Smartie's Bar & Grill #75

The Jumanos found an affinity with the Spaniards. the Jumanos farmed and built permanent houses, sedentary people being crowded by the Apache , who where in turn crowded by the Comanche.

 

Plus how could a Rattler be shipped Anywhere.Most turtles like
Tortoise can't be shipped.
I think some these Posters are Posers.I never liked guys who
thought it manly to talk tough or brag about dangerous stuff.
In the long and short of it it's just Dagburn Juvenile.
Some men have some perverse passion for acting as if Tarzan.
When that doesn't pan out they go the Bruce Jenner route.
Take a wise and prudent Great American like Henry David Thoreau { a philosophical
lover of nature and animals and the simple life }.I think he would be
sickened by what humanity got turned into.
" No man ever followed his genius till it misled him. "
" A man is rich in proportion of the number of things
he can afford to let alone. "
" I think that we should be men first,and subjects afterwards.The
only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time
what I think is right. "
" The intellect of most men is barren.They neither fertilize or are
fertilized.It is the marriage of the soul with Nature that makes
the intellect fruitful,that gives birth to imagination. "
-- Henry David Thoreau

 

I was just funning....there are very specific guidlines to such a thing, I'd never ask such a thing.

 

You have a habit on running your trap when I post. What you perceive as me "thought it manly to talk tough or brag about dangerous stuff.".....is just me living my life......

First you cast shade, trying to say I dont catch and release (or sometimes eat) sharks.....here you are referring directly to me, though you wont own it.....

Just remember, because you lead a timid and sheltered life, does not mean everyone must.

I take some degree of risk in my life because it gratifies me, I could really care less, what you think of it


Bet you will even doubt I paddled my kayak to an insland today.....very "dangerous and manly" stuff.....fraught with risk....

 

After driving a van 45 MI through very dangerous city traffic with a motor that could leave me stranded at any time I decided to use my day to launch my boat at a place called placida, after the dangerous, life risking journey through City traffic I finally launched my boat knowing that at any point the wind and the tides might change and I could be swept out to the Gulf of Mexico never to be seen again therefore I packed a big cooler full of 18 beers I took a spare pack of cigarettes two telephones two knives some water and some food and some other things I can't think of right now because after all I might never return again..... Oh the drama.... Actually I paddled about a mile and then I got to this little bit of oyster shell Island it was about 3 ft across and 50 ft wide and as you can see in one of my pictures the island dead ahead of me which was my destination but the winds picked up and the seas got rough and my tiny minnow was tossed.... Maybe some other day I will go and see this island but today it did not seem like a good idea this last half mile or so to that Island was across the very busy boat channel and the afternoon storms were rolling in I could have done it hell I drove 50 miles from home almost with the express purpose of doing it but at the last minute I changed my mind..... I passed many small Islands however the problem is all of these small Islands are nothing but thick mango trees all the way to the water's edge there really is nowhere to stop and get out and stretch your legs or anything else but anyhow I guess foolardi will probably think I'm fibbing because you know it was kind of risky and I don't want him to think I'm trying to impress him or nothing but yes this is what I did with my day here are a few pictures....

 

"If not for the courage of the fearless crew, the Minnow would be lost"....

Just think, I did not tie down my cooler.....If I capsized, I'd swim for it! Have a small 'ammo box' dry box for the important things. You go out this time of day and year, any distance.....it's almost certain, you will be caught in a thunderstorm.....but I was not, today.

I feel like declaring that oyster island I was on, the "sovereign nation of FatBack'.....though it dissapears under high tide and was only about 4 ft wide and 50 ft long....The photo where you can see my beer cooler...straight across is Dog Island.....my first attempt......next time I know how to utilize the currents and winds, not fight them.


Not one green thing grew in those oyster shells, yet one mangrove sprout and an island is born.
So close, yet so far...


I scoped this on Google earth for some time, however....before I knew which island was my target (actually seeing it....google earth misses so much) I had drifted off course to the point it was just best to go back.

 

Just in case Fooli was casting aspersions further afield.. I did say I did mail the snake to a friend.. tho' I should clarify it was it was just the skin packed in salt.. I just didn't want to say so because ol' Fattie has a tender spot for the wriggily things and enjoys them living. I also didn't tell him I had a name for that little snake.. it was "Watchband"
now just thanks alot fooli!

 

I completely believe that you had 18 beers in your cooler.

 

Damn right I did, plus bait shrimp and other drinks and food. Anytime you go out on a kayak, it's wise to pack a couple days worth of provisions. Better to have it and not need it....

