The Cruising Adventures of Wild Blue and crew...
- Thread starter JamesTXSD
- Start date
toyman":3q8hvauy said:
I am, indeed, missing Wild Blue. There are some very nice boats at this marina. A guy just came in with a Back Cove 29 that takes my breath away. I guess I wouldn't care to be on one lake all season with Wild Blue, but that's just my wandering ways... but, this is one spectacular place. Oh, and there is a 10+ year waiting list to get a slip! :shock:
The work thing will even out very soon - just the "getting open" stuff. In between cruises, I have been training 1st mates and doing boat projects. One of the other captains helped re-adjust docks in the rain yesterday. Everybody pitches in to do what's necessary. It's a great crew here.
Little Izzy is getting restless... she hasn't been able to go outside in several days because of the rain. She said to tell Snack "hi".
If Wild Blue calls again, tell her to kick back and relax... "Daddy" will be home in a few months and she'll get plenty of attention again.
Dave, I read what you wrote on the 5th wheel thread. We've not found a really great way to boat and RV at the same time. But, swapping back and forth has been working well for us. Oh, I miss the boat when we're in the RV and I miss the comforts of the RV when we're traveling with the boat. BUT, I enjoy the heck of each of them while we're using 'em.
No problem getting my boating "fix" these days, but these cruise boats aren't near as much fun as Wild Blue. Some coins in the cruising kitty and the beautiful mountain views (when we can see 'em) help. 8)
Hey Jim,
How crowded will it be there for tourists in early July? One of my employees and her husband want to visit Yellowstone this Summer, but I thought it would be booked up and have long lines just to drive through.
What are your thoughts on this? Should one plan many months ahead?
What should they do to arrange a visit or camping?
John
How crowded will it be there for tourists in early July? One of my employees and her husband want to visit Yellowstone this Summer, but I thought it would be booked up and have long lines just to drive through.
What are your thoughts on this? Should one plan many months ahead?
What should they do to arrange a visit or camping?
John
drjohn71a":3puovxij said:
Yellowstone and the Tetons are very weather depending as far as crowds. I had full boats all day today - the first sunny day in the past few. Early July puts them right smack in the 4th of July crowd... I would think any tourist oriented place is going to be busy. To really get a feel for Yellowstone or the Tetons, it takes more than "a drive through." It would be to their benefit to make reservations during that time period. If they are RVing, some of the parks are "first come, first gets" and some take reservations. If they are moteling it, I would think reservations are mandatory during that time period.
As far as lines to drive through, both parks are busy during July and August; both are also VERY large and can accommodate a lot of people.
Here's my personal take on this area: it take a week or more to really see and explore Yellowstone - it is HUGE and SO diverse. Three days or more to get a feel for the Tetons. Sadly, most tourist drive through... what I call a "windshield vacation." You have to get out of your car and walk around to begin to appreciate all the these areas have to offer. Walk back to the trails around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone; walk the geyser basins, take the "tour" of the Lake Yellowstone Hotel; hike around Jenny Lake, by all means, take the boat tour of Jackson Lake! :wink: Spend a day walking around Jackson - see the art galleries, go to a live show, eat at Bubba's BBQ, drive around to Teton Village and ride the tram up the mountain.
If all one does is "drive through", they will be able to see some of the beauty of the Tetons and very little of the diversity that is Yellowstone... it will just be a lot of two lane roads with traffic stopping to photograph the animals.
As you can probably tell, I think these two parks are the crown jewels of the National Park System. We have been to both many times and always find new places to see and explore.
Perhaps a bit more than you wanted for suggestions, but I have a real passion for this part of the country. Spend more than a day or two driving through and you'll likely see what brings us back.
Best wishes,
Jim
Let The Sun Shine... :note :note :note
After days of rain, Tuesday was full of glorious sunshine! The views were spectacular, the boats were full, people were out and about and smiling.
Here's the details...
http://captnjim.blogspot.com/2010/06/let-sun-shine.html
And a preview...
Best wishes,
Jim B.
After days of rain, Tuesday was full of glorious sunshine! The views were spectacular, the boats were full, people were out and about and smiling.
