Concrete work was in high gear today. The asphalt was removed in front of the 300 building. Rebar was readied across from the 100 building and concrete was poured in the boat parking area. Justin tells me that the sidewalks will be repaired while the parking area concrete work is being done.
The wind was down on Monday and I tried some of the bay spots where we used to catch fish. I did catch some small trout at Scotch Tom and Sandollar reefs, but no keepers. The water temperature was 72 degrees. It was nice to see the depth finder read 6 to 7 feet in the parts of the channel that have been finished. About 125 yards of dredging are left.
The folks from Kinsel & Company worked on the breakwater on Monday, but have not been out since. I believe they are waiting on materials to complete the repairs.
The dredge did not work today either. They parked it early this morning and worked on the ponds across the street. They are having to empty the ponds when they become full of sand before more dredging can be done. The website for the dredge company is www.jndthomas.com. You can see there what a big company they are. I visited with the dredge supervisor, Keith Ayers, on Sunday evening. He shares my ideas exactly on what needs to be done to protect and preserve our channel. He says if we do as is now planned, he will be back in two years to dredge again. If he does dredge again, he says a beach renourishment permit from the GLO would allow a much less expensive and faster dredge. He feels the shoreguard in deep water will not work as it is presently constructed and that any 'L' should be aligned to the north. One of the problems right now is that there were never any plans or agreements made for maintenance of the channel and shoreguard. There is no triparty interlocal agreement between the three HOA's involved. As of Monday, Sea Shell Shores has not paid anything toward the current channel and shoreguard repairs. I'm sure something will be worked out soon.
Dick Waddell made a habit of feeding a Greater Egret during the winter this year. Now that he has left the egret stays around and waits for a meal. I experimented today to see just how many perch the egret would consume from my trap. When he got to 31 he lost interest and let the seagulls have the rest.
The guests in 304 took their boat out at Port O'Conner yesterday and caught plenty of fish. Today they tried St. Joe Island and, of course, came back with nothing like everyone else has been doing recently.
I guess last week there was some interest in how the construction is coming. This blog had hits from 20 different states and 24 cities in Texas. Austin was first again and Houston fell to fifth behind Dallas.
As I complete this post, I can see another sewer backup between my place and 108. The sewerage is running down the sidewalk toward the beach and into the parking lot. It will really be a stinky mess by morning.