My dentist died.

He was the very best dentist that I have ever known. Such a great dentist to have, in fact, that I travelled 250 miles, one way, to go to the dentist.

Amy, at first, wondered why I made it a point to go to Savannah when I needed to go see the dentist. She soon learned, and he became her dentist, as well.

First time I went to Dr. Kazlow's office in downtown Savannah was in 1992 when I took a lunch break from my work as an investigator back then. A friend recommended him when I had a filling loose. I was expecting the dreaded root canal sales pitch.

His office was not fancy. It was an old-fashioned office, and he even had the old-timey dental chair, equipment, and even the old porcelain spit-bowl. As I began taking off my suit coat, he asked if I had any allergies. I replied, "Yes, one...pain." He glanced at my sidearm and handcuffs and said, "Well, you came to the right place. No pain here."

"Good, because if you hurt me, I might shoot you," I replied, semi-jokingly.

I sat down in the dental chair and got comfortable. He looked at my tooth and then he said, "I need to take a picture to make sure nothing is too bad underneath everything."
Ok. Now comes the added things to bump up the cost of my visit and all because of this one tooth. He took an x-ray, and excused himself for a few minutes while he processed it and looked at it.

He came back in the room and said, "you don't need a root canal, but I am going to have to build your tooth up some and it will take about 3 fillings to build it up and fix it right."

Good, no root canal, but I was figuring he was going to sock it to me with the 3 fillings deal. I started bracing myself for the novacaine injection. I didn't feel a thing... not even the initial prick of the needle nor the liquid going into my gums. The only thing I felt throughout the whole ordeal was a little bit of pressure while he put the fillings in. He was right. No pain... so far... but I hadn't gotten the bill for his services yet.

When finished, I went to the front to pay the bill. He followed me there after he cleaned up. "I am going to have to charge you a little more than what I usually charge for a filling, since I had to put in 3 fillings and build that tooth up," he said. "Is $75 ok?"

No pain.

He was right.

I didn't even feel pain in my wallet. I was happy to pay him.

In Savannah, Dr. Kazlow was known as the "painless dentist". Amy found that out for herself. Being located downtown, being the most reasonable dentist I've known, having the very best "bedside" manners that I have seen, and being the most customer service-oriented dentist I've ever met, he will be greatly missed by me, by Amy, and by so many people who were his patients.

80 years old. He had been at the same office throughout most of his life. And from the window, he had witnessed half-century or more of history that passed by the intersection of Liberty St. at Bull St. in downtown Savannah.

How fortunate I feel in having had the honor to have befriended him.

Fishing in the shallows right now is not very productive, since the surface water temps are still a bit too cold for the crappie to come into the shallows. Deep lake fishing is still doing well, though.

If you're going fishing for crappie around this time, you are best off if you have a boat so you can get to some deep spots.

You won't even need to cast your line. Just find a good deep spot (preferably with a nice drop-off) of about 50 ft in depth. Drop your line straight down until you feel it hit bottom. Then pull up about 2 ft off the bottom.

A double bottom rig with a bass casting or pyramid sinker will work well if you are using live bait. Though many folks like using the tiny little small minnows, I like the medium ones. The medium minnows attract a bigger fish. For crappie, I like using a #1 gold aberdeen or a #1, or #1/0 bronze carlisle hook (I like the carlisle hooks better). I usually like hooking the minnow directly at and under the dorsal fin. They seem to do better for me than hooking them anywhere else.

If I am on shore and havng to cast out, I'll use the same rig and then add a small bobber about 2-3 ft above my barrel swivel. This allows me to cast out to a deeper area, let the sinker hit bottom, and the bobber pulls up just enough on the line to keep my bait at just the right distance from the bottom.

If you'd rather use lures for crappie fishing during this time of year, the chartreuse jig bodies seem to work best, and fishing from a boat in deep water (50 ft depth is ideal) works very well.

Again, drop the jig straight down from the boat. When it hits bottom, pull it up about 2 ft. Then start twitching your rod to get a bit of jigging action going.

If you can stand the cold night temperatures, night-time fishing can be very productive in those same 50 ft depths.

If you have some of the glow worms or the ice fishing glow-in-the-dark weighted plastic minnows for jigging, you can have a good bit of fun and end up with a daily limit in a matter of just a few hours... and you may end up catching some other, more sizeable fish than crappie.
Be sure to remember safety, especially when boating to your favorite fishing spots during this time of year. Dress warmly in layers. Layers give better protection while allowing you to peel off layers if the day starts warming up.

