Boys and toys...

That's what Joan calls it: "You boys and your toys..."

We were both up early this morning.  Joan made coffee for her, hot chocolate for me.  I was thinking: this would be a good morning to go out on the boat.  She asked, "Would you like to go out on the boat this morning, then take me out for a late breakfast?  We can take the scooters if you'd like."

I couldn't answer, "Sounds great to me!" fast enough.  I brushed my teeth, then headed out to the boat to wrestle the cover off.  She met me at the boat with coffee and soda, and we shoved off.

It was too late to get the sunrise at the horizon...

... but, an absolutely gorgeous morning; 72º at 7:30 am (our departure time).  Heading out the next canal over...

Pretty light this time of day.  Good morning, ibis...

I planned to be out for a couple hours, maybe go west in the ship channel, towards the port.  Passing a bait shrimper on the way out...

That oil rig he is in front of makes for some very warm light in the morning.  Well, we may not get past the turning basin...

Reflections in the water from that oil rig...

Joan said, "Do you want me to drive while you go up front and shoot?"  (I had been taking the previous photos from the helm).  Yeah, that one is close...

With this shot taken, we can move on...

A fly-by near-by...

More dolphins as we moved south towards the ship channel...

More like silhouettes, with the sun behind them.  Then, this one popped up on our west side...

Looking east, back towards our island...

These folks on the fishing boat slowed down to check out the dolphins...

Just before turning into the ship channel, a tug with a couple barges was on the way out...

We gave him plenty of room.  We ran slowly west in the ship channel; no other traffic out there...

When we turned around to go east in the ship channel, it doesn't look much different...

I ran us up to 15 knots...

Beautiful flat water.  Another fishing boat...

Joan said, "It almost looks like a city skyline on the island"...

After going a few more miles east, we saw a flock of roseate spoonbills, well north of us, heading the opposite direction.  I turned the boat around to see if they were going to land anywhere that would be close enough to watch them - I am not a bird nerd, but these are cool looking birds: pink body feathers that almost look translucent when they're backlit, and that long beak that really is shaped like a spoon.

They landed on the small island at the "Y" (where the Port Isabel Channel meets the Brownsville Ship Channel); I headed that way.  They are quite a ways in from the shore of the island (known locally as: Dead Pecker Island*) - can't get any close-ups with my pocket camera, but we can enjoy checking them out with the binoculars.

Heading for home, an obligatory shot of a pelican on a marker...

50 bonus points for the first one who can say what that marker means.

Back home, we docked the boat; I hosed it, then got the scooters out - off to breakfast.  If you've been to Port Isabel, you know the size and yummy taste of the breakfast tortillas at Manuel's; the tortillas are made right there, and filled with your choice of stuff (my favorite: sausage, egg, cheese, and potato) are about the size of your head.  You don't go away hungry.

I picked up a scooter tag on the way home, and posted the next one...

Your scooter in front of a bait shop.

We stopped to visit with friends Mike and MJ on the way home - the ladies are coordinating the Thanksgiving meal tomorrow.

Back home, I got out my e-bike for a quick ride... it turned out to be quicker than I planned, when that beautiful blue sky got covered with a gray cloud, and the rain poured down.  I had planned to get the cover back on the boat later this afternoon... the weasels are predicting rain tonight; guess it moved in earlier than they thought.

A warm day in the Tropical Tip - it was 80º before the rain started; the precip cooled it all the way down to 78º.  And, just a bit humid.  But, it was beautiful out on the water this morning.

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* About the name of that island.  When the shrimping industry was in full swing here, if the weather turned crappy, some of the boats would come in as far as that little island.  The captains knew if they went to a dock, they'd have trouble getting their crews back - heading home for a conjugal visit.  If, instead, they put the bow of the boat on the shore of that island, and into the wind, they could sit out the weather there, and the crew couldn't get off the boat.  Thus, the name of the island: Dead Pecker Island.  I don't think it is marked that way on the charts.  ;-)