I forgot to tell you... I have developed a technique (nothing big but needs to be part of my routine) which allowed recovery of another piece of equipment. This time it was an acoustic recording device. Probably much more valuable than the dive gear recovered a few weeks earlier.
I am learning. When I dropped off two divers with the acoustic recorder I did the MOB thing as mentioned in the previous recovery post. I was then to go away since the water lapping on the boat would add too much background noise for the recording. So, much to my dismay (I feel very responsible for the safety of my divers), I moved the boat well away from the drop zone. Their plan was to place the recorder on the bottom in 30 feet of water. Then surface for 10 minutes, quietly resting. They were to keep an eye on the recorder so as to not lose it. I was watching them and thought their actions bothersome. I returned and received the news that they had lost sight of the recorder. They had been pushed away by the current. I, again, put out the tag line. They held on. I returned to the point I put in the navigation gear and put them right over top of the recorder. Found and recovered.
Now, one would think a simple buoy tied to the recorder would have done the same thing. These folks did think to do that. They got a small buoy and put about 25 feet of line on it. How deep was the recorder?
I feel like I have really helped when I find their lost "stuff".
cz, 2120 12/28/2014
Sunday, December 28, 2014
The Holidays
I hope you all had a great Christmas and enjoyed the week thereof. I hope you normal people got a chance to be with those for whom you care and wanted to be with. This is a great time of year, especially if you figure out a way to filter out the commercialism and excess glitter. It is a time to gather your friends and family and, hopefully, let them know how much they mean to you in their respective roles. Well my Christmas was a time to realize how much my family and friends mean to me. In their absence...
This post is a little harder to write than those in the past. But I told you in the beginning that this blog would be the good and the bad. While Christmas was not really bad, it was not great.
I miss all of you. I can say that because I am sure no one whom I don't know is reading this blog. So you, my reader, are also my friend in another aspect of my life. You already know me and we have a bond in one form or another. The idea of gathering friends during the holidays is a good thing; if you can gather them. I am lucky to have friends all over the place. And to gather you all at one time would be wonderful. But, obviously, this can not happen. And this year no gathering happened at all.
I know I am living in a wonderful environment. The weather is either great or interesting. I am able to pretty much do what I want, when I want. Great way to spend a person's life. But...
I miss you all. (Seems like I already said that) We all have connections, good and bad, that allow us to feel supported and loved and part of something. Part of a group. Part of a family. Part of something that includes us. My Christmas day did not do that for me. I tried to FaceTime into the Clovis - Morrison gathering on the river. Technology failed me and that was all there was for the day. I knew things were happening in WV but I was not part of it. I was not involved at all. The brain then starts to play games and makes you wonder if you are being thought about in any way. But I was looking at a wonderful view...
I don't want this to seem like a plea for pity. It is not. I chose this life (maybe ignorant of my real needs). But if you were wondering about Christmas alone on an island for a person who likes his family and friends? It ain't great. And now to face New Year's Eve.
BUT! I do wish you a Happy New Year! May it bring you joy, comfort, prosperity and the realization of those things and people important to you. AND a visit to an island! I love you all.
cz, 19:40 12/28/2014
This post is a little harder to write than those in the past. But I told you in the beginning that this blog would be the good and the bad. While Christmas was not really bad, it was not great.
I miss all of you. I can say that because I am sure no one whom I don't know is reading this blog. So you, my reader, are also my friend in another aspect of my life. You already know me and we have a bond in one form or another. The idea of gathering friends during the holidays is a good thing; if you can gather them. I am lucky to have friends all over the place. And to gather you all at one time would be wonderful. But, obviously, this can not happen. And this year no gathering happened at all.
I know I am living in a wonderful environment. The weather is either great or interesting. I am able to pretty much do what I want, when I want. Great way to spend a person's life. But...
I miss you all. (Seems like I already said that) We all have connections, good and bad, that allow us to feel supported and loved and part of something. Part of a group. Part of a family. Part of something that includes us. My Christmas day did not do that for me. I tried to FaceTime into the Clovis - Morrison gathering on the river. Technology failed me and that was all there was for the day. I knew things were happening in WV but I was not part of it. I was not involved at all. The brain then starts to play games and makes you wonder if you are being thought about in any way. But I was looking at a wonderful view...
I don't want this to seem like a plea for pity. It is not. I chose this life (maybe ignorant of my real needs). But if you were wondering about Christmas alone on an island for a person who likes his family and friends? It ain't great. And now to face New Year's Eve.
BUT! I do wish you a Happy New Year! May it bring you joy, comfort, prosperity and the realization of those things and people important to you. AND a visit to an island! I love you all.
cz, 19:40 12/28/2014
Friday, December 12, 2014
Equipment recovery
Warning: I am not sure how to write this without sounding egotistical. If you already think that of me, read no further.
Last Sunday was an interesting day. I took delivery of new batteries for the island's solar power system. A group of coral research folks came out for a tagging session. National Geographic had a photographer and writer present. Evan, as he was delivering all of the above, "spun a prop". It was a good day.
