Full Speed
I have learned over the years that having the right cadence to adventures enhances the enjoyment. However in March, the adventures were just too good to miss and there was almost no down time.
We were still in Maui on the first of March on Wailea Beach. Chris and Sophie, son and fiancé, came and stayed with us making Maui so much better. Beth & Ted our old friends were still there so we snorkeled and hiked. I was offered by a company I am invested in a few days stay at a resort on Kona so Lori and I went there as well. We enjoyed getting out to see the great smoldering volcanoes of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa. Night snorkeling with Manta Rays had to be abandoned due to choppy seas. A quick slide show below.
Got home, unpacked, repacked, celebrated our 35th anniversary and I flew to Steamboat Springs, Colorado. One week and 35 years before I had my bachelor party there. My good old friend Dave still has a home there and we skied, downhill and cross country for 4 days. It was great to spend time with he and his wife, Nancy and some other friends Pete and his partner, Susan, and Mike and his wife, Liz. Glad I turned it around fast.
Flew home from Steamboat, unpacked, repacked and flew to the Bahamas, Green Turtle Cay and Abaco Island. Met my good friend Pete, the greatest fly fisherman I know, to wade the flats and chase bonefish and barracuda. He rents a house for the month of March and we take a golf cart around the island / cay then walk into the water and fish. I tied my first gotcha fly and caught bonefish on it. Also a shovel nosed shark got interested in my shuffling feet and gave me a good scare. Pete, being the greatest, caught a giant barracuda with a sensational cast.
Pete’s rented house, Green Turtle Cay 
Pete wading a flat on the incoming tide, Green Turtle Cay 
Starfish on the flat in a foot of water, Green Turtle Cay 
Green Turtle, Green Turtle Cay 
Bonefish with my hand tied gotcha in it’s mouth 
Staying out of the sun on the flats, Abaco Island 
Pete with a giant barracuda on the line, Abaco Island 
Giant barracuda, Abaco Island
Flew back to Miami picked up a car and drove Alligator Alley to pick up my wife at the Ft. Meyers airport and checked into our Airbnb on a canal in Bonita Springs. We went to visit old college friends Mark and Sue in Venice and childhood friends, Denise and Darrin in Bonita Springs. Both of them were renting houses with pools so we did that a couple of afternoons. I have a pair of excellent swimming goggles my niece gave me and I send her goggle pictures from around the world, like New Zealand and Maui.
Our house came with a kayak so we paddled around the canals and bays. One evening after being out late with Darrin and Denise, I noticed a large snook under the dock light at a neighboring home. Despite Lori cautioning me as I had had a few, I jumped in the kayak with my Bahamas fly rod and on the third cast hooked that large snook. It dragged me around the canal and crashed me into the neighbors dock. They came out to see what the commotion was about. Luckily they weren’t angry about the 11:30 pm disturbance but interested and happy to see my catch.
And of course we played golf. It was great fun to be with our good friends.
So it was March 27 and I had been to about 27 happy hours. With my low resistance, I now had a bad cold developing into bronchitis. I swore off happy hours until recovery and shifted to low speed.
R1T Tour 