Remember when night fishing to keep your stern light on and fish away from the channel. If you decide to turn your stern light off while anchored in order to keep your fishing spot a secret, you are posing a danger to yourself, your passenger(s) and other boaters. And if DNR sees you, there is a very good chance you will get a very well-deserved ticket.

One other thing... wear a PFD. Don't just use it as a seat cushion. There are fishing PFD vests which are comfortable and they even provide good added insulation against the cold temps.
If you happen to fall overboard, or your boat capsizes, stay with the boat and try to climb atop of it or pull yourself as much out of the water as you can. It is much easier to spot a capsized boat than it is just a head bobbing up and down on the water.

Getting close to February, it's once again time for boating and fishing. Right now is a great time for striper fishing, as well as going for trout in the foothill streams and rivers.

For trout, I enjoy using ultralight spinning tackle. I remember back when I was a kid in the 1960's, I had read something in a fishing magazine about a new idea catching on which was the use of ultralight monofilament on spinning reels in order to use poppers, flies, and ultralight spinners for fishing trout in the mountain streams and rivers.

Today, it's pretty common to see people fishing with spinning tackle for trout. Back then, there was no such thing as ultralight spinning rods and reels.

For trout, being a panfish, I usually like using my Daiwa Ultralight spinning outfit with 4 lb monofilament line. A #10 or #8 extra long shank aberdeen hook with a small live bug on it works best for me. Live maggies work fabulous, but so do live crickets. And, I have caught trout using small and medium minnows, as well. I prefer the medium minnows since they usually attract a larger trout. I still prefer live bugs or maggies, though. I think the trout like them better, too.

Small spinners work well. I usually like the tiny 1/24 or 1/32 oz spinners. The color just depends on where you are and how the fish are acting that particular day. If you use spinners, it works better on a strike than a popper, since once a trout hits it and finds out it isn't food, it lets go and it almost seems like he tells all the other trouts in the area. Since a spinner is being retrieved slowly but almost constantly, there's a better chance that you'll hook that first strike.

Spinners are also good right now (though the larger ones) for stripers. Although you can catch stripers from the bank, you can get to better places by boat. Near bridges and docks out near the channels are a good spot for using spinners for stripers right now. They're still a bit deep running, so you'll want to fish about 20' below the surface.

For stripers around this time of year, I usually use my Shakespeare Prius medium action rod and reel, spooled with 14 lb Remmington monofilament line, and I use heavier, 1/8 to 1/4 oz spinners. Some folks prefer the chartreuse colored ones, but I seem to do better with the reds and the orange ones.

I've been having some customers telling me that Crappie are still doing well down about 50'. Drop a jig all the way down til you feel it hit bottom, then pull it up about 2' and start jigging. You should get some pretty good strikes that way.

As soon as the weather breaks, I'll be back to my regular hours at my fishing shop in the garage, which will be Mon-Fri from 9 til 6. Right now, though, I am only open Wed-Fri from 10-5 and if it's rainy cold weather, I'm closed.

I'm going to start having some fun and exciting fishing tournaments, along with a fishing derby this year, which will include fishing tournaments for all kinds of different fishing... bass, catfish, bream, crappie, etc. Drop by and get the scoop. I'm thinking it will be a lot of fun.
It's nice right now, and 6 pm, so I'm gone.... fishing.

I look through a few classifieds often to see what's out there for what prices. There are some flags that raise when I sort through the multitudes of classifieds, especially on the internet.
There are a good bit of classified ads I've seen in boat, auto, motorcycle and rv listings.
First, there are some sellers that say they don't have a title, or the title(s) has been lost, but if you buy the item, you can get the title yourself.

Don't fall for this one. If you do, you'll be facing a paperwork nightmare and it could end up costing you more than what you bargained for.

The other common thing I run across is those folks that tell me that the item belongs to a 'friend', uncle, cousin, or what have you. They have the title(s) and registration papers, and they have been signed already, so all you need to do is write your name in there as the buyer and everything's good to go. Not necessarily so. Watch out for this con game. You could end up with a regret afterward.

I've contacted the DMV about buying used vehicles, motorcycles, and RV's. They've told me that it is the responsibility of the seller to provide the buyer with a current title and proper registration paperwork at the time of purchase. The seller also needs to provide the buyer with a bona fide bill of sale.

