Ships on Parade

My dad and I shoved off from the dock at Anna Maria Island just before 8 a.m. Thursday morning. I didn’t have a thermometer with me, but I’d swear it was already 80 degrees, and we weren’t getting any breaks from the breeze either.

Crossing the flats toward the channel into Tampa Bay, the water was dead calm and the sky was a clean blue.

But the calm didn’t last long.

Near the tall ships, the channel was crowded with boats, all cramming in for a view. The wake from these boats alone was enough to make us feel as if we were charging through a mild tempest.

At any rate, we caught plenty of spray charging through the waves. It wasn’t even nine in the morning, and I already had salt water on my face.

Once we were in the crowd, though, I shook off the last of my morning drowsiness, and excitement pretty much took over.

So I went for the camera.