winter blues

If I did not have to work and if Spartina's trailer had wheels, I might be out sailing tomorrow.  Warm with a decent breeze out of the south is the forecast.  I would like to be a January sailor, but it won't happen this year.  We are still waiting on the leaf springs for the trailer.  But that is all I'm waiting on.  Give me some time and some weather, and we are ready to go.

There are no fish off the beach this winter.  That may change later this season, but as of now it makes two years in a row where stripers have not made their annual appearance.  Last year 179 teams fished for three days off the Virginia Beach oceanfront in the annual fishing contest, and only one fish was caught.  This year the results were even less.  Yes, zero fish were weighed in.  

For over a decade friends and I had made a mid-winter fishing trip, sometimes successful, sometimes no.  But we always had fun.  Both last year and this year scheduling conflicts got in the way and we did not book a boat.  There were no fish to be caught so we did not miss out on that, but I still do miss the annual gathering with friends.  I suppose we could all get together, grill some steaks and enjoy the evening, but without the anticipation of fishing at dawn it would not be the same.

The schedule calls for football this afternoon, then the super bowl in two weeks.  Hopefully in between the leaf springs will sarrive and be put in place, making Spartina's trailer whole again.  Then a trip to California for a family visit and maybe even some sailing, back home in the middle of the month.  Maybe I will be a February sailor this year.

Nice weather tomorrow, snow flurries forecast for Tuesday.  Winter.