Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Spencer Jack Rockin' The Water With Happy Hour Floating In Padilla Bay

No, that is not my great nephew, Spencer Jack in the polluted Trinity River floating in a Rockin' the River Happy Hour Inner Tube Float.

Spencer Jack is floating in crystal clear unpolluted saltwater.

This morning, in my incoming email, there were two emails each from Spencer Jack's dad and favorite uncle, my favorite nephews, Jason and Joey.

Both nephews sent  me one photo and one video. With no explanation as to what I was looking at.

Looking at the photo you see here I guessed that maybe the boys were at Bay View State Park, swimming in Padilla Bay.

The audio on the video below confirms I was correct in my guess.

Landlocked Texans, such as those at my current location, not familiar with saltwater beaches, might wonder how anyone could possibly tolerate being in water that must be terribly cold.

Well, I will explain.

Many of the saltwater bays of Western Washington are shallow. When the tide goes out on a shallow bay it exposes a large expanse of sand. If the sun is available the sun heats up the sand. Then when the tide slowly returns the water, that water gets heated. The best location that I've ever experienced this phenomenon is at Birch Bay in Whatcom County, up near the Canadian border.

One summer during my teen years I was at Bay View State Park. I had a snorkel and goggles. I was in the water as the tide came in. Very warm. Peacefully floating along with my head in the water, watching the sand flow below me as the tide moved me along, breathing through the snorkel tube. About a half hour later I surfaced to find that I had traveled quite a distance. This required returning to Bay View State Park via walking barefoot alongside the road to the park. That was likely the last time I ever snorkeled.

Below we see  Spencer Jack doing something I have never done......

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