Put on a happy face!
If you said, "From the musical Bye Bye Birdie, 1960-61 on Broadway, 1963 movie," you get 500 bonus points. I was a kid at the time, but seeing Ann-Margret in that may have kick-started puberty for me.
TMI?
Last night, our local NBC weather weasel said, "The gray skies and rainy weather of the past two weeks are over for the next week, at least."
Joan asked, "Will you take me for a boat ride?"
"Absolutely!"
This morning when I got up and stepped outside (checking the boat, part of my morning routine), it was foggy and overcast. By 8:00, there was a "sun break." There's hope! Checking the hourly forecasts... well, I wouldn't call it "solid sunny," but there was a pretty good chance for a boat outing.
Later in the morning, I took the cover off the boat (first time in 11 days) and prepped it for going out.
Yes, there is sunshine in that photo above. The engine fired right up and purred. Joan put together some snacks. And, we're off...
Yeah, there are plenty of clouds in that photo above. Doesn't matter - we are heading out. Held my breath as we went around the corner in the canal, concerned that the dredge would appear somewhere in our way. It didn't, but you can see the pipe at left center above.
The wind was still out of the north and a bit chilly. But, we were out on the boat. :-)
No ships or barges in the turning basin; moving towards the ship channel, we saw our first dolphin...
We spent some time watching the 4 or 5 dolphins...
The bait shrimpers were out...
This one was getting a visit from a Texas Game Warden...
A lot of the LE entities around here use these inflatable fast boats (Coast Guard, Homeland Security, Game Warden). Speaking of the Coast Guard...
Homeland Security also has other go-fast boats...
More dolphins in the ship channel...
And, some fine looking pelicans...
South Padre Island in the distance...
One of several shrimpers heading out...
Surf's up, dude! We enjoyed watching some dolphins bow surfing as we matched the shrimper's speed...
We backed off and headed back in the ship channel. Yep, more dolphins...
That fast paced behavior above is... porpoising. ;-) Most of what we saw today was feeding behavior; the only "fun" stuff was the bow surfing with the shrimp boat.
Some other birds on the way back in...
This osprey was a bit ruffled...
This Great Blue Heron near a (what else?) dredge pipe...
It got into the low 70s (about 10º below normal for this time of year), but that north wind made it feel cooler than that. But, did I mention: out on the boat? And, dolphins!
2 comments:
Now I know what a Bait Shrimper does-- For anyone that doesn't..
Shrimp baiting uses a cast net, bait and long poles. The long poles are used to mark a specific location, and then bait is thrown in the water near the pole. After several minutes the cast net is thrown as close to the bait as possible and the shrimp are caught in the net.
The bait balls can be made of just about anything a shrimp will eat. The most common bait is a mixture of powdered clay and fish meal (typically ground menhaden). Other popular baits are flour, corn meal, cat food, and chicken feed. The bait typically includes a binding agent such as clay or Portland cement. The balls range in size from a tennis ball to a softball and are typically flattened out to a hamburger shape.
In addition to "running the poles" from a boat, some people bait from the shore or docks. A permit is required for this, along with the landowners permission. Some people will place a single pole in front of the boat and use three anchors in a Y pattern to hold the boat still. Then they throw the bait out around the boat. Shrimpers have also begun using an auger type pole to hold the boat in a fixed point, and then use their trolling motor to rotate around this fixed point, allowing them to bait in a 360 degree arc the radius of the boat. This technique can be highly effective.
Thanks for the Entertainment Cap'n..
It would be cool to see some Video of the Dolphins surf'n..
PS: Do you have any interest in Steam Engines??
Or, these smaller shrimpers drag in the ship channel for... bait. They supply the local bait shops. These are much smaller boats than the Gulf shrimpers.
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