OFF TO KEY WEST

January 29, 2012  Dateline: Key West, FL USA

Rich and Carol got up early this morning and spent the next hour or so debating whether or not the weather window was good enough to make the run from Marco Island to Key West.  The debate centered on the strength of the wind, as it was blowing 10-15 knots out of the north-northeast.  They finally concluded that the wind would push me down to Key West so off we went.  The ride was nice but since the wind was blowing against my port side on the stern there were a couple of waves that made me roll, but no big deal.  The real issue was the lobster pots.  They were all over the place and since the wind created sizable waves they were difficult for Rich and Carol to see.  I got a vibration in my starboard propeller so I am afraid that I picked up a lobster pot rope.  A diver is coming this week to check me out.  I have heard that the owner of a boat in South Florida who says he never touched ground or did not pick up a lobster pot has either never taken his boat out of his slip or is lying.

The color of the water was a lovely aquamarine.  I suspect that this picture does not do it justice, but here it is.

When I arrived in Key West there were two cruise ships tied up.  Carol was able to get a picture of the smaller one.  The large one appeared to be about twice the size of the one she got a picture of.  I find it amazing when the life boats on these cruise ships are larger than I am.

I will be Key West for the next several days.  There are some friends of mine here, including Mary Francis and Algonquin.

EXPLORING THEY WENT

January 28, 2012  Dateline: Marco Island, FL USA

The day started out with clear skies, bright sun and low humidity, so Rich and Carol rented a tandem bicycle and pedaled around Marco Island.  They noted that there are very few vacant lots and all Gulf shores are lined with high rise condos. The beach on the Gulf side had white firm sand covered with shells of various types.

They stopped at Tigertail Park, which is a place on the shoreline that the city has protected.  There were a lot of sandpipers searching the mud for morsels of food.  The Park also rented all kinds of water toys, including tricycles that had large plastic wheels with paddles on the side of them so that they would float on the water and could be ridden on land.  There is a small stream that people cross to get to an island with a treasure trove of shells.

The marina I stayed in Marco Island was named The Marina at Factory Bay.  Rich was curious about the name so he made some inquiries about it.  It turned out that before being a marina with some very expensive high rise condos, the site had been a Doxsee clam processing plant as well as other clam processing plants around the bay.  Marco Island had been a major place for the processing of clams.  The clams have long since given way to expensive homes and condos

I overheard Rich and Carol talking this afternoon.  They said that the weather is looking better for traveling tomorrow rather than Monday, so it looks like I am heading for a 90+ mile run to Key West tomorrow of which 80 miles will be out in the Gulf of Mexico.

OH NO!!!!

January 27, 2012  Dateline: Marco Island, FL USA

The wind at Marco Island has been blowing me onto the T-Head of the dock since I arrived here on Wednesday.  Rich and Carol tried to take the new dinghy out for a ride, but the wind has been so strong that they were uncomfortable to go out.  This morning before the sun fully rose, the sky suddenly opened up, rain poured down and the wind bounced me around like I was a rubber ball.  The storm was over in a few minutes, but wow did I get pushed around.  I would hit the dock and my fenders would bounce me off then back against the dock I would go. The sky to my stern was black and the clouds looked like they came down to the ground.  A few minutes later the sun came up and was awesome. 

Today, Rich and Carol went to the grocery store, not a big deal but it is what they came back with-----salt.  Not only was it the first time in over 24 years they bought salt, but they bought Morton Salt, not North American Salt Company (NASC) salt.  For those of you who don’t know, NASC was the deal that enabled Rich to buy me.  I hope there is not a pox on him for having been sacrilegious.  If you don’t already know, the salt in my name (SALT N’ SAND) has nothing to do with the ocean but with Rich’s NASC affiliation.

The wind finally died down this afternoon and they were able to take the new dinghy out for a ride.  Carol told me that this dinghy is much better than the old one.  The hard bottom makes it track straight and it does not flex as it goes over a wave.  The bow has a small cushioned seat in the bow, so Carol no longer has to sit on the floor.  This bird is standing about where Carol sits.