 

Was the first time I used the blue boat, it's a two seater, 13 and a half ft, by yourself, plenty of room for you and your gear.Only thing that sucks, having to load and unload it on top of the van, by yourself. The green boat (one seater) is 10 ft. Very easy to load by yourself, it fits inside the van. My brothers friend gave me the blue one, recently.

I think I will stick to the green one, for short day trips. Each has it's pluses and minuses, green one only holds a small cooler. I gotta rig up a trolling motor....

 

This is a view of the island from the air.

 

Some the colors these days could, um, fit a small human in them.

 

Most especially in a coastal environment, in some mangrove back waters, you can get turned around and lost kinda easy if not careful. Those mangrove islands all start to look the same. Or if you messed up very badly, currents could carry you into the open Gulf....this IS a new hobby of mine, after all ..... The open gulf was not far on the other side of those bridges. I put my boat in right by the hwy where it says Placida and the water is more brown in color, Dog Island WAS my destination.....There is nothing on the island but there are open sites to camp for free, looked like several boats were anchored nearby yesterday.
This pic shows the proximity of the Gulf.....



Than line you see, running parralell to the causeway is an old railroad trestle, long decomissioned. There is two fishing piers made from it. It's broken up and the only way to reach sections is by boat but I dont think you are supposed to be on it.

 

....you must have watched a lot of hours of them old black and white Tarzan movies where everybody ended up in quicksand at some point.

 

I like the way this picture came out the way the sunlight makes it look like a green Haze, my phone camera has a crack just above the lens so it gives the top of the picture some hazy look

 

The English settlers at Jamestown never had the good sense to cultivate good relations with the Natives. In fact, the English didn't have much sense at all. Their first mistake was sending the wrong people to Virginia who, for the most part, lacked the skills necessary to survive frontier life, even though they were surrounded by fertile land and an abundance of fish and game. The second mistake was settling on a mosquito-infested island surrounded by brackish water that was a breeding ground for malaria and other diseases. The third mistake was establishing what might have been America's first experiment with communism, which naturally led to indolence and starvation (as it always does). The fourth mistake was pissing off all the Natives in the area, which resulted in wars and massacres and the obliteration of the second English settlement in the New World at Henricus. Most of the colonists died, and the survivors were in the process of abandoning Jamestown and sailing out of Virginia when by a stroke of luck they encountered another English ship stocked with provisions. It was such a complete fiasco that King James I revoked the bankrupt Virginia Company's charter in 1624 and made Virginia a crown colony.

 

Next on "Fishing With Fattie"....

 

And there are some monsters there. The pass at the Southern end of Bocca Grande island is world famous for tarpon fishing in spring. Giant hammerheads and bull sharks follow the boats just waiting on exhausted tarpon to be released. Same with pretty much any fish, sharks and dolphins know a fishing boat equals an easy meal. A kayak might equal a real easy meal! One day I'll get a 'real' boat but this will have to do for now.

 

A big mistake....they should have had a can of this, I keep one handy! Actually, I'm sure the natives knew some plants that could have helped them.

 

My (kinda small) cooler claims to hold 36 cans but that would leave no room for ice. An 18 pack fills the entire bottom with room for 16 pounds of ice. In this heat, you are lucky to get 24 hours out of the ice. If I camp on that island someday, I'm just SOL on ice after that.

 

Holy crap - you ain't kiddin'...



Saw this on YouTube, too...



That would leave a mark....

 

These are what remains of the phosphate docks at Bocca Grande. They are pretty close to the beach but the water is 30 ft there, large grouper and snapper can be caught there (among other things) I'd like to moor my kayak and fish there but mooring is probably illegal and the currents are ripping thru there, actually being swept out to the Gulf would be a real concern so I'll regrettably pass. Would be pretty awesome to be dropped off by boat and spend a day up there, until the lightning started popping.




Original docks.



The famous pass between the islands

 

Actually, I would go thru the trouble to use dry ice for the first time. Publix sells it here. Might get 3 or 4 days?


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These are maybe 175 ft off the beach. I tried casting out from shore to reach at least close to them, but even using 3 ounces of lead, the current quickly sweeps your line away, if that gives you an idea of the forces of the waters there. You can swim beaches all along the island but swimming is prohibited on the beaches of the South end, near the pass. So yeah, I think taking a kayak out here would be a very bad idea. Need that guys boat...lol

Hell, his boat is kinda small for out there, he better watch the weather.

 

In fact, that defunct railroad trestle was most assuredly to run a train to the phosphate docks, from where I was, that would be another 8 miles but of course the train ran on the island, upon reaching that point.