I could be in a Tampax ad...

Paddleboarding, biking, sailing... the only thing missing is horseback riding, and that is not on the agenda.

Friends (they have a place across the street from us) Randy and Cindy invited us out sailing.  Joan had stuff to get done, but my schedule was wide open.  They have a 36' MacGregor catamaran - plenty of room for the 3 of us, and Bentley, their big mean dog.

Randy said, "I brought fried chicken."  Chicken and sailing.  This has the makings of a great afternoon.  We made our way out of our canals, Randy at the tiller...

We motored out to the turning basin, where I got a close up look at the drilling platform and pipeline ship that are there...

They were rolling pipeline onto that big reel in the middle - amazing to watch.

Down the ship channel, heading to the Gulf.  The rest of the crew: Cindy...

And Bentley, the wonder dog...

The best part of the day, for me: the first dolphin sightings...

Then, more of them...

I missed these playful mammals.  Bentley took to the bow to keep an eye on them...

Not a lot of wind today, but beautifully flat water.  We made our way through the jetties and into the Gulf...

That is South Padre Island in the background, from the Gulf side.  Not far into the Gulf, you could see the line between the blue water and the greenish water near shore...

Not much traffic today - we were passed in the opposite direction by a Coast Guard boat and a shrimper.  Yep, feels like home.

Coming back into the jetties, we saw a group of pelicans, flying low, heading the other way...

I passed up photos of the dredging operation that will soon be putting more sand on the beach (from a post a few days ago), in favor of getting more dolphin photos...

Like the Orcas in the PNW, the marks/nicks on their dorsal fin make it possible to distinguish the different dolphins.  Unlike in the PNW, there is no rule to stay 200 yards away.  In fact, they frequently come right up to the boat...

After spending the summer viewing the Orcas, these dolphins look so tiny!  Nice to get to spend some time watching them, though.  I took the helm for a bit while Randy and Cindy raised the sails, but I have to say it was really nice being a passenger, getting to watch all that was going on around us.

Great day on the water!