Nancy and Brian

The Johnson family has traveled with me for many years. This year we left the dock at 1:00 in the afternoon and returned after the sunset. The May weather was absolutely perfect. We had our usual "loose itinerary"(What ever pops up in nature, lets go explore it!) A new sand bar had formed 48 hours before in the Gulf and I was anxious to explore it. That is where our trip began. The color of the water was deliciously inviting.( kinda like a mango on ice) We found a large live horse conch and took a picture of this beautiful shell and then put it back where we found it. We then traveled to one of my favorite spots and found and observed many shells. The tide was falling fast. So fast that the stern of my boat was almost on the bottom after our long walk on the beach. The storm clouds were still farther inland as we made our way to one of my favorite places on the water to eat. (Nancy's favorite) The quiet and peaceful Tarpon Lodge. The food was superb and the waitstaff even better. It was now time to catch the sunset. My plan was to watch the sunset beside Cayo Costa. Soon after leaving the Tarpon Lodge we saw roseate spoonbills on a mudflat.( The tide was incredibly low.) We all enjoyed the moment and the beauty of the roseate. We enjoyed it so much we decided to just watch then sun  fall while we were tucked in beside the mangroves. It was a beautiful moment. Just the sounds of the birds wings and the north northwest wind on the side of the boat. I  always love the loose itinerary of the Johnsons. Thank you for another "loose itinerary" adventure.

May

The water and clouds were inviting through the lens of the camera today. The bird in the photo is a reddish egret. I revisited my photo from an earlier post(porthole to the future). I liked the clouds in the porthole shot I took today. The beauty of the islands is that they are always changing.

A May Evening Shelling

Today, the May evening weather was perfect. A long time client and her son traveled with me to one of my favorite spots. The mini sand dollars were showing up, as well as some nice olives, a moon shell, a sunray venus and a little horse conch. It was nice to be out on the water on this beautiful May evening.

All Good Days

It's the middle of May, my favorite month.  Sometimes you just have to go to your favorite spot by yourself and listen. Listen to the tide, wind, leaves falling, and hear what they are saying.

Texas Shellers

The super moon tide was going out fast when we reached my favorite island.  Karen, Alaina and Melodie were as excited as I was to start exploring this isolated stretch of beach. The ladies from Texas were hearty shellers. They shelled their way from Texas stopping at beaches along the way. Then they were going to shell their way back. We talked about shells and what they had found along the way. They told me about the operculam from the turban shell they had found the day before in Northern Florida. I told Karen I had found some up that way a year ago, but never on this "island". Ten minutes later she said, ''Look at this". I'll be darn if it wasn't a operculam from the turban.(second photo from the top) Then she found another. WOW!! Then Melodie found one. Then I found one. My first ever in this location. The whole thing was very exciting. The ladies kept finding them and giving them to me. I just shook my head in amazement. All very cool finds. You never know what you will find. They also found many sand dollars and one excellent Arrow Head Sand Dollar. Karen had a very good shelling eye. Melodie was also a sharp sheller. We reluctantly started our trip back to Captiva, (we probably could have shelled all night.) The May skies were beautiful. It was a great trip with the ladies from Texas. Thank you ladies. God bless Texas!

Moria and Marty

 Sunset and a super moon low tide with friends Moria and Marty, WOW! It was a wonderful trip. Marty was like a magnet for sandollars, Moria found a key hole limpet, cockles, a baby's ear shell, tusks, rice shells, olives, sun ray venus, wendeltrap, bubble shells, and many colorful coquinas. Great conversations were had and mutual shelling friends were talked about. Kim the ever busy bee was brought up often. The Essential Beachcomber was also talked about.  The day was filled with great memories. Thank you Moria and Marty.