Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Day Tripping with Capt. Brian


One of the highlights of any of our Sanibel Island trips, is the day we schedule with Captain Brian.  We've been cruising with him for many years now, and no Florida trip would be complete without a day on the water because it's always an adventure.  I usually tell Brian what we want to do - hmmmm...... funny, it doesn't change much from year to year....  Sightseeing, shelling and beaches.  Somehow Brian always manages to mix it up and take us to new places to discover.

Chablis makes custom signs, so she designed one for Brian and crammed it in her suitcase to bring along for him.  He has an awesome back porch with an amazing collection of shells, driftwood and beach items that he's collected over the years.  The sign is for his porch!



Usually we meet him in the morning for our trip, but this time we arranged to meet at noon and spend 6 hours on the water.  Bright blue skies, large fluffy white clouds and warm breezes looked promising!


Almost immediately we ran across a large pod of dolphin.  There was about 10 of them total and we spent quite a bit of time sitting and watching them play.  There's something about dolphins that is magical and they rise and fall above the water line so effortlessly and quietly.  I find myself holding my breath as I wait for them to return.

 
 
 They kept circling the area and pretty soon a man on a jet ski with 2 little kids came by to watch.  The one little boy was screaming with delight and I'm sure that he will remember his dolphin encounter for years to come.
 

After our personal dolphin show, Brian took us to a shallow grassy area where we got out of the boat and waded around, looking for shells.  We found quite a few Venus Sunrays. 

 


Capt. Brian always finds the neatest secret spots to take us and we soon arrived at a special island where only his discerning eye could find the path through the vegetation....




We spent quite a bit of time exploring the island and walking the beach, deep in conversation and bending to retrieve the occasional shell. 


Off to the east though, the skies were churning and heavy clouds began rolling in.  One of the things I like so much about Brian is that he keeps a careful eye on the weather at all times.  I noticed that he kept turning and checking the skies and after about 15 minutes he announced that it was time to leave.


Sadly our afternoon was cut a little short due to the storms, but it's better to get back to Sanibel than to be stuck out in the rain.  Our finds for the day consisted of many Venus sunrays shells, a couple of baby's ears, a dried starfish, and my coveted horse conch....


We also saw many live shells, a cute crab and my favorite find was a fighting conch that still had his critter living at home.  I was sick to have to return him to the water because it was the largest fighting conch I've ever found and it was a beautiful brown and gold color.  Go over and check out Brian's blog post on our day with him to see more great photos.  But more than anything we had another memory-making day on the water with one of our favorite people.  After all, it's the memories you hold dear in your heart that are the true treasures.


19 comments:

  1. How wonderful that you always have the same captain every visit. Looks like a beautiful place.

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    1. Brain has his own boat and charter service so that's why we always get to go with him. It's a very individualized trip and always fun.

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  2. I love venus sunrays! And baby's ears!!! And dolphins!!!! What a great trip. Thanks for the Sanibel fix. :)

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    1. You're welcome - keep your eyes open. More posts to come.

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  3. So glad you finally got your horse conch!! What are you going to do with it? Thanks so much for sharing your trip with us!

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    1. I still have to clean it up so right now it's sitting on my deck. But it's going to be sitting right on my desk where I can see it every day.

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  4. Oh WOW! You are having a blast! I know we are having those pop up showers in the afternoon...hope you get to have lots of fun the rest of the day. Oh how I wish I was there with you! I doubt if I could keep up with the two of you though! HAVE FUN!!!!

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    1. Thanks Diane. I would love for you to be with us too. We're going to meet in person one of these days. xo

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  5. How fun is that! I'm in more-than-a-little in awe of your dolphin encounter. Aren't they amazing creatures?!

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    1. On my bucket list is to swim with the dolphins. I think that would be amazing. I have loved them ever since I was a kid and watched Flipper every week on tv.

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  6. It's always a great day on the water with Brian.

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  7. Great pics! We gotta get on on the boat with him sometime soon.

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    1. I highly recommend it. You will really like Brian.

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  8. Our favorite place to vacation!!!
    Looks like you had a fabulous day with your favorite peeps, Kim!
    Lucky, girl.
    Debbie
    xo

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    1. You need to get back down there Deb. It's been awhile, hasn't it?

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  9. It was a great day!! You and Chablis are always up for whatever adventure. I always look forward to spending time on the water with with you all. Capt. Brian

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  10. What a delightful outing! I could spend hours and hours hanging out with dolphins... and having someone to take you to special spots on the coast? Heaven! :o)

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    1. Brian always makes it a special day for us. That's why we go with him year after year.

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