Crowds? What Crowds?

We are taking advantage of some gorgeous weather (finally!) and have been out on the water during the weekdays. There have been so few people out boating, which suits us just fine. We took 'Coqui' down to Peck Lake and it was wonderful. 

Walking over the dune to the ocean, we found not a soul on the beach in either direction!

Oh, there's the crowds...of sandpipers, that is.

Today we had a really interesting kayak trip from Chastain Beach, on south Hutchinson Island, and across what we affectionately call the "Sea of Stuart" to the spoil islands near Sewell Point (these were made when the Intracoastal Waterway was dredged). Along the way we saw three small sharks and 3 manatees including a mother and her calf. The water was crystal clear with the incoming tide. We hit the southernmost island first, but we still can't seem to find out what its name is. We may call it Girl Scout Island since the northern island is called Boy Scout Island. We paddled between the main island and the small barrier islands, and Dave spotted a southern stingray swimming along the sandy bottom. It sure was a sparkly day. The last time we were here, the tide was so low, we could barely make it through this channel.

There are picnic areas set up on the western side of the island and we stopped for a quick walk around.

We saw this box with writing and had to see what it was for. I thought maybe there was a charge for landing there, but much to our surprise it was poop bags...and not even for dogs!

Since we didn't need the box's services 😉, we ventured on in the kayaks to the northern point of Boy Scout Island. These fallen trees and their roots are enormous. I call it wall art...

As we were eating our snacks on the beach, we saw lots of baitfish jumping on the surface of the water, and a few cormorants and pelicans trying to catch them. That's when Dave spotted a shark fin in the shallows, also looking for lunch. It was so intriguing to watch it cruising around with its fin out of the water. We estimated the shark to only be about 4 ft., so I don't think it would take a very big bite out of us. 😉 

As we left the island and headed back to the little beach where we launched the yaks, we spotted three more manatees that surfaced really close to our boats. What an extraordinary outing, and it's too bad it can't stay like this. Alas, the Christmas crowds will be in town soon and then we will need to hide for a while. Until that time though, we will be out on the water as much as possible.

😎

Garden Party

The Port St. Lucie Botanical Gardens held a fantastic car show yesterday. What a great venue with approximately 100 cars parked in the shade of the trees, along with a food truck and music entertainment.

Dave was my 'guest' photographer and captioner for this event. First up is the oldest car in the show...a 1909 Sears, complete with kerosene headlights. The guy behind the car was there to push it along when it got stuck in the grass.

This is a 1923 Ford T-Bucket.

What a beautiful radiator temperature gauge and hood ornament on this 1930's vintage Dodge.

This heavily resto-modded 1940 Ford coupe has tons of cool features. The fuel cell and the battery are in separate trunk compartments disguised as luggage.

The door openings were reversed and note the beveled windshield.

Lots of polished billet aluminum in the engine compartment!

Among all the pristine vehicles, there was also a rat rod which drew lots of attention. It was a 1940 Chrysler 4 door sedan built by a lad from Indiantown. 

What an exquisite Packard hood ornament!

Classic 1950's airbrush artwork was under the hood of one of the cars.

This is a really nice 2-seater AMX from American Motors.

How about a resto-mod British sports car? Here is a 1970 Triumph GT6 with a DOHC Toyota power plant.

A Datsun 280Z 2+2 with factory T-top.

We all lusted over this 1939 Crosley with a 12 HP, 2 cylinder engine. The owner said it goes great...in slow moving parades. 😉

An engineering masterpiece! A 6 cylinder air cooled Franklin.

Last, but certainly not least, Barry and Barb's 1963 Impala SS, our favorite of the show, as always!

😎

"Time & Tide Wait For No Man"

Or woman! This was so true yesterday on our kayak trip in the backwaters of Fort Pierce. We knew the tide would be going out, but we never expected it to be flowing as hard as it was. What a fun time going with the current, but I was quite apprehensive as to whether I would be able to paddle back to the launch ramp. I tested it by going up-current when we left the dock and it seemed doable at the time. We decided to do our trip opposite of our usual agenda, which worked well, but being in all the mangroves, we got a bit disoriented. That was okay though, because when I found one of several cuts towards the inlet, cruising with the tide, I also spotted the perfect little beach for a lunch spot. We pulled the kayaks up under the shade of the mangroves, and sat in them while eating and watching the dolphins and boats go by in the inlet. It all looked so placid and you would never know that the current was flying out. 

