What a day on paddle boards.
We just took a small group of newbie Paddlers out for a lesson. Before we even started we had manatees right next to our legs andfeet. We paddled out and it was hard to keep the group’s attention because of the antics of the 3 manatees. We had a wonderful paddle on perfectly calm blue water. Lots of bait fish with something chasing them. It wasn’t a dolphin or manatee… Barracuda? Shark? Tarpon? Sting ray?
We stayed out for a much longer time, but it was so nice and we all were enjoying it so, we didn’t want to come in. But we did and who was there to get their backs scratched? There they were, waiting for us!! They bumped our boards and begged to be scratched with hands and feet and paddles! They come up for air and their prickly whiskered muzzles break the surface right next to us. Needless to say, it was a wonderful paddle!
I took some friends out Sunday morning and we had dolphins all around us. Really close. We had osprey catching fish right in front of us and then a bald eagle in a tree. He chased the osprey down for the mullet the osprey just snagged. The eagle was in full color! Spectacular.
This paddle board sport is not only a wonderful workout, but it is often like Wild Kingdom. It is not always like that, but on average we see critters really close to us half the time. Sometimes it is an angry crab with a bad attitude. Often stingrays, or tarpon. I don’t think we have ever had a bad day on the water.
It takes no talent. It does take patience (a bit). You don’t even need to know how to swim! We are certified life guards and are very safe. Truly, it doesn’t get any better than this!