The first time we saw dolphins from right here in our slip Deborah and I were very excited. Now, they seem to be here every time we come, but not like they were today. Today, a pair came into the marina (which is a dead end), went all the way to the end, came back half way, had some fun, they made their way out.
We filmed this a few weeks ago but I just now got the chance to upload the video to youtube.
Dolphins Playing (or Mating) in the Marina
It was so exciting to get to see them so close, and from right here in our slip. The dolphin boats here in the marina are always full (it seems) and I am sure they all have a great time, but we get to see them without having to go anywhere, what a treat.
Not only did they come in where we could see them, we ended up getting some great (to me) video and photos too.
You can see from the video that they came all the way up into the small marina cove here. They are really neat animals to see in the wild and not in some trained setting. When they get into a feeding frenzy it is really quite something to see as well.
We have been at slip E-12 for about a year now and it was not the most comfortable place for our sailboat. It was a little small and we never could get the lines tied off correctly to keep her from smashing into a pier once in a while when the winds or wakes peaked.
So, we moved. We are now in E-13 and we are enjoying this new location. Yes, we moved one slip over, farther out towards the inter coastal. Doesn’t sound like much but we have a dock that comes all the way out, almost to the aft of the boat where we had almost no dock space before, and, we now have no pier for the anchor to bang up against.
That’s us, last one of the end (left side of photo). We still stick out quite a bit but it is a better slip for our sailboat.
Moving was not the easiest task in the world since our Perkins has a blown head gasket and once we were out in the channel it seems our prop or drive shaft or something was not giving me the power I know this thing has. It could just be lack of a cylinder or two (it only has four), but I am NOT a mechanic to know what the lack of power came from, but we muscled it into the slip and tied off without much issue.
I am sure we gave someone a good laugh and pure entertainment value for the 30 minutes or so it took us to move over one slip, but that is the fun of a marina. You watch everyone else screw up and vice-versa. We are now happily in E-13 and just in time, the wind is blowing just under gale force now.
Some days a cold day on the beach is better than a warm day inside. The beaches, in most parts of the country right now, are completely empty, but put a nice cool breeze and January into the mix and you get this (see beach image below). Not only is there a rare February thunderstorm in the distance but the only visible moving object on the beach is a tiny little bird in the very center of the image.
The sunsets at the marina are always so dynamic and each one is different. The thunderstorms here made just enough of a hole in the sky to give us a great sunset today.
This image was actually taken by my cell phone. I am really amazed at the quality of images that can be taken by a cell phone these days. Not that it is worthy of publication but for just sticking a phone up in the air, its not bad.
This weekend we did spend the day on the beach (see all the photos below) but we came down to be on Laughalot. We did enjoy the peace and quiet that the marina always has around this time of year, and of course on the beaches too.
Christmas time at a marina is really pretty. All the boats get all dressed up and at night they light up the sky with Christmas lights. Sailboats with masts rising 40 feet above the water line is really a site to see. I can’t imagine how it looks up north where it is so cold there is probably not a sole that wants to step outside, but down here in the Gulf Coast, it is at least bearable (for us that is mid-60’s).
Being that I have been a photographer for more than 10 years now I have a hard time adjusting to taking images without a tripod, especially AT NIGHT. But, a tripod does little use on a sailboat that is constantly in motion, so this is the best I could do with hand holding, lights, at night. It was a wonderful site at night.
