We make a break for it...

Before taking Iz to the vet, we had a plan for the afternoon: take the bimini on the boat as low as it can possibly go and see if we can get the boat under the low bridge two canals over.  The dredge is still blocking our normal exit canal.

I coudn't see all the way down the canal from our deck - from the boat, it looks like we can get by the pipe on the port side of it...

Izzy had settled in for a nap while got a few things ready for the boat.  No problem getting by the pipe in our canal - at the narrowest, we had about a foot on either side of the boat.  We could hear the dredge running in the exit canal, so no point in trying to get out that way.  We turned left at the end of our canal (first time this boat has been that direction)...

No question that the opening midway in this canal is too small for us to get through.  The plan is to try it on the next canal over...

The bridge midway on this canal is wider and taller - not sure if it is tall enough, though.  As we slowly approached the bridge, it is going to be close...

With the bows of Cool Change under the bridge, we could see that the bimini still wasn't going to clear.  I backed off and we took the lowest supports on the bimini out - it gave us a few more inches... just enough to clear.  I was laid over at the helm seat, unable to see behind me (where the bimini is folded down) - I relied on Joan to tell me it would clear.  Even bent over, my hat rubbed the underneath side of the bridge.  A few seconds later and... we were in the clear!  First time out in a couple weeks!

A reenactment of what it took at the helm...

The bimini was pinching the vinyl in this position, so the first order of business was to put it up just a bit, on the supports made for it in the trailering position.

We had picked this time of day, when there were two tides - we timed this to get out and have an hour or so before the tide would be on its way back up again... perhaps preventing us from getting back in.  Now, where to go?

We had no agenda, beyond running the boat - getting some gas run through and blowing some of the slime off the hulls.  We turned west and headed into the turning basin.  Of course, there is always the hope that we will see some dolphins, but it was great to be out in the sunshine, still a bit cool (the water temp is down to 60º), but away from the dock!

It wasn't long before we got our first view...

"Dolphins at one o'clock!"

They came up close by the boat...

"Yes, babies, we missed you, too!"

Then, this came around the bend...

A large catamaran, looks to be set up for commercial diving.  In fact, they were flying a dive flag.  I couldn't imagine that they had someone in the water while underway, but I gave them a call on the VHF to ask... "Um, no, no one in the water - we forgot to take that flag down."  I wasn't looking to "out them," just didn't want to get too close until I knew there was no one in the water.

We had the dolphins to ourselves as this boat approached...

A serious looking dive boat...

(Checking later, I found that it is part of Aqueos Corporation, and is doing work for the SubSea Seven underwater pipeline operation here in Port Isabel.)

As they went by, they took some of the dolphins along with them...

Near the PI commercial docks, we knew that boat wasn't going far.  We rotated to keep watching the dolphins by the commercial docks...

Keeping an eye on the time, we moved down the channel a bit to get some speed up.  That didn't last long, because... more dolphins.

Right under the boat...

Down towards the ship channel, we made a U-turn and decided to check out some of the birds on our way back home...

And, dolphins...

We passed by the canal that usually leads to ours - yep, blocked by the dredge.  Besides the seagulls, you can see the low tide in this image...

That is a shoal area between the docks and the ICW.  Years ago, I was given the advice: "Stay out of any water where the short-legged birds are standing - it's too shallow to take a boat."  Yep.

A couple more canals to pass, then up the one with the "low bridge ahead"...

The tide must have been up a couple inches - we just barely cleared.  Turning from that canal towards ours, this pelican sitting on a dredge pipe...

Yes, that dredge pipe isn't connected to anything; the main purpose it serves currently is: being a giant pain in the ass in our canal.  It is just sitting there, being a hazard to navitation, and waiting to be put into place in the exit canal when they move further down that one.

Into our canal...

A squeeze when we rotated at our dock.  Goodness, it felt great to be out on the water!  And... dolphins!

A clean up of the boat, some time editing photos, some kitty time, and my favorite view from our deck to wrap up the day...