Reflections on the Voyage of Vagus V - The Book

In a previous life we took off in a sailboat and journeyed from Lake Ontario, down the US East coast, through the Bahamas to the Virgin Islands, and eventually spent several years cruising the Caribbean Windward Islands. I managed to get the first part of our trip - from Lake Ontario to the Bahamas - down on paper and into a book. If you are interested in joining us on this part of the adventure, you can follow the link here - https://www.createspace.com/3346336 - or in the links column (The Voyage of Vagus V Book Link) to where you can obtain the book. This is not a how to book, but more of a book about what it was like to leave home and hearth and, over a period of 5 months, to travel over 2000miles in a sailboat. Enjoy!

Back Home

We had a good trip home. Uneventful, just the way we like it. Our main problem was finding convenient internet spots so the blog, unfortunately, suffered. I just posted some updates that I had prepared but never posted. We will have to figure out some way of better connecting that doesn't cost a gazillion dollars before our next trip. This will be the final entry for now - we will resume when next we hitch up - so we hope that you enjoyed the blogs and have a good, safe summer.

Hunting Island S.P., S.C. - April 16, 2008

We lucked out with another nice camping spot on Hunting Island. The site was huge and across the road from the beach so we were out of the blowing sand.

Of course our first stop was the beach where Karen immediately started looking for shells. Up the beach, about a half a mile, there was a large collection of shells near a river outlet. Many of the shells were broken but Karen managed to get a few for future projects.

I did manage to make her stop long enough to get this picture. Should I tell her about the incoming wave – I wonder?

Doug and Tina joined us for the day to explore the island. This was the first time we used the camera timer to get a group shot. And I should mention that there were a few no-see-ums nibbling away while this picture was being taken.

We took a walk with Doug and Tina down the beach toward a lighthouse near the south end of the island. Along the way you could see signs of erosion.

We could only make this walk at low tide. This part was submerged at high tide – hopefully we would get back in time.

Finally we reached the lighthouse. This lighthouse was designed to be taken apart so it could be moved if it had to be relocated. It was built as a series of rings and had already been moved once.

HELLO ALL YOU LITTLE PEOPLE DOWN THERE!

Doug and I climbed the steps to the observation deck – 132 ½ feet high. We were feeling quite proud of ourselves until we were passed by two young teenagers who had just climbed the tower 10 times in a row. They stopped at 13. We were, however, greeted by a nice wave from Karen and Tina down below. Unfortunately we were only able to book a couple of nights at the park so we had to move on – next stop Edisto Beach State Park.

Edisto Beach S.P., S.C. - April 18, 2008

Yes, that was our truck and trailer in amongst the huge oak tree. We managed to get a prime site, right by the beach for three days over the weekend. The reservation system said that this was a 50 foot site. It was, but the drive to get to it was a little anxious – as in Karen was outside making sure we had clearance as we snaked through the trees. I guess I should have paid more attention to the “Low Clearance” sign at the entrance. Oh well, missing by an inch is as good as a mile.
You can see our trailer tightly nestly, or maybe intertwined with the oak. The site was supposed to be a drive through site but we had to back out to leave.

So as soon as we were settled, guess what Karen did. The bag was for shells by the way.

We had to include a shot of a pelican returning from the daily seafood fest. They ride right up the beach on the thermals off the sand dune by our campsite.

After three days, we had to move to the Live Oak campsite area a few miles from the beach.

This site was near some great bike paths. One wound over board walks to a well done nature centre. It was well worth the ride.

We did try to stay on the boardwalks – off to the side was a bubbling mud flat. Not something that you would want to play in.

Along the way was an ancient shell missen. Missen is just a fancy name for an ancient garbage dump. I can't imagine a cross section of one of our garbage dumps attracting tourists in the future - but who knows. The missen was originally 20 feet tall and that was a heck of a lot of shells.

From here we took a day tour to see the original Charles Towne Landing – a park set up around the original landing site of the first settlers. The history was not very pleasant as the site was chosen specifically to grow labour intensive cash crops – the labour being slaves. The original laws of the land stated that an owner had complete authority over a slave – not a pleasant life if you happened to be one.

You wonder what history this old oak has seen.

