Swallowing the Anchor

May 28, 2018

‘swallow the anchor, to’, 

a nautical term meaning to retire from sea life and settle down ashore.

Oxford Reference

Well a lot has happened since our last post.

We built a house on Pine Island Florida on land we have owned for almost 20 years.  

The house is built with as much 'Old Florida' feel as practical.  Pictured above, you can see that while the house is 'complete' ,much landscaping work remains.Tom has been working on planting about 1 acre of grass that was 'destroyed' in the construction  However, one of the outstanding existing features of our land (4.5 acres) is about 10 mature live oak trees (not shown).

The garage is detached.  Shown in front is the tractor which is essential to take care of a piece of land like this (so says Tom).

The boat looks better than ever and sports much new equipment. She has been a great boat!

She is listed for sale by Whiteaker Yacht Sales.

So we are 'swallowing the anchor', an old term describing someone giving up life at sea.  We have owned the boat for almost 9 years; lived on her for 6 years; cruised the Bahamas for 5-6 months a year where we made many Bahamian friends that we call family.  It has been a great run, but it is time for the next phase of our lives.

This will be the last blog post of S/V Barefoot.  Thanks for following along through the years!

Tom & Joyce,

At Home, Pineland, Florida

Season Update

November 16, 2017

We just wanted to give a quick update on our status and plans.

First, we are building a house!  We have owned land on the west coast of Florida for almost 20 years and are finally building.  We found a great general contractor and he is making good progress.

Barefoot did sustain some damage in Hurricane Irma and is currently at Snead Island Boat Works in Palmetto, FL being repaired.  We were north on a planned land-trip during the hurricane.  We always storm prepare the boat when we leave during hurricane season, but there is only so much you can do. 

We delivered the boat to Sneads a few weeks ago via a 24+ hour 'delivery' trip.  Seas were a little larger than anticipated giving a fairly rocky trip, but thankfully we were granted a couple of calmer hours around dinner time, which made our meal of chili more enjoyable.  Joyce said that she never wants to do another overnight after this rough one; Tom replied 'we'll see'.

The good news on the boat is that she will have a significant amount of new replacement equipment including the wind generator, solar panels, many antennas, and the charger/inverter.  We also are taking the opportunity to replace the batteries and put on new bottom paint.  We expect she will be as good as new (or better) when she leaves the yard.

Due to the boat repairs and house building, we will be taking only a few shorter, fairly local trips on the boat this season.

Tom
Hauled Snead Island Boat Works
Palmetto, FL

Back in Marco Island for the Summer

May 26, 2017

Today we arrived back a Rose Marina in Marco Island after a great month knocking around Pine Island Sound.  This is our port for summer/hurricane season.  The summer winds are typically not that good for sailing and it is just too darn hot to be away from the dock and air conditioning!  We also strip off our sails and many lines and prepare storm dock lines so we are ready for a tropical storm/hurricane.

We enjoyed spending some time in Pine Island Sound, our earliest cruising destination.  We spent time in Horseshoe Bay on Sanibel Island near Ding Darling Nature Preserve and time in Pelican Bay on Cayo Costa.

We splurged on a dock at Boca Grande Marina for three nights allowing us to visit Boca Grande, get some off-boat dinners, and restock our fresh provisions.

Our return was delayed by some stubborn south winds and a cold front.  Below is the sunset from our last evening in Pine Island Sound.  You can see the frontal clouds just exiting the area at the top of the picture.

Now to all the annual boat maintenance!


Tom
Docked Rose Marina
Marco Island, FL

Pine Island Sound - Archaeological Expedition

May 14, 2017

For the last two weeks we have been in Pine Island Sound, first at 'Horseshoe Bay' near Sanibel and most recently Pelican Bay near Cayo Costa.

These places go back to our earliest cruising days; in fact Pelican Bay was our first destination on our first Island Packet charter out of Burnt Store in 1991.  Writing that date, it doesn't seem possible that that much time has passed.  But it has been great to spend some quality time where it all started.

Not much exciting to report that has not been covered in posts over the years.

