A few boards have popped up on the pier, but so far nothing serious.The grass is holding the sand on the beach. The sprinkler seems to be an anachronism.
This is the corner of 308. The wind is from the north and water continues to come over the bulkhead.

As they say, "When life gives you lemons, make some lemonade." Here three of my five grandchildren who are with us now, enjoy the high tide and water behind the condo. Two of my son in laws watch over them carefully. So far we have had a lot of wind and rain, but the tide is not all that high yet.
Below is a link to the weather at Aransas County Airport. It is the closest to where we are here at Kontiki. Click on the link to the three day history for wind and rainfall totals. You may have to cut and paste the URL for the weather site.
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?CityName=Rockport&state=TX&site=CRP&textField1=28.0407&textField2=-97.0515&e=0

I feel kinda silly posting this, but it is strange but true! Last Friday afternoon a Purple Martin baby, not yet able to fly, was on the ground. I picked it up and put it in the tennis court fence. The parent birds naturally sounded the alarm. They settled down and continued to feed the young bird. Later that evening this male Boattail Grackle started sounding the alarm when I ventured out on the property. He watched my front door and screeched loudly when I appeared. He followed me all over the property. As of today he is still announcing my every presence. I have seen different species of birds band together to ward off perceived predators, but this is a new one. There has been one Eurasian Dove that chases after the grackle when he gets too loud.
I have seen this as an opportunity to experiment and have tried wearing different colored hats, no hat, walking with friends, and different colored shirts. Every time though he picks me out and squawks non stop.

Brandon, Brent, and Tyler Pruski show off the 27 inch trout they caught in Baffin Bay recently. Their dad, Steve, and the boys and I have fished all over the local area and never caught a keeper like this. It hit on live shrimp.

Offshore fishing report from Scott.
First pic is a three man limit of snapper - Went 28 miles offshore, 150' of water, fairly rough ride both ways. Found snapper at our third rig. Caught them within an hour. Also saw many large ling but could not get them to bite. Snapper in the pic look much smaller than they actually were. Large one is 26". Smallest one is 16 1/2Second pic is some type of grouper. We could not identify it so we threw it back. Does anyone know what it is?

People who don't have boats just don't realize how important the placement of tie offs are. Scott and I pleaded regularly when these finger piers were built that they needed to be more functional. J.R. did have the guys move the front cleats forward and installed tie off posts near the sidewalk. We still need to move the aft cleats further back to allow better tie offs. This boat tied up behind the 600 building shows that the owner was creative in using the rod holder on the opposite side of the pier to allow a secure tie off.
I had some friends go out on the 12 hour Scat Cat trip into the Gulf yesterday. They got their limit of Red Snapper and a Trigger fish. I volunteered to fillet them for them, but I had never done a Trigger fish. That was a problem. I have never tried to fillet a tougher skinned fish. Once I got through the skin it was not too bad, but starting was a chore. I'll take a trout anytime.

Reliant Energy held a fishing tournament this weekend and these Kontiki guests brought a load of trout to the weigh in at Paws and Taws. They came back to Kontiki to clean the fish. It looked to be about twenty five that they started with. Nearly all were barely keepers. They said they used croakers and shrimp and waded just south of Long Reef.
Another friend went out to Mack Reef yesterday morning and said he found a good number of 18 to 20 inch trout and caught them on croaker.
Pop tells me he will have to have eye surgery on the 5th of July. He will have a birthday later in the month on the 21st.
I got my utility bill yesterday. It went from $119 last month to just over $300 this month. I have asked J.R. to see about finding me someone to put additional insulation in my attic as Scott did. Usually July and August bills are even higher than June. These summer bills will be the first for the 17 new owners who purchased their condos last fall.

When the Wrights did the remodel in their condo, they put mirrors on the upstair's bifold closet doors. This looks very nice and makes the room look much larger. David also sent some URL links to the Phase II security cameras that I did not have. The building and grounds can be viewed in real time. You may have to cut and paste these into your browser.
http://kontiki.c-bts.com:5001/
http://kontiki.c-bts.com:5003/
http://kontiki.c-bts.com:5004/
Speaking of security, Pop tells me there was some excitement on last Friday evening. He said a large group from Goliad had rented 702 and 703. Late that evening a 911 call came in for a disturbance. One of the occupants had pointed a gun at another occupant. The authorities arrived and Pop assisted. One renter was arrested, but not easily, and taken to the Aransas County jail.
Last week Direct TV aired the movie, Alamo Bay. I mentioned it a few months ago and noted that it was filmed in downtown Fulton. This was the first time I had seen it and it was not that great. It was interesting to see the Fulton area as it looked twenty five years ago.