There is a new research project headed to the island. It is going to put an additional strain on the electrical system here. A water pump is going to be running 24/7 thus using more power than is normally consumed here. As part of the support for the project, new batteries are being added to the existing ones to provide additional storage. The solar panels, so I have been told, have the capacity to provide for the additional power needs. While the additional batteries will add to the storage capacity on the island. Sixteen, very heavy, batteries arrived on Evan's boat and were moved to the generator shed where they will eventually be installed.
The coral research folks were a group of graduate students and their professor. Their trip was planned to tag some coral locations and gather samples. This process was to be photographed by the underwater photographer and documented by the writer, both from National Geographic. NG is doing an article on coral reef restoration. This trip was just gathering data for their article.
"Spinning a prop" is when the propeller on the engine spins free of the rest of the drive system. In this case the rubber bushing holding the propeller failed allowing the prop to spin free of the drive shaft. Not a good thing. Fortunately the boat being used had two engines and they were able to limp on to Broad Key. The repairs commenced as soon as they arrived but were taking longer than expected. Finally, with the day slipping away, it was obvious that I was going to have to take the divers out to their research area.
The research side of the trip had to commence while tides, winds, sun and time were still in our favor. The equipment was transferred to my boat. The dive area coordinates plotted. And off we went. About four miles off shore I dropped the divers off and drifted back a bit to give them room to work. Three pairs of divers were marking the bottom (coral) with stakes and gathering small samples of coral while recording the location. Much of this process was being photographed by the National Geographic diver. All went well until the divers returned to the boat.
As each diver returned to the boat, I took their tanks and other paraphernalia into the boat. But the instructor, upon removing his gear (doffing), dropped all of his equipment to the bottom. The water was about 15 feet deep and the visibility was not great. From the boat, the bottom was not visible. And the wind and water flow were strong enough to have the boat moving at a good rate. The tank, BC (buoyancy compensator), weights, regulator, gauges and more looked to be gone.
And now the egocentric part... When I realized what had happened I treated it like a man-overboard situation. I hit the MOB button on the navigation system even though I had been pushed away by the wind and water. After I got everyone on board I organized the search. I made a swim line and asked for a volunteer to be pulled behind the boat. I instructed one of the students to go to the bow and maintain an arm pointing into the wind. She confused things initially by pointing down wind. Once that was corrected we were ready.
We made three passes. The wind, lack of attention to her job, and the poor handling of the boat all contributed to a less than organized search pattern. But on the third effort to leave the MOB location and drive directly into the wind, the diver in the water let go of the swim line. She had found the gear on the bottom. She dove and retrieved the equipment which was carefully pulled on board. More than $1100 worth of gear was recovered when no one thought it possible.
The class actually gave me a standing ovation from the deck of the boat. Heady time for me.
As a side note: I was chuckling to myself through this at the reactions, actions and comments by all on board. First, the looks of helplessness and inaction were many. This included standing around in the way of the few who were making things happen. Second, was the lack of understanding of their environment. My wind direction helper could not look into the wind and feel its direction. And most of the time she was talking to her friends with only casual corrections to her pointing hand. Also many were the comments of "I think we were here". Now for those of you who have been on open water you understand you cannot look around and know where you are. The closest fixed object was miles away. There is no way to know, within less than a few square miles, where we might have been when that gear was lost.
At some point the National Geographic writer said to me "It is obvious you have done this before". I laughed it off. I could hardly admit that I had never done anything like this...
cz, 1116 12/12/14
Last Sunday was an interesting day. I took delivery of new batteries for the island's solar power system. A group of coral research folks came out for a tagging session. National Geographic had a photographer and writer present. Evan, as he was delivering all of the above, "spun a prop". It was a good day.
There is a new research project headed to the island. It is going to put an additional strain on the electrical system here. A water pump is going to be running 24/7 thus using more power than is normally consumed here. As part of the support for the project, new batteries are being added to the existing ones to provide additional storage. The solar panels, so I have been told, have the capacity to provide for the additional power needs. While the additional batteries will add to the storage capacity on the island. Sixteen, very heavy, batteries arrived on Evan's boat and were moved to the generator shed where they will eventually be installed.
The coral research folks were a group of graduate students and their professor. Their trip was planned to tag some coral locations and gather samples. This process was to be photographed by the underwater photographer and documented by the writer, both from National Geographic. NG is doing an article on coral reef restoration. This trip was just gathering data for their article.
"Spinning a prop" is when the propeller on the engine spins free of the rest of the drive system. In this case the rubber bushing holding the propeller failed allowing the prop to spin free of the drive shaft. Not a good thing. Fortunately the boat being used had two engines and they were able to limp on to Broad Key. The repairs commenced as soon as they arrived but were taking longer than expected. Finally, with the day slipping away, it was obvious that I was going to have to take the divers out to their research area.
The research side of the trip had to commence while tides, winds, sun and time were still in our favor. The equipment was transferred to my boat. The dive area coordinates plotted. And off we went. About four miles off shore I dropped the divers off and drifted back a bit to give them room to work. Three pairs of divers were marking the bottom (coral) with stakes and gathering small samples of coral while recording the location. Much of this process was being photographed by the National Geographic diver. All went well until the divers returned to the boat.
