What a beautiful summer so far, Hot and Humid… I love it! Fortunately, I have plenty of that melanin stuff in my skin, I have more energy when it is hot out, AND my hair looks the same no matter what the humidity is doing – BONUS! I think I am genetically engineered for my environment (lol, I am such a science dork). The dolphins don’t seem to mind the heat and the warmer water temps either as they are just as playful as ever. Manatees are loving the warm water too and we have been seeing them graze on the grass beds throughout the bay area. I really love this area and all the wildlife diversity, it is fantastic. I have been away for the past month traveling and while I love exploring, I always love to come home to Fort Myers Beach! Our stand-up paddleboard shelling trip has been producing lots of happy customers with lots of shells. I attached a photo of a recent couple we had out with us and a photo of some of the shells they found on that tour. What a cute couple! Speaking of cute couples, Capt Mike and I had to practice our team working skills yesterday. So I’m heading to back to the dock from a coastal sealife dolphin and shelling cruise and I notice Capt Mike up the channel going in reverse back to the marina after his fishing charter. So I call him on VHF ch 10, “Up on Two (his vessel’s name) do you need assistance?”. He responds “No, my shift cable broke but I think I can make it in okay”. Better at the end of a charter than the beginning and better yet than a broken steering cable, now bringing a boat in with that is interesting to say the least! I respond “I take it the forward cable broke”. He laughs. Well we have replaced many cables over the years in this business, and they are relatively easy, but he had another charter scheduled for 1PM and it was already 12:15 and I wasn’t even back to land yet to help him but I happened to have the right tools we needed and the store had the cable we needed so I was optimistic that we could get this done without having to cancel a charter. So, I’m swimming under the boat with a knife and pliers to loosen up the broken cable while Mike is on the boat preparing the new cable, then I am under the console to feed the new one through, while Mike is hanging off the stern to attach it to the engine. It was quite a scene and we managed to get it done in record time. Fortunately, his 1PM charter went to get ice cream while we were playing “pit crew” and didn’t notice a thing. Styling my hair I am not so good at, but replacing steering and shift cables? not a problem. Other than broken cables, Capt Mike has been catching snapper, spotted trout, flounder, snook, and redfish on his charters. He’s also been catching small sharks too. Well, guys and gals, thanks for reading about some of our adventures and hope you join us for one sometime soon! Adios amigos -Cristina and the Good Time Family
