Our repair on our fish cleaning stand area is almost complete. Several pilings had to be replaced. About 8 months ago a long telephone pole washed up on the HEB shoreline. It appeared to be in good shape so Jerry towed it around to our marina and tied it to a finger pier. It can be seen as the corner post in the reinforced decking on the right. Jerry cut about four feet off the old post and it still appears to be long enough to do the job and  then some.

Work began yesterday on our gazebo where the fish cleaning stand is located. Some of the substructure was rotted away. The cost is anticipated to be just over $3000. The work should be finished in just a few days, weather permitting.

Condo 405 has been placed on the market by the owners. They are asking $165K. The buyers of 709 sought financing through Security Service Credit Union. The credit union was not aware that 2/3 of our condos are under short term rentals. They expressed to me that this would be a deal breaker. Prosperity Bank of Rockport continues to be the primary source of financing for our condos.

Here is Scott's story of their bay trip on Wednesday.

 

Amy's cousin, Jeff, his wife, Julie, and their three girls came in from Kentucky this past week.  They arrived Sunday evening and stayed until this past Saturday.  It was a great visit.  We did a flotilla at Lydia Anne channel, did some tubing, and did several fishing trips into the bay.  Here is a pic of our fishing trip from Wed morning.  Largest trout is 18.5".  The girls landed all of the fish.  They had an absolute blast. 

The rest of the day on Wednesday did not go as well, depending on how you look at it. After running his boat all over the place, Scott was in our marina trying to put his boat onto his new trailer when the transmission cable broke. He was able to pull it onto the trailer and get it to Steve Decatur to get it repaired. Had this cable snapped while they were offshore or way out in the bay, it would have been a long tow back. He was pretty fortunate in that respect.

On Wednesday, I also sold my Aquasport after owning it for over 20 years. It was sad to see it go, but I just could not handle it any longer. I had purchased it from Mr. Sweeny who owned 306 and had purchased it new here in Rockport in 1987. That boat spent it's whole life at our complex,

I had some friends from San Antonio staying 505 last week. On Friday they waded the HEB shoreline and came back with 17 keeper trout and left them biting. Maybe things will look up soon. Pier fishing remains dismal.

Saturday was the usual big crowd with our new pool filter getting a workout with the beverages and food that were being consumed. Lina has found that most complexes now ban food and beverages inside the pool area.  We will be considering something like this. Security is not the answer to loud music and horseplay in a crowded pool. When our security has tried to tell crowds in the pool to settle down, they do so until he walks away for a few minutes and then the party continues.Our security gates help, but rental companies have been generous in giving out codes to folks who should not have them. Lina is also working with rental companies to be more cooperative in filling out our rental forms so we know who should be here and how many in a condo. Somewhere in the future we need to get back to the concept we used in the mid nineties when our HOA did all rentals on site. 

Here is Scott's story of their trip from Sunday a week ago.

Ray and I went offshore on Sunday.  We had Solei, Esai, and Meredith with us also.  Weather was a little rough and the way out.  It took us almost two hours to reach our first stop.  We were trying for Ling, Grouper, and Dog Snapper but none were cooperative.  We then started moving closer to shore to get into state waters.  On our way we stopped at a few shrimp boats to make a trade but none were willing to engage.  We did find a few Ling.  We got the first one to take a bait and brought it boat-side but it was too small to keep.  They need to be 37".  The second Ling was big and it bit on the bait but the hook did not set.  We kept moving in closer and started fishing our snapper holes.  The bite was slow but steady.  Typically when you get into the snapper it becomes a feeding frenzy but today was different.  The fish appeared to be "scattered" or maybe just not too interested in feeding.  Not sure what attribute it to.  Regardless we ended the day with 15 snapper.  A great haul of fillets.  Ray did hook up with a large keeper sized Ling near the end of the day.  He fought it for a short while and it was boat-side for a second when I tried to gaf it.  Unfortunately my gaf shot did not find its target, the line line wrapped around the gaf and got cut.  Needless to say I felt terrible.  Everything happens so fast.  You try to get the fish in the boat before the line snaps or the hook pulls out then something goes wrong and the fish swims away.  Another lesson learned . . . don't rush the gaf shot.  Oh well, this will inspire us to head back out again on the next good weather window!

Omelet, the hen, took a turn for the worse and stopped eating and drinking water for days. Last Wednesday we took her to the Floerte Vet. clinic in Taft. She had a temperature of 107. She really was not too happy the way they checked her temperature. They gave her a shot and gave us some oral meds to give her later in the week. She improved quickly and Ryan returned her to San Antonio yesterday and she appears normal as she goes about doing chicken things. We have to thank Art(503), a retired vet and father of Scott, for suggesting how we might find a vet in the area and also suggesting things we could do to help her recover.

What kind of shorebird is this enjoying the sunrise this morning?

I had a sick hen in San Antonio that my son was nursing back to health, but decided some good fresh Texas coast air would be good for her. She is only seven months old and  this is her first hot summer. I'm sure her black feathers keep her really warm.

Scott and Ray and the kids had a big day offshore yesterday. Scott will tell us more about their trip in a few days.

It was an exciting weekend here too. We had a large gathering for a family reunion. A lot of alcohol was consumed and even 25 large pizzas on Friday evening at our pool. Our security had to call out the local constabulary for assistance with some of the over imbibers. Its a good thing they only come once a year.
On Thursday about noon Jerry observed a pickup snag our exit gate upon leaving. We had to have the gate welded back and adjustments made. The gate was out of commission for two days. Jerry could not catch up with pickup on his cart.
Condo 709 is under contract to sell.
I've listed my boat for sale on Craigslist. Have had three lookers so far, but no offers.

 The pool filter top did not hold on the last attempt to use gorilla glue on it. Now it looks as if liquid nails is doing the job for now. It's never a good day in July to close down the pool for repairs like replacing this filter tank.

Seven of my grandchildren are enjoying the pool this week. Notice the buildings in the background. No cars. They have had the pool all to themselves. It doesn't seem as if this summer has been as busy as most.

Steve Wright sent this photo our their haul from the surf using lures.  Others this weekend have reported good catches from the surf from Cedar Bayou to the Port A.

Below is a picture taken from the ninth floor of the Dunes Condominiums yesterday at Port A. Can you imagine the ferry wait.