After my solo one day cruise from Carabelle to Shell Pt, Fl in which my
engine died, I managed to get the engine to run again but was
immediately distracted by my 14 yr old son getting busted for smoking
pot at school. Having decided to have him with me 24/7 to prevent
recurrences of his pot use slowed me down by a few days. Arrival of
in-laws form the frozen wastes of North Illinois also delayed me. Both
my brother-in-law and 18 yr old daughter wanted to go on the next leg
but I got talked out of sailing from Shell Pt directly to Tarpon
Springs which would have been a 28 hour sail and instead decided to
sail to Steinhatchee which is only 55 miles away so is a day sail.
Monday morning low tide was to be at 8:45 so I decided to leave at 5:30
am. Arrived at the dock at Shell Pt and from the angle of the floating
dock knew we wouldnt get out. The N wind had blown most of the water
out of the bay and she was sitting hard on the bottom. Went home to
get more sleep and decided to simply sail a few miles to St. Marks
later mostly so I wouldnt overstay my welcome at the private dock of
the retired engineer Gil who had allowed me to stay when my engine
crapped out.
At this point, my wife was driving me nuts packing unneeded food and
clothing in my truck for what would only be a day trip but I humored
her. Arrived back at the dock at 1:00 pm and easily got out. Wind
forecast was for 15 kt NE but instead we had about 8 kt S wind. Very
slow sail to east. I knew I was fairly close in to the shore of the
wildlife refuge but we seemed to have good depth and my course seemed
to be good for the sea buoy of St. Marks. I should have realized that
the nearby gunfire from duck blinds built in the bay meant we had made
a lot of leeway toward shore. Dodging falling shot isnt a normal
sailing experience even around here. Finally through the binocs saw
the channel markers went out further than I expected so we started the
engine and went south. Then saw a marker WAAAAAAAAAY out and decided
it must be the sea bouy and motored a long time to clear it. This
turned out to be a large buoy with a light and the number 4 which
according to my GPS and one LOP from the St. Marks light house was
about 2.5 miles too far out to be right. It simply wasn't on my
outdated chart.
Turned N toward markers I could see and easily found the channel but
none of them were marked with anything resembling my chart (OK, I am
cheap and have old charts). Finally passed the St. Marks lighthouse
and entered the river as the sun set with an astonishing display of
radiance in which we could not discern the water from the sky. It got
seriously dark cuz the full moon was not out yet so I stood on the bow
with my 7X50 binocs spotting the markers while my daughter steered. My
brother in law from Chicago said he was cold and went below! It is
amazing how well the binocs allow you to see better in low light
conditions. In spite of the seriously winding channel, we never ran
aground and passed the Riverside Cafe at St. Marks just as my wife and
her parents and my 8 yr old daughter arrived to get us. My wheelchair
bound father-in-law who had gotten out of the car was cold so I decided
that we would not spend any time looking for the rumored available slip
upriver and tied up at the cafe while we all walked up the road to
Nichols Restaurant cuz the Riverside Cafe was too exposed to the
elements for my Northern in-laws.
We all ate dinner while my 8 yr old daughter played iwth a stray cat.
Retrieved my truck from Shell Pt. By this time it was 10:00 pm and
everything was closed and we were going to have trouble getting
permission to stay tied up. However, my 18 yr old daughter found the
owner of the bar next door called Posey's and he said we could tie up
next to his bar for a couple days. I can tell from just a brief
conversation that he will be another of those human reasons that
cruising is so interesting.
I have been thinking of my Chicago in-laws response to the cold and
that they want the house heat turned up to 72 that their attitude
toward cold is different from mine. They constantly fight the cold
because it is necessary for them. My attitude is that I ignore it
because I know that if I do, it will soon go away here.

On 28 Dec 2004 10:05:19 -0800, wrote:

I have been thinking of my Chicago in-laws response to the cold and
that they want the house heat turned up to 72 that their attitude
toward cold is different from mine. They constantly fight the cold
because it is necessary for them. My attitude is that I ignore it
because I know that if I do, it will soon go away here.

Good attitude, but I worry this tale will end badly because you've
economized on the charts!

R.

Bought new charts yesterday.

wrote:
Bought new charts yesterday.