Except that recently I went on an 'archaeological expedition' to attempt to find some traces of the early settlements here.  Cayo Costa and Punta Blanca islands both hosted active fishing communities going way back.  I have long been interested in these settlements and their remains and after finding some internet resources on their location, I finally went on an expedition.

A great resource showing the locations of parts of the Punta Blanca settlement is on page 7 of http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/flsgp/flsgpm02003/flsgpm02003_part2i.pdf  I was unable to extract it to present here, but if you are interested follow the link.  The Punta Blanca settlement was a fishing community but also included a boat building operation and the school for the area. Another great resource if you are interested in the area is a book titled "The Fisher Folk of Charlotte Harbor".

I must say that the identification of these features is fairly shaky  and may be nothing related.  But they are interesting and in locations very close to the locations shown on the map on the above link.

For what it is worth:

Location of the school house
Remnants of trees cut down to make room for school house

Cut in mangroves near the boat basin
Formerly a dock?  Outhouses were also listed in this area.

Public dock on the south shore.
One of my more positive identifications

Remnants of the fish house that was south of the island.
Fisherman would bring their catches here to be put on ice and later transported to Punta Gorda for processing.
This house burned in 1995 shortly after Florida instituted a 'gill net' ban that virtually killed any remaining commercial fishing in the area.  We saw this building before it burned on our charters in the area in the early 1990's .

Possible remnants of the marine waterway used to skid boats to and from the boat building operation.
I was unable to go inland where the boat shed and general store should be because of the dense second-growth underbrush - Florida has some 'mean'  briars and other prickly things

Tomorrow we plan to head to Boca Grande for a 3-night marina stay.  This was also a 'stomping ground' in our early cruising.  Also, after 2 1/2 weeks out, we are out of virtually out of  fresh food, so a trip to Hudson's market will be nice.


Tom
Anchored Pelican Bay
Cayo Costa Island, FL

Everglades/Ten Thousand Islands

April 24, 2017

We are currently docked at our home dock in Marco Island.

After leaving Miami on 4/7/2017 we traveled to Little Shark River on the far south west Florida coast.

This is a remote and wild area and quite a change from the hustle and bustle of Miami.  This is the 'end' of  the Everglades and characterized by giant mangroves.

On a bad day the bugs can be absolutely horrendous, but due to cooler weather, the insects were not bad for most of our stay.  On our first few nights we were anchored about 1/2 mile from the gulf, but a moderate wind contrary to the current caused a bad interaction between the boat and the anchor chain so we moved about 4 miles up the river and around a bend.  The anchorage was smoother, but the morning of our departure, the sound of thousands of mosquitoes was louder than I have ever heard.  Needless to say we raised anchor and got underway as quickly as possible to minimize our  'blood donations'!

We then traveled up the coast to Indian Key Pass and then up Russell Pass.  Our anchorage was about 4 miles below Everglades City and we made two dinghy trips up to Everglades via the twisting and totally unmarked Russell Pass channel running aground only a couple of times :-).  The channel is hard to follow and filled with sand and oyster bars, the first fairly soft to hit, the later very 'crunchy'. Other than the adventure, taking this channel is shorter, has somewhat less current, and keeps you away from the crab boats that put out 'swamp-you' wakes.  Everglades City is the stone crab 'capital' of Florida.

Later this week we plan to head  north to Pine Island Sound, one of our oldest cruising 'stomping grounds'.

A few pictures of the wild and remote Ten Thousand Islands area.

The mangroves are incredibly tall in Little Shark River - taller than any others we have seen.
I have read that these some believe that these are the 'mother' of all mangroves!

Sunrise over the river from our 'lower' anchorage

 A few pictures to illustrate why the Calusa Indians called them 'walking trees':

One way they propagate is to send out 'runners'

Tom
Docked Rose Marina
Marco Island, FL

Coconut Grove & Bahamians

April 17, 2017

We are currently anchored near Everglades City on the lower southwest Florida coast and have some intermittent and weak internet, but I thought I would try to catch up on blogging.

