A Beautiful Day in December

Bokeelia, FL

Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 - December is usually a month filled with cold front after cold front. Which means that the days are windy or cold or soon the be windy and cold. When you get an exceptional day in the forecast - by all means take it if at all possible.

Today was one of those days. We have a major front moving through in a couple of days but today was forecast to be in the low 80s. After several days of chilly weather and knowing that I'm going to be freezing in SC next week - I decided to take advantage of the day.

Due to relatively strong South winds, we decided to put the paddleboards in at Bokeelia - "Pine Island's North Shore". This was an area most protected from the winds and the water here is beautifully clear. We arrived around noon and took advantage of the local restaurant. While Alan prepared the boards, I walked over to the restaurant and ordered a fried mullet sandwich to go.

We soon launched and paddled up the shoreline. Once we got to a sandy beach area, we stopped and had our lunch. As we were eating our sandwiches, I looked out to where we were just paddling and saw a dolphin playing. It was a great lunch and no restaurant on earth can offer that type of atmosphere.

After lunch, we continued up the shore. The water was crystal clear and the fish were abundant. We were mainly cruising over white sandy bottom so the visibility was exceptionally great. I saw numerous redfish with the largest being in the 10 lb range. I wish I'd brought the flyrod!

I also saw lots of mullet, a large school of sheepsheads (I've never seen a school of sheepies like that before), stingrays, conchs, etc.

We paddled up to the point where it opens into a bay. The wind was blowing pretty hard in the bay area so we decided that it was time to turn around and make our way back to the Jeep.

As we return and Alan is getting his board out of the water, a local man came up and started talking about what we were doing. He said "Wow, you must have great balance to stand on one of those things". At this same time, I was off my board and getting the gear together and had the paddle in the other hand. I guess I stepped on a rock and lost my balance and fell backwards. I landed butt-first on a big rock.

I guess I proved him wrong on his 'balance theory'!

It was a great day on the water and I'm so glad that I was able to take the day off to enjoy it. After-all - it is December and you never know how long it'll be before you get another day like that.