The past few days have been my idea of the ideal spring weather in the Tropical Tip: low humidity, the wind not howling, sunny sky, and a high temperature around 80ยบ. If every day were like this, I would never leave this place.
We have been "double dipping" on the fun stuff: boating and scooting, each day. Yesterday, I had mentioned to Joan that we haven't been up the small boat channel along South Padre Island... but, I didn't want to push it. Late this morning, after a relaxing time, she said, "How about just one: scooting or boating, today? And, did you still want to do the small boat channel?"
"I'm in!"
She made lunch while I prepped the boat, then fed Rufus (he stayed home today, since we knew this trip would take a while)... 12 minutes from deciding to head out on the boat, to shoving off from the dock. The reason for our haste: needing to get through the swingbridge on the noon opening. Otherwise, it would be a longer trip around the island. Seventeen minutes from leaving the dock to calling the bridge for an opening.
On the other side of the bridge...
The plan for today: sight-seeing along the island; dolphin watching wasn't the priority. Nobody told the dolphins...
A plethora of cetaceans about two minutes past the bridge. And, they were very active...
This group looked like they were playing "Ring Around The Rosy"...
This boy was jumping repeatedly...
Not leaps in the air, more like extended spy hops - so cool to watch!
We moved on. Heading under the causeway, then east towards SPI...
Looking over our shoulder, we could see the lighthouse in Port Isabel...
The wind generators north and east of town...
The water in the Laguna was a pretty turquoise today, but you can see variations in the color due to the shallows...
This marked our turn into the small boat channel. We enjoy taking this in once or twice a year... it gives us the chance to look around and see what has changed or what new building is happening.
People on stand-up paddleboards in the shallows (if you fall off, you can just stand up)...
Plenty of bars and restaurants on the island. Some have bay-side locations, enabling them to have food, drinks, and watersport rentals - what could possibly go wrong with combining drinks and jetski rentals??
The sailing catamaran excursion boats are at docks/bars adjacent to each other...
Jim's Pier (where we stopped for a photo on the scoots yesterday)...
We haven't eaten at this place yet - nice location, so we'll have to rectify that one day...
North of that, you get into mostly homes, townhouses, condos...
Some really BIG homes...
Not much boat traffic today, but we did pass this bay skimmer (a local type of fishing boat)...
Running north, we turned into one of the few canals cut into the island...
This used to be a quiet neighborhood. About 10 years ago, a very active bar and watersport rental place sold their property on a point north of here, then built at the end of this canal, nearest the main road through town. That means every jetski rental, kayak rental, pontoon party boat excursion, and parasail trip that is based out of that bar runs right past these homes, many times each day. Quite a change for these folks.
Oh, yeah: live music, too.
A beginner wind surfer...
How do I know she was a beginner? In the shallows, not using her weight to balance the rig, and no wake behind the board - the wind was blowing decent, but she was barely moving.
We turned around in that canal and headed back. More condos...
There are some high-rises on this side of the island, but most of the tall buildings are on the Gulf side of SPI. Back down that same channel (it is shallow right outside the marked channel), under the causeway, and into the lower part of the Laguna Madre. The wind had piped up, making for some chop...
Upper teens, so not a big deal. Not enough to turn the water murky. We ran south along the east side of the island until getting to the ship channel; our plan was to go around our island instead of back through the swingbridge... it's a pretty day out, we're enjoying our time on the water.
Looking west at the causeway, you can really see the "high bridge"...
That light color is where the lanes on the bridge climb to just over 65' to allow commercial traffic to pass under "the big bridge"... as opposed to our swingbridge, which opens to allow traffic to pass.
On the south side of the ship channel, Joan pointed out this juxtaposition of sky, sand, and water...
Pretty colors.
Watching pelicans diving for fish...
When the pelicans are diving repeatedly, you know there are fish. It also means there will likely be dolphins nearby, too...
Another fun dolphin viewing, ending our tale with some dolphin tail...
A beautiful day out on the water. Lunch onboard. Very laid back. Coming back into our canals, there were workers on the dredge equipment...
Maybe they really will get that equipment out of our canals. It was supposed to be moved by April 29th or "we'd sell it to a salvage company." There is a "Coffee With The Directors" tomorrow - I was planning to go to ask if there was any plan for actually following through with our threat - that may not be necessary, now.
Back home, we sat outside on the deck with Rufus for a while. He followed me from side to side on the deck while I got the boat rinsed and put away.
Joan got an e-mail notice that she had a package to pick up; I started working on these photos while she ran down to our Activities Center. When she came in, she said, "I have a surprise for you - close your eyes." She put this in my hand...
A Vespa key fob! Cool!
Yeah, another very nice day. Tropical. Just the way we like it.
:-)
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