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Blastfurnace 2023

Storm the Field

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12 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

Seems like we might as well set up the placeholder "Blastfurnace 2024" thread soon.

Also....what do y'all think the over/under date is on our last 100 degree day this year?  I'm pitching October 12th.

Also, what do y'all think the over/under date is for our last 90+ degree day this year?  I'm thinking November 25th (Saturday after T-giving).  We'll have some cool downs before then, but in between, we'll spike back up.

This "new normal" shit just fucking sucks.  My weekends fucking suck, because I can only do shit outside for a couple of hours each day.  Otherwise, I have to plan indoor tasks and activities.  At least when CFB starts back up, I'll be able to spend a few hours on Saturdays watching football.   I really am starting to understand the dead-of-winter cabin fever people in goddamned Saskatchewan feel when it's gray, snowy, and ass-freezing below zero cold for 90 days straight, so they really can only go out if it's a special purpose and they're fully geared up.

So much of this. And as much as I want to argue with your over/under... I can't. 

What the fuck is happening with El Nino and all the rain it's supposed to bring. Taking its sweet time.

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All of it is extremely depressing to me. I used to have this naive belief that in the face of a real, global crisis, humanity would come together and solve the problem. That grown ups would take charg

Storm the Field
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Bingo. It's an artifact of youth. You don't care if it's 100 degrees when you're 12 years old and your only concern for 3 straight months is where you are swimming that day and which friend you're spe

Humpy
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I was going to spray weeds today but it started raining, will have to wait until tomorrow. Low of 55 tonight so open up the windows it is.

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Jiggy-Z

Jiggy-Z 3509

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Posted (edited)
8 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

2023 has now officially overtaken 2011.

Worst Summer Ever, we did it folks!

 

Since the 2011 vs 2023 discussion has now entered Emmitt Smith v Barry Sanders territory, I have provided a helpful link from KXAN with some of the blow by blow details from 2011 for the Surly analyst to pour over. For Austin only.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.kxan.com/weather/ten-years-ago-austins-hottest-summer-wraps-up/amp/

Edited by Jiggy-Z
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YGIFS

YGIFS 19458

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There's so many people I want to thank for this.  Where do I start?  I guess all the people that said we couldn't do it.  And that we certainly couldn't do it a full 5 weeks before the Autumnal Equinox occurs.  I want to thank the Ice Age we apparently had 50,000 years ago which provides solace to all the global wildfires, dead animals, and heat-stroke elderly folks.  And I want to thank the Dutch.  Sure, for the last 25 years, we've recorded the hottest years in history and they're entire country will be under water very, very soon.  But what the fuck with the Orange?  Your flag is Red, White, & Blue.  How do get Orange from that?  And then what the fuck is Holland?  

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InkaUtexas

InkaUtexas 26866

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2 hours ago, UnivTex34 said:

So we did a kayak trip, on the normal stretch of river on the SanMo beginning of July. River was low. Wife's boat that she has had to never drag during other low water years, had to be dragged through a few low spots. Gauge at put in that day was at 80cfs.

 

Just looked this morning, as we were debating another trip. Checked gauge, and it's 62.9cfs. Previous historical low at 74. Holy shit.

We are fucked. (and this means you too you damned lizard @InkaUtexas).

 

I grew up out in West Texas, on the edge of divide country, and my grandfather always wished/hoped for hurricanes to end droughts. I married into a family from Houston, and have been told many times it is not cool to "root" for hurricanes, but damn we need a few hurricanes to fix our shit here in CenTex. 

 

It is running real low for sure. Buddies who are big fishermen are talking about how little they are catching now. 

Fiancé Kayaks every weekend and she was bitching about the water levels. I never denied its bad, I just said I still go down there to get out for a bit as often as I can. Better than not going. 

The other fucked issue are all the trees that are in rough shape. Her dad's place has trees going down faster than aggy's rollercoaster in October. 