As each diver returned to the boat, I took their tanks and other paraphernalia into the boat. But the instructor, upon removing his gear (doffing), dropped all of his equipment to the bottom. The water was about 15 feet deep and the visibility was not great. From the boat, the bottom was not visible. And the wind and water flow were strong enough to have the boat moving at a good rate. The tank, BC (buoyancy compensator), weights, regulator, gauges and more looked to be gone.
And now the egocentric part... When I realized what had happened I treated it like a man-overboard situation. I hit the MOB button on the navigation system even though I had been pushed away by the wind and water. After I got everyone on board I organized the search. I made a swim line and asked for a volunteer to be pulled behind the boat. I instructed one of the students to go to the bow and maintain an arm pointing into the wind. She confused things initially by pointing down wind. Once that was corrected we were ready.
We made three passes. The wind, lack of attention to her job, and the poor handling of the boat all contributed to a less than organized search pattern. But on the third effort to leave the MOB location and drive directly into the wind, the diver in the water let go of the swim line. She had found the gear on the bottom. She dove and retrieved the equipment which was carefully pulled on board. More than $1100 worth of gear was recovered when no one thought it possible.
The class actually gave me a standing ovation from the deck of the boat. Heady time for me.
As a side note: I was chuckling to myself through this at the reactions, actions and comments by all on board. First, the looks of helplessness and inaction were many. This included standing around in the way of the few who were making things happen. Second, was the lack of understanding of their environment. My wind direction helper could not look into the wind and feel its direction. And most of the time she was talking to her friends with only casual corrections to her pointing hand. Also many were the comments of "I think we were here". Now for those of you who have been on open water you understand you cannot look around and know where you are. The closest fixed object was miles away. There is no way to know, within less than a few square miles, where we might have been when that gear was lost.
At some point the National Geographic writer said to me "It is obvious you have done this before". I laughed it off. I could hardly admit that I had never done anything like this...
cz, 1116 12/12/14
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Post Thanksgiving fallout
Okay. So this is not the next posting. I did stick "The Perfect Evening?" in there. Don't like it? So don't pay your next subscription fee...
As I said before, I had a great break. But you know the feeling that you should not take a vacation because your work will all be waiting for you upon return? Well I did have a few issues.
A couple months ago, Evan bought a new kitchen stove from UM excess property ($50). We put the new stove in the Big House and set it up. All was good. The stove in the Big House was moved to the Keepers house complete with two burners and the oven not working. The totally non-functioning stove from my place was put in the boat for Evan to put in the dumpster at RSMAS. But what does this have to do with Thanksgiving?
My stand-in and his family (total 6) and Evan (and 5 others) somehow managed Thanksgiving together with no forethought or planning. The oven made it through the turkeys but that was it. Casseroles and other baked dishes were carted to my house to use my oven. Remember the stove was moved into my place non-functioning. Luckily I had spent 30 minutes on it previously and had everything working just fine. All reports I have gotten indicated that Thanksgiving was good and well enjoyed. But, upon my return, it was emphasized that it would be nice to have the oven working - soon.
Let's move on to the water issue... You already know that the island uses rainwater for all non-potable water needs. Cool! But no rain, no water... And we are headed into the dry season. There are two cisterns on the island. The basement of the Big House is 2/3 cistern. Big! The other cistern is located under the tool room and is not so big. That smaller one feeds the owners cottage, my house and the boathouse. I have roughly calculated it holds about 7500 gallons. While I was gone, someone used the hose at the tool room. When finished the hose was dropped and fell on the handle. You know what I mean, the way it falls to the ground when you are washing the car and will only land on the handle thus spraying you. And the errant user did not turn off the supply to the hose. So for who knows how long the hose watered the sidewalk. Upon my return and hearing of this story, I checked the water in the cistern... less than 1000 gallons were left in the tank! I started to dehydrate on the spot.
There were other minor annoyances but nothing of real consequence. It took me three days to find Inja's bed. "My" big boat (the Parker) was left a mess with diving and fishing gear strewn about. The RIB (remember: Rigid Inflatable Boat) was found with a few dead fish in it. And more but now I sound like I am complaining.
But, alas, all known issues are either repaired, corrected or washed away. The boats have been tidied up. The failed ignitor for the oven is on order. And 4000 gallons of Big House water were pumped to the tool shed cistern. And I am still glad I got to spend my Thanksgiving in West Virginia.
I hope your Thanksgiving was also enjoyable.
cz, 1816 12/9/14
As I said before, I had a great break. But you know the feeling that you should not take a vacation because your work will all be waiting for you upon return? Well I did have a few issues.
A couple months ago, Evan bought a new kitchen stove from UM excess property ($50). We put the new stove in the Big House and set it up. All was good. The stove in the Big House was moved to the Keepers house complete with two burners and the oven not working. The totally non-functioning stove from my place was put in the boat for Evan to put in the dumpster at RSMAS. But what does this have to do with Thanksgiving?
