Calumet Dreams
Chapter 13
December 11 - January 1
Cloud Travel * Sponge Capital * Palm Arboretum * St. Petersburg
Christmas Meeting * Mystery Island * Shark Teeth * Super Shelling * "Pitiful"
Christmas * Sailing with Friends * Edison Home * Orange Harvest
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Day 143 - Monday, December 11
Near Tarpon Springs, Florida
28'26" North, 82'55" West
When morning came, Dan was sick. He and Tricia spent the day sleeping in the
front cabin. Tricia survived by listening to her new birthday CDs. She now
knows the words to all of Aaron Carter's songs.
I was feeling a bit better (probably because I didn't have anything left in my
stomach), so I spent the day sitting in the cockpit to keep Zion
company. Since Zion was the only healthy one, he got to spend the day
piloting the boat. The seas were rough all day, and the fog was so thick that
we only saw where the sun was for about one minute. It peeked out a little
bit at two o'clock, then went back behind the fog. We spent the day
travelling through a cloud. Zion had to steer by watching the GPS and the
compass. There was nothing else to look at. We never saw another boat all
day long. In fact,
we couldn't see anything but fog and water. The water, though, was the
most beautiful blue water that I've ever seen. Mostly it was dark, but as it
passed through our prop you could see it was a clear, deep midnight blue, like
a jewel. Zion's mackeral was still sitting in the cockpit, staring at us. We
were all too sick to eat it, and we didn't have any ice along to refrigerate
it. The temperature was warm, in the sixties, so we felt we should throw it
back to the sea before it started to smell too much. It was a shame, because
it was such a big, beautiful fish. Someday I hope we catch another one when
we are actually hungry.
When the sun set, Zion was ready for bed and Dan was ready to come out and
pilot for the night. Then an amazing thing happened. The waves died down and
the sea became calm. The fog broke up and you could see patches of stars in
the sky. And a big, brilliant full moon came out and covered everything with
a golden light. It was an absolutely gorgeous sight. After a day that was so
miserable, I couldn't believe that I was actually feeling happy and lucky to
be out at sea. Feelings are such changeable things, just like Mother Nature.
We were able to steer by the stars, which is a lot easier than staring at the
GPS constantly and waiting for it to tell you that you are off course. When
you use the GPS to steer, your course is zig-zag at best. We can't use our
compass at night because it doesn't have a light. But using the stars works
great. When your GPS says that you are on the right heading, you look up at
the sky and keep your mast lined up in a constant position between the
brightest stars. Every half hour or so, you have to re-adjust to a new set of
stars because they are slowly moving across the sky all night.
After midnight the fog came back and we lost sight of the stars. But the
waters were still gentle, so everyone was feeling a lot better. Dan and I
took turns at the wheel giving the other a chance to nap. We had to steer by
watching the GPS again. Our destination was a lighted daymark near shore
twelve miles north of Tarpon Springs. Tarpon Springs is the place where the
Intracoastal Waterway starts again.
At four o'clock in the morning, the GPS told us that we had reached the
daymark, but it was so foggy that we couldn't see it anywhere. The water was
now only twelve feet deep, instead of one hundred feet. Since it would take a
few more hours to actually reach Tarpon Springs, and it was dark and foggy, we
dropped the anchor and turned in for a good, sound sleep.
Day 144 - Tuesday, December 12
Port Tarpon Marina, Tarpon Springs, Florida
Mile 151 on the Intracoastal Waterway
We woke up at 9 a.m. It was still very foggy out, but at least it wasn't dark
anymore. We pulled up our anchor and started south on our way to Tarpon
Springs. We never did see the daymark that had been our destination.
Because of the fog, we navigated by putting the position of the next daymark
into the GPS. The daymarks were several miles apart. When we got near the
next one, Zion and I sat up on the bow and searched through the fog for the
marker. We couldn't see it anywhere even though Dan insisted that it was
right ahead of us. Suddenly, it popped into sight thirty feet directly in
front of the boat. We had been going very slowly, so it was easy to swerve
out of the way. Our confidence in our GPS was restored.
