Getting a bit furry...

No, not talking about my hairy hind-end or any man-scaping.  Go ahead - try to get that out of your head.

We are coming up on the hours where the break-in service is due; haven't been out on the boat in a couple days due to the howling wind here.  It was blowing 20 to 30 with higher gusts this morning, and starting to clock eastward from northwest.  It is going to get down to 55º in the Valley tonight; it will probably be in the upper 60s here at the coast.  Last night, one of the TV weather weasels said, "The low in the Valley will be around 55º tomorrow night."

The anchor woman said, "Fifty-five degrees?  That's freezing!"

Yes, she really said that.  You could make the argument that 55º is chilly for this area... but: freezing?

But, as usual, I digress - the weather doesn't have much to do with being furry... well, the past couple of hot, windy days may have aggravated the situation.  Like much of the past few weeks, I'm talking about the boat.  We did not bottom paint the boat, yet; I'd like to see how we do with just scrubbing it every couple weeks.  Today was the first day since we got it that I did some scrubbing...

It was late afternoon before the wind died down enough that I wanted to take the cover off.  Timing worked for us, since we went to our storage unit to get the boat trailer out.  We are scheduled for service first thing Friday morning, so we plan to pull the boat tomorrow... after getting a few more hours on it.  And, when the wind is supposed to be less.

In the meantime, the scrubbing went reasonably well - there was a pretty good green "fur" on the aft end of the pontoons; most of it came off with the stiff bristle scrub brush.  Should be easier to get the rest when the boat is out of the water.

We'll see how it plays out. 

Don't be late...

Don't be early.

It is Tuesday; hot and humid, with the wind blowing out of the south at about a million miles per hour.  Of course I am exaggerating: it is 82º, but "feels like" 90º.  The wind?  It is blowing around 20, gusting above 35.  The air outside looks "thick"... the dirt/sand in the wind is clinging to the humidity.  Some might call it haze; I am inclined to refer to it as "yuck."  A technical meteorological term.

What does one do when the outside conditions are yuck?  Exactly: go out for lunch.  We called friends Mike and MJ to see if they wanted to get out; they haven't eaten at Russo's, yet.

"What time?"

"12:38.  Don't be late."

"We won't."

"Don't be early."

Darned if they didn't show up right on the dot!  ;-)  The pizza was good; the conversation is never dull with these two.  They would like to be out fishing... but, not in this yuck.

It is surprising that either of us made it there on time - the bridge was open when we got to it.  I carry a handheld VHF in the car.. clicked it on and heard the approaching tug captain say, "We are pushing a double barge, empty, two minutes from the Long Island Swing Bridge, eastbound.  Any concerned traffic..."

Our bridge opens just wide enough for a double barge.  Empty in this wind?  Not my idea of fun.  Joan whipped out her phone to get a video of it, just in case.  This guy was good: he crabbed into the wind just a bit before the bridge, straightened out as the front of the barges came up on the opening, then crabbed again as it passed.  Impressive.

Photo courtesy of Joan's phone, a screenshot from the video.

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Back to the vote.  No, not that one, the meaningful one - yes, the national debate for the right to name the boat.

What's that?  Does this boat really need a name?  Probably not.  We actually went places with our other boats - when you call into a marina for a slip, they want your boat name.  Odds are pretty good we won't be traveling with this pontoon.  Still, it deserves a name.

Early polling has determined a shift in the numbers: it is now 49% for one name, 48% for the other, 1% undecided, 2% don't give a rat's furry rear.  The fate of the boat name pretty much lies in the hearts and minds of that 1%.  Who could have seen this coming?  If there is no clear majority, the decision will go to the ...  hey, it's my boat; the decision will be mine!  As long as Joan says it's OK.  ;-)

A couple mock-ups:

The name will go in an area that is dark gray; other graphics on the boat are red and white.

Getting in the Christmas Spirit...

We made a trip into the Valley today.  The wind was blowing like stink, so no fun to play with a boat, scooters, or e-bikes.  As we all know: when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping.

Joan had a specific shopping destination; plus, Tracker Marine let us know that they have our boat and trailer registration paperwork ready.  We will now have an official TX registration number... well, as soon as we get one made up, now that we know what the numbers are.  While picking up the paperwork at Bass Pro/Tracker Marine, we made the appointment for our break-in service.

We arranged the timing so we can bring the boat in first thing that day, then go out for breakfast and any other running we need (like: picking up the new vinyl registration numbers and boat name).  Then, take the boat home that same day.  No "leave the boat and we'll call you in a couple weeks when it's done"... that doesn't work for us... and, their service department was cooperative in working with us.