Hanne Wright(307) and Tony,remodeler extraordinaire, are celebrating the completion of the remodel of the Wright's condo. Dave and Hanne benefited from all the innovations that have evolved during the remodel process for other condos. By my count there are 44 condos that are now totally remodeled. Notice in the Wright's condo they used recessed canned lights over the kitchen countertop, crown moulding, a corner cabinet, recessed the microwave, and used a convex curvature on the countertop, just as Gus and Rosemary did in 203. Rita and Marv have decided to spend their usual October stay in the Wright's unit this year.
Christy sent this update on her summer. This time we came to the Frio River. We have been here since Saturday and we will head home Wednesday. So far my body has only suffered minor damage. Somehow I managed to get a sunburn on my shin that looks pretty rough. And yesterday, I decided to show my awesome cliff diving skills and landed a little sideways. I bruised my thighs. I look like someone got after me with a 2x4. Nick is having a great time hiking and fishing. And he swings off every rope swing he can find. For this barely being the first day of summer, we sure have done a lot already. I think we need to slow down a little. I don't know if I will make it to August if we keep going at this rate. Hope you guys are having a good summer! -Christy
It was a usual busy summer weekend at Kontiki. Fishing off the pier has been off and on. Last Monday was particularly good and many keeper trout were taken. Meg(Scott and Amy's daughter) caught three herself. Murlin(506) used a live perch to catch a nice trout off the pier on Thursday evening. There was a lot of bait in the water on Thursday evening and the seagulls were working in the lights well past midnight. There were between 25 and 30 working off the end of the pier and stayed out of casting distance most of the time. I think this is a testament to the illumination provided by the new lights.
Construction continues on the building just south of the old Walmart. The sign says it will be a "urgent medical care facility".
Jennifer Dong now charges $6.50 per pound for her jumbo shrimp. This is up from $5.50 just a few weeks ago. She says the prices will continue to rise as demand is not satisfied because of the shrimping ban due to the oil spill.