About noon, the fog started to break up just as we were reaching the entrance
to Tarpon Springs. We had to travel up the Anclote River along a narrow,
twisting channel. The channel was surrounded by sand bars and little emerald
islands of trees and bushes that puffed right out of the water. The sky
cleared and the sun shone brightly. It was a beautiful and cheerful return to
civilization.
Day 145 - Wednesday, December 13
Tarpon Springs, Florida
Mile 151 on the Intracoastal Waterway
On our way to the marina yesterday, we had passed a big park with a beach
along the river. We had noticed a nice anchoring area near the boat ramps
there, so we headed back there today.
The anchoring area was in a branch of the river that was a dead end. It was
blocked by a long string of orange buoys because there was a large power plant
nearby. When we pulled in, the bushy trees along the edge were covered with
large, white blotches. When we got closer we found that the white blotches
were pelicans roosting together in the branches.
We spent the afternoon lying in the sun on the sandy beach in the park.
Zion practiced anchoring his dinghy. Tricia and I explored the park and found
a small Indian mound. Dan watched boaters going in and out of the boat ramps.
We were amazed to see how busy the ramps were from sunup to sundown. I've
never seen so many fishermen. It was
just like one of the warmest summer weekends in Wisconsin, but here it was
happening everyday! It felt so good to be in the sun again.
In the evening, Dan and Zion dinghied over to visit the other sailboat in our
anchorage, Viva. The captain, John, had some time to kill so he offered to
take our family up the river in his dinghy so we could spend a day doing some
sight-seeing in downtown Tarpon Springs. His dinghy had a motor, so that
sounded like a good deal to us. Downtown Tarpon Springs was several miles up
the river. It would have been difficult getting there in our big boat.
Day 146 - Thursday, December 14
Tarpon Springs, Florida
Mile 151 on the Intracoastal Waterway
At ten o'clock John brought his rubber dinghy over to our boat. He could only
hold three people in his, so we tied our dinghy to the back and the kids got
pulled behind on our trip up the river. We must have looked pretty funny.
The kids figured out how to shift their weight so they could make their boat
cross left and right through the wake. It was a lot like steering a toboggan.
Tarpon Springs has a great history. It was started by Greek sponge fishermen
and at the turn of the century it was the Sponge Capital of the country.
There are lots of old docks still in use for commercial fishing, and there
are even a few sponge boats around offering sponge-fishing expeditions.
There was a little dinghy dock where we could tie-up for the day, then we took
off on foot.
Our first stop was, of course, the library. We found the most beautiful
library we had ever seen. The front concourse had a sky roof and green marble
floors. The front glass doors were etched with pictures of King Neptune and
mermaids. The check-out desks were done in faux tarnished copper, and a giant
picture of sponge fisherman adorned the back wall. At the back of the
concourse, behind the two-story windows, was a water fountain surrounded by a
flowering garden. And best of all, there was a large bank of Internet
computers to use and lots of used books to buy.
Next we toured St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Cathedral. The building was a
replica of a Greek Orthodox church in Constantinople. It was filled with
icons and candles and arches of gold. We lit some vigil lights in the back
and said some prayers.
Across the street was a Greek bakery. We got some cheese-filled buns and
baklava for lunch, and we bought a loaf of olive bread and some garlic spread
to take home with us. It was all delicious!
We also found a large model railroad display and had a chance to talk with
David Kelley, one of the crew that built the model. Mr. Kelley is now eighty
years old, but looks much younger than that. He served in WWII and told us
about the day when two-thirds of his platoon was killed. They started with 48
vehicles (tanks, trucks, etc.) and only had four left at the end of the day.
We ended our day with a walk through the Greek souvenir shops along the river.
They had sponges and carved wooden mermaids and squeaky rubber crabs to sell,
along with lots of other neat stuff. The wooden mermaids would look great on
the front of a boat, but since we have two hulls we would have to get two of
them! We'll put them on our "would be nice to have someday but we don't
really need them" list.
We managed to get back to our boats just before dark. This time I rode with
Zion in the back dinghy. There were still mullet fishermen racing about
everywhere, and lots of other fishermen coming into the boat ramps. I would
love to come back to Tarpon Springs again some day. It is a charming,
unspoiled town with many more fascinating sights that we didn't have time to
see.