I've also contacted SC DNR and they have expressed the same thing. If the title has been 'lost' or 'misplaced' by the owner of the boat, a duplicate title and or registration can be ordered by the seller of the boat. Duplicate titles are only $5 each and duplicate registration cards are only $1 each.

What happens is that there are a good bit of folks out there trying to make a fast buck by becoming "shade tree" auto, motorcycle, RV or boat dealers without going through proper licensing. On the surface, you may feel you're getting a great deal, but since they are not legitimate businesses, you don't have the recourse available to you that you would if you bought from a real and legitimate business.

Let's look at this example:

You go look at a boat that was listed for sale in a classified ad. The boat looks fine and the seller even cranks the engine for you. The seller points out that the registration is good through 2011. Time comes to buy the boat, and he tells you that he bought the boat from a relative or 'buddy' and he never got around to changing the registration to his name, but he shows you where the titles have already been signed, but not dated by the prior owner.
You give him the money and drive off with the boat. You then go to have the titles and registration transferred to your name and you are asked for the bill of sale. The titles and registrations are signed over by one person, and the bill of sale is signed by someone else. You have a problem.

Or, let's say the titles, registrations and bill of sale is all in order and signed by the prior owner. You put the boat in the water and it has a hole in it and sinks. So, you go back to the person you bought the boat from and he says he's never seen you before. How can you prove otherwise?

See where I'm getting at? Think about red flags like these when you're looking to buy a vehicle, RV, or boat.

Extremely windy today. Winds here in Anderson were showing at 24 mph (sustained) with gists to about 60 mph. If the temperatures were up in the mid 50's F rather than hovering in the upper 30's F, today would have been a great day for me to have gone sailing at the lake, if I didn't happen to have had my shop open.

I couldn't get away from my boating and fishing shop today since my hours here during the Winter season are Wed - Fri from 10 am til 5 pm, but my friend, Capn Dan went out to the sail club and left me a message letting me know that my vessel was handling the wind and waves well out on its protected mooring.

I took Amy out sailing on Canadian Mist on Jan. 1st from about 1300 til about 1700 hrs, which that was a cold, windy day. Temps that day were in the upper 40's but the winds were recorded at the lake at being around 15-18 mph with gusts at 40+, so it felt a lot colder. Being that I was sailing single-handedly, I decided to just try the mainsail by itself, which proved to be a lot of fun. A few times, I had my vessel heeling over at about 25°, with the foot rails skimming the water's surface and the spray from the breaking waves attacking my face even with my being aft in the cockpit. Amy stayed in the cabin below since it was a good bit warmer in the cabin.

When nearing the harbor, I decided how my vessel would handle in doing a quick 360° turn and she responded marvelously. I then sailed her into the harbor and docked her under sail (though I did have the engine on for just in case I needed to engage the propeller).

I prefer sailing her single-handedly in much lighter winds, but I wanted to see how she handled in heavy winds. She performed well.

Last weekend, a friend of mine named Dan took his vessel out for a sail on Sunday and invited Amy and me to sail with him that afternoon. The winds were light and we sailed on Dan's vessel (Dream Weaver) all afternoon, spending about 4.5 hrs sailing that Sunday. Although I have been privy to sail on Dream Weaver a few times in the past, Amy never has, so it was a new experience for her. We all had a great, smooth sail.

Amy and I had a wonderful New Year's Eve and a fabulous start for 2010 on New Year's Day.
We spent New Year's Eve at the sailing club. There were about 15-20 of us there. We all brought some food and our beverage(s) of choice. Amy and I took some of those new pretzel crackers, along with a pasta salad dip and a chicken salad dip that went over well. A few other members baked some pizzas in the oven there. Another couple brought a tiramisu that was extraordinary. Some folks brought some chips, others brought dips and salsas, others brought some party mix.

Amy and I drank beer throughout most of the night. We all watched the ball drop and at midnight, we all ate 12 grapes, threw out cups of water, and toasted the coming of the new year. Amy and I had hard cider instead of champagne, as that is what has been the traditional toasting beverage of my family and ancestors from way back.
The New Year's Eve party came to a close at around 2:30 am, then Amy and I went to our boat's cabin to sleep.

