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.
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