Day 147 - Friday, December 15
Boca Ciega Bay near St. Petersburg, Florida
Mile 115 on the Intracoastal Waterway
On the 15th we left Tarpon Springs & then traveled all day. That night we were
in Boca Ciega Bay where we had to move our anchorage spot during the night
because there were big waves on the side of the bay we were on (so we moved to
the other side.) That's all I remember. -- Tricia Klos, reporting
Day 148 - Saturday, December 16
Gulfport City Marina near St. Petersburg, Florida
Mile 115 on the Intracoastal Waterway
In the morning we motored over to the Gulfport City Marina. We felt very
comfortable at the marina because 95% of the boats there were sailboats. They
said that the power boats hung out at a different marina nearby. Everyone
there was very friendly and helpful. We decided to stay for the weekend so we
could attend the Quaker meeting in St. Petersburg. We met many boaters who
had been to the Bahamas. One woman told me how they used to cruise regularly
with their five children. She said our kids would love the Dry Tortugas (a
set of islands near the Florida Keys). They are called Dry because there is
no fresh water available there; you have to bring your own. But there are
lots of great places for snorkeling.
We were happy to learn that the marina was on the edge of St. Petersburg and
if we walked a few blocks we could catch a city bus to take us downtown. We
enjoyed walking through town to the bus stop and seeing all of the orange
trees and hibiscus
flowers in people's yards. Lots of people had poinsettas planted outside for
the holidays. Palm trees lined the street.
This was our first time on a city
bus and we got lucky. The first one that passed by was headed downtown. The
bus driver was very helpful and friendly and made sure we got off at the right
stop.
Downtown St. Petersburg is beautiful. It's full of pastel-colored high-rise
buildings. We walked along the park on the edge of Tampa Bay. Our
destination was a palm arboretum eight blocks north of downtown. The park we
had to walk through was
filled with Christmas decorations. There was a field of sad-looking pyramid
shaped Christmas trees covered with very fake blue-green boughs. There were
also
some big light displays. North of the park was a beach with a few people out
sunbathing and picnicing. Eventually we found the arboretum.
The arboretum showcased palm trees from around the world. We learned the
difference between a date palm and a Cuban royal palm and an Australian palm.
I used to think that all palm trees were the same, but now I know better. The
small palm bushes that we had seen in the bayous, and all over southern
wildlands, are called palmettos. There was one large, bushy area of palms in
the arboretum.
Tricia went exploring inside the "jungle" and was surprised to find someone's
home hidden deep inside. There was a small sleeping area and a pack full of
clothes. I hope that whoever lives there is staying warm through the cold
nights we've been having.
Day 149 - Sunday, December 17
Boca Ciega Bay near St. Petersburg, Florida
Mile 115 on the Intracoastal Waterway
We were very happy that we could finally attend a Quaker meeting again. And
this one was large, so the kids were looking forward to being with some other
teens.
It's been a long time since they have had the chance to talk to other people
their own age.
We had called and asked if someone would pick us up, and Helen and Chris came
to get us. We had a lot in common. They had taken their two children on a
year-long trek across America in a motorhome, so they had a good idea of what
we were going through.
There were about fifty people at Meeting and a large group of kids for First
Day School. The kids made Christmas decorations that they gave to the oldest
people at meeting. After Meeting for Worship there were announcements and we
learned that members were very active in social concerns. Some worked with
the homeless in the city, some helped the Nicaraguans and one was on his way
to a peace mission in Ireland.
We were very glad to join them in their Christmas party. There was a potluck
and Christmas caroling around the piano. It felt like Christmas meeting back
home, but there weren't any dogsled rides through the snow. No piles of
winter coats or puddles of melted snow on the floor from winter boots, just
lots of sunshine and soft breezes. The kids sat on the grass outside and
talked and took walks down to the nearby park.
Dan and I stayed inside and talked to the other adults that were boaters,
which seemed to be just about everyone. Some had sailboats, but no time to
use them. Some had gone cruising many times with their children as they grew
up. One woman had come down the rivers like we did many years ago and stopped
when she got to St. Petersburg. But she had come in a small craft that didn't
have an engine. They had to paddle real hard when they got sucked into an
aftertow left by a tug.
