Island Circle Tour...

Step right up - get yer tickets!  Tickets here for the tour around Long Island.  A limited number of seats currently available.

An absolutely beautiful day!  I know - one in a row!  It was 73º when I got up and the wind was... light.  Really.  Less than 40mph!  Yeah, I'm kidding - it was about 10mph out of the east.  Crisp air and sunshine.  Time to get out on the boat!

Heading out of our canal, take a right, and head towards the Laguna Madre, in the ICW...

Heading towards the swing-bridge...

Looking back once we were through...

Looking ahead, towards the Queen Isabela Causeway and South Padre Island...

We ran southeast in the Laguna, passing one of our "regular" restaurants, Pier 19...

Just south of there is SeaRanch Marina...

Wet slip rates start at $65 per night.  Some stack storage is available.  The launch for the stacked boats...

On the way out of the marina...

Just south of SeaRanch is the Coast Guard Station South Padre Island...

Quick access to the Gulf and the Brownsville Ship Channel, from the Laguna Madre.

We saw a couple dolphin watch boats in the distance...

Heading towards the jetties area, this Coast Guard small boat was on the way in...

Fortunately, they gave us a wide pass - that wake coming from them is at least 4'.

At the very southern tip of South Padre Island is Isla Blanca, a county park.  A small boat and kayak ramp here, including a recent sandy beach for kayaks...

We had a big breakfast before we left the house, but Joan brought snacks...

Out into the jetties area...

People fishing from the jetty...

Knowing that there were some dolphins that needed to be watched, we turned back in.  Our first view of them...

That pontoon is one of them run by George and Scarlet (the dolphin whisperer) Colley; George is driving this one.  We exchanged pleasantries, and watched the dolphins working the tidal rip line...

Joan took photos while I positioned the boat...

From there, it was west in the Brownsville Ship Channel, which would take us around the south side of our island.  This guy was heading out as we were heading in...

Look close at the stern on that Coast Guard boat - there is a RIB docked in there.

With the easterly breeze and us heading west, I bumped up the speed a bit so we'd have some breeze to keep us cool...

Around the west side of Long Island, then into the first canal.  And, we were home.

Joan wanted to powerwash the dock and railings, so I took the boat up the canal a short distance so it wouldn't get grubby from the over-spray.  She did use the powerwasher on the transducer on the boat before I pulled away; it's the only part of the boat under the water than isn't bottom painted.

When I brought the boat back to the dock, the breeze had come up a bit, making for more effort to "stick the landing."  Joan tied off the front while I got the stern.

With everything put away, it was time for "lupper": that meal between lunch and supper.  Burger Fi was having their "National Loyalty Day" (triple reward points today only).  Good burgers and "Cry and Fry" (an order of onion rings and fries) to go with the burgers.

When we got home, there was another step in our "techie journey" - an Amazon Fire Stick.  Joan hooked it up to the TV and said, "Alexa, what is the weather today?"

Cleaning reward...

The wind switched from out of the south at a gazillion miles per hour to out of the north at a gazillion miles per hour, about 2:30 am.  And by "gazillion" I mean: it was gusting in the upper 30s.  And by "2:30 am" I mean: it was the middle of the damn night and the abrupt change of direction woke me up.  I checked outside to make sure the boat was still there.  Yep.

The wind kept up until mid-afternoon, when it dropped to 18 mph.  With the north wind clocking towards east, the humidity was down and the house was protecting the deck, the dock, and the boat... we moved furniture down to the dock, hosed it.  Joan swept the deck and wiped down the furniture as I passed it back up.  I took the cover off the boat and we shook the dirt off of it.  Then, I started cleaning the dirt off the boat.

"Since we're going through all this work, we should probably reward ourselves with a short boat ride, don't you think?" I asked.

"That sounds good to me."

I got the boat ready, and we shoved off around 5:30.  The wind was still blowing about 17, but it felt nearly calm after all the wind of the past few days.

Going down the outside canal...

Heading towards the turning basin, we saw one other boat out there...

A pontoon, with folks fishing.  Pretty protected water there with this wind direction.

Going down the Port Isabel Channel, we could see how high the tide was...

That area in the middle, behind the greenery, is under water; that's not how it is usually - the greenery is at the water's edge.

Just before the ship channel, this guy flew by...

The exposure in the ship channel is to the east; the wind had now clocked to easterly.  The waves built up to a foot, then two...

No problem, since we were running with the waves.  I turned behind the small island at the Y, keeping us in calm, protected water.  Another fly-by...

Another HUK shirt...

On the way home, we checked out these tugs that were tied off...

They look small compared to those drilling ships (above).

And from the front - each pushing two barges, quite a difference in size...

Heading back home.  No dolphins, but nice to get out.  Back up the canal...

And, home...

Another sunset...

The extend of my venturing outside today...

A little after sunset; the sky color is dramatic, but completely different from yesterday.

Cocooning...

It's never gonna let up... the wind is south at 29 gusting to 38.  Checking the hourly forecasts, it is going to be September before... OMG, we're never getting outside again... fire and brimstone coming from the skies... rivers and seas boiling... 40 years of darkness... earthquakes, volcanoes... dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

If you said, "Ghost Busters," well, who you gonna call?  And, you get 50 bonus points.

Yeah, it's blowing like stink out there.  Still.  More of the same this afternoon.  Tonight.  Tomorrow, but the wind will change from the south to the north, and the temp will drop a bit.  Maybe it will blow back some of the dirt that made the trip north over the last couple days?  ;-)

Either way, along about Monday, everything we have outside is going to need to be powerwashed again.

In the meantime, we are watching movies.  Playing guitar and cooking.  Well, I've been playing guitar, Joan has been cooking.  It's better that way.

More of the same...

Wind and blowing dirt.  The wind was gusting into the upper 30s today... we got out of town.  A few things we had on our "next time we get to Harlingen" list, so we decided to make today that next time.

A few stops, a check on the motorhome, lunch, and (of course) Bass Pro Shop.  It was hot and windy in Harlingen, too, but not as much blowing dirt.  And... Bass Pro.

Joan presented me with another "Sophie's Choice" today: which guitar are you going to take when we hit the road again?  I have some time to think about it.  But, we are discussing it.  The trip, that is... I'm thinking the X20 needs to get more miles on it.

It may be a day or two before this wind relents.  In the meantime, it made for some unusual color at sunset this evening...