These 18" tall birds have a 44" wingspan, which is considerable when you think about it, and when you see them in flight, they are quite stunning to watch. They are quite aptly named, of course, because they literally SKIM the water. Their flight formations are wonderful and fast and they are hard to follow with a camera.
They would all alight at the one time, then just as suddenly take off again in a cloud of wings.
There was J-class yacht racing on he harbor...we guessed it was international competition, as we saw a couple AUS boats go by us into the marina.
Waterfronts are usually busy places, and we cant think of a better place to be on a lovely day.
We were determined to find the Cruise Ship dock, but apparently there were no ships in harbor, and we had walked right by the dock, already. Bummer. Well, actually, no! Apparently, passengers do not greatly contribute to the local economy other than renting bicycles and carts, taking the train tour (on rubber wheels) and buying shells and sponges. They tend to eat their food on the boat, so that the cruise doesn't cost them anymore than is necessary. They are notoriously 'cheap' according to the Information booth person we got chatting to, when we asked where the ship dock was.
Apparently he has a brother who works out of Christchurch, in Antarctic...has done for the past 10 yrs, and then goes back, in the off season, down there, to being a fishing boat captain in Key West. Not a bad life, if you can get it!:)
The wind was cool, facing the water and there were not too many people sitting in the last afternoon sun.
Condo's facing the water and the dock square.
We worked our way around to the Marina, where there was plenty of eye candy of the motor yacht variety.
The owner of this Schooner asked if we wanted to do the sunset tour on his boat, with the sails up. We had a conversation that went like many we have, all over...about being from NZ, which has some of the best sailing grounds in the world...he didn't disagree:), and thank you, but we get all the sunsets we want...just not with sails up! Nice of him, but we would have had to pay, also.
This girl is rather pretty!
More sailing boats for tours
Len tells us there is another way to get down to Key West, and that is the Fast Boat from Fort Meyers. $90 return. Hmm...good idea! Next time!
I guess it would be a lot of fun to do it that way.
Next Year!
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