I just had to include this shot taken by a pond on the grounds. Note the number of turtles lying around the alligator. Now alligators apparently love turtles – and not as friends. More as a treat - sort of crunchy on the outside and soft in the middle. So how do all these turtles know that this particular alligator was having a turtle moratorium? Although maybe the alligator was busy digesting their buddy old Fred and they were gathered for a wake?

Hilton Head S.C. - April 10, 2008

Our next stop was a nice RV park near Hardeeville, South Carolina. Where is that you ask? Hardeeville is near the border between Georgia and South Carolina, about 20 miles north of Savannah, Georgia. We stopped at Hardeeville to visit our friends, Doug and Tina, who were staying at a condo on Hilton Head Island.

We had a great visit, discussing old times, walking the beach in front of their condo and riding some of the bike paths around Hilton Head. Hilton Head is a beautiful spot but you need to stay there to enjoy it.

We took a day trip with Doug Tina to explore Savannah, Georgia. Doug had gathered all the necessary information so we could just follow along and enjoy. We first took a narrated bus tour of the city visiting many of the 21 city squares – or was it one square 21 times?

We saw many beautifully maintained and restored buildings, had lunch in the downtown section and walked the waterfront,

home to paddlewheelers

and huge container ships. It was a great visit but time to move on. We managed to get a booking at a state park on Hunting Island, about 20 miles North, so we were off.

Anastasia SP - April 5, 2008

We definitely came north too soon. The temperature dropped as we motored North along the I95. But we booked these parks last August and the seasonally adjusted temperatures said it would be warm – so much for averages. We managed to arrive at our site and got everything set up just as the first rain drops hit. And did it rain!

In spite of the weather, our site was excellent, large with plenty of privacy. We met one of the camp hosts, also a fellow Canadian, who filled us in on the area. He mentioned that Sarnia just had snow so even though it was cool weather here, Canada was colder. When we got a break in the rain, we got out our bikes and put up our gazebo – mainly to keep the bikes dry. We were within a nice biking distance to the beach. Anastasia is not only a lovely state park – it has WiFi at the park restaurant near the beach. We drove down one day and were able to catch up on our e-mails while sitting in the parking lot. We find it difficult to be without internet access as we really miss being in touch by e-mail. As well, the internet is useful to check out state parks and make bookings. So far we have had to take our computer to local libraries to connect – doable but not really convenient.

During the wet weather, we managed to do some touring of St. Augustine. One spot that we had not seen before was the Lightner Museum. The museum was a treat and had an incredibly eclectic collection of stuff – from button collections, to Louis XIV`s writing desk, crystal glassware to cigar band art. It was a fun afternoon visit. St. Augustine also has a Camping World store. Camping World is a toy store for RV'ers. Everything that you wanted for an RV but were afraid to ask usually can be found there at pretty good prices – at least the prices were a heck of a lot less than buying boat stuff. We only had a few things to buy but had a good wander around the store.

As our time was short at Anastasia, we tried to focus on exploring the park. So of course, we did a lot of beach walking. Anastasia has a white, sandy beach that you can walk till you drop. When the weather cooperated, we parked our bikes at the beach boardwalk and walked.

We came across a flock of grounded royal terns all correctly aligned into the wind. I guess they were going to wait out the approaching storm clouds.

At an inlet by the park, rented Kayaks for the first time on a sunny, but windy day. We had great fun paddling about although we did not see any dolphins. Dolphins apparently do come into the inlet to play. Everywhere we have gone in Florida, we have met kayakers and seen neat places to explore by kayak. So we wanted to try them out in a place where we did not have to worry about amorous alligators (we are approaching alligator mating season). After our first venture paddling about, we were hooked. But our time here had drawn to a close. We were unable to extend our stay as the park was fully booked for the weekend. We had to continue our journey North – brrr!

Highland Hammock

Highland Hammock State Park is just outside of Sebring in central Florida. Hammock is a Native American word for forest, in case you were wondering. Our campsite was in a forest under a big oak tree with plenty of acorns and resident squirrels. Our site was large, although relatively open.

The park has a great car/bike route through the forest with many trails going through different parts of the forest.

Our first stop was this magnificent, 1000 year old oak tree. Its circumference is 36 feet. What tales it could tell!

Next we walked along a boardwalk through a Cypress forest. The walkway was more stable than it looked. However we did watch our steps.

The cypress trees were everywhere. Those are high water mark on the trees.

The pond was also an alligator nursery. This little guy was about 1 ½ feet long. Alligators grow about a foot a year for the first three years so this guy was a little over a year old. We were told that mother – a 7 foot alligator – was nearby, but missed seeing her.

We tried another walk through an old growth hammock forest. About halfway along the trail, we came across this guy enjoying the morning sun, stretched out across the pathway. And he was not going to move. Karen tried stomping the ground to announce our presence. He then slowly moved a bit to the side, waited awhile, then turned around and started to come towards her. Karen then decided to let him enjoy the sun on the path all to himself, reversed direction on the trail and tried to catch up with me. Our best guess is that this was a 4-5 foot water moccasin, one of the 4 poisonous snakes in Florida.

We carried on and tried another trail through an area heavily populated with ferns. There we were treated to a view of this incredible butterfly – we think it is a tiger swallowtail and it must have had a 5 inch wing span. The butterfly was feeding on a flower right beside the path and allowed Karen to get off several great shots.

Our time in the Southern half of Florida has drawn to a close. Our next booking is 200 km North in St. Augustine – on the Florida East coast near the Florida/Georgia border.

Myakka River is one of Florida's oldest parks. As we approached, we were greeted by ominous black smoke clouds filling the sky. The closer we got, the denser the smoke. So with some trepidation, we registered at the office. The ranger assured us that they were doing an “ecological burn” and the smoke, which was not affecting the campground, would clear by the evening. It seems that “ecological burn” is more politically correct than “controlled burn” since the controlled burn went out of control at Jonathan Dickinson in 2005.

There is much to see and do here, including a tour of Myakka Lake on an air boat. The lake is home to over a thousand alligators. We learned alligators are nocturnal so do their hunting at night. To digest their food, they need to warm their bodies to over 80F. So the daytime is for lying around on land or in the water and warming up to savour their midnight snack. That is why people can fish around them and birds merrily walk about. Also alligators do not bother people unless provoked, although they do love small dogs – for a snack. After our tour and seeing all those alligators, Karen had a nice bowl of tasty alligator stew at the park snack bar – she said she appreciates being top in the food chain.

To estimate the length of an alligator, the distance between the nostrils and their eyes in inches is equal to their length in feet. So this guy is about 12 feet long. Males typically grow to a max of 14 feet and females to about 7-8 feet.

The lake is also home to a large number of black vultures with some turkey vultures thrown in for good measure.

Small geckos are all around, skirting about the trees and undergrowth in a never ending search for insects. Although this guy was all puffed out and looking for a date.

Of course, a campsite would not be complete without squirrels gathering nuts.

Early morning is always a good time to sit on a park bench and admire the wildlife in the lake.

We also spotted some feral hogs foraging in the undergrowth. These hogs, well, actually their ancestors, were brought over by the Spaniards during Spain's days of sail. The Spaniards would spot an island, drop off some hogs, and then whenever they needed to restock the pantry, they could go back to the island for some fresh meat. Well the hogs took off in Florida and now they are a real problem. The males can grow to 400 pounds and they do a lot of damage to the undergrowth during their foraging. In an effort to cull the herd, the park allows a trapper to take as many as he can get each year. Last year he got over 1000 hogs, but didn't make much of a dent in the population. Apparently they are rather prolific reproducers and have no natural enemies.

Myakka River also has an arial canopy walkway, one of 20 canopy walkways world wide. These walkways are built to study life at the top of the forest. It was interesting to get close to the various air plants growing among the branches.

There was a tower at the end taking us 74 feet above the forest floor, giving us a bird's eye view of the tree tops.

We enjoyed our stay at Myakka River. Next stop - Highland Hammock.

Oscar Scherer

It just keeps getting better. Oscar Scherer is also on our “return to” list. We got a very private, quiet campsite well away from all traffic noise. The park is near Venus for supplies and several great shelling and walking beaches. We knew right away that we did not book enough time here. While here, we managed to do some shelling, beach exploring, and have a great lunch with our friends Darvin and Marilyn. Unfortunately, our small portable camera decided to pack it in and we lost all our pictures of this part of our trip. We got some shots around the park though.

When I say our campsite was private, we did have to share it – we were the visitors after all – with a gopher tortoise. We were on his/her afternoon walkabout path. About 3:00 most afternoons, the tortoise would come merrily stomping through our site, stopping occasionally to munch a few grass blades.

Now Karen is the photographer. On a normal walk, she will average a photo every 90 seconds so I get a chance to stop and admire the surroundings. Thank heaven for digital!

There is a small pond - behind Karen - in the park with a little beach.

I wonder why we didn't see anyone in swimming? By the way, no one really knows how many alligators are in Florida. They did try to take a census but gave up counting when they reached one million. We have heard estimates of two million. When an alligator gets over three feet long, it has no natural predators, except in times of food shortages when the male alligator will turn cannabilistic.

We have had little rain, but the day it did, the skies really opened up. Florida is basically built on a pile of sand and shells, so the stream running under our trailer quickly disapeared when the rains stopped.

When it's not raining, we really enjoy the walks around here. The birdlife is very abundant. This cardinal caught our attention by calling for his mate, who we also spotted flitting through the trees.

I had to show you a shot of mullet – the fish swimming about in the school. Now if you believe in reincarnation, and you get a say in what you come back as, I would strongly recommend you pass on choosing to be a mullet. Mullets are known as the ultimate feeder fish. Just about everything bigger than a mullet from pelicans to osprey to alligators to larger fish love to eat mullet. Mullet swim around in convenient little schools near the water surface and occasionally splash about to gain attention. So there is not much future in being a mullet. Your basic career choices are being breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Now we are off to Myakka River State Park, about an hour's drive towards Florida's interior.

Koreshan Part 2

Springtime is here. Well not quite by the calendar but the wildlife definitely thinks that Spring has sprung. While having dinner in our dinette one evening and looking out over our side yard, we were entertained by two marsh rabbits doing what rabbits do best. And they also hop really well. Then the next evening at dinner, we had two doves using our yard for a little get together. Life was definitely heating up. Actually we are amazed by the amount of wildlife that we do see. Many different varieties of birds inhabit the bushes, rabbits skit about, gopher tortoises come out to grab a grassy snack and a few snakes quickly make their way away from us.

One of the other benefits of this park is that it is close to lots of shopping including the largest outlet mall that I have ever seen. More than 140 stores are open and more are in the building stage. Just about every name brand is there with many bargoons to be had. Karen heard about it -- where else -- while doing laundry -- from another grandmother who had just stocked up on grandchild clothes. The next day we were off and, 6 hours later, we had done half the mall. Although we managed to get some clothes for Sophie, I was worried that she would grow out of them while we were still shopping. No pictures of this – just imagine more stores than you can count.

We haven't just been shopping, we have also been enjoying the great bike riding around the area. We stopped to get a picture of the Great White Egret that was walking the path in front of us, but I put this picture in instead so Sophie can see her Avi.

We also did a trip to the Edison/Ford Winter Residence Museum. Both Henry Ford and Thomas Edison vacationed in Fort Myers to avoid the winter chill. They were great lifelong friends and had an amazing history. It is interesting that Edison was trying to commercialize an electric car at the same time as Ford was developing the capability to produce a cheap, gas powered car. The rest is history.

This is the view off the front porch of the Edison home. The river in the background is the Caloosahatchee. The river is shallow and, in 1886, Edison built a 1500 foot dock out to the deep water to bring in building materials for his house. In fact, Edison had the whole house built in New Jersey, labelled and taken apart, then shipped to Fort Myers for re-assembly – a prefab home.

One of their friends, a fellow named Harvey Firestone, brought a 4 foot banyon tree from India to help with Edison's research for a domestic source of latex for rubber. That tree, behind Karen, occupies over an acre at present. It would make an awesome home for a tree house.

Edison spent the last years of his life trying to get a commercial source of latex and had this lab built on his estate.

Edison is probably best known for the light bulb. One of the reasons that Edison purchased this property was for the bamboo behind Karen – a possible source of carbon for the light bulb filament. One of his quotes was that he wanted to make light bulbs so cheap that only the rich could afford candles.

Now it is time to move on. We have loved our time at this park, and it will be a tough act to follow. Our next stop is Oscar Scherer State park near Sarasota.