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UnivTex34

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Posted
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2 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

It is running real low for sure. Buddies who are big fishermen are talking about how little they are catching now. 

Fiancé Kayaks every weekend and she was bitching about the water levels. I never denied its bad, I just said I still go down there to get out for a bit as often as I can. Better than not going. 

The other fucked issue are all the trees that are in rough shape. Her dad's place has trees going down faster than aggy's rollercoaster in October. 

Never said you did, just giving you and your lizard kind a heads up that half of your lizard survival strategy is not looking great. 

 

All joking aside, we are in deep shit if it gets much worse. My jaw hit my desk when I saw the flow that low. 

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InkaUtexas

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5 minutes ago, UnivTex34 said:

Never said you did, just giving you and your lizard kind a heads up that half of your lizard survival strategy is not looking great. 

 

All joking aside, we are in deep shit if it gets much worse. My jaw hit my desk when I saw the flow that low. 

Agree 100%. My only point was I set my AC up high and go to the river when I can. Been here for 6 years and the usual place we jump in is a sandbar now. Friend who is a water guru said even with a TS it will take some serious time to replenish. 

I have seen bad droughts. This is one. And I don't see it getting better anytime soon. Yes, we are fucked. 

 

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23 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Was today the fastest Austin hit 100°?  100 before noon tells me the forecast high temperature will outperform.

My home station hit 100 at 11 a.m. a few days ago and topped out at 111. Today is on that same track. Reading 107 degrees at 12:30.

 

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UnivTex34

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Posted
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1 minute ago, InkaUtexas said:

Agree 100%. My only point was I set my AC up high and go to the river when I can. Been here for 6 years and the usual place we jump in is a sandbar now. Friend who is a water guru said even with a TS it will take some serious time to replenish. 

I have seen bad droughts. This is one. And I don't see it getting better anytime soon. Yes, we are fucked. 

 

Yeah, I was talking to a buddy that used to have family land downriver from yall a bit. He said we will need several years to fix this. As someone with probably 500 miles on the Kayak's odometer, just on the SanMo in the last decade, it is extremely sad. We fell in love with that river back in the dregs of 2011, as it seem like it was one of the few immune to the severe drought. Not the case anymore it would seem.

 

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InkaUtexas

InkaUtexas 26866

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3 minutes ago, UnivTex34 said:

Yeah, I was talking to a buddy that used to have family land downriver from yall a bit. He said we will need several years to fix this. As someone with probably 500 miles on the Kayak's odometer, just on the SanMo in the last decade, it is extremely sad. We fell in love with that river back in the dregs of 2011, as it seem like it was one of the few immune to the severe drought. Not the case anymore it would seem.

 

Yep, a fear is spring lake will run so low nothing will come over the spillway at the headwaters. That river will dry up very fast. 

Another major concern is going to be harvests. My tomatoes were fucked this year. 

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Storm the Field

Storm the Field 5366

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12 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Was today the fastest Austin hit 100°?  100 before noon tells me the forecast high temperature will outperform.

Think that's likely from the extreme heat levels yesterday and getting very little time to cool down . It was still in the 90's at bedtime and still 85 at 5:00 a.m.

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UnivTex34

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Posted
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1 minute ago, InkaUtexas said:

Yep, a fear is spring lake will run so low nothing will come over the spillway at the headwaters. That river will dry up very fast. 

Another major concern is going to be harvests. My tomatoes were fucked this year. 

Yeah, We have not run the upper stretch in a few years, but Cummings dam just below the confluence with the Blanco is another one I'm worried about for the downriver folks. It and the one in Martindale would completely fuck the flow on my fav stretch from Martindale to Staples. (not to mention the dam in Staples). It may just end up being a string of ponds if we don't get rain soon.

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UnivTex34

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Posted
Posted (edited)
3 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

Inka and 34:

A bunch of friends have a house booked for a Guys Trip/40th BDay weekend right down on the river by Don's the weekend after Labor Day. Any idea if we'll actually have water to lounge around in?

