A first in the recorded history of boating...

And I am talking since before Cleopatra and her barges.

I went out solo for a while this afternoon (Joan had some home projects that sounded a lot like cooking and cleaning... so, bye-bye).  The wind was less than it has been in quite a while, the sun was shining, the humidity was low - what a beautiful day!  Nice water...

The weather wasn't "the first" I was talking about in the title - hey, it is nice here in the Tropical Tip frequently.  ;-)  No, this was something really unique...

The sport fisher in the photo above slowed down as it passed.  Yes, you read that right.  Sport fishers generally go by, closer than necessary, and at a speed that creates the most wake.  This one (the name is Sol Mate) actually slowed down, passed me, and didn't speed back up until he was well past.  I probably shouldn't use the boat name here because he may get kicked out of the Society of Sport Fishers for violating their "thou shall be indignant and/or indifferent about thy wake" rule.

Check out the water...

Oh, and dolphins ahead!

They all dove as a shrimper came up on them...

I thought they might do some bow surfing, but the shrimper was just plodding along.  And, did I mention that beautiful water?

I looked around after the shrimper passed, but didn't see the dolphins again.  Back up the channel and into the ICW...

The water temp continues to rise...

I passed our canal and turned in a different one.  There are plenty of canals on our island - checking out the houses along the way...

For further proof that the sport fisher making a slow pass wasn't a fluke, he passed me again in the ICW...

Look at that flat water behind him - impressive!  Now, some of you who are familiar with the area may be thinking: "Yabut, that is a no wake zone."  Yes, it is.  Need I point out once again: a sport fisher.  Another of their rules: "No wake zones do not apply to us."

Back home, after getting the boat put away, I brought Rufus out for some more boat familiarization.  The boy was curious...

I intentionally left the gate open next to the dock, in case he felt the need for a quick exit.  Nope.  In fact that gap between the deck of the boat and the dock must have looked huge...

In fact, it took some encouragement to get him to leave the boat for the dock.  He did the "butt wiggle" that cats do when they're considering a bit jump, but in the end, he just stepped across.  Then, followed me across the dock and up the stairs.  No leash.  A big leap of faith, but he is not a flight risk.  And, he follows me everywhere in the house.

I think he's ready for an outing on the boat when we can both be there and have his carrier along for the added security.