You may have noticed "boat name" in the previous paragraph.  We have narrowed it down to two choices, both with a music influence: Island Toon (reference to island tunes kinda music), or Cool Change (reference the song by Little River Band, and the fact that this is quite a change for us, boat-wise).  We'll make a decision in the next day or so.  Right now, those choices are running 48% for one name, 48% for the other, 3% undecided, 1% says they'll move to Canada no matter what choice we make.  This is going to be a close race.

Back to that "Christmas Spirit" thing... it was 91º today in the Valley.  Oh, sure, we got our shopping taken care of before the hottest part of the day, so it was only 87º.  Joan was very organized: shopping for gifts, pick up the boat registration stuff, shopping for stuff for us, late lunch, and home.  We talked about going through our Christmas lights to see what we want to put out, but that will have to wait 'till tomorrow morning, when it is cooler... it may cool off to the mid-70s tonight.

For the record, I am NOT dreaming of a white Christmas.  Christmas shopping in shorts and a polo shirt works fine for me.  :-)

Thanksgiving is behind us - let "the season" begin!

Moderate Chop on the Bay...

That was the marine forecast - guess we might as well find out how this boat handles sloppy stuff.

No, I don't go looking for it.  It is nice to pick the time and place, so you have a reasonable out if you need it.  Oh, we could have just stayed in the ship channel, where there is good protection from a south southeast wind.  15 to 20 mph, building to 20 to 30.

I took off the cover while Joan got stuff to bring on the boat.  We shoved off... in a light breeze.  I was less about the sight-seeing this time, and more about seeing how the boat handles the conditions.  But, you might as well look, since it is there...

Pretty sure that Great Blue Heron has two legs, but it is interesting to see them stand on just one.  Seems like they should be off-balance.

Out of our canal, we turned right, heading for the swing bridge...

Lovely flat water on this side of the bridge, but we knew what to expect on the other side.  Light chop in the ICW, turning to about a foot and a half stacked up real close.  Turning kinda into it (well, less direct than I wanted), it was bow up...

And bow down...

We weren't the only ones out there.  Well, the only small pontoon, but the wind and waves didn't keep people from going on on one of the parasail boats...

With our short waterline length, I expected some "porpoising" - no, nothing to do with dolphins.  Keep the speed down and there wasn't a lot of spray.  Not even uncomfortable.  A bit further east, and I could get us directly into the waves - even better.  Closer to the island, the conditions dropped to less than a foot...

Heading towards the ship channel, and downright flat water, there were some jet-skis running...

With a successful "conditions-checking" run done, we turned up the ship channel.  The dredging operation seems to be winding down, but the birds still having figured out the tug with the dredge operation is not a fishing boat...

The sky conditions were good to the east, looking more gray to the south and west.  Sparkly water...

The wind continued to build.  We stayed to the south side of the ship channel and had nearly flat water.  No plan, no destination - hey, we weren't even looking for dolphins.  But, apparently, they were looking to be looked at...

First view, a ways away, but coming towards us.  Joan and I swapped positions - she took the helm so I could get more than a one-handed-point-the-camera kinda shot...

Yeah, that's mo betta...

We hung around for a while, watching them pop up here and there.  We saw Scarlet a ways down the ship channel and waved.  She came to where we were viewing, we visited for a bit, then got out of there so she and her guests had the dolphins to themselves.

I truly enjoy her enthusiasm around the dolphins.

We took our time heading towards home - check out the roseate spoonbill...

Getting into skinnier water, I took the helm and Joan shot - these are all hers.

Nice angle on the bill!  Fun to watch this one feeding in the shallow water; and we were able to get much closer to this one.  This is with a 250mm lens equivalence.

We ran close by the drilling ships to get a view between them...

There is a platform between them right at the water level... and a gang-plank much further up.  Don't think I'd want to be walking that plank.

The wind continued to build.  As we were starting to make the turn towards our canal, when we saw these two excursion boats heading for the slips on the wall at the marina here - it will be more protected for them than their regular slips that have exposure to the Laguna Madre...

The wind was blowing right down our canal as we made our way to our dock.  A 180º rotation, then ease up to the dock, head into the wind.  This little pontoon handles it all with no fuss.

We took some spray on the seats and floor while going into the waves in the Laguna, but nothing bad.  I wiped things down with a wet towel, sprayed off the rest of the boat, and we put some things out on the dock to make sure they are completely dry before putting them away...

After a late lunch on the island, we got rained on while driving home.  Joan pulled up her radar app and said, "I'm guessing we didn't get much at the house - this cell is pretty small."

Yep, a few sprinkles that we dried off before putting the cover on the boat.  Good timing.  It is supposed to be windy the next couple days... I think we'll have some other stuff to keep us busy.

Nice day on the boat today - I have even more confidence in it.

