Hello to all my ‘Campfire friends. It’s been a rather interesting spring and summer for us but I think we’re getting back to normal. I had hoped to spend more time in my (new to me) Trophy 2352 WA fishing the salt but a string of “illnesses” had other plans for us. I won’t bore everyone with the minutiae but I’ll touch on the highlights. 😁 Some of this is new-news and some is old news.

Spring started off for us in Maui for 2 weeks where 5 days into our vacation my wife developed some abdominal pain. She thought it was a side effect of eating a lot of Poke and raw tuna so she’d take a naproxen and Pepcid and get minor relief. It didn’t get better but neither did it get worse so the day after we got home I took her in to the Clinic where she was diagnosed with a ruptured appendicitis. My wife didn’t look sick and her vitals (except HR) were of little help in the diagnosis. Upon admission her BP was 110/70 her temp was 99.8*, O2 sat 98% BUT she was tachycardic with a 100bpm and a significantly elevated WBC so she was admitted. They installed a drain and for 2 weeks I faithfully drained it twice a day, took vitals, etc. The day came to remove the drain and I expected that would be when they’d schedule the appendectomy but boy was I wrong. 😫. They told us that she didn’t need an appendectomy and that her chance of suffering from another appendicitis was the same as everyone else. I didn’t buy it but every time I brought it up my wife assured me that the doctors weren’t concerned with following it up. 2-3 weeks later she was back in the hospital for a temp >103*…..a real doozy of an infection this time! I was (and still am absolutely livid) so I don’t know what the future holds regarding their incompetence but I’m not finished with them yet. She spent the next 7 days in the hospital. During this time, with the imaging they’d performed, my wife was informed that she had a “bright, shiny foreign object” left inside her from a previous surgery. Trying to get any information from 4 or 5 different doctors, 5 or 6 PA’s or nurse practitioner and a couple handfuls of nurses proved fruitless. They ignored our requests for information and ran interference, undoubtably covering for whoever left it in the first place. That’ll be part of our follow up as we work towards getting the facts straight. My call to the chief medical officer was less than reassuring…..it appears to be a “top down” issue with a complete failure in the leadership. Covid seems to be a great excuse for not only our complete loss of freedoms but also the complete failure of any system of checks and balances or customer service/care.

About a month and a half later our 19 y/o son and his girlfriend got Covid when they went to Watershed and our daughter got it from her brother. They cut their 2 week vacation short and came home feeling lousy. They were sick with flu-like symptoms for a week and a half but slowly they recovered and are back to normal. When we first learned that we were potentially exposed to Covid my wife and I started taking Ivermectin dosed according to our weight, vitamin C and D, Zinc and a multivitamin. About 2 weeks after first learning about their Covid diagnosis my wife and I started feeling achy, tired and my wife lost her sense of smell and taste (I didn’t). Our symptoms were FAR, FAR, FAR more mild than our son’s. It’s my firm belief that our use of prophylaxis ivermectin and vitamins significantly reduced our symptoms. I’m the only one that hasn’t had a Covid test while everyone else in the house tested positive. My symptoms were very minor with the biggest issue being more tired than normal…..nothing too bad though. NONE of us have been vaccinated nor do we want to be yet nothing is being said about natural immunity?….that tells me that they don’t GAF about science, only CONTROL! Bastards!

During all of this my wife’s uncle, a Puget Sound Pilot and engineer for the AMHS (Alaska marine highway) called me and told me that he was done with rebuilding the mechanical systems on a 33’ Robert’s Trawler. It was originally built down here as a Bering Sea gillnetter (according to the documentation) with 1”+ thick fiberglass hull. The aft cabin configuration is perfect for a boat I’ll leave moored at our place up north since water and snow won’t accumulate on deck. At 15 tons it’s the heaviest boat yet for me but it’ll take far, far more water than I plan to throw at it. It’s going to make good quarters while we build and it’ll be perfect for me and a couple buddies to use as our floating and portable hunting cabin. We can access all of SE AK comfortably, safely and economically since she burns 1gph at 10mph. I’m going to have it hauled out and set next to the house while I install bow thrusters, a new electronics package with autopilot and refit the interior to sleep 6 comfortably. I’ll be buying a new outboard for my 16’ Boston Whaler which will be used as her tender, scout boat and fishing boat. If everything goes as planned we’ll take her up the inside passage next July making a bucket list, epic fishing trip. Stopping to fish all the destinations…..Hakai, Rivers Inlet, Haida G’wai, etc taking just under 2 weeks of comfortable traveling since the thrill is in the trip as much as the destination.

