Fishing and stuff.

I did make it out for some morning fishing. I even have proof.

I took this photo before I launched the boat. Anyway, the fish were just not there. Not only did I not catch anything, but I did not even feel bites. I blame the South Florida Water Management District for this, they dumped so much fresh water into San Carlos Bay that the salinity levels are lower than they should be. I was not IN San Carlos Bay, but I was not too far offshore either. Anyway, there were just not any fish. Nobody was catching anything. I did see a cool SPOTTED EAGLE RAY, so the day was not a total loss. The ray was after something, it launched itself out of the water. I have never seen a ray do this before.

Anyway, since the fishing conditions were so poor, the plans were changed to just cruise a bit. So I turned the boat towards nearby Pine Island, where my dad knew about a cool water front resturant. I forgot the name to the place, but it is on an ocean access canal. It was a 15 minute boat ride from Sanibel, but in a car it would take you at least 1 hour to get there.

Now in case someone reading my blog wants to move to an island on the west coast of Florida, I would like to take this time to point out a few properties that you can probably get a good deal on. The houses need just a little bit of work.This is house 1.

This is house 2.

And this is house 3.

As you can see, it is just a little bit of hurricane damage that needs to be fixed. And all three of these places are right on the ocean access canal! Waterfront houses at vacant lot prices!

The resturant survived last year's hurricane. Here is a good photo of the boat taken at the resturant docks.

The place had great food. Their shrimp were fantastic. I could tell that they were localy harvested shrimp, they were excellent. And prices were super reasonable. The place is very informal, you can pretty much come as you are no matter HOW you are dressed. Here is a shot of the inside of the place.

This is pretty much it for the boat. Tomorrow I do not plan on launching, and I have to be back in Miami on Friday. I am going to leave Thursday evening to drive home. It was great fun having the boat, I used it enough to justify hauling it over here. Next year I hope to have a BIGGER boat!

In the afternoon I headed back to Blind Pass to watch the sunset. I got there early, so I had time to check out cool stuff on the beach. Like these sea oats.

And these dunes.

These plants make the beach possible. Their root system holds the sand in place. Lots of (idiot) tourists think they are weeds and bitch about them, but the plants ARE protected and if the cops see you molesting the plants you will get a fine. I will just kick your ass.

And speaking of people who DESERVE an ass kicking, I would like to find the pig who did this.

I am not anti-smoking, but I seriously think that anyone who is seen using the beach as their personal ash tray needs to be shot on sight. After there are a few bloody spots on the beach sand where examples were made, Ill bet that smokers will watch their butts more closely. When I take over this state, the first law I will pass is going to be the "litter the beach and I kick you in the nards" act.

but in spite of the efforts of some nasty pigs, the rest of the beach was great.

The digital camera, as nice as it is, just can not capture colors worth a crap. None of them can. Good quality film is what you need IF you want your pictures to look right. In the above photo, there should be more reds and oranges. And in the photo below, the sea should be emerald green with orange light reflecting off it. But it is not. Use your imagination.

I was not the only thing watching the sun set in the west. This critter gets to do this every day.

There were other people too. I just try to keep other people OUT of my photos to make them look more nature-ie.

It was too cloudy to see the sun set into the sea, but nature still put on a decent show. For the price of admission, it was well worth it.