Grrr! I hate it when that happens!

[Riley Smith]

The GOES site is down. I haven't heard if it was Iranian hackers or sleepy IT government workers. At any rate, I'll have to pass on long range weather predictions. My morning weather assessment is shot. Oh well, I just went outside and it isn't raining, so that's a plus. I've still got radar and eyeballs and generational knowledge.

 Prediction: It's gonna be hot today unless it rains. And rain is ALWAYS a possibility. Whether it is going to be a sprinkle not hardly worth noticing, or a frog-strangling deluge is just a roll of the dice. In between mainly afternoon showers, it WILL be humid and temps are going to run from 80-90F, depending on cloud cover.

I'm half a mind to fool with the boat! All bets are off if thunder arrives...Yes, it is summer! The A/C is becoming a necessity. And the bugs are bad. Not only that but the high river has all the boat ramps underwater. I won't even think about the current. Sort of a strange entry into the season I'll admit. And yes, I have started watching the Gulf. The early hurricane season can spawn a quick storm that forms in the Gulf itself. Usually not terribly strong, they can nevertheless be a real problem.20 and 30 inches of rain problem.

Due to hot weather, just a little tinkering on the old gal. I have a spot to paint. Some clean up. Just tinkering because it's getting too hot for this old guy to be out in it. That sun beats me down nowadays. Can't hang unless I swim. And yes, it's getting time for that, too. I know the grandkids have already gotten wet but kids don't have a thermostat anyway. I'm still dry for now but today may change that.

[Doug SC]

I'm at Edisto Beach it takes 3 rental houses to fit the whole gang of us. A wedding this summer has the ladies all excited. They are off on a Charleston Harbor charter party boat tour for the day with the future bride. We are left in charge of the kids from 5 months to 12 years old.

We have had rain and wind each day. the highs have been in the 70s. It's 74 here at noon today. Last night the heavy rain had the frogs and toads sing for sex. The ditches and yards were flooded and during the night rain we went out with flashlights. You had to watch where you stepped as there were hundreds and the sound volume was set at 11with throats ballooning. The kids loved it. Saw 3 species of toads and several of frogs. Watched a mud turtle eat a tree frog. It was an amazing dance of nature partying with extreme ardor.

Only about 20% chance of rain today.

[Wolverine]

We were in a long drought until yesterday when the clouds finally let loose. Today sunny, 80* and 25mph winds. The grass seed I spread a month ago when a week of rain was predicted but never came, got watered yesterday so the sprinklers are out today to keep it moist.

🤞for more rain

[Ed]

We are finally getting rain, but it usually happens on the weekends.  Lake Allatoona had/has blue green algae in all the coves, including the marina, so any boat work is on hold.  Smells like a dead body is bobbing around. Club has both a race and raft up scheduled for this Saturday.  We may go out for a sail up to Sunset Grille for lunch and have an $18 Bushwhacker then attend the raft up.  Rain overnight so we'll just motor back to the marina and go home. Plan to do quite a few things when we pull out the end of September since all of them are prohibited on the water - paint topsides then Woody Wax the decks while waxing cockpit area, refinish all the wood while it is off for painting, replace halyards, and bottom paint the boat with an ablative coating this time.  Had the bottom painted professionally with a ceramic paint made for trailering, but I'm getting an eighth to a quarter inch of green scum on the hull below the water line, it come off pretty easy but looks like heck sailing when the boat heels. 

[Riley Smith]

S R Cat is always an on-going paint job. And wouldn't you know it, I happened to check this time BEFORE I went to all the trouble of switching trailer balls, hitching up, and easing into the sunshine, and no, my paint looked like cement. Saved me a lot of work for nothing! I make a note of THOSE kind of wins    There wasn't much paint anyway, but I like to keep a little Hatteras White for the chips on the deck. I must have forgotten to add a few drops of mineral spirits the last time I closed it. The mineral spirits will vaporize eventually and keep the paint usable if you do manage to get some drops in it before you close it off.

[Wayne Howard]

Weather woes? LOL. I'm up in southern Alaska right now. I had a friend offer me a cool summer job up here. Well, the weather is crazy here due to the mountains. Anchorage is about 40 miles west of me and it's usually sunny there. Here in Girdwood, it's a crap shoot. Could be sunny, could be rainy and most likely it's cloudy. Farther east where the job actually is it is usually raining. or sleeting or snowing. Or all three at once.

The predominate easterly wind pushes the rain clouds along and the mountains wring out the moisture leading to drier conditions as someone travels westward.

You cannot view this attachment.

The Jobsite for the next 4 months.

[Riley Smith]

Cool pic Wayne! Be careful of bears. And Sasquatches. I've always wanted to see Alaska but not that tour boat kind of thing. One of my friend's father used to go up there and monkey around panning for gold in the creeks every summer. He said his dad would find enough gold to pay for the trip for the summer. Dry suits required!

[Ed]

Wayne, I've been to most ports in AK and dimly remember some of my favorite watering holes.  I think Anchorage was The Monkey Warf and Alaskan Bush Company and Juneau was The Red Dog Saloon.  Of course that was in the 80's so who knows what is there now.  Don't go bear hunting with the guide with all the scars on him from previous bear attacks, I don't think he is that good a guide.

[Doug SC]

I don't think he is that good a guide.

Ed, It seems he can find the bears, and he has the proof to show for it! He just needs clients that can shoot better.😳

[Wayne Howard]

My friend tells me that the Alaskan Bush Company is a good place to lose a couple of paychecks. I'll pass, thank you.

[Frank B.]

Well I'm in Mexico Beach, FL.  There are thirty one and 7/8  of us here (one very pregnant member of the clan) from eight different locations staying in five houses.  So far there have been no inter tribal fist fights and no one has had to go to the emergency room. And I'm knocking on wood with that statement.  Weather? Typical. Some days it has rained (bad), most days it hasn't (good), Most days wind from the south (good), sometimes from the north (bad, bugs galore).  The homeward drift is progressing, we will leave last in a couple of days. One of my DILs was doing a video and asking each of us what did they like best about the beach trip.  For me it was watching the teenage girls taking care of the toddlers, watching out for them, giving their time freely to make sure they felt included and had fun. Sheri and I are the oldest of the senior generation and those observations are important to us.

[Riley Smith]

That sort of reminds me of Thanksgiving Dinner at the Labrot House. All the kin folks drop by! The NWS peeps finally got the GOES East operational and I was able to check on the Gulf. Seems it's still there! The last rains brought drier air, so it has felt really great today, although there is an east wind blowing that that's not so good. It drives the tide higher, and it is already on top of a high river, so the water is up in the marsh grass most everywhere. Yes, there is something out there. Right now it is of very little concern. But that east wind really bothers me...

There are friends of our children and THEIR children that now associate with us old folks. It's always fun to get them all together ( birthday, holiday, just because) and see how much they've changed in a short time. It can be a zoo at times but other times are the ones that make lasting memories. The old house has weaved its way into a lot of lives. Maybe that was the purpose all along. Everyone on the beach cut their grass today  because it has been raining off and on for some time. It looked like a park on the bluff!

The east wind was making it choppy in the little bay out front but out in the bigger Pascagoula Bay, where the fetch from Alabama increases dramatically, the water had frosting on top of it    The pelicans were taking advantage of the nice wind and riding the uplift along the shoreline in squads of 8-10. You'd see their shadows move across the lawns long before they appeared over the oak trees.