My stand-in and his family (total 6) and Evan (and 5 others) somehow managed Thanksgiving together with no forethought or planning. The oven made it through the turkeys but that was it. Casseroles and other baked dishes were carted to my house to use my oven. Remember the stove was moved into my place non-functioning. Luckily I had spent 30 minutes on it previously and had everything working just fine. All reports I have gotten indicated that Thanksgiving was good and well enjoyed. But, upon my return, it was emphasized that it would be nice to have the oven working - soon.
Let's move on to the water issue... You already know that the island uses rainwater for all non-potable water needs. Cool! But no rain, no water... And we are headed into the dry season. There are two cisterns on the island. The basement of the Big House is 2/3 cistern. Big! The other cistern is located under the tool room and is not so big. That smaller one feeds the owners cottage, my house and the boathouse. I have roughly calculated it holds about 7500 gallons. While I was gone, someone used the hose at the tool room. When finished the hose was dropped and fell on the handle. You know what I mean, the way it falls to the ground when you are washing the car and will only land on the handle thus spraying you. And the errant user did not turn off the supply to the hose. So for who knows how long the hose watered the sidewalk. Upon my return and hearing of this story, I checked the water in the cistern... less than 1000 gallons were left in the tank! I started to dehydrate on the spot.
There were other minor annoyances but nothing of real consequence. It took me three days to find Inja's bed. "My" big boat (the Parker) was left a mess with diving and fishing gear strewn about. The RIB (remember: Rigid Inflatable Boat) was found with a few dead fish in it. And more but now I sound like I am complaining.
But, alas, all known issues are either repaired, corrected or washed away. The boats have been tidied up. The failed ignitor for the oven is on order. And 4000 gallons of Big House water were pumped to the tool shed cistern. And I am still glad I got to spend my Thanksgiving in West Virginia.
I hope your Thanksgiving was also enjoyable.
cz, 1816 12/9/14
Saturday, December 6, 2014
The perfect evening?
This is a test of my creative writing ability. Not that I will win any awards but I want to share with you the ambiance I am experiencing. I had to go up to the Big House to finish a plumbing project. No biggie - I had to get air into the pressure tank by the pump. It took all day to drain the water out and let the air in.
But the evening! It is 1900. The moon is almost full and it rose at sunset so it is still low in the eastern sky. The "creek" is almost smooth. There is just the slightest breeze. (Okay, the bugs are trying to attack but that is not a major issue.) The moonlight is lying on the water from Swan Key to my feet on the dock. The sky is not totally black. I can see the slightest outline of Swan Key. The breeze rises. Blowing away the few bugs and bringing fresh flavored air to my nose. It is not the normal coastal smell we associate with the beach and ocean. It is just a fresh, light, comfortable bit of air. And the crickets are almost loud compared to the normal deafening quiet. It is an evening that is found only in romance or adventure stories.
I have come to appreciate a windbreaker. The constant breeze has a cooling effect that is not known in the northern climes. The temperature is 71' and the breeze is light. But after my shower I put on long cotton pants and a windbreaker. Standing on the dock, out over the water, I feel both the wonderful air and the comfort of after-a-day-in-the-sun warmth.
I keep redefining "perfect". It is a daily occurrence. While I am sure next spring and summer's heat and humidity will try my love of Broad Key, it may be times like this that might make it all worth while.
And now an owl is calling to top it all off.
The only downside is not having someone with whom I could share this. So I share it with you.
cz, 1926 12/6/14
But the evening! It is 1900. The moon is almost full and it rose at sunset so it is still low in the eastern sky. The "creek" is almost smooth. There is just the slightest breeze. (Okay, the bugs are trying to attack but that is not a major issue.) The moonlight is lying on the water from Swan Key to my feet on the dock. The sky is not totally black. I can see the slightest outline of Swan Key. The breeze rises. Blowing away the few bugs and bringing fresh flavored air to my nose. It is not the normal coastal smell we associate with the beach and ocean. It is just a fresh, light, comfortable bit of air. And the crickets are almost loud compared to the normal deafening quiet. It is an evening that is found only in romance or adventure stories.
I have come to appreciate a windbreaker. The constant breeze has a cooling effect that is not known in the northern climes. The temperature is 71' and the breeze is light. But after my shower I put on long cotton pants and a windbreaker. Standing on the dock, out over the water, I feel both the wonderful air and the comfort of after-a-day-in-the-sun warmth.
I keep redefining "perfect". It is a daily occurrence. While I am sure next spring and summer's heat and humidity will try my love of Broad Key, it may be times like this that might make it all worth while.
And now an owl is calling to top it all off.
The only downside is not having someone with whom I could share this. So I share it with you.
cz, 1926 12/6/14
I have been duly chastised...
Here I sit
Broken hearted
Thought I'd write
But can't get started...
Maybe it is because I have not written for so long; a lot has gone by and I don't know where to start. Maybe I am suffering writer's block but I don't think of myself as a writer so I can not claim to be blocked. Lazy? Maybe that is it; island time has bitten me. For whatever reason, I have been very delinquent and am suffering guilt for it.