My wife and I are accelerating our plans to get out of here. Many of our friends (conservatives) have pulled up stakes and they’re leaving for greener, more conservative pastures. We just returned from our friend’s house (family by marriage) picking up the hens they won’t be taking with them on their move to Tyler Texas. Their son will be QB’ing for Tyler and they’ll sell their home here using the money to buy a hell of a lot more down there. We on the other hand will go north where we’ll carve out our own slice of paradise and where we will be an asset to the community that will be our new home. My wife has finally realized that there’s no future down here if you’re not a sheep and we AIN’T sheep. Our children will have a brighter future with endless opportunities up north while my wife and I can relax and enjoy the new adventures while we live where we once vacationed…..only dreaming of the day when we could make Alaska our home. We’re maybe a year away from listing our home because we want our daughter to be almost done with high school and her first running start AA degree and our son will be just about done with his electricians apprenticeship.

That’s my long-winded account of spring/summer 2021. Hope you all are doing well…..now if I can only figure out how to post pictures….😂

Great to hear from you! Glad you all survived the China flu! That trawler sounds awesome!

Get some pics up.

Good to see ya back.

That’s a helluva run you’ve had !

sorry for you troubles...
I will second the request for boat photos

I am glad your story didnt include being BobBrown...

Glad everything seems to have turned out okay!

Maybe you relax a little now that you're done 'vacationing'.

Glad to hear you and your Family are doing well.

Missed your posts.

Sounds like you're on the mend,Hope all works out with the Mrs.
Best of luck going forward.

Great to see you posting again, Ace.

Thanks for the report.

Since youre back maybe Rick can let a few CCP members go who you havent had the displeasure of getting to know.

No way in hell I am reading all that, until later. Welcome back.

Good to hear from you Aces, Glad you and the family weathered the summer. Pics of the boat Bud!

Sometimes life is tough but it's still good.

Dang what a story.

Sounds like an epic adventure is underway. Congratulations, glad you are all feeling better. And, maybe one day, 8 years from now, you and the wife will receive a 7 figure payment, minus attorney fees from the hospital for f’n up and almost killing your bride.

🦫

PS

Glad you’re back.

You're not one of the good guys anymore.

Thanks gentlemen! I am glad to be back and strangely enough I missed this place. 😁. Through the years you get to “know” the personalities here and 99% of those personalities belong to good men with opinions and insight I value. I’ll get the pictures figured out because I OWE Kamo a post on the Stubbs world tour thread. 👍

I forgot to mention that at 51 years old I finally quit chewing (tobacco, not in general 😁). I started around 16 and chewed pretty constantly since then. It’s my only major Vice but since I don’t like being told what to do I figured I had better quit on my own before I was told that I HAD to because of cancer. I’m healthy as a horse but I know that chewing was one activity that could change that status so 2 months ago I woke up one morning and told my wife that’s it for me a chew….and it was, DONE! Knowing that quitting tobacco can increase ones weight I made a few minor dietary changes, I swapped milkshakes for homemade berry protein shakes and I dropped 10 pounds (exactly what I wanted to lose) in 2 weeks. Keeping my weight between 210-220 is where I like to be so at 6’2” and 215 I feel good.

Glad to have you back Aces.

Why wouldn't they just perform an appendectomy?

Glad you're back.

I’m more interested in seeing pictures of you, instead of any dang boat.

Thanks,

AKPENDUDE

lmao

That's him in his avatar, taken during the filming of The Hangover.

Glad y'all are okay Aces. Good luck on your future endeavors. Thanks for posting your experience with COVID and what you did to combat it. I have enough Ivermectin here for all of us, just in case. No needles for us.

🤣
Ace might have missed all the good posts from AKPENISDUDE while he’s been away.

Ace’s be thinking, Beav has lost his mind.

🦫

Don't do it Aces! This perv wants to rail Piglosi.........No telling what he'll do with your picture.

The IQ of the 'fire just went up ten points. Welcome back.

I suspect the Haida Gwaii will be the trip of a lifetime. It's been on my bucket list for a while, but it keeps getting put off. Pick me up from Vancouver and I can be a deck hand

+1

Bro I’d love to be 215 nice work

Ok, when you put it that way....It made me LMFAO

🦫

LMFAO….You guys crack me up. I can’t believe I missed out on AKpenisdude’s posts but I’ll have to trust you all since I ain’t going back and looking. 😁

Beav, I wasn’t thinking you lost your mind, I was sure of it. 😁

Glad all survived!

Good to have you back.

Those of us fighting the good fight in Warshington will hate to lose you, but totally understand.

Glad everyone survived and is on the mend.

Boat sounds great!

Regards,
Bob.

I'm glad you're back.

What a story-- the ruptured appendix can easily take you away and I'm glad that got pretty much cleaned up. Covid can, too. Wow, what a Spring/Summer!