This afternoon, there were some dolphins playing, perhaps feeding, around me.  Carol tried to get pictures of them, no luck so no dolphin pictures, yet.   

I forgot to post this picture of a boat I saw in Naples, I wonder what the name means, there is a steel logo in the "G" of its name.

The cloudy day today gave Marco Island a dramatic sunset tonight.

OFF TO MARCO ISLAND

January 25, 2012  Dateline: Marco Island, FL USA

Last night, Rich and Carol went to a park in Naples where Newt Gingrich was speaking.  He was two hours late but the crowd waited for him. There were more than 6,000 people in attendance. The attendance was larger than both Tampa and Sarasota campaign stops combined.  Living in New Jersey, Rich and Carol do not get to see presidential candidates.  The State most often votes Democratic so the Republican candidates don’t come to the State and the Democrats see no reason to invest in a State that will vote for them anyway.

At a nearby marina today on Marco Island there were some men cleaning their catch of the day.  There were pelicans standing at their feet begging for scraps of fish.  The men threw some of the scraps into the water and the pelicans jumped up and flew into the water.  There they floated and waited for some more scraps to be tossed into the water.  Pelicans must intimidate sea gulls as the gulls flew around but did not come anywhere near the scraps.

I will remain here until Monday when I take the 80+ mile trip to Key West.

This morning after getting fuel I headed off to Marco Island a short 14 miles away.  As we traveled down the Gordon River leaving Naples we saw very expensive homes on both shores, here are a few pictures.

NAPLES

January 21, 2012  Naples, FL USA

Last Monday, Rich and Carol drove from Ft Myers to Ft Lauderdale to visit a few stores that they usually visit during their annual trip to the Ft Lauderdale Boat Show.  While sitting outside of a restaurant having lunch, they saw Jim, Dale and Ashley of SWEET PEA. I had traveled with Sweet Pea in Canada and had last seen them in Ft Myers.  They had crossed Florida using the Okeechobee Waterway and were now staying in Stuart. They traveled to Ft Lauderdale so Ashley could fly home to Boston.  Loopers find each other in all kinds of places.

Rich and Carol walked off to Tin City this afternoon.  Tin City is a shopping district located on the Gordon River waterfront of Naples. The shopping center is on the site of an early twentieth century clam shelling and oyster processing plant.  The tin structures that now house the shops and restaurants are reminiscent of the past.  The district touts the connection between Naples and its rich maritime history that once thrived as the center of the city’s fishing industry.

The processing plants fell into disrepair, but were revived in the 1970s when renovations were made to the original structures, made mostly of wood and sheets of corrugated iron that sat at its location.  The shopping center houses a many unique stores and three waterfront seafood restaurants.

Across the waterway from Tin City a man was cleaning fish and throwing scraps of fish into the water. A flock of pelicans were waiting in the water for the scraps to be thrown. When the man was done he walked away and sea gulls came in to clean the scraps that had been left on the table.  Nothing was going to waste.

On the opposite side of the Rte 41 from where I am tied up the City of Naples has some pretty condo buildings and a recreational water front, the area is called Bay Front.  This is a picture of the buildings.

Rich and Carol told me about this RIVA, an Italian boat that was for sale at the marina I am staying at.  I guess they got attracted by the pretty face.  They told me I did not have to worry, but who knows. Rich may win the lottery!  Since he doesn’t buy tickets, I guess I don’t have to worry too much.

WE’RE MOVING AGAIN

January 20, 2012  Dateline: Naples, FL USA

You all know that I like to print pictures of ME, well this picture is not of me.  It is a picture of one of my baby sisters. She was born in 2002, has a different interior and engines, but she is still pretty. 

I am docked at the Naples Boat Club, which is located on the landing flight path of Naples Airport.  The marina is nice and is located next to some beautiful condos.

I will be here for the next four days, let’s see if Rich and Carol can get some good pictures of the City.

Here is a picture of the Legacy Marina where I stayed in Ft. Myers.  I was docked all the way over left side of the picture.  Rich and Carol had to enter on the right side of the marina and walk all the way around. Carol counted 650 steps, almost a third of a mile.  Don’t you feel sorry for them, I don’t, and docked out there I got attached by a flock of blackbirds.  There were piles of bird excrement all over me, it was NASTY.

