Welcome to our newest owner, Rita Mirabelli of San Antonio. Just a few weeks ago I was showing her 203 and now she is the owner. We hate to say goodbye to Gus and Rosemary. They were great friends. I'm sure they will come back and rent on occasion. I do understand that Rita will continue to host our longtime winter guest in 203.
Joe(709) had a pretty forgettable start to this week. He purchased a beautiful boat to allow him to fish offshore to bring back big catches like he has seen posted here. He was over at Cove Harbor where had stored the boat when he accidentally dropped his cars keys in six feet of water. He left his car and boated over here to the marina. Unknown to him as a new owner, the boat had a leak. Overnight, while tied up in the marina, the boat took on a ton of water. Larry noticed it when he came to work and immediately turned on the bilge pump. The bow of the boat was pointing upward and the water was up to the cowling just below the power head of the big four stroke Yamaha. It took four hours to pump out the water. Joe said he knew the spot where the keys went down and I told him I have a ten pound magnet that will pick up most any metal object on the bottom. He took the magnet and headed to Cove Harbor. No luck. The tide was out and he couldn't get out of our channel. He waited for high tide at 4pm and made it out. In his words the magnet worked "remarkably well". He found the keys right away, left his boat for repair and drove his car back to Kontiki.
Long time owners continue to be amused when the rumor that I am against all rental activity refuses to die out. I checked my records and for this summer I have referred friends who rented ten different condos, most from independent owners. This little community always has some rumors out there, but this one is being repeated by folks who have little history with our property. Oh well, you can't win'em all. Most times you can't even break even.

Here is the fish picture Scott promised me from their offshore trip last weekend. 10 hour trip - 6 amber jack, 4 kings, 6 shark, 1 strawberry grouper, 1 warsaw grouper, 20+ vermilion snapper, 1 dog snapper. After a hard day of hauling in these fish, they all retreated to Los Comales for the best meal in Rockport.

I found out that what Express Air is doing is a seasonal checkup for $50 for owners who want this done.

This downstairs deck railing sure looks better today than it did yesterday. The guys are working hard and hoping the heat will give us a break soon.

It's getting to be that time of year. We have one more big weekend to go.
We had an AC service call to 107 yesterday. I have not seen this company out here before. I always call Lee Hunt of L&B. He has proven to be the best for the price that I have found here.
The final touches are being put on the roofing project as they work here on the flashing.
With the roofing project nearing an end, we are getting the painting of the railings in high gear. This photo shows how the railings look after a power wash. We are then scraping off the remaining loose paint and then priming and finally painting. I'll have to post an after picture of this deck to show the finished product.

Scott and two of his business associates went our for a quick one hour trip to Jaybird Point on Friday and came back with these four nice trout. All were caught on DOA shrimp.

I set out my perch trap last evening and did not catch a single perch. I did pick up two small crabs. Larry Rabe showed me how to bait the hook with them. I don't recollect ever catching anything with crab, but that's all I had to use. I set out two poles in the mitigation site and within minutes this barely legal red hooked himself up. I would not normally keep a red, but this small one might be OK and it has been a long time since I've had a keeper anything to feast on. When I opened him up, he had a crab in his belly, but it was not the one I had baited with. Now I will recycle this one and see a second red might want this slightly digested crab.

This truck has been coming by every morning to empty the port-a-potty that the roofing crew uses. I try to stay far away from this truck. I don't know how they stand the smell.

John Sweney sent a crew over this morning to add additional sprinkler heads to the HEB side of the entrance road. The old system stopped about 60 yards short of our property line near the pier. He is doing this for an additional cost of only $200.

Ralph and Cheryl Galyan, very soon to be new owners of a three bedroom bayside condo, spent their first weekend here this past weekend. This buck is from their game ranch in Boerne. We fished together on the pier last evening and had it all to ourselves, but as usual, only small trout. I had met Ralph and Cheryl last fall when they were driving through looking to buy a condo. I showed them 603 that I was trying to sell at the time for my daughter, but they wanted a bayside unit.
Cheryl's mother, Flo, will be here on the 12th. I'm anxious to meet and talk to her. She served as personal secretary to Ronald Reagan, attorney general Edwin Meese, and supreme court justice Anthony Kennedy, quite a resume. She was even able to call Cheryl from Air Force One as the team flew to Canada for an energy conference. She is also 87 years old and Betty(103), who is very close in age, will be here at the same time. I'll introduce them and I'm sure they will have some stories to share.
We ended up with .76 inches of rain on last Thursday although Sinton had 2.5 inches. The little bit we got is already making a difference in the vegetation. Phase II was replacing their roof on Thursday and now almost every unit on the third floor has water stains on the ceiling.
Scott went out over 40 miles in the Gulf on Saturday and came back with about 10 different species of fish. He has promised me some pictures.
Ed(302), in Maine, said he weathered the storm well and only had a lot of rain. He wishes he could box up some and send it to us.
An additional bayside condo is set to close this week also.

