While we were on our blogging hiatus, the opening of lobster season came by and once again, the decks of Dream Catcher are red with the blood of the non-believers! That’s right, I’ve declared an all out Jihad on the lobster nation and their plans for world dominance. “Jihad on you, you spiny bastards !!! LALALALALALALALALALALALALALALA !!!”

Ok, so mostly I’m just doing my usual, bozo deluxe hunting thing, but it sounds way better when it’s a Jihad.

I guess the season has been open for a month or so and the six times I’ve been out have all been productive. The only downside to the hunting has been the constant 15 to 18 knots of south easterly wind. I can’t really complain though because that wind is keeping us in power and helping to cool the summertime temps.

The fish action has also been pretty good as well. I’ve nailed several large Nassau groupers as well as a number of mutton snappers. I even got two Bahamian red snappers (black fin snappers) which were new for us. As an aside, it’s kind of cool that after 11 years down here we can still find new species of fish. And then eat them.

In less blood thirsty news, we are currently house sitting for some friends of ours and watching their dog and cat. While we have shore side facilities, I am tackling several boat related projects. One of these projects was the maintenance and upgrade of the Megabrellas. Megabrella #2 recently experienced a structural failure during a particularly windy day and to prevent future occurrences, I made “beefier” prop arms  to better support the umbrella canopy.

Extensive testing has revealed that the Megabrella Base Structure, or MBS, is now capable of handling winds to 25 knots sustained and gusts to 30. Boo-ya!

While both Megabrelli were disassembled, Amy washed the canopies in the washing machine and then I checked the stitching for signs of fatigue. Both looked fine and no repairs were required. I also repainted MBS #1 household white and stained MBS #2 dark mahogany. Once they were dry, we re-assembled both units and as of 8/15, we have taken them both to the beach three times with no issues. Rock on Megabrellii

In addition to the Mega repairs, I’ve completed construction of the next gen beach chair. Long time readers will remember the two chairs we built last time we were house sitting and the subsequent failure of one of those at a Chat and Chill gathering. My engineers analyzed the failure and recommended some structural changes that we have incorporated into this version. The changes add two kilos of weight, but that’s a small price to pay to ensure the structural integrity of our beach going happiness.

I’ve also completed the first iteration of our very own suspended hammock chair. Actually, I made five previous models that all failed under load. Number 6 survived testing and proceeded to human trials, which also went well. The proto-type is pictured below and design changes for the first “production” unit are already underway.

I’m sure all of this sounds a little weird to those of you who don’t spend 20 hours a week on the beach, but for us the beach is a daily way of life  and so all of these little projects we are working on go a long way towards making our time in the sand more enjoyable.

To that end, I have also made a collapsible beach table, a self supporting wine/beer bottle holder and a custom rubber mallet and spike driver tool for securing the Megabrellii bases. I’ll have pictures and detailed reports on said devices in the coming days.

Remember, be safe, it's stupid out there ....