There's a saying on a bumper sticker...

"I'd rather be BOATING"

Well, since I had the boat pulled last week (it happened Tuesday), that's no longer an option and activity at "work island" started again.  I still needed to finish the house painting that began Memorial Day weekend so got the peeling paint scraped during the week and thought we'd make some progress today.  Unfortunately, I ran into some rotted trim and paneling on the north gable.

With that, I decided to replace the entire facing, bought new material and had my number 1 painter get all the material primed.

She finished priming the bare spots on the siding as well so we're ready to get after the rest of the job tomorrow.

Like I said...I'd rather be boating.

Well, this is it.  The end of another boating season.  I could milk it a bit longer, but there are a few things that need to get done around the house before the snow flies.

I arrived Friday afternoon at an early hour.  There was a ripple on the fairway and a flag snapping on the pole.

The forecast was for a weekend of wind so I rounded up the necessaries for the annual oil change.

I got that job done in a couple hours and spent the rest of the evening relaxing.

Saturday morning and the air is still.  Might as well get that one last fling out of my system.  So, I motored out a ways at dawn, to see if I could find some fresh fish.

There are still trollers in and around the harbor, but I have no real desire for those maturing salmon at this late date.

The sonar out here shows a little over 50 degrees on top...

and a little cooler 25 feet down so I'll be targeting the surface waters.

I deploy my one man spread of rigger, diver and half core and wait for some action.

Still nothing as the sun finds the horizon.

I notice the temperature seems to have dropped as I troll west.

How low will it go?

That's right.  36.4 degrees on the surface.  Only 4 1/2 degrees north of solid.

It was a nice morning for a little ride and I got to check that everything was back in order after the Friday evening motor service.

I eventually ran into another temperature break that held a lot of bugs and scum.  I trolled that for a few minutes without success.  Then, while clearing lines, I had a steelhead hit and had that fish on for a brief period.  Enough is enough so I called it a year and headed back to port.

Bade farewell to the Badger one last time...

as the resident swan kept watch...just as it did when I arrived in April.  Must be an omen.

Time to pack up the gear and prep this machine for it's winter nap.

Sawdust season is near.

I waited for the nicest day of the weekend to venture away from the dock...or so the weatherman said. Turns out, it wasn't the best but still fishable this morning.

It didn't take a long time to get a fish to bite.

I landed a nice 23 lb. salmon.

The sun came over the dunes and the fishing, or rather the catching stopped.

I did manage to reel in a small salmon a little later that didn't pop the downrigger release but made the speed sensor go nuts so I knew it was on a line.  A nice 5 lb. eater.

We quit early so we didn't have to contend with the lines at the cleaning station.  Entering the harbor, we passed one of the many boats on "harbor patrol".  You see almost anything and everything trolling in here this time of year.

And now that I look closely, this guy has 4 lines in the water.  That's one too many.  Never a cop around when you need one.

So back at the dock, it's time to begin getting this operation put to bed for the season as I packed up the dinghy for the trip home this week.

Kind of sad that days of summer are numbered now.  I'll be up here for a few more weeks doing maintenance and maybe wetting a line now and then.

Tomorrow we have a major wind event forecast so we'll likely pack up early and get to the Lansing quilt shop for Kathy's annual forage through their sale event.  The "excitement" never ends!

After a line of storms passed through this evening, we walked over to the park to enjoy the sunset one more time.  Kathy doesn't participate in this activity after Labor Day (the official kick off to the 9 month quilting season) so it's her last Lake Michigan sunset for a while.

We stayed there long enough to see the Badger set sail once again.

Another day in the books and weekend for the most part.