Here's the details...
http://captnjim.blogspot.com/2010/06/let-sun-shine.html
And a preview...
Best wishes,
Jim B.
B²":26jycv3n said:
There are two cruise boats. One was refit from the hull up this past winter. The other will be getting her refit next winter. They were build by the Glacier Park Boatbuilders of Kalispell, MT. They are 42' long. Powered by twin Perkins 135 HP naturals. Crusing speed around 10 kts. Max speed around 15 kts. 40 passenger on one boat, 38 on the other.
These are what I'm driving on my "summer vacation."
Brent - go back one page on this thread and you'll see some interior shots.
For Pat A. - go back one page and you'll see sunshine and blue sky. 8)
Hi John,
Good to see you posting again.
Breathtaking is a great descriptive term for what I see each day... or it could be my lungs gasping for air from the elevation. :wink: I may have to pick up a thesaurus to come up with more terms to describe the beauty here. Joan and I have been coming to the Tetons regularly since 1972. While we love traveling to new places, there are some places that just keep calling us back: Yellowstone and the Tetons (it would be a darn shame to visit one and bypass the other since they are so close), the Pacific Northwest, Lake Powell. Yeah, all these places have some unique water, but it's the sights where the water meets the land that are so impressive.
We are both enjoying our experience here so far. Joan is great with customers in the store and enjoys helping them get more out of their time here. I like driving the boat and seeing what each day holds... between Mother Nature and the diversity of guests, it is never the "same ol'." When I'm not driving, there are always "marina projects" to keep me busy. I know our cloudy/rainy days are just a part of springtime in the mountains and there will be mostly days of abundant sunshine in the near future. Still, it is work. Yesterday I put in 13 hours, driving each of the cruises; a couple different 1st mates (young people that have to be given direction), a NPS Ranger on one cruise, and the meal cruises. It can be a challenge piloting that boat around all the small boats, kayaks, and canoes in the marina area. My main responsibility is to keep everyone safe and sometimes that means telling people something they don't want to hear ("No, Ma'am, your two year old is NOT allowed to stand on the rail off the stern of the boat!" :roll: "No, my young first mate, you are NOT going to watch me clean the boat - get a mop and give me a hand.) I already have some interesting stories about dealing with the public (including the guy who knocked back a six pack before getting on the boat yesterday... and didn't use the bathroom onshore (none on the boat) before boarding. :crook ). Driving the boat is a skill that most can learn... I earn my salary when things aren't "normal and easy." The view out my "office" window is beautiful, but the past few days, I've had to be especially vigilant about debris in the water, due to the rapidly rising lake level - from 79% last week to 100% this. The Snake River and area streams are bank full, adding to all the crap in the water. I enjoy the challenge and variety so far... I'll let you know if I still feel that way at the end of the season.
Best wishes,
Jim
Good to see you posting again.
Breathtaking is a great descriptive term for what I see each day... or it could be my lungs gasping for air from the elevation. :wink: I may have to pick up a thesaurus to come up with more terms to describe the beauty here. Joan and I have been coming to the Tetons regularly since 1972. While we love traveling to new places, there are some places that just keep calling us back: Yellowstone and the Tetons (it would be a darn shame to visit one and bypass the other since they are so close), the Pacific Northwest, Lake Powell. Yeah, all these places have some unique water, but it's the sights where the water meets the land that are so impressive.
