Well, it's been a while since anyone has posted on this thread... so here's some of what we did on our C-Dory...
What an amazing weekend! Another "Chamber of Commerce" experience - deep blue sky, sunny days, upper 70s, light breeze, and low humidity. Yesterday (02/09) we came out of our canal and slipped in behind a tug/barge to go through the swingbridge...
Joan was at the helm while I shot photos.
We ran along in the ICW then turned east along the Queen Isabella Memorial Causeway. The causeway is 2 1/2 miles long, and the only way on/off South Padre Island, other than by boat.
We ran north along South Padre Island, admiring the pretty homes and condos. We toured around the one canal neighborhood, looking at some of the new construction. Yes, the real estate market has cooled a bit here, but the building continues. Easy to see why on a day like today.
Out of the canals, back down the small boat channel, under the causeway, and into the southern Laguna Madre... lots of people out and about on boats. With the light wind and clear sky, the water is a beautiful shade of blue.
Then it was out through the jetties (lots of people fishing from there) and out in to the Gulf. Deep blue water that was like a lake!
After playing out there for a while, watching the dolphins, and taking in the sun, we decided to head for home. In the ship channel, we came across this guy heading out - the yellow shrimpboat was an interesting contrast against the blue sky and water.
Working our way down the ship channel, the water gets more turquoise, then green. Here's the view looking back...
And then looking ahead as the sun gets lower...
We were home before sunset and enjoyed sundowners on the deck.
Sunday morning: After a nice breakfast and some time with the Sunday paper, we headed back out. At 9:30, it was already 72º and sunny. We ran back out to the Gulf again, dodging fishing boats along the way. A boat coming in from the Gulf called on 16 looking for some local information; we responded, telling him the best way through the southern bay... a six foot keel and a quick look at the charts shows less water than that in a lot of places. He was relieved to know that even at low tide he'd be OK.
Coming back in, there were 5 fishing head boats clustered in one area in the ship channel. Most of them look like this...
,,, and all of them had plenty of "heads" aboard.
We slowed to watch a classic sailboat in the Port Isabel channel... an impromptu man overboard (well, hat overboard, actually) drill kept them plenty busy. We saw dolphins, osprey, egretts, herons, pelicans, and a couple spoonbills.
We are looking forward to more cruising soon, but it is hard to beat the winter months at latitude 26.
Best wishes,
Jim B.