We felt that we could sit there for hours in our own little piece of paradise, but we knew we had to keep going. The tide was getting low and the one section we had to get through actually dries out. Paddling really hard against the current, we had to cross one of the main channels. At first I felt like we were not making any headway at all, almost like going backwards. We did make it across and what a good workout we had! As we entered the last of the shallow spots, we barely had enough water to float, but as Dave told me, "we'll just get out and walk if we can't make it." It was so worth it all though, because I spotted three white pelicans on an exposed sandbar. We are used to seeing them on Florida's west coast and in the Cape Canaveral area, and I am so glad they are venturing to the Treasure Coast. You can see in my first photo, how much bigger they are compared to the brown pelicans (which are on the left). White pelicans fish different than brown pelicans and a flock will use teamwork and corral the fish, instead of diving like the brown ones do. 

I sure was relieved when we got to the mangrove tunnels and channels, and the current eased a bit. 

Then it was one last up-current sprint in order to cross over the channel to the launch ramp across from Little Jim Island. I made sure that I paddled way further than need be, because the current coming under the bridge was screaming out and would push me past the ramp if I tried to go straight across. Thankfully we are experienced paddlers and know how to deal with conditions like this. I think we are now even more experienced after this adventure!

Who's Counting?

5 x 400 = 2000 H.P.  If you lined up real horses that are about 8ft long from nose to tail, it would equal about 16,000 feet of linear horses. That's over 3 miles! That's a lot of horsepower! This 53ft. Scout is worth over $2 million. 

First Practice Races

Dave had his first racing experience with his R.C. DragonFlite 95 sailboat yesterday. He and the boat were charged up and ready to see how competitive he was compared to the other sailors. 

He is still getting used to how it all operates, and luckily there weren't quite as many boats out sailing as usual. Although he had some rough starts and DNFs (did not finish), towards the end of the day he actually finished in the top three in two races. In one of the races he would have actually won, when he flew by the other boats on a downwind finish, but unfortunately he had fouled another boat at the windward mark, so that disqualified him. However, the other sailors were amazed, and when he passed them all, one of the guys had everyone laughing when he said, "Hey, where did that white boat come from?!"

Dave sure had a great cheering section with myself, Barb and Barry, and our neighbor John (who is considering getting an RC boat of his own). We had fun giving him advice and keeping him on the right course. The 'Flyin' Fish has now officially been named and is ready to go out and get more experience...along with its owner of course! 😉

Wings & Wheels

Yesterday afternoon we attended Vero Beach's Wings & Wheels show at the local airport. It was a different kind of venue out on the airfield, with some very interesting planes, cars, and trucks to see. The planes were unique and something totally different for us. This is a Rotax driven float plane...

"Boomer"

This is actually a jet! It is a Cirrus G2, and carries 5 passengers plus two kids and a dog. Base price is $2.75M.

A 2012 RV 7...

Some of these are so tiny!

A different kind of Yak than we are used to. 😉 It was made in 1983 in Russia and was fabric covered.

'Miss Q' is another kit float plane. The four cylinder Rotax engine was uncovered for all to see. It had a turbocharger and was 130 h.p. The owner built it himself during the pandemic, hence the name.

Then there were the cars. Our good friend Chris was there showing his MGB that he restored himself...

 

The headlights are huge on this beautiful Dodge Senior Roadster...

It must be fun driving this Jaguar resto-mod with modern American running gear.

Wild in red...This 1933 Willys 5 window coupe was tubbed and ready to wheelie!

Then there was this 1951 Ford Country Squire Woody Wagon...

The most unusual vehicle in the show was a 1970 Fiat Jolly car with rattan seats. It was barely bigger than a golf cart.

What a perfect day for this Mercury Monterey convertible.

The paint job on the truck was extraordinary, but Dave really liked the Excaliber in the background.

My favorite of the show was this 1951 resto-mod Nash. It was the only car in the show with curb feelers!

It looks like this will be another new annual event to attend. We are so glad we have more diverse things to do on land when it's not boating weather. I just hope Dave doesn't decide he wants an airplane! 😉