I've been away for a while for a variety of reasons. First, there was the issue of the lack of social decency on this forum . It got so the only reason I came here was for technical advice; not for a sense of community and camaraderie. I am glad to see that has changed very recently
Second, I have had a lot of distractions over the last 1.5 years. My mother-in-law passed away after a six-month bout with cancer. My son has been battling an illness for a year that he only now is beginning to conquer.
Third, fishing and boating has taken a downturn in my parts (west central Florida). We had a big kill zone in the Gulf in '06 that has not recovered. On top of that, gas is, well, we know all about that. Also, they have added a closed season for groupers and are considering lowering the bag limits as well. Finally, my rental house where I kept my Sailfish is now rented and the tenant needed the lift. So, the Sailfish is now in my backyard. But, this is probably a good thing. I used to lower the boat and drive it the 26 miles through Tampa Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. This would cost over $100 in fuel before I even got to the Gulf. Now, I will just trailer the boat to a ramp on the Gulf and save quite a bit of fuel in the process.
Third, my health has been up and down. As some of you may recall, Slack Time and Fishie1 for sure, I had a congested coronary artery in 11/06 that required a catheterization, angioplasty and stent and quarter followups with a cardiologist. I backed off on my boating to concentration on fitness and in the process lost 30# of fat, gained 15# of muscle, lost 15# net, increased my speed on the bicycle from an avg. speed of 16 mph to 20 - 22 mph, lowered my 5K run time from 30 minutes to 24 minutes and improved my swim times with the aid of a swim coach. I competed in one sprint triathlon in July and was looking forward to my first Olympic length triathlon (1500m swim, 40K bike, 10K run) last month. I was ready! I even had visions of placing in my age group (45 - 49). In January, during a routine cardiologist visit, my cardiologist noticed a heart murmur in me for the first time. After a followup echocardiogram and confirmation with a cat scan, I now have a dilatated aorta and regurgitating aortic valve. The aortic valve can cause shortness of breath, although I never noticed it except under very stressful exercise events (bike sprints, hard runs, etc.). The dilatated aorta, on the other hand, if left untreated, can dissect and be fatal. John Ritter died from a dissected aorta a few years ago. Mine is thought to be good for no more than 3 years before it will be fatal also. So, I am having homograft aorta surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville on Friday. The surgeon will re-route my blood, chill my body temperature down to the lowest recoverable temperature, remove my aorta and aortic valve, and install one from a cadaver. After a 4 - 7 day hospital recovery period, I hope to be able to slowly get into activities within a month and be back at my business of providing training classes by the end of May. I had rescheduled 3 classes to give me a 7-week recovery period, which I hope and think will be enough.
Obviously, I had to cancel the triathlon in March, but am looking forward to an Olympic length triathlon in Lost Wages in October. I will not be quite prepared for it after a layoff of several months, but I am eager to get one done and out of the way.
On the boat front, I still have my 1989 Sailfish, the Margaritaville. A few months ago I picked up a real sweet 1988 Boston Whaler Montauk for a song ($3600). I sold my 1974 Boston Whaler Katama last week to make room for it. After I sell a 1970 13' Whaler to my brother-in-law and nephew, I will be down to 2 boats for the first time in years!
Second, I have had a lot of distractions over the last 1.5 years. My mother-in-law passed away after a six-month bout with cancer. My son has been battling an illness for a year that he only now is beginning to conquer.
Third, fishing and boating has taken a downturn in my parts (west central Florida). We had a big kill zone in the Gulf in '06 that has not recovered. On top of that, gas is, well, we know all about that. Also, they have added a closed season for groupers and are considering lowering the bag limits as well. Finally, my rental house where I kept my Sailfish is now rented and the tenant needed the lift. So, the Sailfish is now in my backyard. But, this is probably a good thing. I used to lower the boat and drive it the 26 miles through Tampa Bay to the Gulf of Mexico. This would cost over $100 in fuel before I even got to the Gulf. Now, I will just trailer the boat to a ramp on the Gulf and save quite a bit of fuel in the process.
Third, my health has been up and down. As some of you may recall, Slack Time and Fishie1 for sure, I had a congested coronary artery in 11/06 that required a catheterization, angioplasty and stent and quarter followups with a cardiologist. I backed off on my boating to concentration on fitness and in the process lost 30# of fat, gained 15# of muscle, lost 15# net, increased my speed on the bicycle from an avg. speed of 16 mph to 20 - 22 mph, lowered my 5K run time from 30 minutes to 24 minutes and improved my swim times with the aid of a swim coach. I competed in one sprint triathlon in July and was looking forward to my first Olympic length triathlon (1500m swim, 40K bike, 10K run) last month. I was ready! I even had visions of placing in my age group (45 - 49). In January, during a routine cardiologist visit, my cardiologist noticed a heart murmur in me for the first time. After a followup echocardiogram and confirmation with a cat scan, I now have a dilatated aorta and regurgitating aortic valve. The aortic valve can cause shortness of breath, although I never noticed it except under very stressful exercise events (bike sprints, hard runs, etc.). The dilatated aorta, on the other hand, if left untreated, can dissect and be fatal. John Ritter died from a dissected aorta a few years ago. Mine is thought to be good for no more than 3 years before it will be fatal also. So, I am having homograft aorta surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville on Friday. The surgeon will re-route my blood, chill my body temperature down to the lowest recoverable temperature, remove my aorta and aortic valve, and install one from a cadaver. After a 4 - 7 day hospital recovery period, I hope to be able to slowly get into activities within a month and be back at my business of providing training classes by the end of May. I had rescheduled 3 classes to give me a 7-week recovery period, which I hope and think will be enough.
Obviously, I had to cancel the triathlon in March, but am looking forward to an Olympic length triathlon in Lost Wages in October. I will not be quite prepared for it after a layoff of several months, but I am eager to get one done and out of the way.
On the boat front, I still have my 1989 Sailfish, the Margaritaville. A few months ago I picked up a real sweet 1988 Boston Whaler Montauk for a song ($3600). I sold my 1974 Boston Whaler Katama last week to make room for it. After I sell a 1970 13' Whaler to my brother-in-law and nephew, I will be down to 2 boats for the first time in years!
