Offshore white out

Capt. Ryan Rolland, left, and Capt. Mike Myers take in an offshore thunderstorm

It was 10 minutes of rain shredding the Gulf, making the offshore water boil white, eliciting the sound of a lingering explosion.

Being in Capt. Ryan Rolland's boat at the time felt like going through a car wash on a ridiculously high-pressure mode. The boat rocked and flowed over the choppy waves. We could only watch.

We knew it was only a matter of time until the boat cleared the storm, and so, we maintained our course to "The Spot," as Rolland dubbed it on his G.P.S., a 60-by-60-foot area of raised bottom in 155 feet of water, about 55 miles offshore of Sarasota.

As we blasted through the storm, all was quiet inside the boat. We took in the sight. Some stared ahead though it was no big deal. Rolland certainly had seen this before. Not I. "This is the outdoors," I thought.

Indeed, we were in the middle of the Gulf, under grayish-white skies, surrounded by a mass of gyrating water.

If recorded, the sound would be enough to doze off to.