Drove down to St. Marks yesterday to take "Ragtime" from the dock
behind the restaurant to a real slip. St. Marks is an odd little place
mostly built around the river being the only deep water port for many
miles. The Spanish realized this and built a fort here in the early
1500s. The first railraod in FL went from Tallahassee to St. Marks and
this was the scene of some skirmishes in the civil war. Today, it has
a few bars, a couple of marinas an oil terminal and little else. Three
bars cluster around the main intersection where the road runs into the
river and most of the roads are dirt. It looks like Fl used to look.
The woman who runs Shields Marina wasn't there but would be back in an
hour so I decided to go work on my boat and get a lunch of smoked
mullet and beer at Posey's. Posey's is an old fashioned oyster bar
with sagging floor with numerous spaces 'tween the boards going down to
the water below and it also has an outside area and a dock on the river
where most ppl eat. When you eat an oyster, you simply throw the shell
over the side and this has formed a substantial area of dry land where
bands play at night.
Before going into Posey's, I stopped at the bar/store across the street
to get a paper and inside was an attractive thin woman who seemed to
look me up and down and after I bought my paper asked with a smile
"Anything else you want". It might've been an invitation but I am a
married man who has forgotten how to handle such situations so I just
told her I was in a hurry.
"Ragtime" was simply tied to the dock behind Posey's where a waitress
could hand oysters to anybody on board. The waitress name was Ivy and
she was a sorta cute brunette who told me "We done took good care of
your boat, kept all the birds offa it", and she had. I got a beer and
went aboard "Ragtime" to repair my starboard nav light when suddenly I
hear "Hey, Bruce". Nobody calls me Bruce except my immediate family so
I was shocked but on looking up was really surprised to see one of my
sisters (I have seven) on a new 16' runabout with her family. Just by
coincidence they had just bought it and came to St. Marks to cruise the
river looking for gators and Manatees. I rarely see my family in
Tallahassee so this was a weird coincidence.
After my food came, I sat down to eat and listen to Waylon Jennings
from the jukebox when a large cat jumped up on the bench next to me
like he was asking "Where's mine" so I fed him while another rubbed
against my leg. These cats were too picky to eat mullet and instead
wanted the shrimp the redheaded redneck woman at the next table was
eating. She was with her 6 yr old daughter and ancient mom and was
very flirty while I ate but I just tried to be polite. I dont spend
time in bars, even on business trips and am not around any women at
work so all of this was weird to a guy who has been married for 25 yrs.
Got aboard "Ragtime" and started her engine and was slowly motoring
upriver considering taking a short trip upriver looking for 'gators
(the river looks like something out of "The African Queen"
upriver")when suddenly the engine died again, crap. Almost no river
traffic so I just got out my extendable boathook and relaxed on the bow
waiting for the slight breeze to eventually push me toward the dock
where I would just push myself to my designated slip space. A couple of
fishermen come by and take my bow line and pull me to the dock and a
friendly guy grabs the line I throw.
Its not a real slip but just a vacant dock space behind a "Research
Vessel" and judging by its looks, the only thing it researches might be
the location of square grouper. The woman at Shields is friendly and
tells me the charge is "50 cent a foot a day" (I have no power or water
hookups). I tie up and look at my engine again noticing a possible
cracked fuel line going to the electric fuel pump but dont really feel
like fixing it right now.
I wander back down the dirt road to my truck passing one bar with
several motorcycle types hanging out outside looking so mellow they
could might be sculptures. There's a Rottweiller dog laying asleep in
the middle of the intersection in front of Posey's and I consider if I
ought to avoid him but he raises one sleepy eye, thumps his stub of a
tail, rolls over and goes back to sleep. A van with Ontario plates
comes up and stops blocked by the dog. How these people got this far
off the beaten track i have no idea but the man clearly was at loss as
how to get around the dog. If he beeped his horn, he'd get the
attention of the biker dudes and the other locals so he just waited. I
walked up to his window saying "It'd be shame to interrupt his nap so
you could go through that parking lot there", which he did without a
word.
Driving back to Tallahassee, I considered; "Why would I really want to
take my boat anywhere, this is redneck paradise". However, I know I'll
keep going. Steinhatchee is the next stop and it has an atmosphere
similar to St. Marks so I am sure I will enjoy it.

whilst in the deep US foreland,confronting the essence of capitalism and
selfishness is a big thing ,and you seem to want to do it in the stronghold
of the religious right ,tryingto convince the perverts that what life is all
about has nothing to do with laying your sister ,or mother ,or spednding
weeks on end in churches of different denominations of religions prtending
they hold the one and only truth that all us the rest common folk need to
listen to with attention and execute as ordered by the representative on
earth of their pequiliar gods.
gOOD LUCK
To be honest i wouldnt even bother ,these are blinded by the breadcrumbs the
rich throw at them to make them act like servants ,like slaves who forgot
where they are coming from and where they are going to end up.
the rich will soon us and throw away the few that think they can become part
of the few,part of the rich family of this planet ,the few who run or want
to run our lives.
resist ,stop visiting these places ,you might catch a disease and there are
no medicines until now that can help you disinfect the wounds.....
I say leave US and go visit poor countries and share your money with the
poor p[eople in mexico,venezuela,etc.
Do not help any longer the rich become richer ,by helping the army barracs
of bush produce more soldieers.
those who wear uniforms ,are perverted humans who try to impose their ****
on the rest ,just because they can.
never trust a uniform ,they go take this line of work because they are sold
out to the syste,instead of saying unemployed so they cn claim their own
money back from the rich ,they prefer to work for the rich in exchangefor
special priveleges than th e rest of the human race.
this is how the neocons hve achieved to buy off the american elections.
because the rednecks are uneducated and kept in the dark ,so they can be
ready to work for the boss.......
education is the enemy of the rich ,they only educate whoever hey want to
use as slave in one of their factories ,then they are willing to "educate "
people,but in a very particualr way....
forget the freedom of thought that you experienced in the university
elsewhere in the world.here is america ,the most unfree country in the
world,the most religious fanatics in the world,the most ******s to be honest
,as most are so corrupt by $$$ that they are willing to accept death as a
human nessecity rather than ending point.
DONT BELIEVE THE RELIGIOUS ,THE RIGHT WING FASCISTS ,THE RACISTS ,OR ANYONE
WHO PROMISES TO YOU WONDERS.
REVOLUTION IS A LONG PROCCESS AND WE ARE STILL IN THE VERY SART OF IT.GIVE
IT A FEW MORE MONTHS AND THEN WE TASLK ABGAIN ABOUT WHAT WE THE FREE PEOPLE
OF THE PLANET WIL DO TO STOP AND COUNER ACT THE RICH ATEMPT TO TAKE OVER
FREEDOM OF HUMANS.
WE WILL WIN BECAUSE WE ARE ON THE RIGHT ,WE DONT WANT TO HURT ANYONE,IMPOSE
A THING ,OR ANY OF THIS.WE JUST WANT TO HAVE THE RIGHT TO NOT BELIEVE IN ANY
OF THE FAKES RELIGIONS.
COULD WE PLEASE HAVE THAT PRIVELEGE?
CHEERS
PRIVELEGED....??????WHATEVER......