We are both enjoying our experience here so far. Joan is great with customers in the store and enjoys helping them get more out of their time here. I like driving the boat and seeing what each day holds... between Mother Nature and the diversity of guests, it is never the "same ol'." When I'm not driving, there are always "marina projects" to keep me busy. I know our cloudy/rainy days are just a part of springtime in the mountains and there will be mostly days of abundant sunshine in the near future. Still, it is work. Yesterday I put in 13 hours, driving each of the cruises; a couple different 1st mates (young people that have to be given direction), a NPS Ranger on one cruise, and the meal cruises. It can be a challenge piloting that boat around all the small boats, kayaks, and canoes in the marina area. My main responsibility is to keep everyone safe and sometimes that means telling people something they don't want to hear ("No, Ma'am, your two year old is NOT allowed to stand on the rail off the stern of the boat!" :roll: "No, my young first mate, you are NOT going to watch me clean the boat - get a mop and give me a hand.) I already have some interesting stories about dealing with the public (including the guy who knocked back a six pack before getting on the boat yesterday... and didn't use the bathroom onshore (none on the boat) before boarding. :crook ). Driving the boat is a skill that most can learn... I earn my salary when things aren't "normal and easy." The view out my "office" window is beautiful, but the past few days, I've had to be especially vigilant about debris in the water, due to the rapidly rising lake level - from 79% last week to 100% this. The Snake River and area streams are bank full, adding to all the crap in the water. I enjoy the challenge and variety so far... I'll let you know if I still feel that way at the end of the season.
Best wishes,
Jim
Aah...Colter Bay! One of the greatest placed on Earth.
Believe it or not, in 1964, 1965 and 1966 the NPS actually had lifeguards at the Colter Bay Beach. ...don't ask me how I know that.
Colter Bay, and GTNP were actually my introduction to a career with the NPS. Neat places; interesting people.
I may be seeing you in a week or so...passing through
Best,
Casey
Believe it or not, in 1964, 1965 and 1966 the NPS actually had lifeguards at the Colter Bay Beach. ...don't ask me how I know that.
Colter Bay, and GTNP were actually my introduction to a career with the NPS. Neat places; interesting people.
I may be seeing you in a week or so...passing through
Best,
Casey
Yellowstone
New member
Jim - for your info. I watched the Lake Queen II get launched a few days ago. No passengers yet. On this past Tuesday, who ever is driving the boat was making practice runs to the end of the dock. The fellow who took over for you last year is now running the marina. Elliot is still the assist. manager. Only 14 boats were in the commercial slips. I made a run Tuesday early afternoon to the arms. Took the water temperature -32 F. The lake is 3 feet lower on the same date as last year. Rain has been very hard here but straight down, not with wind. Soggy is the word for everything in Yellowstone. A couple of different commercial boats from Wisconsin are going to wreak havoc , so they say, on lake trout this summer. Goal is over half a million. Grizzly sightings are common from near Fishing Bridge to Bridge Bay - huge boar, sow and cubs. John
Casey - a swim beach at Colter Bay? OMG, I am told this water may get up to 57º at the warmest part of the summer! :xseek I guess that was the Park Service's way of seeing who was serious about the work? :roll:
John - We have put the situation of the management at Yellowstone behind us. Folks keep saying "last year," but it was two years ago that we were there. We did spend last summer cruising on the Erie Canal, Hudson River, New York City, and up to Canada to the Trent-Severn. When things warm up, we will visit Yellowstone again; it is still one of our favorite places. I doubt that we will visit the marina... while we enjoyed staying there with our boat three years ago, you have to be a part of the workings to understand how much indifference, if not rancor, trickles down from the top. Tip of the iceberg for what I spoke about here. And in the words of the philosopher Forrest Gump, "And that's all I got to say about that."
Our current situation is MUCH more conducive to a cooperative, safe work environment, resulting in a better experience for guests and employees. I'm happy for you that you are happy in the marina there. I hope you'll understand if I don't whole-heartedly embrace that environment, and I'm glad you started a Yellowstone thread so I don't have to deal with it on our cruising thread here.
------------
We had a day off yesterday and another today. When we came home at the end of the day yesterday, we heard that a major communications cable had been cut in the area... no phone (which is spotty at best), no data, no ATMs functioning, no computerized reservations for the lodging... and worse for me: no C-Brats for a whole evening! :disgust Nice to be back. :wink:
Best wishes,
Jim B.
John - We have put the situation of the management at Yellowstone behind us. Folks keep saying "last year," but it was two years ago that we were there. We did spend last summer cruising on the Erie Canal, Hudson River, New York City, and up to Canada to the Trent-Severn. When things warm up, we will visit Yellowstone again; it is still one of our favorite places. I doubt that we will visit the marina... while we enjoyed staying there with our boat three years ago, you have to be a part of the workings to understand how much indifference, if not rancor, trickles down from the top. Tip of the iceberg for what I spoke about here. And in the words of the philosopher Forrest Gump, "And that's all I got to say about that."