Christy Aguirre sent this update on her summer. She and her sister, Sarah, managed the onsite rental office for many years.
It has been a pretty busy summer so far for us in Victoria. Nick actually finished up the school year in Rockport at Live Oak. We were having some problems with the school he was attending in Victoria for most of the year and it finally came down to me having to take him out and let him spend some time with his Nana and Ta(grandpa) in Rockport. He loved it of course and he actually got out of school about a week before Victoria let out. I took him out to the lake right before school got out and he caught a really nice Catfish. He was the only one on the boat to actually catch anything. He is still talking about that to anyone who will listen.
My sister Kary and her husband Mike from Louisiana invited him on their family vacation to New Braunfels with my 11 year old niece Melanie. I took him up there on the 1st and stayed the night in the camper at the Rio Raft Company and was able to go tubing with them Wednesday before I had to head back to Victoria. The river was pretty cold, but we had a great time. It was very relaxing since it was the middle of the week and the campgrounds were pretty empty. Nick and Melanie had a great time at Fiesta Texas on Thursday and never had to wait in line for a ride. I took my mom and a friend back up with me on Friday night and we set a tent up in front of the camper for the weekend. Lucky for us, the weather was amazing. Saturday my mom took the kids to Schlitterbahn so Kary, Mike, Ashley and I took another trip down the river. When we rented our tubes the gentleman working the counter asked us how long of a trip we wanted and we said whichever one is best. He told us he would drop us at the Horseshoe and we would float right back by the camp and if we were done we could get out there. Well that wasn't going to be quite long enough. So he told us to go a little further and get out at Little Ponderosa. That would be about 4.5 hours. He also mentioned floating all the way down to Rocky Beach, but we would be lucky if we made it that far. Well of course when we get close to Little Ponderosa we are still pretty comfortable and decide we want to prove him wrong and push forward to Rocky Beach! That was a mistake. About 200 yards past the take out for Little Ponderosa the river flow came to a stop. At one point the wind blew and I really think we were moving backwards. Long story short, there was a lot of complaining and paddling involved for the next couple of hours, but we made it. and it only took 7 hours start to finish! ;) With a minor sunburn and ONE beer left in the cooler! We had a great time, but I think next time I will take his advice and get out at Little Ponderosa.
We took some redfish and trout up there with us that we caught a few weeks ago out off Port O'conner and fried it up for dinner. My friends mom shared her Macaroni Salad recipe with me a while back and I have been making it like crazy so I had to show off my Mad Mac Salad skills. It was pretty great. Anyone that knows me well knows I am not the best cook so I get pretty excited when something I make is actually edible.
This last weekend was full of excitement. After an apartment fire at one of the properties I work at on Friday evening turned out to be very minor I was up at 5:15 Saturday morning dealing with an apartment fire at another property I work at. That one was much worse, but everyone made it out safe and we are all glad for that. We worked until about 11:30am getting everything torn down, cleaned up and secured. I praise the Victoria Fire Department for responding quickly and keeping the fire contained to only the living area and the kitchen. Most of the families belongings were still in tact in the rest of the apartment.
Some of us decided that after all of the craziness it was time for some fishing. So we left the cell phones on the shore and left out of Seadrift around 2pm for some wade fishing. It was my first time getting out of the boat, so I was a little nervous. And of course the friends I was fishing with go every chance they get so that was a little intimidating being the only girl and wading around in water up past my hips. I actually caught a nice size stingray out there off the boat a couple of weeks ago so I was really afraid I was going to step on one and get jabbed in the ankle. It didn't take long to get used to the water though. Once I caught the first 17in trout and everyone was impressed with how I handled it without screaming when it swam up on me, I was pretty pumped and ready for more. My friend Bryce was about 10 yards to the right of me and caught the biggest trout I have ever seen. He got it all the way in the net and I was walking over to help him out and it jumped and fell out of his hand. We are thinking it was about 28-30inches, but I guess we will never really know. He was sick after that. He had to take a little time out. He made himself feel better by saying he would have released it anyhow. No need to spend the money having it mounted, there's bigger fish in the sea. I brought in 4 really nice trout and I think between all of us out there, which turned out to be about 12 total with all of the friends that showed up, we all brought in some really nice fish. I wasn't ready to come in yet, but I forgot the sunblock and my back was getting a little sore. Next time I need some SPF 80 and a little stool to sit on.
I know 4 trout shouldn't be much to brag about, but when all I normally catch is hard heads, I am pretty excited! My friends have decided I need a pink wading belt and the pink net they have at Academy. It will match the shirt and hat I have perfectly. Now all I need is 3 more girls for my Babes on the Bay team next year. My mom has decided she can out fish me. So my team needs to be ready to take her down. If you know of anyone, send them my way. I am now taking applications.
I pray everyone is well and enjoying their summer. Please stay safe and I hope to be back in Rockport for 4th of July.

June 13, 2010

It is Scott here again. I wanted start by welcoming John Schiller back to kontiki. He is a great person and a wonderful benefit to Kontiki and we are excited to have him back. Due to the tight budget these days he will split his time in half with Phase II; 20 hours here and 20 hrs there. His primary duty every day will be to straighten up the property: pool area, boat ramp, trash, parking lot etc. After that he will work on the many small tasks that need to be done. This is the plan for now. If need be we can adjust but it gives us a steady presence of upkeep and maintenance. Tell him Hello next time you see him running around!

I wanted to give you an "after" picture of the attic wall that I insulated.

I entered the attic at 7:30 this morning and came down out of there at 8:15. I do not believe I have ever lost that much fluid that quickly. My jeans and shirt were both soaked through. I was able to push that R-30 insulation into every gap between the studs. As I type it is 8:24 PM here in Rockport and I can already tell that the evening heat build-up in the attic has not been able to come into the bedroom through the wall like it has every evening prior. The plan worked. I more I think about it the more I am inclined to blow in more cellulose sooner rather than waiting for the Fall. It is needed now, might as well put it in now. One other energy saving item I wanted to mention. Due to the orientation of our 2nd story deck looking over the marina, we get intense evening sunset heat straight into our sliding glass door. About a month ago we bought a roll-down shade at Lowe's. We mounted it outside under the soffett(sp) above the sliding glass door. Every afternoon we pull it down and hook it on the hand rail. This cuts the suns rays significantly but you can still see out through it when you are in the bedroom. I recommend you get the 10'. We got the 8' and wish we had the two additional feet.


Saw this ice dispensing station today. It is in the parking lot of the Tobacco Shack on Business 35 entering Fulton. Apparently these are becoming popular. Saw a new one in Houston several weeks ago. It is pretty convenient and the price on the ice is fairly cheap. Although I believe the ice at the Valero next to Sears is still 99 cents for a 20lb bag. Exxon used to be and they raised to $2.00 last year. Since I started doing gulf fishing this has become a little more important to me. We usually take 100+ lbs of ice when we go offshore. It starts to add up.


