A Good Day on the Waterway

When I first snapped this photo my intent was to include it in a blog post entiltled : A Bad Day on The Waterway. The post was to be full of photos of sunken, beached, and otherwise impaired boats we have seen along the way

As we approached this mariner attaching him self to Tow Boat US I thought, "Well, that's not how you want to start your day."  When we got close enough to read the name the Cap'n exclaimed "That's Halo!"  Do we know them, I wondered.  "That's the boat the Coast Guard was hailing 2 days ago. Look, he lost his mast,"

I had been so busy snapping photos I hadn't noticed the shortened mast. And yes I did remember the Coast Guard's repeated radio attempts to raise a signal from Halo.  In fact, we had guests on board at the time and  I mentioned to them how we often hear alerts from the Coast Guard seeking overdue boats, asking us to be on the lookout, and we never hear the rest of the story. Was the boat found? Was their a mechanical failure? Had the Captain stopped in a different port? Was he/she just going off the grid for a few days?  We never know.

But now we did -- maybe not the whole story -- but at least we knew Halo was safe. For the ship and her captain, it turned out to be a very good day on the waterway afterall.

Lazy on the Loop

Yes, a good while has passed since my last post. I guess we've just been having too much fun and/or I've gotten lazy.  My camera and cell phone have lots of photos that tell the story of the past month, and now it is time to put it into words......


Our slip at Moss Marine in Fort Myers Beach was on a T-head, affording us a front row view of birds and boats along the bay. Pelicans were everywhere, sitting on pilings, skimming the water, waiting anxiously for fishermen cleaning their catch to throw a scrap into the water.

Here is one lucky bird who caught some dinner, but then had some trouble getting it into his gullet under the watchful eye of a "friend". This guy (gal?) was clearly not as unfocused as I have been over the past several weeks......

Hope no one can see I have a fish in my beak...

Rats, they might know..maybe I'll hide it under my wing...

Fish, what fish? I don't have a fish

Phew, fooled them -- I got away with my fish

Ok, I'm all set to toss it in the air and let the whole thing slide down my throat...just the way us pelican's like to eat

Ooops, now it's draped over my bill and I can't open it..

Gullet extended and all systems are go.....

And nothing.....and so it went for about 10 minutes. He finally got it in his gullet and  dinner was served.

All in a day's work for a pelican......nothing lazy about that.......