01/31/2025 ICW Day 31 : Makin Hay

by Brian · Published January 31, 2025 · Updated February 3, 2025

We had a good weather report on the horizon, and we had been eyeing it for the last 4 days. It would be our “go day.” - get while the getting is good. We selected an ambitious destination, and had favorable currents and following seas.

We stopped twice to check out parks. The first park didn’t have much, but the second was a state park and we briefly wandered on a nature trail. I took a rapid shower too. As we were leaving, a man at the dock next to us was loading his two small dogs onto his Jetski. We watched as he prepared a foam pad for his pets.

He looked at our boat and said, “A Hobie!”

Then he continued, “You know, Mr. Hobie was NOT a dog lover.”

Janet and I must have looked perplexed. Maybe he knew Mr. Hobie personally?

He continued, “Because Hobie Cat!”

Haha, nice “dad joke”….

Janet made a comment about his dogs being cute.

“Yeah, I met these dogs at the laboratory.”

Now we were more confused.

“That was another joke…” he said.

Was this a joke related to Trump saying that immigrants in Ohio ate dogs? My neurons fired on all cylinders an attempt to make sense of this second joke, but I didn’t have time because he fired off ‘sommore self-proclaimed humor before zooming away on his jet ski.

And now I have another reason to keep our distance from jet skis.

Photos:

Janet and I have joked that the dolphins out here have “seen it all.” We say that because dolphins typically are curious about humans, but in the ICW, they tend to be more focused on eating fish, which is fine. Today, though, for the first time we had a brief escort on either side by dolphins. Either that or we happened to be moving the same way as the sardines.

We passed a stretch of houses with these elaborate outdoor screen structures, presumably to provide outdoor living space protected from bugs. Thanks to the cooler than normal weather, we have been pretty much bug-free.

Tonight’s camping.

Having the boat can be a liability in terms of finding places to go, so these “spoil islands” are fantastic for us. We have luxuries that we don’t have on bike trips - such as the seats from the kayak (that convert into elevated chairs). Also, we carry a huge fleece blanket from Walmart that goes on the floor of the tent, making it feel like cozy carpet underneath our feet.

Half a glass of wine 🍷 and time to enjoy the sunset again!

Strava Comments:

Janet W.

It’s fun to camp out on our own (sort of) deserted island with you !

Braden L.

Radical!!!

Holly H.

That would be screened in porch, soon you may come across bird caged pools...

Corrine L.

I was thinking the dog joke was another dad joke. "lab"oratory. Like a labrador retriever?

Holly H.

I thought the dog joke was that he rescued them from the laboratory. I would hear the lab dogs barking behind UCSF on Parnassus.

Brian L.

Corrine Leistikow - you may have figured it out! Holly Harris - my mind went there too and I asked if they were rescue dogs. That question bewildered him, “naw, it’s just a joke,” he said.

Shred C.

Just here to say I'm so tickled pink by your vehicle choice 🙂 What a great place to camp, too!

Gregg B.

I loved Kayak camping (before the L4/L5 disc rupture) because adding more weight just made the kayak more stable not slower. 20 lb turkey on a Thanksgiving trip, throw it in on top of the cast iron Dutch oven and sweet potatoes…

Paula G.

Did I ever tell you that you two have this whole 'life thing' figured out?