Probably the best way to recover from my dry spell is to start with recent events. I will mention older events as I think of them. A lot has transpired but nothing of major consequence. I'll slowly get you caught up. (Side note: I have started to get some underwater video. I have debated on whether to polish and publish these for you or just to show you raw footage as I get it. I am leaning toward showing raw footage. I do not enjoy editing and that would only slow down the process of including you in my adventure.)
Under the boathouse In this video are gray snapper and blue striped grunt.
Lindsay, daughter, spent a week with me in the middle of November. She was my first guest and we had a good time. More than visiting me, she was here to get into the water. She truly is a water baby. And she knows a lot about the fishes in her domain. She got me to start learning the different fish and their habits. As you can tell, I am passing this learning experience to you (reference above). But Linz and I did some snorkeling around the boat house and went out to Ball Reef (where I took the students doing the fish larvae work a month ago). Ball Reef is a wonderful snorkeling spot because one of the three mooring buoys is in 10 feet of water and over a coral reef covered by fish and fans and other marine life. We just dropped a swim line (a ball float on a hundred foot line that stretches out down wind or current from the boat). Then we hung on the line for the show just below us. The water was not as clear as I have seen it but the view was still great. We did two dives with lunch on the boat in the sun in between. A wonderful afternoon was had by us both.
I was able to put together a trip to Morgantown over the Thanksgiving week. It took some arranging though. Of course Inja and Qat had to be cared for as well as the island must be manned. But I took on the task of manning the island in my absence which, I believe, is the first time the Keeper has found his own coverage. I think Evan and Jeff managed this task in the past. But it worked out well. I had someone who wanted to stay most of the Thanksgiving break. So I needed someone to cover only one day/night at the beginning and the end. Both were discovered easily. I had all covered. My thanks to all who helped me. And I think Inja was spoiled for a week. She does like it when people come to the island.
But the island coverage did not happen without problems. I am dealing with the fallout these days. Next posting...
cz, 11:00 12/6/14
Broken hearted
Thought I'd write
But can't get started...
Maybe it is because I have not written for so long; a lot has gone by and I don't know where to start. Maybe I am suffering writer's block but I don't think of myself as a writer so I can not claim to be blocked. Lazy? Maybe that is it; island time has bitten me. For whatever reason, I have been very delinquent and am suffering guilt for it.
Probably the best way to recover from my dry spell is to start with recent events. I will mention older events as I think of them. A lot has transpired but nothing of major consequence. I'll slowly get you caught up. (Side note: I have started to get some underwater video. I have debated on whether to polish and publish these for you or just to show you raw footage as I get it. I am leaning toward showing raw footage. I do not enjoy editing and that would only slow down the process of including you in my adventure.)
Under the boathouse In this video are gray snapper and blue striped grunt.
Lindsay, daughter, spent a week with me in the middle of November. She was my first guest and we had a good time. More than visiting me, she was here to get into the water. She truly is a water baby. And she knows a lot about the fishes in her domain. She got me to start learning the different fish and their habits. As you can tell, I am passing this learning experience to you (reference above). But Linz and I did some snorkeling around the boat house and went out to Ball Reef (where I took the students doing the fish larvae work a month ago). Ball Reef is a wonderful snorkeling spot because one of the three mooring buoys is in 10 feet of water and over a coral reef covered by fish and fans and other marine life. We just dropped a swim line (a ball float on a hundred foot line that stretches out down wind or current from the boat). Then we hung on the line for the show just below us. The water was not as clear as I have seen it but the view was still great. We did two dives with lunch on the boat in the sun in between. A wonderful afternoon was had by us both.
I was able to put together a trip to Morgantown over the Thanksgiving week. It took some arranging though. Of course Inja and Qat had to be cared for as well as the island must be manned. But I took on the task of manning the island in my absence which, I believe, is the first time the Keeper has found his own coverage. I think Evan and Jeff managed this task in the past. But it worked out well. I had someone who wanted to stay most of the Thanksgiving break. So I needed someone to cover only one day/night at the beginning and the end. Both were discovered easily. I had all covered. My thanks to all who helped me. And I think Inja was spoiled for a week. She does like it when people come to the island.
But the island coverage did not happen without problems. I am dealing with the fallout these days. Next posting...
cz, 11:00 12/6/14
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Just checking in...
Good morning!
My daughter, Lindsay, has reminded me that there has not been a new update for a long time. The rest of you have been patient and just waited for me. Thank you.
It has been an interesting few weeks. I have not written. I am sorry for those who check on me. But this post is not going to discuss any events. Nothing threatening, just island life stuff. I will get a post or two headed your way soon. I can not write more now. I just wanted to let you know that I am still here, doing well and thinking of you.
cz, 0941 11/5/2014
My daughter, Lindsay, has reminded me that there has not been a new update for a long time. The rest of you have been patient and just waited for me. Thank you.
