Deer Island Dawn Patrol

And just to completely throw you off on this series of posts, I'll throw in a Saturday after Sunday and Friday.

No pictures this post.

I went paddling with Stan Wiles (XO of the Base) on Saturday morning.

We put in at Biloxi Harbor and went out to the Eastern tip of Deer Island (on the Southern shore).

As soon as the sun came out, a North wind filled in and the rest of the paddle became a pain in the @ss.

9.33 miles on this run.

Stan was in a German expeditionary kayak - the thing looked like a tank on the water (think 'Monitor'). I had the Naish 14' - good paddle! Although it wasn't a dawn patrol as I remembered them (Pupukea Beach, 10' faces, Cholo's Omelettes for breakfast and strolling around the surf shops afterwards to checkout the boards - ahhh life in Hawaii...), you still have to appreciate where you are!

Deer Island Part 2

Yesterday, I went back to Deer Island to get the sand we didn't get the previous weekend (we collect sand from the different places we've been to - check out posts from way back, there in there...).

There was some oil slick in the middle of the channel, but it was probably from a working boat (crapping out).

I got to the western tip of the island, got my sand and then kept on going for the exercise.

Tons of fish in the water (huge mullet, tons of fingerlings and fry, and blue crabs everywhere) as always.

Got a couple of miles down and I saw a path leading up from the beach. Obviously I decided to see where it went (even though I could see the other side of the island from the beginning of the path).

In this case, I guess I was the amphibious vehicle.

And as is the case in June (and July and August) - it was HOT.

Brunch on Deer Island and a Barreling Left

We packed a lunch and drove to Biloxi for an expedition to Deer Island.

The pic of my okole shows the oil boom to the left of the board - the oil hasn't hit yet, but there is alot of activity going on with working boats, staged booms and hordes of workers mobilized (Canal Dr south of I-10 has three huge makeshift rallying points where Tyvex clad workers drive in to make the donuts).

Not the cleanest water, but the kids enjoyed practicing their new swimming skills.

Tons of fish out there - mostly mullet, but big ones. Marlon saw a huge blue crab (couldn't catch that one without a net - he would have easily won).

We ate the turkey-avocado sandwiches, strawberries and other fruit then I saw it -

It's been months, but I can just as easily recognize perfection like time hasn't passed at all. The wave train started to rise as the water shallowed and WHAM! Clear as day - screaming left barrels driving through - lined up for yards!!!

Too bad I'm not 6" tall - read that again - 6" not 6'.

When immersing yourself in solar energy manifesting itself as waves or wind for as long as I have been - perfection (no matter how small) is perfection and must be admired. It felt wonderful watching a great wave break again.

We headed back across the Biloxi Channel and Marlon wanted to try SUPing himself instead of just being a sitdown passenger. He got it within a few minutes! We couldn't pull Noe out of the water - she was "swimming".

The thing that has happened here for us in Gulfport is our kids now feel very comfortable in the water. For that alone, I am grateful - they will take that confidence no matter where we go next and it will be with them for their lifetime. Cali (North of San Diego) would not give that confidence freely - cold water, large waves and strong currents demand respect. You can say the coast is the set of training wheels they needed for a water based lifestyle -

Now if we can just be lucky enough to not get hit by the oil...