Aces,

That is the longest post I've not skipped through in a long, long time.

Glad you and yours are doing good and glad too see you back!

Higgins

Sounds like you have it figured out. Glad to hear your family is ok and good luck with the future plans.
Sounds like you'll be living the dream!

Glad you're back and everyone is on the mend. To better days ahead.....

I also had a love affair with chewing tobacco, quitting without killing someone was one of my accomplishments in life.
Glad to see you back Aces!

I'm sure glad the family slid through all this and are doing better.

As to the Bayliner 2352...does it have a trailer? If you forget it when you move north, tell me where it is you forgot it. They're a great configuration for medium to big lake fishing. I snoozed on a 2552 in good shape for $10K a year ago. It was bigger than I'd like to tow. The 2352 isn't too big. What engine?

Again, it's great to have you back!

L2S

Thanks again everyone! 👍

L2S, it has a Mercruiser 350 that was rebuilt last year and less than 80 hours on it currently. I regret this stuff got in the way of our potential fishing meet up but like I have said before….once I get things figured out up north I’d like to host some some friends from the‘Campfire. I had a new oil pressure sending unit installed as well as new exhaust flappers. Other than a couple of AGM batteries that’s all she “needed”. I did have a “new style” Scotty downrigger plug go out the other day so I’ll have to replace that (for the pot puller mostly). 😁. I have a backup plug on alligator clips just for Murphy moments like that. I also switched to 4 blade (same pitch) props and won’t ever see the need to switch back. I picked up an easy 6 mph at cruise and dropped the RPM’s. Ohh…I added a Honda 8hp kicker.

This boat will be going up for sale soon. I have the 33, a 20’ Duckworth that I’m re-powering from I/O Hamilton Jet to an outboard prop, a 16’ Boston Whaler (tender towed behind the 33) that will get the Evinrude 60hp 2 stroke replaced with a new 4 stroke before going up and a 14’ Sea Nymph skiff that I use the hell out of. Those are the used boats that will make the trip north since each serves a main function as well as tertiary functions. The outboards will be the same (make) so that we can standardize from the start. We’ll eventually order a new 20-24’ covered aluminum boat (or new power)(like Hewes, Raider or RiverHawk). For a dedicated run and gun sport fisher I don’t want a glass boat and I want dual outboards. 👍

Man you all are obsessed with me.

Free rent in your heads is a beautiful thing. I can’t imagine being so obsessed with another man but whatever, I’ll take that free rent.

I note that Beeg Jeem is conspicuously absent with his '...too long to read' shtick. Funny shyt. Good to see you posting again and glad to read that the 'fam is hanging tough. As an aside, please don't say that you didn't knock HI off the Stubbs hitlist...

Oh come on.

Perfect post length.

I knew you could do it.

Hell no brother, Stubbs was absolutely in Maui and still bares the scars from his corrosive introduction to the Pacific Ocean. I have the pictures……😉……we’re still waiting on the final sign-off from DoD and DEVGRU but I feel confident that my people will get the ok soon.

I’m not even returning Simon and Schusters phone calls until we get approval…

I get mentioned in threads that have no relevance to me, I get people starting threads about me in multiple forums of this website, there are a lot of “men” who just can’t get me out of their heads in this forum.

You know what nobody has ever done though??? Actually proven anything I said wrong, they just get butthurt, call me gay and accuse me of being other posters and follow me around this website.


It’s hilarious….pathetic, but hilarious. It is what it is though.

Sounds good.
Good to hear .
Dave

Ms. Crabtree's ghost just tipped her flowered bonnet in your general direction. Before recoiling in abject horror upon seeing your oft-shared Big Bad Johnson pic. Beware the white conehead gang.

Hahaha!

I'm an influencer.

Lol, God help us all........

Glad to see you back Aces.

Holy cow Ace!
That’s too close to losing your bride. The sad fact is that since Obamacare started, our health care system has failed.
Covid and the malpractice immunity kicked the last leg out from underneath it.
I’ve fired 5 doctors in the last two years.

Im really glad to see you’re back, and looking forward to your future adventures.

So do I. I consider it a badge of honor. But you're right, it's probably not in your case.

We need a "GREEN WITH ENVY" emoji.

That 2352 is a perfect Pyramid Lake/Bodega Bay fishing machine. I'd put my 9.9 Merc Pro Kicker electric start w/tilt-trim and electric remote throttle on it and the Honda on my 15' aluminum boat...retire my ancient but great running 7.5 Honda, sell my Bayliner 20' Trophy and 22 1/2' Proline O/B cuddy walk around.

BOATS...you're a kindred spirit.