For you birders out there; we were leaving Rockport Beach this afternoon and the birds are everywhere. Apparently they are all raising their young right now. Here is a Sea Gull with two babies. This is a first for me. The Black Skimmers were also nesting and many of them were feeding babies. We miss so much of this because we are not here everyday of the year to catch the seasonal events. Always something new in Rockport.


With the boat in the shop and the winds blowing like mad we have spent most of out time running the marina. Cast netting has been a big theme this past weekend. With cast netting comes the occasional bait fish and immediately following that are our resident Blue Heron and Egret. I assume that is what I pictured above. If not someone please correct me. They have been within eye sight of the finger piers all weekend. While I was working my way down the bulkhead continuing to throw the cast net in search of more bait the Heron went to a bucket that I was using to hold my catch. He stuck his beak in and plucked out an 8" mullet. With precision and some level of carnivorous gusto he flipped it around in his beak and sent it down his throat head first. Pretty impressive for such a skinny bird to woof down a fat fish like that. Also very brazen for him to steal it from my bucket. Word to the wise . . . keep your bucket close by for fear you will loose all of your hard earned bait.

Guest contribution from Scott Schomburg(504).
Well, Larry is out for a couple of days and he has asked me to fill in. I will do my best to provide a little escape for those of you locked away in your big cities and far away states.

First topic is the four letter word of the weekend: WIND. It is blowing a steady 20+ all day every day. The bay provides a constant view of large froth topped waves. I see the occasional boat try to cross. They are going slow and slamming into each wave followed by an explosion of salt spray that covers captain and crew. Not a happy ride. Hope they are finding fish at the end of those rides.

Second topic is BOAT: Bust Out Another Thousand. I went to hook up to my boat and take the family to Estes for some semi-protected fishing and the tilt/trim would not move. After a short process of elimination I proved that the battery was good but the T/T motor would not work. I called Ben at the Boat Shop and his wife reluctantly agreed to let me bring it down. They are booked up for 2-3 weeks with work but since he rebuilt my engine several years ago (I am now considered a loyal customer) he let me jump in line. He looked at it while I was there and the T/T motor is shorted. He will look for an aftermarket or used one. A new one from Yamaha is pricey!! So goes boat ownership.

Third topic is reducing utility bills. Having recently moved from 702 (one bedroom downstairs unit) to 504 (two bedroom with a loft) I am finding significanlty higher electric bills. I expect some increase but IMO I am seeing more than I should. My biggest concern is the struggle to cool the upstairs. The a/c unit seems to run non-stop and barely keeps up. I suspected that the insulation might be lacking. I went into the attic this morning with an insulation expert. He is a friend of JR's. We found that the attic wall that is the upper portion of the vertical cathedral ceiling in the upstairs master bedroom has no insulation.

Note the two pictures above. The first picture is the wall with no insulation and the second is a general pic of the attic space. The good news is I have found an area that I can make an immediate improvement. I went to Lowe's today and bought two pkgs of R-30 attic batts that I will install in the attic wall tomorrow morning. Gotta love it . . . hot itchy insulation. Should have looked into this this past winter. The second thing I plan to do is blow in additional cellulose since the current amount needs to be doubled. This will come later. Third item is to possibly hire the insulation guy to spray in radiant barrier paint on the underside of the roof deck and the joist. In the interest of all owners, the insulation guy is providing me with budget#'s to do this for any owners that are interested. I will distribute this information when I get it. Keep in mind the numbers will be budgets since all of the buildings seem to be a little different.

I am always looking for ways to reduce electric bills in these units. If anyone has any ideas they have implemented please share with group by making a comment or emailing Larry and he will post it.


When I read the blog I enjoy some water pictures and since I did not make it on the water this weekend for the reason listed above I thought I would dig in my archive and give you some nice ones from last year.


Above is one of my favorite pictures. This is from a fishing trip last year. We were probably 15 miles offshore. When the Gulf shrimping season opens the nearshore waters look like a shrimp boat parking lot. They are beautiful in there own rough and rusted way. You just don't want to spend any more time than necessary near them on the down wind side. The smell is terrible.



Above are several pics that show how pretty the water can be within 25 miles of shore. I am starving for this sight right now. Snapper season is open and I have yet to be able to get offshore. I checked weather.com earlier and it looks like high winds again next weekend and no good weather windows this next week. Mother nature is playing hard ball right now.
I plan to jump in the water at one of these rigs this summer with fins and a pair of goggles. The water is so clear I think I could almost see the bottom. I can't imagine the amount of sea life that can be seen when you get in the water.