We are just doom-ster-baiting. 

I have no idea at what flow the water has to be at to not make it out of the headwaters, or the other low head dams I was speaking of, but my assumption is we still have a bit to go before we get there. There will be water. It will just be very shallow for the SanMo. 

 

Edit to add, you just need to find a deep pool, which are very easy to find on the upper stretches.

No one should piss in the house the entire weekend. Do your part to raise the river level.

Edited by UnivTex34
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InkaUtexas

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4 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

Inka and 34:

A bunch of friends have a house booked for a Guys Trip/40th BDay weekend right down on the river by Don's the weekend after Labor Day. Any idea if we'll actually have water to lounge around in?

There will be water as 34 said, but the flow rate? Who knows. Water quality is another issue. Ain't smart to sit in stagnant pools with tons of college students pissing and puking up river. 

And if we get rain a rule of thumb is we don't swim in it for 2-3 days. What am I saying, it is never going to rain again! 

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Snake Diggity

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I am not a religious person but if I was I would believe we are being fucking smited.  I would guess 1-2 more summers like this and we will start to see a shitload of upper middle class people leaving the state to move somewhere cooler.  Real estate bust might be pretty likely.  This fucking sucks.

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YGIFS

YGIFS 19458

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3 minutes ago, Snake Diggity said:

I am not a religious person but if I was I would believe we are being fucking smited.  I would guess 1-2 more summers like this and we will start to see a shitload of upper middle class people leaving the state to move somewhere cooler.  Real estate bust might be pretty likely.  This fucking sucks.

That's how I know you are not a religious person.  Any religious person is going to know straight away that all the good smiting comes in the form of water.  Floods, parted seas, heavy rains, etc.  There is dry smiting (South Austin's Mom would know) that comes in the form of plagues, locusts, wandering in deserts, etc.  But look back---we always recovered from those.  It's the wet smiting that almost nobody walks away from.  

Even Lamb's Blood on the Doorway.  Clearly smiting.  And what do we know about Lamb's Blood?  Contains more water than the blood of any other large mammal on God's green earth.  Never mind the boiling seas which killed all the fishing opportunities so we starved out.  And oh yeah, it was all done in Egypt out of jealousy over their access to guess what?  An abundant and fruitful River.  Which we're about to run out of in Texas.  

I don't think we're gonna "I got a great deal on a new Chevy Tahoe" our way outta this one.

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UnivTex34

UnivTex34 1765

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49 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

Inka and 34:

A bunch of friends have a house booked for a Guys Trip/40th BDay weekend right down on the river by Don's the weekend after Labor Day. Any idea if we'll actually have water to lounge around in?

 

1 hour ago, InkaUtexas said:

Yep, a fear is spring lake will run so low nothing will come over the spillway at the headwaters. That river will dry up very fast. 

Another major concern is going to be harvests. My tomatoes were fucked this year. 

So just because I was curious, I shot off an email to the USGS asking if they knew the gauge height/streamflow where water no longer discharges from Spring Lake (and the other low head dams just downstream). I doubt I will get a response, but If I do, I will post here, just FYI.

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Eastwood

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1 minute ago, Storm the Field said:

Anybody else's weekends gotten really worthless during this stretch? 

Drinking and swimming are about the extent of "stuff to do." Too damn miserable to do anything healthy or productive outdoors. House projects piling up, haven't touched my bike in months, dogs rarely get to go on long walks.

Yes, this has been a lost summer for us. In the Spring, it was a fight to get the kids outside to get their energy out. Now it’s a fight because they’re tired of being inside. They are practically begging to ride their bikes and go to the park. The pool is all we really get, but there is very little shade at the neighborhood pool, so middle of the afternoon is still rough. Can’t hit the driving range after work or on the weekends during acceptable drinking hours. Even trying to go for a jog at 9 pm isn’t in the cards because the temp is still in the high 90s  

The yard is almost completely dead. I have 3 crepe myrtles that are possibly dead, despite trying to water them on occasion and a well established red tipped photonia that may not make it, either. 

