I took off Friday, a well-earned vacation day after a hectic week at the Open. The Captain had the day off as well so we decided to spend the afternoon on his boat, a small but seaworthy aluminum vessel called the Tin Tin.

We took a leisurely ride down the Shrewsbury River, at one point encountering one of the infamous river dolphins, swimming with a baby dolphin. From there it was on to KC and Nicole's abode in Sea Bright, where KC decided to join us for the afternoon. It didn't take long for KC to bag a keeper river fluke...










We returned to KC's, where the other order of the day was the 24-hour preparation of a pork butt in a smoker for a barbecue on Saturday. The smoker was set up outside their house, uncovered. That seemed fine at the time, but trouble was brewing...

After lounging around enjoying some late afternoon beers, the Captain headed to the water's edge to filet the day's catch.










While there, the sky started to look somewhat ominous. Within minutes, it turned downright nasty...

Thanks to my new digital camera (and the Captain, who not only helped me pick the camera but also thankfully knows how to operate it), we were able to capture some great videos of the storm.

First, the clouds roll in...



In part 2, the wind really picks up, the Captain and KC discuss the potential fate of Tin Tin and the smoker, and KC makes a run to save the smoking pork...



And in the third part, heavy rain pounds the house. KC does a lot of shouting while attempting to salvage the smoker below while the Captain and I huddle in a corner on the upper deck...



The storm passed quickly, allowing us to run down to the water to batten down the hatches on Tin Tin before the arrival of the storm's second round, which featured an incredible amount of lightning. And then the skies started to clear, giving way to one of the most breaktaking sunsets I have ever seen.





































As we stood overlooking the river, taking in the sunset, we suddenly realized the real show was going on behind us, as a full rainbow filled the sky over the ocean...



Finally, with the worst of the storm having passed over us and darkness starting to fall, the Captain and I decided we needed to get Tin Tin home. We removed as much water as we could from the bottom of the boat and set off on our way...










As we rode, the spider lightning continued to fill the sky. It did help light our way home but was also a bit unsettling, knowing we were in an aluminum boat, surrounded by water.

Despite this, as I watched the Captain expertly maneuver the craft the 20 minutes home, I thought, if this was going to be how my time among the living was going to end, I couldn't have asked for a better day on which to go out...





























Very, very good times...