I got up on Saturday morning at 7.00am, an unearthly hour after you've consumed abundant amounts of alcohol the night before! I didn't mind that much though seeing as today was the day I was going sea fishing, wwwhhhooopppp!
I did this last time I was out here four or five years ago and it is the most fun ever, unless you're a vegan probably. I was going with my friends John, Teri and Teri's brother Joe on John's boat "Lil Smokey" which is probably 30ft long and has a bedroom and loo in the hull... niiiice!
On our way down to the docks we stopped off to fill it up with fuel and to grab some sandwiches to keep us going later on. Their choice was Subways. Now I can't say I've ever been a fan of this place, this pictures of the food look ruddy hanging but it was this or a raw, probably still flapping, fish so I ordered what I thought would be the safest bet; Ham and Tomato. Unfortunately as the sandwich maker seemed more occupied with my hair colour and the fact it was "Hot" I ended up with Ham, lettuce, some goo and cucumber.... close enough I guess and hey, I was "Hot" in the eyes of a spotty, tattooed teen.
As you drive down the Pinellas Byway it splits so there's a meridian in the middle, it's quite obvious, even for an idiot Brit, to see which way you should be driving down as there's plenty of signs telling you "Wrong Way" "Turn Around (you prat)" But for some unknown reason a guy in a huge red truck decided not to read these signs and was hammering down the wrong side of the road towards us. There was a little part of me that was a tiny bit smug at this point thinking "Even I haven't done that"
As it was a beautiful day the launching bays and the dock were a little busy, lots of families taking their boats for a day out on the water. Children with life jackets on that were so huge they could barely move... at least they won't sink though eh?
Eventually we set off out into the bay first before hitting the open water. Now my track record with choppy seas aren't the greatest. I have spent many hours on boats hanging my head into a bucket turning the lighter shade of pale but thankfully I'd skipped breakfast on purpose so the huge waves we were now crashing down on weren't causing the vomit to start burning my throat. Instead they were bouncing me from my seat and crashing me down onto my arse, I am now the proud owner of a butt bruise.
As none of us could stay on our feet for too long we headed back in shore a little to try our luck there. It wasn't too long before some huge beast was trying to pull me into the water! I must have battled for 10 minutes before yanking the blighter close enough to the boat to see what it was. I had visions of it being a 12ft long kingfisher grappling at the bait, jumping out of the water and trying to bite my head off as I bravely won the fight to bring it on board. To my disappointment it was a 1ft spanish mackerel that probably weight about 2lbs. None the less though, mine was the first catch of the day but for the remainder of the trip I stayed tight lipped on what I thought it was before I pulled it out of the water, less humiliation that way hey.
I forgot to pack my camera today so I'm sorry to I have no wildlife pictures to show you but we saw a few sea turtles out there and some dolphins that followed the boat along for a good mile which was stunning. There's definitely a sense of sheer relaxation about being on a boat, we'd packed beer and food as well as some nice music to kill to, it really couldn't have been anymore perfect. Certainly beats trout fishing by a lake in England I can tell ya.
Being out here, being able to do things like this and realising people that live here get to do this stuff whenever they want really gives me pangs of jealousy. I've said recently I couldn't live in America but from what I've done and seen over the last day or two is beginning to swing me in the other direction. Maybe I could find a niche here for me, my high fives are certainly coming along nicely so maybe I could live this side of the pond?
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