We awakened the next day, New Year's Day, in the morning, went to the clubhouse and had coffee with biscuits for breakfast. By about 2 pm, the sun was shining warmly, though we had a good, brisk wind comming off the water, so it was still a bit cold out, but Amy and I decided to take the boat out for a sail.

Perfect day for sailing my C&C 30, which is an offshore racing cruiser. Winds were up at about 15-25 mph, steady, and gusts up to 41 mph! It was awesome out there, with whitecaps breaking at the bow and spray coming off the water!

I only had the mainsail up, since having both the main and the jib would have been more work and probably better only if I would have had a crew of a couple of extra people on board. Even with just the main, I still got the boat heeling a few times at 20 and 25 degrees, and twice having the toerails (the top of the sides) touching the water. Those couple of times, I quickly brought her back to about 20 degrees, since that is about optimum for sailing speed.

This was the first time that Amy had seen me take the boat out by myself during rough water weather, so it was a good thing, since she was able to see, firsthand, how well I handle a nice-sized sailboat in rough water and good winds. Amy mainly stayed in the cabin, since it stays much warmer down below than in the cockpit.

Since I had not taken her out by myself in high winds and rough water yet, it gave me the opportunity to see how well she handled under these conditions. She handled extremely well.
After a couple of hours of sailing, I decided to take her back into the harbor and dock her. I started the engine, but decided not to engage the transmission unless I absolutely had to. Instead, I sailed her back into the harbor and she handled so well, docking her nearly perfectly, under sail.

I've heard that whatever you are doing on New Year's Day, you'll be doing that a lot throughout the year. I definitely plan on sailing a good bit throughout 2010.
I hope ya'll had as wonderful or better New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

Capt. Leonardo Ortiz (USMM)

Another year fixing to finish, with New Year's Day just around the corner on the calendar.

This is a good time for reflection on the past and setting goals in anticipation of the future. I take this time to ask myself what I have and have not done during this past year to affect my life and the lives of people around me, and whether it may have been better to have done some things differently, better, or not at all.

Then, I look into the coming year and set positive goals... some which will be easily achieved, some that will require various levels of effort and commitment to achieve, and some that may not be achieved, yet offer challenges for me to at least try to achieve.

Overall, I've had a very good year. I've helped a few of my Social Security clients get their disability benefits started. I've helped a few people who wanted to stop smoking. I've helped a few others who wanted to lose weight. I've helped some folks do better in school. I've helped some folks improve their relationships. I've married a few people. I've taught some boater safety education courses. And I've helped some folks have more fun by helping them with fishing, boating, and camping needs.

Did I make a million dollars?

Nope. It wasn't one of my goals.

Did I become rich or richer? Yep, sure did. I made a few new friends, helped some folks have better lives, and lived a relatively stress-free life without depending on any happy pills. In my view, that makes me pretty rich.

Were there things I feel I could have done differently... or that I feel I should have done but didn't? Yes, definitely so.

Some of my goals for 2010 include getting 5-10 more social security clients and settling 5 or so disability cases I already have on my books (I usually only take on 5-10 new clients per year so I can concentrate on those client's cases without getting too overburdened). I also hope to help folks out by restructuring my fees for counseling and hypnosis in order to make my services more affordable during these tough economic times.

For my store in my garage, I plan on building an outdoor shed so I can have a place to keep my yard tools and other stuff taking up space in the garage so that I can expand my sales floor some, since I have expanded my line of products now to include boating, ropes, and other products in addition to my bait, fishing, and camping products that I already sell.

I don't have any resolutions, per se, since the idea of new year resolutions has taken on a bit of negativity and I personally don't feel that resolutions carry that element of positive commitment as do goals and plans to achieve those goals.

As you read this, take the time to reflect back on this past year ending, and then work on establishing new goals and plans for accomplishing those goals for 2010.

And then, stay focused.

Wishing ya'll a Happy New Year!

Capt. Leonardo Ortiz (USMM)

When Amy and I take trips, we usually opt for the US and state highways rather than the interstate highways. There's a lot more to see and when you feel like pulling over and taking a break, you don't have to wait to get to an exit or a rest area, since you usually pass through plenty of small towns and along country stores dotting the smaller highways.

Sure, you can't travel at 80 mph very well on those smaller highways, but then, what's the point in doing 80 mph rather than 55-65 mph, other than adding to the plenty of stress you already have daily?