It has been an interesting few weeks. I have not written. I am sorry for those who check on me. But this post is not going to discuss any events. Nothing threatening, just island life stuff. I will get a post or two headed your way soon. I can not write more now. I just wanted to let you know that I am still here, doing well and thinking of you.
cz, 0941 11/5/2014
Tuesday, October 21, 2014
Address
Good afternoon! I finally got a snail-mail address. I feel a bit egotistical for posting it here but several of you have asked. So...
Chuck Clovis
Chuck Clovis
3020 NE 41 Terrace, Unit #9 #151
Homestead, FL 33033
BTW: Don't put this in your GPS. You'll miss me by many miles.
cz, 1503 10/21/2014
Sunday, October 19, 2014
Poachers
This is just short note while it is fresh in my head.
I had to deal with lobster poachers this afternoon. I hope this is not a regular affair. Around noon I heard noise from near the dock. This is something I am "tuned to" and headed to the dock to check things out. Usually there is a boat anchored near the dock which is legal but not too cool. But this time the boat was anchored close to shore and a snorkel diver was down near the dock. He proceeded on west approaching the boathouse. By the time he was past the dock I decided to get the camera and be obvious about taking pictures. After taking several pictures of the boat, I realized I needed to "greet" the diver at the boathouse. After all I have told everyone I wanted to greet guests. So as he surfaced about 5 feet from the boathouse I was standing over him on the deck. He grunted and turned away. I took a couple more pictures and returned to the house.
But as I waited for them to move on I got more uneasy. I finally decided to call for back up. After some wrong agency calls I got the Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC). After a few minutes of explanation about who and where I was she dispatched an officer.
In a while I returned to the dock and took more pictures. At one point, as the diver returned to the boat, the boat folks told him to come around the boat to the other side - out of my view. I could not see what was transferred to the boat. More pictures. Then I returned to the house.
I heard the boat start or try to start. I assumed they were leaving but all they did was move closer to the boathouse and reset anchor. Three of them then started snorkelling the wreck I knew was under them. And drifted away with the current. I made myself very obvious and said nothing while shooting an occasional picture.
The snorkellers started to try to return, up stream, to the boat. It was too much for them. They swam to and along the shore line which is considered part of our property. They stopped right next to the boathouse and walked around on our freshly transplanted coral and my octopus' stomping grounds. I took more pictures. They finally asked why I was taking pictures and that they were not doing anything wrong. I finally spoke and with no real evidence said that this is a lobster sanctuary and harvesting lobsters was illegal. They professed innocence. I told them that was cool and they would then have no trouble with the FWC who were on the way. My visitors seemed to get nervous and tried to swim to the boat again - against the current. I let it go and sat in the boathouse until I heard a clunk on the outside deck. I went around the corner to find one of them on the deck in front of me. He explained that he was tired from the swim. They finally got a plan together, he was the boat driver, to drift the boat and he could swim to it. So up he got and headed to the far end of the deck. I took a picture.
As he dove into the water, I got a one finger salute. As he swam to the boat he said many hurtful things to me (well, he wanted them to be hurtful). Once in the boat he got louder and more abusive. He expressed all the things he would do to my sister and more. He dropped his pants and told me to "shoot this". I also had it explained to me why I was alone on an island with no wife and children. He knew... It was interesting that when he was on my deck, within 5 feet of me, he was not so verbose. ( I hope the imagery was not too much)
They are now gone. The FWC has yet to show. I am not sure if I should be concerned that I really have no backup or just know that people are not really going to act on threats or do bad things. Things to ponder...
I know I said this was to be a short note but unlike the previous discussion of my trip to town, this DID flow...
cz, 1830 10/19/2014
I had to deal with lobster poachers this afternoon. I hope this is not a regular affair. Around noon I heard noise from near the dock. This is something I am "tuned to" and headed to the dock to check things out. Usually there is a boat anchored near the dock which is legal but not too cool. But this time the boat was anchored close to shore and a snorkel diver was down near the dock. He proceeded on west approaching the boathouse. By the time he was past the dock I decided to get the camera and be obvious about taking pictures. After taking several pictures of the boat, I realized I needed to "greet" the diver at the boathouse. After all I have told everyone I wanted to greet guests. So as he surfaced about 5 feet from the boathouse I was standing over him on the deck. He grunted and turned away. I took a couple more pictures and returned to the house.But as I waited for them to move on I got more uneasy. I finally decided to call for back up. After some wrong agency calls I got the Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC). After a few minutes of explanation about who and where I was she dispatched an officer.
In a while I returned to the dock and took more pictures. At one point, as the diver returned to the boat, the boat folks told him to come around the boat to the other side - out of my view. I could not see what was transferred to the boat. More pictures. Then I returned to the house.
I heard the boat start or try to start. I assumed they were leaving but all they did was move closer to the boathouse and reset anchor. Three of them then started snorkelling the wreck I knew was under them. And drifted away with the current. I made myself very obvious and said nothing while shooting an occasional picture.
