Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water...

If you said, "Jaws (the movie), 1975," you get 50 bonus points.  If you said, "The dredge guys are back!" you are psychic.

We decided to get an early start on the day, with a boat ride.  On the way out of the last canal, I saw a couple floats in the water... apparently something crossing the canal??  Holy shit - the canal guys are back, and they have run a pipe across the end of the exit canal!  We went with the assumption that they have it anchored low in the water.

It got me thinking.  Well, after we raised the motor and floated across, it got me thinking.  Well, first it pissed me off, then got me thinking... I said to Joan, "How would you feel about getting the boat out of the water tomorrow?  Get it cleaned up and put into storage?"

Not just idle talk.  There is a wet weather system that is going to be affecting a lot of Texas, including our area, and it looks like it will be at least a week in duration... maybe longer.  There are good scooter roads up north calling.  We make it a point to find a cooler place to be during the summer.  So, earlier than we were thinking to pull the boat, but this timing makes sense.

And, while we're at it, I'll take my PCX to the storage unit... yep, the Vespa is coming north with us.

So, with those decisions made, I chose to run the boat at speed to burn off some fuel... it helps get the crud off the bottom and means less fuel to siphon off for storage.  On with the show:

Out the canal...

Over the dredge pipe, heading west...

Boats in the turning basin...

The water is blissfully flat this morning...

A great blue heron in silhouette...

Vertical building clouds on the horizon...

We made it all the way to the jetties, without seeing a single dolphin.  Plenty of excursion fishing boats out this morning...

Then, a dorsal fin...

I guess we should stop and look...

Time to head for home, then out to the storage unit.  Along the way...

Heading back in, we looked back and saw one last dolphin behind this bait shrimper...

Joan saw a conch shell in this cloud...

This one looks like a tornado!

A Coast Guard small boat not kicking a huge wake...

I like this view, looking down the ICW - the canal where we turn in is on the right.  Homes on Long Island.  Port Isabel on the left.  And in the distance, you can see a bit of the Queen Isabela Causeway...

This will probably be our last boat ride for the summer - a beautiful morning out there.

With the boat tied up to the dock and cleaned up, we got ready to head for the storage unit.  I enjoyed riding the PCX (with a stop for lunch on the way).

At the storage unit, the "dance" gets underway: motorhome out, boat trailer out, PCX in, motorhome back in.  If Mother Nature cooperates, we'll get the boat pulled tomorrow.  It is supposed to rain in the morning, then again tomorrow evening - the goal is to get it out, cleaned, and out to storage between the rains.

Yeah, I know: Mother Nature laughs at plans.  AND, I really don't want to get caught by the dredge.  Again.