This picture could be a little scary without an explanation. This city truck came by yesterday to empty out our sewer tank. No, both of our pumps are working fine. The city had to shut down their system for six hours and we had to turn our pumps off. They sent this truck around to empty systems while they were down. Fortunately, we have almost no one here and they had to make only one trip.
Fishing off the pier remains dismal. I'm still looking for my first keeper anything for 2011. I don't even catch any 14 inch trout anymore. They are all really small.
The best answer to the post about the offshore catch came from Ed(302). He said he calls those different varieties of fish "dinner". Pretty good Ed.

The roofers are finishing up the last building. The final walkthrough will be early next week.
We did get a little test this morning as we have had several decent showers and more storms are in the area.
Work started this week on the roof for Phase II. I don't know what company they are using, but they are not hand nailing the shingles and it is progressing rapidly.

Michael Aldrich sent me this. Pretty funny.


I’ll bet you I can get to the fishing spot first. Any takers.
2,000 HP Outboard Inflatable...
Here ' s the latest drug runner toy from Europe .....
This thing belts across the English channel 3 times per week and was just a blur on the radar of the British Coast Guard. They were so astonished by the speed of the unknown craft, they brought in a special high speed helicopter to chase it. Drugs were found on board. Of course, you'd have to be on drugs to put the throttle down on this rig.

Randy(308)sent this interesting article about local fishing.

Corpus Christi Caller Times
Forbidden no more: Fishing the former Naval Station
Fishing plentiful at spot near old base
By David Sikes

