get the price down.

Leo and Nancy(507)got a new HVAC system today. I thought it was noteworthy because I didn't recognize the company, Koenig Air Conditioning and they were using American Standard. The phone number on the truck was from area code 830 so I would guess they were some folks the Chafin's knew from the New Braunfels area. When my unit needed replacing I used a company from San Antonio. The prices in San Antonio were more competitive than they are locally.

More of the crossbridge posts failed last week. Rob used John's pontoon boat as Rob and Tony worked to replace some of the posts and repair the bridge. Nearly all the old posts are rotted completely in two. The whole bridge will be replaced soon.
I saw on TV last week that Charter Communications has filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. I have no idea how that may impact us.
The motel had a major sewer problem late last evening. John and Scott came out to work on it. I came inside at 2 a.m. and they were still working on cleaning up some of the rooms.
John(guest in 103) caught a 14 1/2 inch flounder off the bulkhead Friday morning. That was the only keeper that I am aware of that was caught this weekend. Kevin(501) took Cyrena out to Long Reef on Saturday morning in the fog. (He said it was for Valentine's Day.) They had just arrived when a front moved through and they had a rough ride back and not a fish to show. At least with the higher tide they were able to get out of our channel.

The final pour was made last week on the entrance road. Work will begin in April on the parking areas around the condos.
The winds have been fierce for the last five days. The winds have driven the tides to reach well above the seasonal average. I have not seen the tides this high since last fall. The tides have not, however, brought back any fish. I went out on the pier about midnight last night and there was no sign of any fish activity.
We had some guests here from Marble Falls, Texas last weekend who really tried to find the fish. They had a really nice Skeeter boat and spent Saturday around Mesquite Bay and Sunday in Copano. Altogether they boated one Black Drum. They were pretty discouraged.
Work has still not started on the piers or channel dredging.
I purchased a wireless card for my computer last week, but the signal strength in the 200 building is just too weak to make it work. The paln trees between here and the router attenuate the signal. It will probably take several boosters mounted on the buildings to get a decent signal to the 200 and 300 buildings.
There was a major sewer backup Sunday evening. John and Ron spent most of Monday morning getting things working again. Ron was working into the afternoon in front of 308. The pressure there was the greatest and forced the sewer line cap to pop off and the overflow there was considerable. It really reeked. I hope it didn't back up into the downstairs bathtub in 308. Ron said that when they got the sewer open it appeared that someone had flushed a large amount of shrimp shells and that may have been the cause.
My google stats show that last week there were hits from 17 states on this blog. Its nice to know that many folks are interested in Kontiki, but there has been a real dearth of news to report. The winds continue today, the fish are nowhere to be found, and no construction is underway.

OK, I got the pictures in reverse order and I don't feel like changing them!


John,Don, and Dick went out with Otis(604) last weekend and this was the only keeper. They did have to throw back one oversized red. This picture is from the back of Otis and Lisa's Harbor Oaks house. Patsy and Brian(owners of B and P Resale) went out Sunday. They fished the intracoastal near City by the Sea and caught over forty trout with only 6 keepers. They used bass assassins.
Randy(308) celebrated another birthday today. Now he's only seven years behind me until March.
The county has finally allowed us to finish the concrete drive all the way to Fulton Beach Road. Work started today.
Rob started work on kitchen renovation for Chuck and Sandy(107) today.
CP&L announced a 15% rate reduction today. They were so far above the market with their pricing I think they had no choice. I renewed my annual contract with YEP. I paid 8.3cents per kwh last year and this year it will be 8.9cents. Natural gas prices are lower than they have been in four years and this is probably the driving force in energy costs for electrical providers.
The security cameras have been a maintenance problem. They were serviced on Monday and Monday evening Pop had all of them working. By Tuesday evening, only one camera worked when Pop came on duty. He complains all the time about how seldom he has all of the cameras working at one time.
HEB has reworked the entrance to their beach front again. They have replaced the posts and "keep out" sign. They have a new property manager, but he says he was told to do this.