This morning I started to move again and it sure felt good!  It was only a 45 mile trip from Ft. Myers down to Naples but the first third of it was very slow as I travelled down the narrow channel in the Caloosahatchee River.   Once I got to the Gulf of Mexico, off I went.  The Gulf was flat and the run was fun.

The trip up the inlet to Naples was very nice. Here are some pictures of the houses I saw.

THEY WENT VISITING

Because they went visiting this week and left me in the slip I will let Rich do tonight’s report.

This week Carol and I would visit 5 different groups of friends here on the west coast of Florida, four of which used to live in New Jersey before retiring here.

On our way back from one of our stops in Ocala yesterday we stopped at John Ringling’s home in Sarasota.  John Ringling was the last surviving of the five brothers who created Ringling Brothers Circus.  He built one of the largest companies in the world at the time and entertained millions of people each year.  Each day more than 1,500 people were employed to unload the wagons from the train and then set up the tents.  The first tent to go up would be the commissary, there were 1,500 people who had to be fed 3 times each day and of course the animals had to be fed as well.  The wagons had to be unloaded and loaded in a specific order to ensure that all the parts were where they needed to be at the proper time.  John Ringling and his brothers were as much logistic professionals as they were circus people.  When John died the only cash he had was $311 in his bank account. 

John built a house that was called Cad Á Zan (house of John) in Sarasota.  When he died he willed the home as well as an art gallery that was located on the property to the State of Florida.  Today a museum of the circus is also on the property.

Here are several pictures of the house.  It is just incredible.

The circus museum contained several circus wagons including a calliope and a band wagon.

The museum also contained a full model of a circus.  The model was of the Howard Brothers Circus because John Ringling would not allow the modeler to use the Ringling name.  Here is a picture of the model’s big top and midway.



Model Big Top



Model Midway



Remember you can click on a picture to make it bigger 

THEY’RRRRRRE BACK

January 8, 2012  Dateline Ft Myers, FL USA

They arrived back in FT. Myers on Wednesday night, Jan 4, 2012.  I was getting ready to get going and they told me they had a car, so they will be traveling and I will continue to sit.  I will turn the site over to Rich until I start traveling again, then I will make him give it back to me.  So here is Rich.

Rich here.  On Thursday, Carol and I drove to Captiva Island.  We took a shot and looked up an old business partner of mine when I was with D. George Harris & Associates.  I knocked and he showed up at the door.   The conversation was great as a long time has passed since we last saw each other.  We agreed to meet the next night at a restaurant on Sanibel Island called “Sweet Melissa’s Café”.  The food was incredible; the presentation was beautiful, even the dishes were unique.  Oh, did I mention that the executive chef, Melissa, is the daughter of my friends.  She has been written up in several local magazines as her restaurant is extremely popular.

Did you ever wonder what ladies who have pig tails do when they ride a motorcycle.  This lady figured out a way to solve the problem by drilling holes in the helmet.

Carol and I went to Tarpon Springs to purchase another sponge and some air plants.  We had a really pretty one that we purchased a year ago, but left it in a motel room last summer when we went by car to visit the Thousand Islands.  A new sponge, similar to the lost one, was acquired as well as some really nice air plants. 

Tarpon Springs is a community on the west coast of Florida which was populated by Greeks.  The town was built around the sponge business and the Greeks came to be hard hat divers who gather the sponges.  The males in the family dove for sponges, while the females would operate the shops that sell them.  At the center of the water front is this statute dedicated to those men  who lost their lives diving. The waterfront area is still Greek and to this day locals still speak Greek, and the restaurants serve Greek meals.

On Sunday, we went north to Inverness to visit Helen Hopler, an old neighbor from Denville, NJ. We went to a local restaurant for lunch and caught up on family events. It sure was nice to see her again.

Tomorrow, we’re going to Dunnellon to visit Carol’s Uncle Bill and Aunt Edythe then on to Ocala to visit Robert Scott, a descendant of the Scott family that I have been researching. After that it’s back to Fort Myers for a much needed rest.