Tuesday February 28, 2023
I managed the gym and got in 20.3 miles of riding my bike. They are putting up the barricades for the Gran Prix and so I hade to find a way around them!
I went to the Tampa Bay Watch at the Pier and took photos of the Lionfish there.
February 27, 2023
A bit more fluffy white clouds, but a great day.
I saw two hawks (no photos) and was right over a dolphin (no photos), but a good day.
February 25, 2023
Another great day, met a lady with her two kids (about 2 and 4) who wanted to paddle their kayak to an island. Also two guys fishing in their canoe.
February 24, 2023
I was working on the slides for the upcoming play Crimson Sails last night then read the book! Amazing book! But I overslept this morning and did not kayak.
February 23, 2023
Sunshine, no clouds 70° light breeze.
February 20, 2023
Another spectacular day! 57° to 67° sun, full cloudless sky.
February 19, 2023
Beautiful, 57° to start 75° finish. Mostly cloudy, but some sun peaking out at times.`
February 18, 2023
Beautiful, 57° wind 7mph with gusts to 10. Cool but nice. I saw two dolphin and got a pretty good photo of the kingfisher.
February 17, 2023
Another beautiful day, 60’s, light breeze, 90% humidity.
February 16, 2023
A beautiful tee shirt day, Marian decided to come out – so she caught up with me.
February 15, 2023
Another beautiful day to kayak!
One beautiful Great Blue Heron.
February 13, 2023
A beautiful but cooler day (65 degrees). I saw a baby manatee! He was luxuriating in warm rainwater coming off of Gulfport Blvd.
February 11, 2023
Today was Bridge Breaking for 2023, I have done this program now for 46 years. We do it very differently now with electronic machines and computer programs to display the results. Chuck Henson (Former TV guy) was our MC, USF was our host (Eva Fernandez) and Tampa Hillsborough Expressway Authority (Sarah Lesch) is our sponsor. Ralph Painter and I have held it together for many years, and the last two years the program has been handled by USF students (Isaac Washington is the lead).
The balsa bridges can be no more than 110 grams (about a quarter of a pound) and the winners bridge held 410 pounds!
Here is a video of the crowd.
February 10, 2023
More sun but the wind picked up, 8 to 10 mph, 71.4 degrees out as I left.
February 9, 2023
Another beautiful day, today I decided to take videos of where I go. So below are those videos. I should have done them horizontally!
February 8, 2023 Another day of adventures for the record books.
I have seen dolphin toss a fish ahead of itself a couple of times before swallowing it whole, but this morning I was paddling along and to my left about 100 feet away a dolphin appeared adjacent to the seawall. All of a sudden a fish flew, it was thrown by this huge dolphin all across the creek, more than 100 feet!! Thrown in an ark not 10 feet ahead of my bow all the way over to my right! Then he came over, throwing up water way over my head, grabbed it again and tossed it 15 feet in front of him! It was a substantial fish, about a foot long and heavy. Quite a feat for the dolphin, he threw it sideways, like one wood throw a frisbee.
The other day Marian told me about a feature the program Merlin had added, it will listen and identify the calls of birds!
She used it and it worked! I tried it this morning and it came up with a number of birds present!!
February 6, 2023 64 degrees, sunny, not a cloud in the sky, tee shirt weather!! I saw four dolphin today, one almost swamped my kayak when he was chasing after a fish for breakfast! He left a pool of water on my deck! I did not get a photo of that as I was so startled, and he was too close anyway!
Another great day!!
February 5, 2023 62 degrees, the weather report said clouds and rain. I was waiting for the sun to come up when Marian called. She was already here and had launched her kayak. It turned out to be a beautiful day with no clouds and no rain! The weatherman does not usually get it this wrong!!
We had a surprise, I was watching an Osprey flying toward a dead tree, I thought that he was going to land, then I get focused and take his photo. He did not land! He slammed into a branch which broke it off and he flew over my head holding it! I got a photo, but it is quite blurred as I did not get a lock on him. It surprised the two of us!
February 4, 2023 – 64 degrees. Another beautiful sunny day, wind 7 mph with gusts to 15 mph though. The wind was out of the north and so the water was low (the wind pushes the water out of the bay). The paddling was hard going north, but I got a free ride back home. No manatees (the water is too cold, they will return in the summer). Two Roseate Spoonbills though!!
February 2: Great weather, 60’s in the early morning, 70’s on return. I saw 4 dolphin this morning and a Roseate Spoonbill. Also a Downy Woodpecker, amongst other birds. Again no wind at all