When the Christmas party was over Helen and Chris graciously invited us to
their home for the
afternoon. They said they could remember how nice it was just to sit in a
real house with big rooms after spending months in a mobile home. They were
right! They also asked if we needed anything from the store. I was stocked
up on everything except Christmas presents, so I asked if they could take me
to a department store. I wasn't sure if I would come across one before
Christmas.
Day 150 - Monday, December 18
Roberts Bay near Sarasota, Florida
Mile 72 on the Intracoastal Waterway
Today we put some serious miles behind us. Well, a few anyway. We were
travelling along the west coast of Florida, between the coast and the barrier
islands. All of this area is developed, so there are lots of bridges crossing
from the mainland to the islands. Most of these bridges are low because the
distance they cross is short. That means they have to lift up for sailboats
and big fishing boats to pass thru. We stopped traffic several times today.
But we usually weren't alone. There are lots of other boats out, too. In
fact, the bridges lift so often down here that they do it on a regular
schedule. Usually they lift every fifteen minutes. You just have to wait
around until the bridge goes up.
The wind was strong from the north, making it cool out, but also making it a
good day for sailing. We have to motor-sail under the bridges because it's
not safe to just use your sails. Right when you are under the bridge the wind
is often blocked and your boat will suddenly slow down if you don't have the
engine going.
We passed through the city of Sarasota. It was very colorful. There was a
large purple auditorium and bright lime green building nearby. We learned
later that Sarasota is a center for the arts, making it a bit more colorful
than most towns. We found a nice, protected spot to anchor within a group of
islands. Most of the islands were nothing but mangrove trees sprouting out of
the water. These little bush islands were covered with hundreds of water
birds, especially white egrets and pelicans. They were beautiful. We were on
the south side of two large islands because we needed protection from the
north wind. We could see a little beach on one of them.
Day 151 - Tuesday, December 19
Roberts Bay near Sarasota, Florida
Mile 72 on the Intracoastal Waterway
Today was a nasty day - cold, rainy and extremely windy. We stayed put
because we
were in a nice protected spot. Later in the afternoon the sun started to peek
out so
we put the dinghy into the water. Zion and I wanted to check out the island
with the beach.
Day 152 - Wednesday, December 20
Public Dock in Venice, Florida
Mile 58 on the Intracoastal Waterway
Our mission today was to find shark teeth. Helen had told us that we could
find some on Venice Beach. We motor-sailed down to the city of Venice. We
turned into the Venice Harbor and saw boats everywhere. In fact, there were
streets of water running between all of the houses so everyone could have a
boat in their back yard. We found a little public dock that is really,
really, boring! not like *nsync, they're not boring at all!!! they r totally
hip & cool!!! but not as cool as aaron carter, he is really, super COOL! those
guys rock!!!!!!!! r u still reading this? 'cause i have 1 more thing i have 2
say 2 u: aaron carter rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The dock was empty when we saw it, but two boats pulled in ahead of us. One
was a sailboat with a family that had two small children. They were spending
their Christmas vacation on a sailboat they had chartered for the week and
they were freezing! This cold spell was unusual for the area, so the sailboat
didn't have many blankets on board and they hadn't brought along much winter
clothes. But they seemed to be enjoying themselves anyway. Grandma and
Grandpa were in the other boat.
We could stay at the dock for free for eighteen hours. Before looking for the
beach, we searched for the post office. We had a few more letters we needed
to mail before Christmas. There
were rows of tall condominiums lining the coast. The downtown was old-
fashioned and beautiful. There was a long, broad boulevard through town and
it was lined with palm trees. The boulevard was a park with little paths you
could walk along.
We found the post office and the library. We checked out e-mails while Zion
checked out the Florida history book collection. He searched for some
information on
the little island he had discovered. It took some searching, but he found a
reference to a small supply fort that was situated on the river between some
other forts. It only operated for a few years. He's guessing that we might
have found the remains of the supply fort.
On our way back to the boat we saw a little parade going through town. There
were horns honking everywhere while the high school football team was being
driven through town on a flat-bed truck. They had just won the state
championship by a score of 77 to 14, so I guess they had a little bit to brag
about.