Saturday, August 20, 2011

INGLESIDE — Matt Stennett and a few of his closest friends recently caught 15 redfish in quick succession within sight of Ingleside on the Bay.
This is not particularly remarkable. Stennett is a skilled fishing guide, who finds similar success on the water many days. What's worthy to note about this accomplishment is that not too long ago Stennett's behavior could have become courtroom evidence in a federal case.
And in fact, any angler who had attempted last spring to do what Stennett did this recent summer morning, would likely have been ordered by megaphone to vacate the premises before catching a single fish. At least since Naval Station Ingleside was officially dedicated in 1992 — and certainly with greater vigor after the 911 attacks — gun wielding sailors aboard military vessels or from a security tower overlooking Corpus Christi Bay have had the authority to guard the Mine Warfare facility against encroaching anglers and would be intruders.
I assume that ignoring these verbal warnings would have been viewed as an act of terrorism or a really aggressive act of angling defiance. In 15 years I heard no reports of either within these forbidden waters.
But I've heard numerous accounts of intimidation from unsuspecting anglers visited by armed military security forces aboard inflatable zodiac boats. And I learned that locals labeled the Naval station's manned security tower "the deer blind" for its boxy appearance and its narrow gun windows facing the bay.
But these waters are forbidden no more. A bugler's reveille no longer announces the dawn at the 400-acre compound as it had since 1992.
Naval Station Ingleside officially closed last year in April.
I assume the facility's new owner, Canyon Supply and Logistics, won't be allowed to restrict anglers from plying its rocky shoreline, bulkheads, concrete docks and plunging boat basins.
This past week, Stennett offered to show me his newfound bounty near Ingleside on the Bay in his brand new Tran Sport XLR8, powered by a 250 high-output E-TEC Evinrude. Rockport Marine's general manager Chip Harmon coordinated the trip and agreed to tag along.
We got an early start from Cove Harbor to work out a few bugs with the new engine, which turned out to be a smart plan. Did you know Rockport Marine is the only local boat dealer with a waterfront service dock, which is right there at Cove Harbor Marina. This was convenient for us, made even more so by Rockport Marine's helpful mechanics.
Once under way, the boat took us smoothly to the former military site, which is a shell of its former self. An imposing structure sat alongside the main dock where an unmanned deer blind still stands. The structure looks like the upper deck of an offshore oil platform or jack-up rig. Stennett said it wasn't there during his previous visit.
He wondered aloud whether bringing in this massive structure might have affected the fishing nearby.
A rather nonthreatening, civilian, juvenile brown pelican stood guard on the riprap that protected the shoreline north of the towering bulkhead where I imagine the USS Inchon or the USS Scout mine countermeasures ships once were moored. Did you know Naval Station Ingleside was at one time planned as a home port and training facility for aircraft carriers or battleships? Yep. Early on, the USS Lexington aircraft carrier and the USS Wisconsin battleship were each destined for Ingleside.
Stennett used electric power to slide silently into position. Based on previous success, Stennett outlined a plan to toss grunting piggy perch toward the shore and gently bounce them just above the rocks to the depths below. The bay bottom was about 15 feet below the deck of Stennett's Tran Sport.
More often than not, an aggressive redfish would engulf each piggy that made it to depth, Stennett said.
Soon, three piggies were hooked and submerged in the formerly forbidden waters. Actually four piggies. Stennett was testing the double-bait method.
After one or maybe two casts his rod assumed the expected arch. But the performance at the other end of his line was not that of a redfish. Instead of a long, drag-testing run, Stennett's rod tip plunged abruptly toward the bay surface and erratically angled one way and then the other in manic fashion.
When the fish finally surfaced there was no disappointment aboard our boat. Redfish are great fun and I would never discount them as a sport fish. But in the Coastal Bend redfish are a bit ordinary.
Mangrove snapper, on the other hand, have somewhat of an exotic image here. They are equally fun to catch but even better to eat and not nearly as common. Especially the bigger ones, which is what we found.
The local population of gray snapper, known in many areas as mangrove snapper, had been building in the Coastal Bend for more than a decade. Catches of the tropical fish at area jetties, bulkheads and other structures were becoming more and more common as South Texas continued to enjoy its second decade of mild winters. And the average size was improving. Two- to five-pound fish were on their way to becoming almost common for those who targeted them. Then came a fish-killing red tide followed by a cold snap in January that killed additional fish and likely pushed others into deeper haunts.
The docks and bulkheads at Naval Station Ingleside have everything a mangrove snapper wants. Hard structure, deep water and current from the nearby ship channel.
Remember that the most frequent reason for ending a day of mangrove snapper fishing is an empty bait well. They devour live shrimp, but are expert bait stealers. Mud minnows or small piggies will produce bigger snapper. I've also had to quit fishing earlier than planned because I ran out of hooks. Bring twice the bait you think you'll need and plenty of extra tackle.
So after boxing Stennett's snapper, which weighed about 1.5 pounds, my heart was set on a combination mangrove-redfish kind of day. And we did catch both.
But Stennett raised the stakes with his very next cast, which produced an 18-inch flounder.
It seems the Navy was harboring more than ships at Ingleside on the Bay.

Larry Rabe worked on replacing the back wall of the maintenance building this week. He was surprised to see the evidence of the fire that almost destroyed the whole building in 1985.
I came to San Antonio this week while I have my place rented out. I couldn't help but check smartmetertexas to see how the guests were managing the power consumption. When I am there, I average about 73kwh per day. This week I see the usage at 150kwh. I don't know how that much electricity can be used in one day.
On Monday, J.R. called me and mentioned that he passed me in Beeville on Sunday as he was heading to Rockport. I didn't see him, but I think my car is so unique that it is just too easy to spot. I don't think I would recognize J.R.'s truck if I passed him on the entrance road.
Our new lift station pump has finally arrived and is scheduled for installation on Monday morning. It sure will be good to be running on two pumps again.
Betty Brackle(103) will come in for the last two weeks of September. It must have been at least three years since she has been able to come down. I'm looking forward to seeing her again.

Christy Aguirre, former desk clerk at the rental office and friend to many, sent this update on her and her son, Nick.

We are getting ready for school to start next week. This summer went by so fast. There wasn't time to do half of the things we wanted to, but we did get in some nice fishing trips. Nick went wade fishing with Ashley and our friend Caleb this weekend. I had to work (boo). They have been pretty lucky out off Port O'Conner lately. They caught10 trout, 3 reds and 2 flounder. When they were done wading, Ashley said he was trying to get some lines out for Nick and when he turned around Nick had a big red on his line. He set the hook and fought it all the way to the boat all by himself. Twice! He said he knew he had something because Nick stopped talking. Apparently those were the only times he was quiet the whole trip. Nick was pretty excited when he got home. He didn't have any luck when they were wading, but he had to rub it in that he got to break in my new wading boots before I ever got to wear them. Hopefully I will get to go out this weekend. Last time I went fishing was for my dad's birthday and we didn't have much luck, but we did have a great time. I have to try to squeeze at least one more trip in before football starts. Nick is playing with the CYFL. He is on the Jr. Oilers. Practice started last week. Yesterday was the first day the had on full pads and helmets. In a couple of weeks he has his first game. He has never played football before so we will see how this goes.

