A Disappearing Treasure...

Egmont Key

A Disappearing Treasure

As you enter either the south channel or ship channel to go towards Tampa Bay, You will find Egomnt Key.  It is in essence the large barrier island that separates the two channels and also separates Tampa Bay from the gulf.  

This island is absolutely filled with history.  There have been few places we have gone in our cruising years where, when we stepped onto the sand, we felt we stepped into the past.  This island has seen Spanish Conquistadors.  It has seen captured Indians from the Third Seminole War. It has seen a great fort built across its shores to protect the gulf from the Spanish in the Spanish-American War.  It has had a president stationed within its walls and seen brother fight brother in the Civil War when it was captured by the Union.  Even today, the fort serves as a reminder of our past.  As I mentioned before, it was one of the few places we have been where we walked and felt like we have stepped back in time.
It does not take a lot of imagination to see the forts past.  Old roads and ruins are literally everywhere and run throughout the island.  THey are well marked with very descriptive pictures of what once stood there.  This alone was simply amazing.  The roads and ruins, many of which are still standing, are filled with what was once a very active complex (Fort Dade).  But what we found especially interesting was the bombardments on the eastern shore.  Many of those you can still walk through and climb over.  When you stand on the top of them, you can look out well into the gulf.  Since the only way into Tampa Bay was to cross by the island (most likely from the north as the southern channel is a bit more shallow), it was pretty obvious that an armada would risk its fate trying to land the shore.  By controlling the island, you control Tampa Bay which is a fairly deep water port and very good place for providing supplies in/out of Florida and the surrounding area.
As you climb the walls, you can still the links and rails used to move the cannons and later, the rifling guns.  You can crawl below these heavily fortified walls where the armory and powder room would sit.  If you stand back and look at them, you will notice that there are sharp angles to the walls and  narrow slits.  This is because during a time of war, you would station riflemen inside those areas where they could easily pick off anyone trying to take the battlement.  They are strategically situated so that each rifleman has only a small area he has to protect, while others beside him protect the other areas.  Also of interest is the powder room.  Look closely and you will see that it has only one door in and out.  Intimes of war, the men manning this room would be locked inside with guards on the outside.  They wore special uniforms, originally of wool wool, which hopefully would not give off a spark.  They would pass these through small slits to runner who took the powder up to the cannons/guns.  Now why were they locked in with guards posted?  Two reasons:  The obvious reason was they wanted to protect the powder room.  If you take the powder room, the fort will most likely fall.  But there is another more prominent reason shared to us by the ranger:  to keep the men manning the powder room from trying to escape!  Yep, it was often considered the worst job to have in the fort and certainly the most dangerous.  Why?  If you are an invading armada, the powder room is your key target.  How would you like an entire armada with every cannon aimed at you??
As you pass the armaments and walk the western shore, you will see the falling ruins of the fort.   At on time, these were actually long, concrete piers which had guns placed atop.

  But storms, erosion, and lack of care have allowed them to fall into the sea.  Little

 remains of those anymore except pictures.  Even the shore you see here were once much longer and extended well out into the gulf.  But the loss of sand from the beach and rising sea levels have taken their toll and killed many of the trees on the western edge of the shore.  You can still see them standing like long lost sentinels watching out over the gulf.

Sadly, this island is disappearing.  Every day a little more of it falls victim to time.  At the ranger's station, we found a drop box and flier which asked for help to save the island and its heritage.  We put ours in and left the island with the knowledge that while our money probably will not stop the island from disappearing, at least we got to see it before it did.  I urge everyone else to stop there too before it is gone.

More of this post and many more picture can be found on my website at:  www.brianmistrot.com

Of Captains and Admirals...

Of Captains and Admirals...

I have been sailing (on my boats) for about 20 years. You would think I would know better; you would think I was beyond poor decisions; but, apparently not. Er hmm...

Woke up this morning to winds sustained at 30-35 knots (and over at times) with much higher gusts. We were under a Gale Warning. That was all the more reason to get off the boat and to the "barn", which is what I call the common area at the City Marina. Well the seas weren't very pretty, as you can imagine. My wife stood beside me, we both looked out to the spray, and she expressed her concern to me about making that trip and how she didn't want to get wet. I explained to her that we weren't going to be able to work on the boat very well with it blowing like that... not to mention the power needed to keep up all the computers without any solar going. I spoke with conviction, she spoke with uncertainty. Conviction always wins.

Being a very thoughtful dad and husband, I decided that the best thing to do was to load the boat down with everything we needed so I didn't have to make that trip twice. Once was going to be bad enough. So we did as I commanded. We loaded: Four different backpacks and computer bags filled with various computers, hard drives, power cords, phones, legal pads, etc. We then loaded in another large bag filled with a dozen text books, writing pads, workbooks, etc. We then loaded in all of our clothes so we could take showers up at the barn - including towels, rags, jackets (it was cold!), etc. 

At this point, the tender was looking a bit like Sanford and Son's truck. The seas were getting higher. The spray was getting stronger. I looked out and realized that I really didn't want to make that trip twice (not sure if I mentioned that, but I did to her, twice now). I was certain of my judgement. As such, and against my wife's growing concerns, we loaded in all of our shower stuff (good Lord women carry a bunch of cosmetics), my bag of toiletries, the kids bags, etc. We then began loading the bag with Fatty's food (our English Bulldog), her toys, her blanket, her bowls, etc. Remember, I did not want to make this trip twice.

