Off to the Beach by Boat

Setting-up The Camp
Hobe Sound National Wildlife Beach, Jupiter Island 
Hobe Sound, FL
October 23, 2023

 Yesterday was a great day for sitting on a beach. Mild temperatures and light breezes highlighted the experience. We chose to head out on a trusty pontoon boat for a few hours one of my new favorite beaches. 

Finnegan and Chris on the Beach
Hobe Sound National Wildlife Beach, Jupiter Island 
Hobe Sound, FL
October 23, 2023

The double-decker pontoon boat was the same model, but a different boat from the one we took out last week. The one last week managed a top speed of 21 mph, yesterday, the best I could get yesterday was 11 mph at 4K RPM. I think the pontoons need to be scraped to reduce the drag from barnacles on other sea junk. We used as much gas yesterday as we did last week, but only traveled about half as far. 

The ocean was relatively calm with the waves crashing on the beach, but with a steady soothing rhythm. Sadly, I did not manage any shut-eye time in a chair under an umbrella.

I enjoyed a walk along the beach and for the entire beach portion of the day Finnegan was off-leash. He stayed close and only had to be recalled on a couple of occasions from his continual desire to ensure that no birds were within his field of vision. 

Flight of Blackhawks
Hobe Sound Wildlife Preserve, Jupiter Island
Hobe Sound, FL
October 23, 2023

The excitement of the day was a flight of four Blackhawks flying just offshore. Of course we all wondered what they were doing as it is rare to see even one Blackhawk. My guess was that the Commander of USSOUTHCOM was headed somewhere. But, of course, I have no further information to substantiate that wild guess. 

After our time on the beach, we toured the ICW south to just north of Bridge Road, in Hobe Sound. That was about the spot where we turned around during our outing last week and headed back south to Jupiter. 

It was another great day of boating with friends. 

-- Bob Doan, Tequesta, FL