Our current situation is MUCH more conducive to a cooperative, safe work environment, resulting in a better experience for guests and employees. I'm happy for you that you are happy in the marina there. I hope you'll understand if I don't whole-heartedly embrace that environment, and I'm glad you started a Yellowstone thread so I don't have to deal with it on our cruising thread here.
------------
We had a day off yesterday and another today. When we came home at the end of the day yesterday, we heard that a major communications cable had been cut in the area... no phone (which is spotty at best), no data, no ATMs functioning, no computerized reservations for the lodging... and worse for me: no C-Brats for a whole evening! :disgust Nice to be back. :wink:
Best wishes,
Jim B.
It was one of my long days today. More training with 1st mates (man overboard and fire drills), the I drove each of the cruises. The highlight of the day was bringing my Honey along on the dinner cruise... she got to see what I do all day. We had a fun group on the dinner cruise, and Mother Nature was kind to us. The weather weasels predicted a 50% chance of thunderstorms all day... other than some high clouds, it was a beautiful evening. And no precip. Here's a shot my 1st mate, Mikey, took of Joan and me...
Nice people and good food: steaks, grilled trout, corn, beans, potatoes, salads, drink options, and blueberry cobbler for dessert. After the meal, there's time for the guests to walk around the island a bit or just sit back and take in the beauty of the Tetons.
Nice way to cap off the day.
Best wishes,
Jim B.
Nice people and good food: steaks, grilled trout, corn, beans, potatoes, salads, drink options, and blueberry cobbler for dessert. After the meal, there's time for the guests to walk around the island a bit or just sit back and take in the beauty of the Tetons.
Nice way to cap off the day.
Best wishes,
Jim B.
Another week, another 50+ hours. In typical mountain fashion, Mother Nature has provided a wide variety of conditions this week. There was glorious sunshine, warm, cold, calm, wind, rain, thunderstorms... and that was just one day. :wink:
Here's a look at that day...
http://captnjim.blogspot.com/2010/06/wa ... nutes.html
And a preview:
Best wishes,
Jim B.
Here's a look at that day...
http://captnjim.blogspot.com/2010/06/wa ... nutes.html
And a preview:
Best wishes,
Jim B.
We were headed to Jenny Lake on our day off today... Mother Nature had other plans. We turned back in pounding rain, hail, and lightning. I had my business band radio with me (what we use for marina communications instead of VHF) and heard one of the other captains on the cruise boat turning around and heading back for the marina; a smart and conscientious move.
Coming back to our 5th wheel, we got caught at the campground entrance behind a long line of Airstream trailers. At the front of that line, we could see the back end of a C-Dory... through the raindrops and windshield wipers. When we finally got in, I donned my raingear and walked down to visit with Bill and El. They were sitting in their truck, waiting for more family to arrive. We had a nice visit... "kindred spirits" as El put it. I feel bad that the weather doesn't look real promising for the next couple days. While visiting with them, I heard the marina manager call the chef to cancel the dinner cruise.
I keep talking about "springtime in the mountains", but I'm ready for a steady dose of summer sunshine. 8)
Best wishes,
Jim B.
Coming back to our 5th wheel, we got caught at the campground entrance behind a long line of Airstream trailers. At the front of that line, we could see the back end of a C-Dory... through the raindrops and windshield wipers. When we finally got in, I donned my raingear and walked down to visit with Bill and El. They were sitting in their truck, waiting for more family to arrive. We had a nice visit... "kindred spirits" as El put it. I feel bad that the weather doesn't look real promising for the next couple days. While visiting with them, I heard the marina manager call the chef to cancel the dinner cruise.
I keep talking about "springtime in the mountains", but I'm ready for a steady dose of summer sunshine. 8)
Best wishes,
Jim B.
We were headed to Jenny Lake on our day off today... Mother Nature had other plans. We turned back in pounding rain, hail, and lightning. I had my business band radio with me (what we use for marina communications instead of VHF) and heard one of the other captains on the cruise boat turning around and heading back for the marina; a smart and conscientious move.
Coming back to our 5th wheel, we got caught at the campground entrance behind a long line of Airstream trailers. At the front of that line, we could see the back end of a C-Dory... through the raindrops and windshield wipers. When we finally got in, I donned my raingear and walked down to visit with Bill and El. They were sitting in their truck, waiting for more family to arrive. We had a nice visit... "kindred spirits" as El put it. I feel bad that the weather doesn't look real promising for the next couple days. While visiting with them, I heard the marina manager call the chef to cancel the dinner cruise.
I keep talking about "springtime in the mountains", but I'm ready for a steady dose of summer sunshine. 8)
Best wishes,
Jim B.
Coming back to our 5th wheel, we got caught at the campground entrance behind a long line of Airstream trailers. At the front of that line, we could see the back end of a C-Dory... through the raindrops and windshield wipers. When we finally got in, I donned my raingear and walked down to visit with Bill and El. They were sitting in their truck, waiting for more family to arrive. We had a nice visit... "kindred spirits" as El put it. I feel bad that the weather doesn't look real promising for the next couple days. While visiting with them, I heard the marina manager call the chef to cancel the dinner cruise.
I keep talking about "springtime in the mountains", but I'm ready for a steady dose of summer sunshine. 8)
Best wishes,
Jim B.
Another day off for us. It was a cold rainy night; I woke up several times to the sound of rain pounding on the roof. As the temp dipped into the 30s, at least it was rain. We slept in this morning - for the first time since we arrived here. It was 6:40 when I checked the clock before getting up to feed Izzy and make some coffee. With my radio on, I could hear the discussion about the breakfast cruise. All seemed well, until about 10 minutes before boarding passengers when I heard the chef on the island report in that they had big wind and low visibility just blow in. A few minutes later, the wrangler who takes the chefs and food out there called in, "Teewinot, this is Elk Island; you better bring your snow pants."
More discussion, a quick poll of the passengers, and the decision to cancel the breakfast cruise. A few minutes later, we began to see the light, swirling snow at our RV. On June 17th. It doesn't look like anything will stick, just a reminder from Mother Nature about who's in charge.
With our days off, the weather hasn't been very cooperative. When I said something about that, Joan came back with, "Which would you prefer: on your day off or when you're on the boat?" Something to think about. :wink:
Best wishes,
Jim B.
PS Apologies for the double post above... the internet connection here is a bit sketchy at best. We have a Wilson Sleek booster on the way.
More discussion, a quick poll of the passengers, and the decision to cancel the breakfast cruise. A few minutes later, we began to see the light, swirling snow at our RV. On June 17th. It doesn't look like anything will stick, just a reminder from Mother Nature about who's in charge.
With our days off, the weather hasn't been very cooperative. When I said something about that, Joan came back with, "Which would you prefer: on your day off or when you're on the boat?" Something to think about. :wink:
Best wishes,
Jim B.
PS Apologies for the double post above... the internet connection here is a bit sketchy at best. We have a Wilson Sleek booster on the way.
We visited with Bill and El and met some of their family this morning down at the marina. They were getting the necessary tags (NPS sticker and invasive species sticker) before launching... with the temp hovering around 37º :shock: I gave Bill some ideas of places to anchor depending on wind direction, and got some advice from one of our local captains.
Off to Jackson for us: lunch at a Mexican restaurant, dessert and fast wifi at Mickey D's, then grocery shopping before heading back "home." It's a chilly day, with 20 mph winds with a bite. Good day to have a Wallas running full blast if you're on a boat.
I'll post some photos when we get home.
Best wishes,
Jim B.
Off to Jackson for us: lunch at a Mexican restaurant, dessert and fast wifi at Mickey D's, then grocery shopping before heading back "home." It's a chilly day, with 20 mph winds with a bite. Good day to have a Wallas running full blast if you're on a boat.
I'll post some photos when we get home.
Best wishes,
Jim B.