It must be me...

I've been on OPB (other peoples' boats) the past couple days. This morning, Wild Blue and I left the dock before the sun came up. My favorite time on the water - watching the sky change colors and seeing the sun rise. I went through the swingbridge and headed from the ICW into the Laguna Madre. Within a couple minutes, I saw the orange boat coming at me at a high rate of speed. Yep, the fine young men on the Coast Guard small boat turned on their blue flashing light and came up alongside Wild Blue.

They were VERY thorough this morning. After presenting all my paperwork and safety equipment, they asked what was under the hatches in the cockpit... "Fuel tank and the bilge." They opened all the hatches and checked around with flashlights. They asked about my MSD (marine sanitation device - that's a toilet for you land-lubbers). When they were satisfied that everything was in order, they asked about the boat... mostly how I use it. When I explained all the different places we've cruised with this, they seemed impressed. When I said, "We've spent up to 5 months onboard," they looked mildly horrified.

"You LIVE on it?"

"Well, no; we have a home. But this is like an RV on the water. See - fridge, shower, hot water, galley, nice berth. And we spend every night on it when we're out cruising." A couple of them thought that was interesting... I could see on the face of the other guy that he had memories of spending extended time onboard with other guys. "Hey, we get off the boat all the time - out for lunch, stop for ice cream, go for a hike." Yeah, that eased his mind.

By the time they were done with me, I had pretty well missed the best of the sunrise photo ops.

I continued cruising around the area, enjoying the calm water and pleasant morning temp. Out in the jetties area, it was clear I wasn't the only one taking in the morning - quite a few people fishing from the jetties, and this guy carrying his surfboard... it's easier to walk out to the surf than swim against the waves.

There's a lot of seaweed coming in with the tide. And this guy...

It's a Portuguese Man o' War, a jelly-fish type critter with long stinging tentacles that hang below. OK, not a true jelly-fish, it's a siphonophore... but, it stings like a jelly-fish, so close enough. And when you see one of these, you generally see lots. They are blown about by the wind and tide. Not a good day for a swim... if you could stand the 59º water.

It was a beautiful cruise this morning; lots of dolphins and birds to watch. There is a dredging operation about to start, with a HUGE dredge and an armada of tugs to support moving the pipe around. They were on the move this morning. It's kinda fun to listen to them on the radio, especially when they talk to the Brownsville Harbormaster... I know we're all speaking English, but between the local Spanish accent and the tug guys' Cajun accents, it's a real treat for your ears.

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And for the Izzy fans, here's a photo update:

Peeking through the trim on the couch...

Laying on my legs while I'm on the computer...