We stopped at a little shop for some hot pretzls, then checked out the beach.
It was too dark to do any shelling, but we were encouraged because the big
sign for the beach used a picture of a shark's tooth to spell out the "V" in
Venice. We must be on the trail. Tomorrow morning we would see what we could
find.
Day 153 - Thursday, December 21
Royal Palm Marina in Englewood, Florida
Mile 46 on the Intracoastal Waterway
We got up early and hit the beach. We all searched diligently for half an
hour, but none of us could find any shark teeth. Then a kind woman on the
beach, a veteran tooth collector, helped us out. She showed us the teeth that
she had found that morning and gave us her best one so we wouldn't go home
empty-handed. Suddenly, we started finding them everywhere. We ended up with
about twenty of them. They are so cool! They are dark black and have very
sharp points.
As we walked down the beach we found a wooden crab trap that had been blown up
onto the shore. We opened up the little door and actually found a blue crab
still inside! We took him out and he was still alive, but not moving too
well, so we set him free and put him back in the sea. We hope he recovers
from his ordeal.
After going back to the boat we motored down to Royal Palm Marina in
Englewood. It was time for laundry and groceries again. I was surprised to
find that their washer and dryer were outside, in a protected area under the
stairs. I stayed up under the stars doing my laundry that night. I folded it
on picnic tables.
Day 154 - Friday, December 22
Don Pedro Island, Florida
Mile 37 on the Intracoastal Waterway
In the morning Tricia and I walked about a mile to the grocery store.
Englewood was a pretty little town and the main street was undergoing
extensive renovation. Patterned brick sidewalks were being laid and rows of
palm trees were being planted. We were surprised (and pleased) to find a
super-giant-mega grocery store in the little town. It's called Publix, and
they are all over Florida. It had everything we could possibly want,
including fresh-baked bread and cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning. We
heaped two carts full of groceries because Kevin, the store manager, had
graciously agreed to give us a ride back to our boat.
We loaded everything on the boat, then took off. The wind was blowing from
the north so it was a good day for sailing. We anchored off the channel near
Don Pedro Island.
Day 155 - Saturday, December 23
Southwest of Punta Blanca Island, near Cayo Costa State Park, Florida
Mile 24 on the Intracoastal Waterway
We had another great day for sailing. Our destination was Cayo Costa, a
barrier island that is a state park. There is no bridge to it, and the only
way to get there is by boat.
We arrived in the afternoon. We anchored nearby the dock for the park and
took our dinghy to shore. The good wind also made good waves, so the dinghy
ride was pretty bouncy. Getting attached to the floating dinghy dock was a
trick with the waves crashing off the rocks on shore.
We found that the north end of the island was full of nature trails, and an
arboretum of native plants. We finally learned that the bush with the large,
round leaves that we had been admiring for weeks was a sea grape.
There was a one-mile trail that led across the island to the Gulf shore. On
the Gulf shore were some tent sites and some rustic cabins. People would come
into the docks on a ferry with all of their camping supplies, then a tram
would take them and their stuff across the island to the camping area. We
helped one family carry a propane tank up the dock to the tram. This place
was for serious campers. Very few amenities, except nature itself. Lots of
space and very, very few people. We loved it!
After checking it out, we went back to our boat. We needed to find a
protected anchorage for the night because the wind and waves were kicking up.
We found the perfect spot right across the bay, tucked into a cove on Punta
Blanca Island. The only trick was getting into it. There was a sand
bar that stretched across the entrance to the deep cove. We had to try three
times before we found an opening in the sand bar that was deep enough for us
to pass through. One other boat was already tucked into the protected cove,
but there was still plenty of room for us. The water was nice and calm all
night. We got everything cleaned up and ready for Christmas, because the next
day was Christmas Eve and we wanted to spend the sunny hours on the beach of
Cayo Costa.