We've done the interstate thing plenty of times and discovered that by going on the interstate highways, you not only miss out on all kinds of things, but you also end up usually taking more time than by taking the smaller highways, you use up more gasoline, and when you arrive at your destination, you're so stressed out that you need to pop another one of those prescription happy pills.

Of course, you run into some really, really slow drivers every once in a while (the ones that are doing 40 mph or less), but then usually those folks are just going into the next town just up ahead and if you have a little bit of patience, they'll make that left turn sometime soon. Then you can do the Mazda thing and zoom zoom once more, or just relax and take in all the stuff around you and drive at a much less stressful speed of about 55-65 mph.

We went to Savannah over Thanksgiving weekend. We drove through interesting little towns, such as Harlem, GA. where Oliver Hardy (of Laurel & Hardy fame). was born. We stopped at a convenience store at a crossroads, where I was going to get a snack and the convenience store had a little cafeteria inside it. While I was looking at some snacks, I noticed a number of folks coming in, getting food and eating it there or taking it out, so I looked at the items on the menu and the food looked great. I went back to the car empty-handed and told Amy we could stop and have lunch there.

Amy and I each got a baked chicken thigh and green beans. She also got mashed potatoes, while I got fried okra instead. And we each got a couple of "ho cakes" (cornbread that looks like pancakes). Great country cooking, and both meals, including tea for each of us, was under $9. You rarely find anything like that along the fast-moving interstates.
With us stopping for lunch, we made it to Savannah in 4.5 hrs. On the way back, I took the interstate system, and it took us 6 hrs to get back home, and that's because I got off on exits 3 times before getting stuck in accident traffic. Had I gone interstate all the way, I imagine it would have taken us 9 or more hours to get home.

And the next day I may have needed to see a physician to get a prescription for some happy pills.


Plain.
Simple.
Common Sense.

Capt. Leonardo Ortiz (USMM)

It's that Holiday time of the year again. Cold weather ushers in the feeling of Christmas and the Holiday spirit. For some, it is the time for holiday spirits, as well. And for some, it's time to pig out, making their clothes in the closet shrink a size or so.

Then follows the New Year's resolutions... losing weight, quitting smoking, doing better at your job or in school, blah blah blah. As a CCHT certified hypnotist and neuro-linguistic practitioner, I usually get busy with the resolution-making folks starting a few weeks after Jan. 1st when they realize will-power alone, nor all the fads and gimmicks sold on TV end up doing any good.

In February, you start seeing used exercise equipment for sale in classified ads and in the thrift stores. Those are from the folks that bought the gimmicks for their resolutions that have since gone awry. Some folks just put the stuff in their basement or the attic or in a storage building to collect dust, instead.

By February, those who didn't think ahead before heavily participating in the holiday spirits of beer, wine, and liquors end up hundreds of dollars in the red and maybe even losing their driver's licenses since they have been to court.

It doesn't have to be that way at all.

If you used your head a bit for something other than wearing a hat, you can save yourself all those headaches.

I have nothing against eating and drinking. I do it. I like food. I also like beer and I like rum and wine and vodka and tequila and...

I simply remember what Paul said in a letter to the Corinthians once upon a time long, long ago... "All things in moderation."

When Amy and I go out, I may have a beer or maybe even two. After that, I stop drinking alcoholic beverages and just drink water or some other non-alcoholic beverage. It's not just because I don't want to get a DUI. I just never really liked getting sloppy drunk and being in a position whereby I cannot function well enough in a crisis situation should one arise.
Even when we go out to the lake where we have a place to sleep it off if we drank too much, I still moderate my alcoholic beverage intake, but then again, having embraced my having such a dominant personality influences me greatly in my making sure that I can be in full control of any situation which may arise where I need to have control.

When it comes to food, it is very easy for me to pig out if I don't make myself aware before eating and remind myself that I am no longer 25 years old and exercising 12 or more hours a day like it used to be back in my younger days as a professional dancer. I can no longer eat 6 platefuls of food followed by 6 platefuls of desserts and keep from having a dunlap (that's when the belly "dunlap" over the belt), so I have to be sure to moderate how much I eat.
Additionally, Amy and I lead a pretty active lifestyle. We sail, walk, camp out, swim, fish, and still go out dancing whenever we get a chance.

This holiday season, keep this issue's Captain's Log in mind. If you're out at parties where food is plentiful, moderate your intake and your clothes won't shrink while hanging in the closet. If you partake in the holiday spirits, have a non-drinking designated driver or get a room or a taxi.