The snorkellers started to try to return, up stream, to the boat. It was too much for them. They swam to and along the shore line which is considered part of our property. They stopped right next to the boathouse and walked around on our freshly transplanted coral and my octopus' stomping grounds. I took more pictures. They finally asked why I was taking pictures and that they were not doing anything wrong. I finally spoke and with no real evidence said that this is a lobster sanctuary and harvesting lobsters was illegal. They professed innocence. I told them that was cool and they would then have no trouble with the FWC who were on the way. My visitors seemed to get nervous and tried to swim to the boat again - against the current. I let it go and sat in the boathouse until I heard a clunk on the outside deck. I went around the corner to find one of them on the deck in front of me. He explained that he was tired from the swim. They finally got a plan together, he was the boat driver, to drift the boat and he could swim to it. So up he got and headed to the far end of the deck. I took a picture.As he dove into the water, I got a one finger salute. As he swam to the boat he said many hurtful things to me (well, he wanted them to be hurtful). Once in the boat he got louder and more abusive. He expressed all the things he would do to my sister and more. He dropped his pants and told me to "shoot this". I also had it explained to me why I was alone on an island with no wife and children. He knew... It was interesting that when he was on my deck, within 5 feet of me, he was not so verbose. ( I hope the imagery was not too much)They are now gone. The FWC has yet to show. I am not sure if I should be concerned that I really have no backup or just know that people are not really going to act on threats or do bad things. Things to ponder...
I know I said this was to be a short note but unlike the previous discussion of my trip to town, this DID flow...
cz, 1830 10/19/2014
A normal commute
Oh, darn, I need milk and bread and chips. I will be back in a couple minutes. I might gas up the car while I am there. See you in 20 minutes... This scenario does not apply to me.
Wednesday I had a meeting on one of the UM campuses. The meeting was scheduled for 8:30 - 12:30. As usual, I planned to take advantage of the time on the mainland for food shopping, fuel pickup and a liquor stop. Yes, G&Ts are important to island life. Plenty of time for all of these tasks. But the fuel dock closes at 6:00; I had to keep that in mind.
Okay. The meeting was to start at 8:30. I thought I would plan my arrival for 8:00 to allow for issues. I will provide you with the normal time and the time I gave myself (ex: 15/20 min.). So... my travel schedule:
- Load the boat (15/15min.) - Load garbage (disposal of my garbage is at any trash receptacle I can find) and empty diesel cans
- Crossing (35/45 min.) - the weather and water conditions can alter the crossing timing
- Docking (15/20 min,) - I keep my car at BNP. So I have to dock, empty trash into their trash cans and walk to the parking, get car ready - I keep sunshields in all windows
- Drive to UM - Coral Gables (50/60 min. from GPS)
The time I gave myself was about 2 hours and 20 minutes. And I was planning an early arrival. And I actually started a few minutes early. The end result? I was 30 minutes late to my New Employee Orientation. I am finding it almost impossible to plan a trip to town.
But that was not the end of the timing issues. I returned to Broad Key at 8:30pm. And I did not get diesel fuel, did minimal food shopping and did nothing relaxing and "Time for me".
It has taken me three days to write this. I have had interruptions and visitors. And this post has not just "flowed". I wanted to tell you what a trip to town might be like but it was not as easy as I wanted. So, while I know I should not, I apologize to you, my loyal readers, for not providing much entertainment. Thank you for making it to this point.
cz, 10:55 10/19/14
Friday, October 10, 2014
Weather report #1
As I sat down at the edge of my freshly weedwacked lawn, I realized how nice the day was. This is not something you notice while at the helm of the S.S. Weedwacker. So I thought I would try to post from my phone while sitting on the sidewalk.
cz, 1400 10/10/2014
Sunday, October 5, 2014
Power to the people - well electric power
WARNING! The following contains techtalk. Techtalk has been known to cause yawning and a glazing of the eyes. Proceed at your own risk!
So far my writings have been about a view of the island as seen by the typical visitor. Discussions of property in general. I also want this blog to give you a tour of the inner workings of the island. For example, I have wanted to show you my house but it is never neat enough to be photo worthy. I don't want you to know just what a slob I really am. With that in mind, I will start elsewhere. And since my day was spent doing things related to the power generation system, that is going to be the first inner workings post.
As I have told you before, the island is not connected to the electric grid. But to be a viable field station, electricity is required. The option used here is solar power backed up by a diesel generator.
The storage for the electricity is in the form of very large 12v batteries. These guys would really turn that stubborn car engine over for you. These are assembled in two banks of series connected batteries. On the wall you can see various chargers, controllers and inverters.
The primary user interface is a small panel that monitors and manages all the various systems in the room. The power input is either the solar panels or the generator. Electricity is stored in the batteries. Electricity used on the island is taken from the 12 volt batteries and run through the inverter to produce 240 volts of A/C. That is the normal house power and therefore allows normal appliances to be used throughout the property. The system is configured to provide power to the batteries during the day. A sunny day will take the batteries to full capacity. If there is little going on around the island at night (meaning no visitors, no freezers running, etc.) the power stored in the batteries is enough to get through the night. But on a cloudy day or if there are guests on the island causing increased power consumption there will be a drain the batteries and require additional help. When the batteries are drawn below 65% capacity, the system will automatically turn the generator on. The generator will then run until the batteries are topped off or the solar panels start to generate power in the daylight again.