Day 156 - Saturday, December 24 - CHRISTMAS EVE
Southwest of Punta Blanca, near Cayo Costa State Park, Florida
Mile 24 on the Intracoastal Waterway
We packed up a picnic lunch and our beach gear and headed for the sun. We
can't all fit in the dinghy at once, so we had to make two trips. It was
sunny and in the sixties, but still windy. Our boat was anchored quite a way
from the dock, so Zion got a work-out rowing Tricia and I against the wind and
the waves. Eventually, we were all together on Cayo Costa and started walking
across toward the beach.
There were a few tents in the campgrounds and about twenty rustic cabins. A
few people were around, but not many. We walked down the beach looking for
the perfect secluded spot on the Gulf. The farther we walked, the more shells
we found. We started seeing dried-up little red sea urchins here and there.
As we walked farther, we started seeing piles of them. Some of them were so
old that the tentacles had all fallen off, leaving a beautiful globe-shaped
shell. Dan found some nice big ones that weren't broken.
We found a spot where the Gulf formed some shallow lagoons in the island. We
stopped there. Zion walked out in the water to do some fishing and amazed us
by finding a giant conch shell under the water. And it was still alive!
People had told us that we would be eating a lot of conch in the Bahamas, but
we just couldn't imagine what kind of animal lived inside of one of those
beautiful, twisted shells. Now we know. The animal is a giant black blob
with a hard shell foot. The blob could easily equal a pound of hamburger, it
is so big. We put the conch back in its home since we were in a state park
and there weren't very many around. Zion did find a few more during the rest
of the day. One was different - it had longer spikes on its shell and a
bright red blob
inside. We think it was a fighting conch. It must have been about eighteen
inches long.
Day 157 - Monday, December 25 - CHRISTMAS DAY
Captiva Island, Florida
Mile 13 on the Intracoastal Waterway
When we awoke on Christmas morning we found that Santa had filled our socks
with more goodies to eat. And these were our real socks, not the fake, fancy
Christmas kind. There were also a few presents. Tricia got Christina
Aquilera and Now 5 CDs while Zion got Pink Floyd's "The Wall" CD and some new
boxer shorts. They were both very happy.
Day 158 - Tuesday, December 26
Cape Coral City Marina, Florida
Mile 144 on the Okeechobee Waterway
We met Jeanne and her brother-in-law, Tom, at a gas dock on Captiva Island.
We let Tricia go with Jeanne's father back to their beach-side apartment
for the day. Sailing for fun didn't seem like much of a treat to Tricia and
she was glad to get out of it. I was excited to have a chance to visit with
an old friend. It was such an amazing coincidence that this meeting actually
worked out.
We were treated to a great day for sailing. The winds were strong, about 20
mph, and they were at our back most of the time. The sun was bright and it
was actually pretty warm. We had a good sail down to the Sanibel Island
bridge, then we went
under it and out into the Gulf for a little bit. Tom enjoyed having the
chance to be the one stopping traffic for a change. We went down the coast a
bit then came back, stopping
traffic on the bridge again, and ended the day at Cape Coral Marina at the
mouth of the Caloosahatchee River. The Caloosahatchee connects to Lake
Okeechobee which is our next destination on our way to the Bahamas. Jeanne's
family picked her up and brought Tricia back to us safe and sound. We made
plans to meet again the next day and do some sight-seeing in Fort Myers.
Day 159 - Wednesday, December 27
Cape Coral City Marina, Florida
Mile 144 on the Okeechobee Waterway
Jeanne met us in the morning with her father's van. The big attraction in
Fort Myers is the winter estate of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. Thomas
Edison spent his winters in Fort Myers, and his good friend Henry Ford bought
a neighboring house so he could be close by. Edison's widow donated the
estate to the city of Fort Myers as long as they promised to use it as a
memorial to Edison.
Edison and his wife were interested in plants and developed a beautiful
botanical garden around their home. The highlight is a Banyan tree from
India. The tree is so large that you would need over a hundred people to make
a circle around its trunk. Its branches drop down roots. When the
roots reach the ground they grow into a new trunk to support the large
horizontal branches. Often the roots are so close together that the trunks
blend together into monster trunks. I never knew that a tree could be so
large.
We also saw a sausage tree and a cannonball tree and lots of other exotic
plants. There was even a stand of bamboo that was native to the area. They
say that Edison bought the land because of the bamboo that was on it. There
were also flowering bushes and colorful croton hedges everywhere.