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Brisketexan

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4 minutes ago, Storm the Field said:

Anybody else's weekends gotten really worthless during this stretch? 

Drinking and swimming are about the extent of "stuff to do." Too damn miserable to do anything healthy or productive outdoors. House projects piling up, haven't touched my bike in months, dogs rarely get to go on long walks.

A lotta this.  Can't actually get out and do anything.  We can do a handful of things for an hour or two early or late.  But a few Saturdays ago, I had about 3 hours of stuff to do outside.  I'd work for maybe an hour, take a break.  In usual summer conditions, a "break" means come inside, pour a cold drink, cool off for 10 minutes or so.  This time, each break had to last at least 30 minutes, and doubled the cold drinks.  Wiped our asses out.

It's depressing.  We're as "stuck inside" as we would be if it was -20 with 4 feet of snow on the ground.  Roads are clear.  We can drive from indoor place to indoor place.  And that's the sum total of our activities.

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InkaUtexas

InkaUtexas 26866

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1 minute ago, UnivTex34 said:

 

So just because I was curious, I shot off an email to the USGS asking if they knew the gauge height/streamflow where water no longer discharges from Spring Lake (and the other low head dams just downstream). I doubt I will get a response, but If I do, I will post here, just FYI.

Appreciate it. I will call my buddy and see if he can request it as well. Stage 4 water restrictions kick in on Monday. Canyon Lake provides a lot of water to communities. Have not been down there since summer began. We got people down there and would appreciate their insight. 

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/san-marcos-to-enter-stage-4-drought-restrictions

 

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InkaUtexas

InkaUtexas 26866

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3 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

The yard is almost completely dead. I have 3 crepe myrtles that are possibly dead, despite trying to water them on occasion and a well established red tipped photonia that may not make it, either. 

Save the trees and give up the Photinia. Never a plant I liked! 

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UnivTex34

UnivTex34 1765

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5 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

Appreciate it. I will call my buddy and see if he can request it as well. Stage 4 water restrictions kick in on Monday. Canyon Lake provides a lot of water to communities. Have not been down there since summer began. We got people down there and would appreciate their insight. 

https://www.fox7austin.com/news/san-marcos-to-enter-stage-4-drought-restrictions

 

Actually got an immediate response, but it was just a redirect to a local office. We will see what they say.

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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 46163

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1 hour ago, Brisketexan said:

A lotta this.  Can't actually get out and do anything.  We can do a handful of things for an hour or two early or late.  But a few Saturdays ago, I had about 3 hours of stuff to do outside.  I'd work for maybe an hour, take a break.  In usual summer conditions, a "break" means come inside, pour a cold drink, cool off for 10 minutes or so.  This time, each break had to last at least 30 minutes, and doubled the cold drinks.  Wiped our asses out.

It's depressing.  We're as "stuck inside" as we would be if it was -20 with 4 feet of snow on the ground.  Roads are clear.  We can drive from indoor place to indoor place.  And that's the sum total of our activities.

I literally just drove around on Sunday to "get the dogs out of the house".  They get walked every morning at 6:30, but that's not really enough.  So they get to go on drives in the air conditioned car to see the world go by.  

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YGIFS

YGIFS 19458

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17 minutes ago, Eastwood said:

Yes, this has been a lost summer for us. In the Spring, it was a fight to get the kids outside to get their energy out. Now it’s a fight because they’re tired of being inside. They are practically begging to ride their bikes and go to the park. The pool is all we really get, but there is very little shade at the neighborhood pool, so middle of the afternoon is still rough. Can’t hit the driving range after work or on the weekends during acceptable drinking hours. Even trying to go for a jog at 9 pm isn’t in the cards because the temp is still in the high 90s  

The yard is almost completely dead. I have 3 crepe myrtles that are possibly dead, despite trying to water them on occasion and a well established red tipped photonia that may not make it, either. 