Dolphin Friday Afternoon...

Joan made us a great brunch when I came in from the cruise described in the previous post.  Looking at weather, the weasels are predicting rain for this evening.  Somehow, it just didn't seem right to go through all that work of taking the cover off for only one outing.  I said, "I think I'm going to go out in the boat again - want to join me this time?"

"Well, if you're going out... sure!"

Looking towards the southeast, there is definitely something moving in.  Off we go.  There are always birds to check out on the undeveloped side of the island as we head out...

I was hoping we'd see dolphins again, so Joan could see them.  Heading towards the turning basin, we saw George and Scarlet (Sea Life Center) with guests on each of their boats... heading in.  Probably a good sign that there is something interesting to see behind them...

Yes, they use pontoon boats; bigger than ours because they are generally going out with 6 guests per trip.

There has been a discussion about inflatable personal flotation devices on the both the C-Dory owners group and the Ranger Tug owners group.  I first bought one when we were sailing our Corsair trimaran; an inflatable vest equipped with a harness (for strapping to a jack line) for rough conditions.  The inflatable type PFDs are automatic or manual; the manual ones inflate when you pull a tab.  The automatic ones will inflate when submersed, but also have a tab.  Mine is the auto type.  Of course, if the tab gets caught on something where it is stored, it will go off, too...

Yep.  It went off.  I have another arming kit to reload it.  We know it works.  ;-)

No dolphins in the turning basin or the channel south of that.  In the ship channel, we saw shrimp boats coming and going...

Yeah, those are some gray clouds in the background.

I was beginning to think we wouldn't see dolphins this trip, when...

There were a lot of small fishing boats, most running right over the top of where the dolphins were swimming.  The dolphins moved to a quieter part of the channel... but were more reserved.  I brought a different camera this time - bigger, but a bit slower to shoot.  The dolphins were surfacing for a quick breath and then gone.  I tried to anticipate where they'd come up.  Nose...

And then gone before I could fire off a second shot...

Joan took the helm so I could concentrate on getting photos...

There's one close, but not surfacing...

The wind started kicking up, coming off of that weather just east of us.  I continued watching and anticipating their moves...

That's more like it.  A day without tail is like a day without sunshine...

You know what I meant.  We decided to head for home so we can get the cover on before the rain starts.  Time to say good-bye to our mammal friends...

Yes, that dorsal fin on the one on the left is folded over; from observing, this one can swim and maneuver just fine with the deformed dorsal.

Back home, we got our stuff off the boat and the cover put on - just in time for... the sun to come out.

Of course.

Nice day out on the water.  Twice.

Dolphin Friday...

When I pulled up Facebook this morning, the "memory" it put up was from 4 years ago: instead of fighting crowds for Black Friday shopping, we were out on the boat looking at dolphins.

Some things don't change.  I waited for Joan to get up this morning, to see if she wanted to join me for a morning cruise.  Nope, she had cleaning she wanted to do - best with me out of the way.

"Izzy, do you want to go out on the boat?"

"Tryin' to work on a nap here."

OK, I'm heading out solo.  I took the cover off and got the boat ready.  Joan came out to give me a shove off the dock, and I started down our canal...

Around 8:30, so well after the sunrise and the pretty morning light.  Clouds to the southwest, making for some very contrasty light...

Once again, I didn't get through the turning basin before seeing dolphins...

Orca whales aren't the only ones who do a spy hop to look around...

I maneuvered the boat to get on the other side, with better light...

Underwater, right by the boat...

And, above water - in front...

Off the stern...

Off the side...

Well, that was fun.  I left the turning basin, heading south; looks like there could be some weather to the southwest...

Ahead of me, too far to get photos, I could see a couple dolphins jumping completely out of the water!  I didn't want to spook them by running fast towards them, so I just enjoyed the jumping prowess from afar.  By the time I got there, the activity was done.  Well, mostly done...

This dolphin seemed to be getting a kick out of spooking the pelicans.

I turned east, pointing towards the blue sky...

Looking north, the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway, over the Laguna Madre...

Yep, another good time for a "once around."  I timed it to go through the swingbridge on their 10:00 opening.  Another boater had asked for an opening 10 minutes early, and the bridge told him, "We will open it for you on the hour."

"Yeah, well you opened it for me when I asked yesterday!"

"Yesterday was a holiday.  10 minutes."

No use trying to argue with the bridge tender.  ;-)

I have mentioned the "flats" fishing boats around here...

Looks like a raft with a motor.

Coming back in our canal, a lady waved from her upper deck on a Sea Cottage - "You have an Okoboji shirt!  Are you from Iowa?"

Born and raised there.  And, enjoying one of my Okoboji wardrobe pieces...

;-)