We took a tour of the homes and Edison's workshop. While in Fort Myers,
Edison worked on developing a new source of rubber. That is part of the
reason why he grew so many plants. He eventually determined that the best
source of rubber was the common goldenrod plant. He cultivated fields of them
until he got goldenrod plants that were twelve feet high. Only the smallest
leaves on the plant produced the latex needed to make rubber. It took one
hundred pounds of these leaves to make sixteen pounds of rubber. Eventually,
goldenrod rubber was no longer made because it was uneconomical. But Edison
did find the way to do it.
The museum had rooms filled with Edison's inventions. I had no idea that
Edison had invented so many things. He had hundreds of patents. He got his
start as a telegraph operator.
He was very fast at sending messages, but he kept getting in trouble because
he was always fooling around with the equipment. His first invention was a
group of four telegraph machines that could share the same line. He started
his own telegraph company using this invention and became a business owner by
his mid-twenties. He went on to invent the phonograph, motion pictures,
improvements for electric generation and storage batteries, and, of course,
the light bulb.
An interesting note for Wisconsinites - he owned a wood-products company in
New London that manufactured the wooden boxes for his phonographs. When
sales of phonographs dipped because of the invention of radio, Edison worried
about what to do with the hundreds of workers at the New London company.
Wanting to keep them employed, he started a line of Edison children's
furniture (everything he made carried the name Edison). He designed a clever
high chair that could be taken apart and made into a child's table and chair
as the child grew.
I left feeling amazed that one man could create so many new things. It seems
that he was constantly inventing, making some things that died away, like the
electric pen, and some things that opened the way to entire new industries,
like electric light bulbs and motion pictures. It was interesting to see that
Edison always invented things for practical purposes and often had no idea of
what they would eventually be used for. He invented phonographs so businesses
could record voice messages for the steno pool to type. He didn't do it so
people could hear music in their homes. He invented motion pictures so
businesses could create training films. He didn't know it would spawn movie
stars and multi-plexes.
At the end of the day we said thank you and good-bye to Jeanne, promising to
see her again in Chicago next fall.
Day 160 - Thursday, December 28
On the Caloosahatchee River east of Fort Myers, Florida
Mile 128 on the Okeechobee Waterway
Today was the end of the sunny skies that we've had for the last few days.
Dark clouds came in from the west, bringing light rain. We left the marina at
noon and used our headsail in the strong winds. There were Manatee Area signs
everywhere, but we didn't see any of the big animals. They usually stay deep
and they only stick out their snouts occasionally for air. They are difficult
to spot.
We found a protected anchorage behind a mangrove island in the river. After
supper we realized that our anchor was dragging. The river bottom was so
silty that our anchor hadn't set. We moved in closer to the island and we
dropped a second anchor in the dark. It took some work, but they held all
night.
Day 161 - Friday, December 29
Public Dock in LaBelle, Florida
Mile 103 on the Okeechobee Waterway
We went further up the Caloosahatchee River today. It is a real wilderness
here. Waterbirds like cormorant, heron, egret and pelicans are everywhere.
We stopped at a friendly public dock in LaBelle. The sign said that we could
stay for three days. There was even water and electricity available on the
dock, and a park nearby with bathrooms. And best of all, the library was
right across the street.
Day 162 - Saturday, December 30
Public Dock in LaBelle, Florida
Mile 103 on the Okeechobee Waterway
Some new sailboaters came to join us at the dock today. There was a couple
from New Jersey and their friends from Ontario, Canada. They were headed to
Fort Myers, where we had come from. They were seeking heat. They
had left their homes in fall and they hadn't been anyplace warm yet.
Another couple at the dock was from Boston. They even had the proper Boston
accents which made them lots of fun to listen to. They had been to the
Bahamas several times, so they gave us some good info on where to go and what
charts to use. They said we would find lots of other boating kids in
Georgetown. The boating kids have their own organized activities there, like
parties and dinghy races. We're looking forward to getting there soon.
The Canadians told us that there were hundreds of boats along the
Florida east coast waiting for a good opportunity to cross to the Bahamas.