Lost Summer is a good way to put it.  Kids got out often as soon as school was out until about Flag Day in mid-June.  Then shit started to get weird.  Few trips to cooler environs after that but it's been 5-6 weeks back home just sitting inside.  They're too young and need to get to bed so can't go out and play at 9pm, and we've tried to do some shit in the early morning.  And there's nothing on the horizon but some indoor sports practices between now and end of September because it's just too fucking miserable.  Even the "in my day, we played outside no matter the weather all day until the street lights came on" crowd has finally shut the fuck up as people are just dropping from heat stroke while rolling out trash bins.  The "standard" of lost summers was supposed to be Covid-19 Summer of 2020.  But thank God that was relatively mild.  We were outside playing= and riding bikes and swimming every single day.  We were a little tentative at first for distancing purposes but by late June, we were outside for 4-8 hours every single day. 

If our children suffered as a result of that lockdown, I would contend they will suffer just as much from summers like this one which are becoming more and more common.  Yeah, I hated a few months of isolation for the kids back in 2020.  In hindsight, it was rougher on them that we thought.  But I take solace in the fact that we did what we thought was best at the time to deal with a situation we had no control over.  We are going to endure more and more and more summers like this that keep our children bottled inside and the effect is going to be far, far worse than that socially distanced/masked summer of 2020.  We are going to have 5+ summers like this or worse every fucking decade and we'll wonder why our kids didn't ride bikes everywhere in August like we did at their age.  3 months of the year inside was horrible in 2020 because of pandemic.  3 months of the year inside every other fucking year after that?  Yeah, this'll go fantastic.  Maybe we can regale them with tales of bygone ice ages.

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InkaUtexas

InkaUtexas 26866

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When my kids were little we were living in Dubai. Once summer hit I would flip their sleep times. They would sleep in real late so we could take advantage of the evenings and nights. Lots of Lego was the rule. Did not work all the time, but it helped be able to get them out for a bit every evening. Boss lived a block away and had a nice pool. He and his wife never cared if the kids were in the pool after sunset. She would make a pitcher of lemonade and I would sit with him and enjoy a beer and cigar. 

It is a bitch on kids for sure, but if you can adjust it helps a lot. 

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troph

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21 minutes ago, InkaUtexas said:

When my kids were little we were living in Dubai. Once summer hit I would flip their sleep times. They would sleep in real late so we could take advantage of the evenings and nights. Lots of Lego was the rule. Did not work all the time, but it helped be able to get them out for a bit every evening. Boss lived a block away and had a nice pool. He and his wife never cared if the kids were in the pool after sunset. She would make a pitcher of lemonade and I would sit with him and enjoy a beer and cigar. 

It is a bitch on kids for sure, but if you can adjust it helps a lot. 

we used to go out on the lake around 630pm in the summer months, meant dinner was shot, snack early, go out, come back around 9pm, eat late. but lots of water time. now we don't even go out until 8pm and that just means we stay out after dark. it is what it is.

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YGIFS

YGIFS 19458

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5 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

 

As an aside, during the Dust Bowl, there was a legitimate suggestion from people in the east to simply pave over the plains to keep the dust from blowing.  

"This wheat tastes like cement."

"I don't know anything about that..."  

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Storm the Field

Storm the Field 5366

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10 minutes ago, troph said:

we used to go out on the lake around 630pm in the summer months, meant dinner was shot, snack early, go out, come back around 9pm, eat late. but lots of water time. now we don't even go out until 8pm and that just means we stay out after dark. it is what it is.

Hey at least you're still getting in some lake time.

Some very good friends of ours here in Houston have a place on Lake Travis. They typically hit the road and spend at least every other weekend of the Summer at the lake, if not more often than that. They pretty much gave up and have hardly gone at all this year. Floating dock has been sitting on dry land for god knows how long at this point. Boat is essentially just a fancy ornament sitting under the driveway slip.

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