Amy(504)sent this picture of a sunset from her back deck. She says as her summer stay nears an end, the sunsets get prettier.

The board has heard from the engineers at Coast and Harbor Engineering about our breakwater and channel problems. At this point they recommend reinforcing the area between the concrete jetties and the shoreguard. They also recommend increasing the height of the concrete jetties. This should reduce the amount of sedimentation in the channel. The board will consult with Phase II and Sea Shell Shores to determine the next step to take.
We have been dealing with a rash of plumbing leaks in remodeled units. The leaks I know of have been in condos 701, 707, 210, 306, and 308. All leaks of this type are an owner expense. Just a few months ago units 206 and 705 had plumbing problems too. Thursday evening the HOA had our own plumbing problem as we had a bad sewer backup between 108 and 201. This seems to be the location of most blockages. Larry Rabe came and out and got it open in about an hour.
Our board will meet by teleconference next week to select our insurance carrier for next year. Owners will be billed as soon as the premium is determined.
This is my twentieth summer here and the crowds have never been bigger, but this year has had more than its share of craziness. Last weekend there was a fire in Phase II 321. Last night security called me at 11pm to say a guest in the pool area was out of control. Law enforcement was called, but when they arrived the person had retreated to the condo and without a search warrant, the officer could not get him to come out. This morning I went out to check my perch trap just in time to see a kid walking off with it. He said he found it on the bottom. Like where else would you find a perch trap. Three times this week I have had my bait bucket emptied. So far tonight all has been quiet.
The first weekend of August my family rented a condo at Port A for a getaway. We will probably not rent another place managed by Starkey Rentals. They charged $64 for insurance for broken things and it was not optional. They charged us $150 for a cleaning fee. They charged $144 for travel insurance since they require full payment 30 days before the reservation and there is no refund. Should an evacuation be required because of a storm this insurance will cover the refund. The place was not in good shape because they said the owner was trying to sell it and did not want to do any repairs. We didn't see any vectors, but we saw their droppings.
Scott had a pretty good day today at Jaybird Reef. They caught ten keeper trout on DOA lures.

Travis and Jerry, working for Jack Gibbs company, cut off the last post on the mitigation site repair. They have been working for four weeks to replace rotten wood in preparation for the roofing job. They have been staying one building ahead of the roofers.

Ray, Terrence(roofer), and Scott checked out the roofing job on the 300 building. The 700 building is about 50% finished and the 600 building will be next.
Unfortunately, the weekend before last the roofer had about $2,000 worth of roofing materials stolen from the property. No one seems to have seen anything.

Scott suggested a competition to name the types of fish that he, Ray, and his girls hauled in on there most recent gulf trip. Comments can be posted in the comments section below.

Steve(702)sent this fishing report.

Went out last thur Aug 4th with friend Joe Kohl about 22 miles in his 25 cobia with twin honda 115's[ nice boat] Sometimes we could hardly get a bait in the water before a kingfish nailed it. Fished behind several shrimp boats and landed a nice 30 plus lb ling as well. Great day of fishing in beautiful blue water! All 4 boys on trip caught nice fish.

The pier entrance was washed out and the first step could be treacherous. Larry is building a ramp that will lead down to the level ground.

Several of the boards on the finger piers are starting curl and create trip hazards. Most are low in the center. Larry Rabe is replacing them with more seasoned, straight boards.

Work is wrapping up on the 300 building and the 400 building should be finished this week. The work on the 700 building will begin next week.

These big cranes are poised to begin work at the south end of the causeway. The land is cleared and work in the water will start soon. Two lanes will be built east of the causeway and when this opens, the old causeway will be brought down and another two lane bridge will be built in its place.

This will be the last picture I post of the old, very old, yellow cat. I took this on Tuesday and today old age caught up with him. He had had some severe seizures recently and was in poor health. I believe he had been here about 12 years.