The weather
had been bad for a few weeks and no one had been able to leave. They also
said that one of the boats waiting there was from Quebec and it had a family
with six kids on board! They all spoke French. They said we would easily
recognize their boat because it was big and it was named "Six Kids".
The weather today was cold and extremely windy. Our anchor wasn't holding our
back end out very well. It kept slipping along the silty river bottom and the
front of our boat would hit the dock. Dan and Zion worked on securing it all
morning but it was difficult because of the strong wind. They eventually
ended up with a l-o-n-g rope tied to a sturdy palm tree trunk on shore. That
kept us in place very well. The smaller sailboats tied off to us and nobody
moved anymore.
The kids and I walked into town in the afternoon and did some errands.
LaBelle was the perfect-sized town for us. It had everything we needed, like
a grocery store and post office, and it was small enough so we could easily
walk everywhere. The grocery store was huge, and it had a large selection of
Mexican foods. There were all kinds of peppers and tomatillos and other
unusual vegetables in the produce department and there were tables and shelves
packed with tortillas everywhere.
Our dock was near the bridge and we saw semi-trucks loaded with oranges going
past constantly. The oranges were usually in three large cages on the back of
the truck. Sometimes the cages held black stuff. Our friends told us that
the black stuff was sugar cane. It was black because they had to burn it to
get it off the fields. When we were in town we saw dumptrucks go by with
squashed oranges. It looked like the leftovers from making orange juice.
Those trucks smelled great!
Day 163 - Sunday, December 31 - NEW YEAR'S EVE
Public Dock in LaBelle, Florida
Mile 103 on the Okeechobee Waterway
Today some boats left and some new ones came, but our Canadian/New Jersey
friends stayed. They had decided to spend a few days at the dock because it
was so nice. It was still very cold, especially at night. It was getting
down below freezing at night and we would wake up with a film of ice covering
our boat. The news reports kept saying how unusually cold
this weather was. Luckily, it wasn't hurting the orange crops. The oranges
had already ripened and the farmers said that cold nights actually make the
oranges sweeter. They expect to sell more because the fruit will taste so
good. There was a grapefruit tree dropping it's fruit in the park, so we
tried two big ones. They were white grapefruit with lots of pucker-power and
lots of seeds, but still good if you sprinkled on a little sugar.
In town we stopped at a roadside market where they were selling oranges,
grapefruit and tangerines, ten for a dollar. We bought a bagful of each. The
skins weren't as perfect as what you find in the grocery store, but they were
big and delicious on the inside which is all that really matters anyway.
The day was cold but there wasn't a cloud in the sky, so I set up my solar
oven on the dock. I finally had a chance to make the Chex Mix that Zion had
requested for Christmas. We also made some Peanut Butter Balls for Tricia and
some Coconut-Date Balls for me. I had to guess at the recipes because I
didn't have them along. The dates seemed so dry that I added more water than
I should have. When I added the rice crispy cereal, the crispies merrily
snapped, crackled and popped until they were nothing but mush. I poured in
some more coconut to soak up the moisture. Oh well, the date balls weren't as
crispy as they should have been, but they were good anyway. Next year I'll
follow the old recipe.
When we were in town today we learned why there were so many tortillas at the
grocery store. There were busloads of Hispanic farmworkers at the grocery
store stocking up on food. The white buses waited in the parking lot for
them. Most of the tortillas in the store were now gone. Many of the men
waited patiently in line at the pay phones outside of the store. I suppose it
was their chance to call home and talk to their families.
In the evening we were invited to a little party on the Canadian's boat. They
sang funny folk songs and played the guitar, and Tricia contributed a carol on
her recorder. At midnight, you could hear people around town shooting off
fireworks. The boaters shot off their old, expired flares and honked their
boat horns. No one could have slept through that! Happy 2001!
Day 164 - Sunday, January 1 - NEW YEAR'S DAY
Public Dock in LaBelle, Florida
Mile 103 on the Okeechobee Waterway
Everyone on the dock slept late. We watched the Rose Parade on TV and even
saw the Ashwaubenon High School Band from Green Bay! That was a welcome
surprise. In the afternoon we got everything ready so we could take off the
next morning.
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