It was at this point, our tender no longer had any seating and no longer resembled Sanford and Son's truck - it was more like one of the garbage trucks that picks up limbs and trees, with items bellowing over the top and sides. I began to hear some unusual rumblings on the wind that sounded like my wife's voice, but I was certain it was simply sirens in the spray. I know this because I asked her, "You say something, Honey?" She stares at me a moment, then looks at the tender. "Uh, no. Carry on, Captain, but I think this is a bad idea. I don't want to get wet. You sure we shouldn't make two trips?" 'We' was 'me', by the way... a point I was quick to express.

You know, as the Captain of my vessel, the man of my house, I really resent it when my decisions become repeatedly questioned. It makes me doubt myself. So I reached down, grabbed Fatty, and tossed her (against her growling wishes) into the tender. I pointed at the kids and told them to crawl aboard. I stepped on, confidently. I instructed my wife, who insisted she didn't even have a place to sit, that she could sit on top of the junk just like everyone else. 

It is important to point out that our tender is exactly ten feet, two inches long. Dry, it has a freeboard (the distance between the water and the water coming over the top) of about twelve inches. The tender now has a freeboard of about two inches and is listing badly to starboard (where my wife was sitting, which was very coincidental, so that you know). I released the painter and we were off!

It took almost one second before I realized I might have made an egregious error: The first large spray broke over the starboard side. Then my wife, who blushes when she says "dang", said a word I am not sure I have ever heard her say before. It was a critical moment in time and I was not sure I felt comfortable with my children hearing such language (from her that is, I say it all the time). Of course, I could have turned back. We were only a few feet from the boat, and the barn was about a quarter mile away. But if we did turn back, that would have meant defeat for me. It would show that she was right and I was wrong. Such things do not boost the morale of your crew, they do not instill confidence. Visions of George Washington standing on the bow of his boat, pointing across the Potomac, came to mind. His men supported him! What if he had turned back? What if MacArthur had? History is filled with leaders doing what is right, instead of what is easy. I shared that thought with my wife and she mouthed another very uncouth word. Diplomacy was quickly coming to an end.

I explained to her that the problem was we were sitting too flat. We needed to get the bow up. It would block the spray. We simply needed to go faster. My wife began to call out insults in my direction, but I looked away and punched it. 

Now some would think this was egregious error number two. It was not. That comes later because technically I was right. The bow did block the spray (on the port side, where I sat), but unfortunately the now lower stern took on the seas, not spray, to the starboard side (where she sat). The first one washed aboard, and the foul language that my wife was screaming out, came to a halt. She turned to me and stared at me: lips pursed, eyes narrowed, hair dripping wet. Even as the next many waves came aboard on our trip, she never quit staring at me. It felt unnerving, really, like those horror movies when the werewolf is watching you from behind but you don't dare turn towards it. And like a werewolf, she never spoke another word. She took it. She got tough. As we pulled up to the dock, I decided to break the awkward silence and I told her I was proud of her. THAT, dear readers, was egregious error number two.

I am happy to say that my wife is again speaking to me. She has said many things like, "Have fun with the kids," "Hope you don't mind sleeping in the cockpit," "Guess who's washing all the wet clothes?" 

Me, I have realized that being the captain of a boat comes with many challenges: Crew, morale, hard decisions, and the grim reality that every captain has an admiral... and I have mine.

Brian

Starting Over

Back to getting the blog up and running.  I have been so busy with different writing projects and the website that this took a back seat.  I put a lot of stuff on Facebook though, simply because it is easy to use from the phone.

Blowing stink here today in Marathon.  Sustained winds 20-25 and increasing to gale force.  Makes the boat roll - though truth be told, we don't get seasick.  Just makes you be really careful where you sit that glass of water (ask me how I know!!).  On a positive note, I sleep like a baby when the boat is like that, so looking forward to a nice night tonight.

I finally got the web site up and going today (assuming it really does publish with the many errors GoDaddy has given me).  That is a huge accomplishment for me as it is a LOT of information.  I am not done with it yet, but several friends and my wife urged me to just get it out there and update as we go along.  I conceded.

On a boating note or two, we have had some fantastic sunsets and sunrises.  Gorgeous stuff.  I do love living on a boat 99% f the time.  But that 1% can really be a killer!!  Here are a couple of pics from last night and this morning. If you look close, you will see a huge American Flag flying in the sunset.  Picture perfect moments.

 

The Beginning

Finally getting this blog up and going.  A thousand apologies to everyone at first.  I need to get the hang of this thing.  I am typing this from the boat, Saint Petersburg.  Woke up to 61 degrees, had to turn on teh heater for the first time, and ready to sail south! 

I am trying to get the web site all up and running which has all of this connected to it, including links and pics, etc.  Be patient.  Here's a preview of what's to come:

The pic above was taken in the Dry Tortugas.  This is one of MANY Cuban refugee boats that made it to shore.  THat is an old Chevy block, incidentally.  These 'crafts' (a term I use loosely), are stuffed with people across what can be very rough seas.  Incredible...

We will get many more of these stories and pics up, including trips and places inbetween.  We have over a decade of this stuff to print, and as everyone knows, we are heading south again for all new pics and adventures.  See you then!