Pat(602) sent this slight correction and additional information about their drum catch.

Probably doesn't make any difference, but we caught the Drum on Friday morning. Thursday after the storm was pretty much a wash out. Sibyl caught one 17 inch trout. We caught plenty of Gafftop but did not keep them.

There is an article in the latest Rockport Pilot that indicates that Cedar Bayou dredging may not be too far away. The link at the right hand top of this post will take you to the Pilot.

Pat and Sibyl(602) had good luck with drum on Thursday morning. Sibyl looks pretty happy in this photo. Recent previous trips had not been this successful. This was after the storm on Wednesday night. We did not get the high winds that Sinton and Aransas Pass did. I was on the pier when it hit. We did get one half inch of much needed rain.
Mike(our roofing contractor) was in last weekend(stayed in 711) to help celebrate his youngest daughter's 20th birthday. His eight year old grand daughter, Elizabeth, caught the biggest fish.
Today is also Christine's(505) birthday, but they are in San Antonio today.
Edward and a friend came out Thursday and did some serious trimming of the bushes along the sidewalk. They cut the tall ones behind the 700 building down to the level of the decks. Our property manager, J.R., came by about midnight last night to check things out. He came out last weekend too. It's good to see the property manager take an active interest in our property.
I did get a comment about the bird eggs in a previous post. This may be the case here.
Mr. Biggers, We live in Adkins and had eggs that looked exactly like these. They were from a Killdee (Not sure of spelling). She didn't have a nest either and layed the eggs right on the side of our very busy drive way, but she did hatch them out. It took about a month or so, but it happened and she now moved them to our field, but they continue to stay here.

My condolences go to the Hammoudeh family(203) on the death of her mother. Her folks came to Kontiki often. Rosemary said her mother became ill on Monday evening and passed on Wednesday. Pancreatitis can be swift in its progression.


This is the obituary from the San Antonio Express-News.

Marie F. Sanchez, born April 10, 1939 entered into rest on May 26, 2010 at the age of 71. She is preceded in death by her parents: Eliodoro B. Salazar and Francisca Salazar. She is survived by her husband Juan C. Sanchez, children; John S. Sanchez (Susan), Rose Hammoudeh (Ghassan), Sylvia Rodriguez (Henry), grandchildren; Monica Ramos (Ramiro), and Johnny R. Sanchez, brothers: Carlos Salazar (Gloria), Eliodoro D. Salazar, brother in law; Richard Perez (Sylvia), and numerous nieces and nephews.

Another owner told me this afternoon that I was not posting enough fish pictures and wondered if the fishing was really that good. I have been eating fish every day and posted this picture of today's dinner. Life is good at Kontiki.

Pete(710) built these chairs for his upstairs deck this weekend. They are extra high chairs and allow he and Joyce to see over the deck railing as they view the complex. He said all the materails came to about $100. I had looked at similar chairs last week and the price was way up there.
I had a chance to chat with Bill and Donna last week. They are doing well in Alabama.
The guests in 209 fished the area off the HEB beach this morning and caught four keeper trout on croakers.
Last evening a couple parked at the end of pier about 11:00 pm. I had seen them last week and they had a parking tag that was from Kontiki Beach Resort, but it said Villas on it. I told them this was private property, but they blew me off and said they were told that as long as they stayed at the Villas they could use our facilities. Pop came on duty and walked out on the pier and talked to them. They told him that the rental office clerk, Lisa, had given them the parking tag and said they could fish on our pier. Pop asked them to leave and they did. They drive a Dodge pickup license AK2 6996. Pop has been busy with interlopers trying to fish on our pier lately. Interestingly, Vic Baltov(712) came out to fish shortly after the people left and caught two keeper trout and one keeper red at the same light they were fishing. Vic continues to have luck casting his net for small shad and putting two or more on the same hook and catching the big ones.

Edward alerted me to this clutch of shorebird eggs next to the tennis court fence. It doesn't look like a nest to me and with all the scavengers on the property at night, I'm sure these eggs are doomed. I don't know what type of bird lays eggs like this.

My son, Ryan, tried out my new flounder light this weekend. It was a great success. Here he shows two of the four he brought back Friday evening. This was the first flounder he had ever gigged. On Saturday we didn't need any more flounder so he just prodded them with the light to watch them scatter away. My daughter's trusty dog, Truman, went along to help too.Ryan's friend, Anhella, helped net the flounder after he gigged them. Those three were quite a team, until Truman found a baby possum and got sidetracked.