Showing posts with label Adventure Island. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Adventure Island. Show all posts

Saturday, April 27, 2013

Cedar Key Small Boat Show Saturday and Sunday May 3 and May 4


The 29th Cedar Key small boat meet will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday, May 3rd 5th, 2013, the first full weekend in May. It is completely informal. Tides and weather are still the only organization. There are no planned events, signups, or fees. 

Cedar Key is on the Gulf a hundred miles north of Tampa, a dozen miles south of the mouth of the Suwannee River. It's an isolated cape of offshore islands separated from the mainland by miles of oyster flats and salt marsh. The great logs of the cedar forests went to pencil makers before & after the Civil War. During the War it was an active Confederate port & railhead. Now its sea and shallows attract fishermen and naturalists, artists and writers. There are no traffic lights, fast food, or golf courses.


 

All shallow draft boats are welcome: canoes & kayaks, catboats & catamarans; trimarans, rowboats & sailing dinghies; scows, sharpies & sampans; punts, pirogues, prams---& pirates' yawlboats. 

Over the last 26 years, weather has usually been mostly sunny, mid to upper 80s in the day, water temperature upper 70s. If it blows, even at lower tides, it's splendid for rowers & paddlers. For sailing canoes Cedar Key is sublime. 

Wildlife observers note the food chain at Cedar Key is complete in the water & ashore. The nutrients flowing out with the clean Suwannee mix with oxygenated water riffling through the cape's islands & channels. Birds, bugs, fish, shellfish, turtles, alligators, marine mammals---all thrive. 

For information call the Cedar Key Chamber of Commerce, 352 543 5600; Dave Lucas, 941 704 6736, skipjack@tampabay.rr.com, or me, 586 215 7060,huhorton@gmail.com.

Saturday, August 6, 2011

Crystal River Yakking

Low tides now mean no way. We started out ok, left in the morning after I took care of the horses. We got to Crystal River and found a handy parking spot. We dropped the yaks and decided unhooking the trailer was a good way for jockeying the truck around. MISTAKE!!!! I MADE A MISTAKE AND I AM TRULY SORRY FOR MY SINS AND WILL BE FOREVER PUNISHED!!!

I put the lock on the trailer backwards and we couldn't get the key into the keyhole. Lisa took the truck over to Twin Rivers Marina and had them slice off an end of the key so we could get it into the hole. It worked fine.

We then rolled the yaks over to the sandy shore and pushed off. Our idea was to go up the Crystal River, but it was really hot and shallow because of the offshore wind and low tide. We yakked around the boat ramp and I started going aground. I stepped off to push myself off the oyster bed and my sandals disintegrated. So, I used my paddle to push myself back and then lost the paddle and it was sticking straight up. I circled around with the sail and picked it up and continued my way. Needless to say, Lisa reminded me on numerous occasions about my stupidity. We picked up a chunk of tuna on the way home and grilled it and did some floating in the pool.

I'm trying to convince Lisa we need to go out again tomorrow and get some decent sailing in.

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Jerk Salesman at St. Pete Boat show

 


This is the cad we talked, er I mean, he talked down, to us. Let's call him the "Annointed One" and works at the Tackle Shack representing hobie and its fine line of products. Love Hobie, but they have to do something about their reps. This guy said because we didn't buy our AI from him, we probably messed it up and would need to throw it away and buy a new one. Can't fix it. He sees that hundreds of times a day and they have dumpsters of  thousands of boats just stacked up and they just "quit counting."
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