We recently spent over two months in Miami, specifically moored in Coconut Grove.  We love Miami, but we feel a special relationship with Coconut Grove because of its Bahamian connection.

Coconut Grove was the earliest black settlement in south Florida and the settlers were largely African Bahamians that came to the States for work.   The West Grove is still predominately black with many Bahamian influences.  Many people avoid the West Grove, but we go there regularly.

Early Bahamian settlers at the Barnacle (circa 1895)

Our church in Coconut Grove is Greater St Paul's African Methodist Episcopal Church.  We first got connected at an evening event at the Barnacle which featured dance groups from various black churches.  The dances were very moving and we met someone that invited us to St. Paul's. The church just celebrated its 121st anniversary - not many American churches can say that! 

However, they are not the oldest church in the Grove, the Macedonia Missionary Baptist Church down the street is a little older and the oldest African American church in Miami-Dade.

 A funny, but telling story:  We were dressed in our 'Sunday best' (not anywhere up to black church standards, but the best we have on the boat) riding the bus to church.  We rang for a stop at Grand and McDonald, about a block from the church.  As we approached the bus stop, the driver (a black woman) said with a questioning voice, "Is this your stop?".  Not many white people get off there.


The Bahamians brought to south Florida an understanding of tropical life that influenced the style of housing.  The Mariah Brown house was built in 1895 and still stands.  I can't begin to count how many hurricanes it has survived!

Note that the landowner mentioned is named Stirrup.
On a cruise, you may have visited Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas and not realized it.
The cruise ship companies call it the much more romantic 'Coco Cay'

 Bahamian style cemetery - keeps bodies from washing away in storms.

Bahamian names are common:

The Post Office - Rolle is a very common Exuma name

Armbrister is a name from Cat Island

I was yelled at when I tried to take a picture of the sign at the domino park, but then this man came out, said "don't mind her", and insisted I take his picture.

Colorful mural that we have sat in front of waiting for church

A few thoughts on 'black spaces':

We have spent 5 seasons in the Bahamas largely in 'black spaces' and are quite comfortable in them.  Just a clarifying note. In our opinion, most people cruising in the Bahamas do not spend a lot of time in black spaces; rather they stick to places that are predominately populated with white people.   There, like here, you need to get into black neighborhoods, black churches, businesses where the customers are predominately black, etc to be in a black space.  Quick test - look around - are virtually all of the faces black - then you are probably in a black space.

In my opinion, the best thing we can do for 'race relations' is to get to know people that are different from us.  And here is the tricky part, in order to really know someone, you have to know them in their 'space'. Talking to the black guy at work or the black couple at church doesn't really get you there.  Believe me, they have two personas - one for white spaces, one for their space.

So be brave, and push your boundaries.  While walking the streets of the West Grove, it is amazing how many people say 'Good Morning' or the woman at church that told us, "Please come back as much as you can, you bring us great joy!".   But be respectful - if someone doesn't want you to take a picture - don't take it, it is their home, not yours.

However, don't be foolish  -  there are many places,(black and white) I would not go in Miami so be careful.

What I am sure you will find, is that they are just people, trying to live their lives, raise their families, and support their communities - just like you.


Tom
Anchored Russell Pass, near Everglades City, FL

Into The 'Wilderness'

April 8, 2017

After over 2 wonderful months enjoying big city life in Miami, we are currently headed to the 'wilderness' of far southwest Florida and hopefully the Dry Tortugas in the Gulf of Mexico.

We are currently in Marathon, FL and will transit tomorrow to Little Shark River near Cape Sable.  Later in the week we hope to head to the Dry Tortugas.

After tomorrow, we will be 'off the grid'  for 1-2 weeks - no cell phone or internet;  our satellite phone will be our own way to communicate.

After the hustle and bustle, great food, and many attractions of Miami, it will be quite a change!

We still have some Miami blogging to do and I thought that I would have a chance to catch up on a layover day here in Marathon tomorrow, but weather is calling us make the trip to Little Shark sooner rather than later.

Tom
Anchored near Boot Key
Marathon, FL