Advanced Boating

Green Turtle in the Ocean
Off St Lucie Inlet, FL
July 25, 2023

 I completed my off-shore boating certification yesterday and am officially dangerous!

I am certified to take a small boat out into the mighty Atlantic Ocean. The club that I am in limits me to no further than 10 miles offshore, but considering at 10 miles land is mostly out of sight, except for tall buildings, and the water may be over 1000 feet deep, I'm not sure why I would be out quite that far anyway. 

It was a short, but fun day on the ocean learning what I needed to get certified. 

Atlantic Ocean from Jupiter Island Beach
Jupiter Island, FL
July 25, 2023

I also had fun watching dolphins and one green turtle that actually swam around the boat twice while we were at idle working through our man overboard procedures and covering some radio call situations.

After I piloted the boat back into the marina, we finished the paperwork and I was certified. 

But, that was not the end of my day on and in the ocean. Chris and I headed out to the beach after the heat of the day passed. The ocean was nearly flat as sunset was preparing to occur. The breeze off the water seemed cool, yet the temperature was still in the upper 80s. 

It was our first evening beach walk in quite a while. Finnegan tagged along, but was not as excited about walking the beach as either Chris or I.

Maybe the oppressive heat is beginning to dissipate. I can only hope.

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL