Josh surprised Purdy with a sunset sail with us in Florida bay, then the big surprise was when he asked for her hand in Marriage.
A happy couple enjoying dinner at sunset in Everglades National Park
With the romantic setting of a calmwater sail, a beautiful ring and a bottle of champagne she had no choice but to say yes. Afterwards we served them a fresh fish and lobster dinner with chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. I did not do nearly as good a job when I proposed to Margie 33 years ago!
It does not get any better than this!
After a very rainy day when the upper end of tropical storm Paula moved eastward (the storm was over Cuba) cool dry air has moved in. It’s time to turn off the A/C and enjoy one of my favorite times of the year. I was reading the forecast discussion on NOAA’s website this morning and came across this;
THE RADAR REFLECTIVITY ANIMATIONS ALSO ILLUSTRATE AUTUMN BIRD MIGRATION WITH SPLENDOR. THE 25-30 DBZ ECHOES SUGGEST OVER 10000 BIRDS PER MILE ARE FLYING SOUTHWARD TO THEIR WINTER HABITATS... ACCORDING TO RADAR ORNITHOLOGY STUDIES
The birds know how to follow the weather.Flying South for the Winter?
Margie and I really enjoy the many species
that we see in the wintertime when we are
cruising and anchored in Everglades National
Park. We have a sunset sail today, our 1st
of the "snowbird" season. It will be nice to
have the boat sailing again.
We are back on our sailboat(s) after several weeks of vacation in California and Indiana. It was fun being on solid ground, Indiana felt especially non-moving with 1000 miles +/- to an ocean. Also fun to sleep in a fixed in place bed located in a hermetically sealed quiet room. Oh yeah, all the water pouring down on me in the shower, the endless flow of electricity without having to generate it myself.
So was I happy to get back? I think it’s an unqualified yes.The conveniences were nice but being sealed up in the house I didn’t stop to watch a sunset, there was no clear water to go snorkeling in, and all those empty rooms filled with stuff that still need cleaning made me once again appreciate the simplicity of our life.
Last night we had a drink at the Lorelei, watched the band and the sunset. I guess home is where the boat is.
Watching the Sunset from the Florida Keys
I just commented on an interesting editorial about our parks in the NY times. Timothy Egan has some great thoughts but he left out sailing in the Keys. Desert and mountains our great but;
“Don’t forget the hundreds of thousands of acres of Islands and waters of the Florida Keys, Biscayne and Everglades National parks. If you travel just a few miles from US 1 you are transported to a tropical marine environment like nowhere else in the United States or the world. My wife Margie and I have the privilege of sailing in these waters year round, enjoying the beautiful vistas, wildlife, and open spaces. Much of the “land” is covered by a few feet of water but still it remains “for you and me”.”
My Summer Home
I had the chance to watch some of THE NATIONAL PARKS: AMERICA’S BEST IDEA on PBS last night, the history of Everglades National Park was fascinating;
“By 1900, feathers were in fashion and no woman’s hat, it seemed, was complete without an array of plumes. Some hats even included entire stuffed birds. The long, white plumes of egrets had become more valuable than gold. To satisfy the demands of this latest fashion trend, more than 5 million birds a year were being slaughtered; nearly 95 percent of Florida’s shore birds had been killed by plume hunters.”
We are very lucky today that this beautiful area was protected, though at the time it must have seemed hopeless;
An unlikely champion stepped forward in the form of Congressman John F. Lacey. Despite being part of a group of die-hard conservatives, when it came to defending wildlife, Lacey was one of the most progressive politicians of his day. After years of ceaseless effort, he won passage of the Lacey Bird and Game Act of 1900. The bill made it a federal crime to transport birds killed in violation of any state law, and soon government agents were confiscating huge shipments of bird skins and feathers.
But in the lawless Everglades, the Lacey Act did not put an end to plume hunting. Five years after the bill’s passage, a game warden was murdered by poachers. Another was gunned down three years later. The wildlife in southern Florida, it seemed, would never be safe unless the Everglades itself was set aside as a national park.
Finally the park was created;
A bill to create Everglades National Park passed Congress by the narrowest of margins in 1934. For the first time in history, a park had been created solely for the preservation of animals and plants, and the environment that sustains them.
Today we sail on the southern edge of the park on most of our charters. Thanks to the vision of those statesman in 1934 we are able to enjoy not only great birdwatching but also the ability to be surrounded by nature in a way that is very unique. The miles of calm water dotted by mangrove islands, the colors at sunset, Dolphin playing by the boat in 6′ of clear water are all part of the scenery. Even after having sailed in the park for many years I am still surprised by its beauty and serenity.
Mangrove island with wading birds on Turtle grass flat