It is a good system and seems reliable. With the cost of diesel fuel, though, there is great incentive to watch the power consumption. I can not tell the guests enough to turn things off when not in use.
Sorry for all the technical stuff. But that is what it is all about.
cz, 2030 10/5/2014
So far my writings have been about a view of the island as seen by the typical visitor. Discussions of property in general. I also want this blog to give you a tour of the inner workings of the island. For example, I have wanted to show you my house but it is never neat enough to be photo worthy. I don't want you to know just what a slob I really am. With that in mind, I will start elsewhere. And since my day was spent doing things related to the power generation system, that is going to be the first inner workings post.
As I have told you before, the island is not connected to the electric grid. But to be a viable field station, electricity is required. The option used here is solar power backed up by a diesel generator.
The primary user interface is a small panel that monitors and manages all the various systems in the room. The power input is either the solar panels or the generator. Electricity is stored in the batteries. Electricity used on the island is taken from the 12 volt batteries and run through the inverter to produce 240 volts of A/C. That is the normal house power and therefore allows normal appliances to be used throughout the property. The system is configured to provide power to the batteries during the day. A sunny day will take the batteries to full capacity. If there is little going on around the island at night (meaning no visitors, no freezers running, etc.) the power stored in the batteries is enough to get through the night. But on a cloudy day or if there are guests on the island causing increased power consumption there will be a drain the batteries and require additional help. When the batteries are drawn below 65% capacity, the system will automatically turn the generator on. The generator will then run until the batteries are topped off or the solar panels start to generate power in the daylight again.
Please note the mowing job. That was today's weedwacking effort. You can get an idea how much was taken down by looking at the edge growth. That was clear across and climbing up the panel posts. In several instances morning glories were blooming on top of the panels. That was a lot of work.
It is a good system and seems reliable. With the cost of diesel fuel, though, there is great incentive to watch the power consumption. I can not tell the guests enough to turn things off when not in use.
Sorry for all the technical stuff. But that is what it is all about.
cz, 2030 10/5/2014
First underwater pictures
Eight months ago, when here on the island, I discovered a small stash of underwater cameras once used by students. And then I promptly forgot them.
My recent experiences, primarily the snorkeling on Ball Reef, has whetted my appetite for underwater photography. Unfortunately, I can not afford one of those camera rigs that cost more than all my motorcycles together. But I wanted to be able to give you an idea what I was seeing underwater. Yesterday, the discovery of those cameras was transferred from the poor functioning short term memory to long term. Suddenly I remembered the cameras and I was off in search of a camera that matched my budget - free.
Testing, testing. Okay all looks good. Now charge the battery. Doe-dio-doe; are we there yet? I had to go find another project to keep me away from that camera. Finally the battery had enough charge to allow me to test it. Now turn the power on and... It WORKED!! Well above water anyway.
Time to wet test the camera. Grab my snorkel gear and the camera and head to the boathouse. Gear on and into the water. IT STILL WORKED!!! I have a functioning UW camera.
I have told you of things around the boat house. Fish, garbage, lobsters and even the kitchen sink. Here is a bit of evidence though not great pictures. I will get better ones but I was anxious to try the camera.
To the right are a few transplanted corals. These were harvested from a construction project in Key West I believe. They are literally epoxied to that cement block.
Then there is the debris that has collected for years. I am not sure who the previous users of the island might have been but they sure did not have much interest in the environment.
Okay. So this is not marine life. But Inja is a regular at the boat house.
And, as I have said previously, there are plenty of lobsters in the area of the boat house. These guys were not happy having me in there with them. They were displaying Ninja moves with their antennae.
I chose a poor time to test the camera. The tide was flowing through quite fast and the sediment was causing poor visibility (hereafter referred to as "vis"). That explains the green tint to everything. You will see a difference in picture color depending on the tide and sun position and cloud cover.
These pictures will hopefully be just the start of what you get to see from our wonderful underwater world.
cz, 1904 10/5/2014
My recent experiences, primarily the snorkeling on Ball Reef, has whetted my appetite for underwater photography. Unfortunately, I can not afford one of those camera rigs that cost more than all my motorcycles together. But I wanted to be able to give you an idea what I was seeing underwater. Yesterday, the discovery of those cameras was transferred from the poor functioning short term memory to long term. Suddenly I remembered the cameras and I was off in search of a camera that matched my budget - free.
Testing, testing. Okay all looks good. Now charge the battery. Doe-dio-doe; are we there yet? I had to go find another project to keep me away from that camera. Finally the battery had enough charge to allow me to test it. Now turn the power on and... It WORKED!! Well above water anyway.
Time to wet test the camera. Grab my snorkel gear and the camera and head to the boathouse. Gear on and into the water. IT STILL WORKED!!! I have a functioning UW camera.
I have told you of things around the boat house. Fish, garbage, lobsters and even the kitchen sink. Here is a bit of evidence though not great pictures. I will get better ones but I was anxious to try the camera.
To the right are a few transplanted corals. These were harvested from a construction project in Key West I believe. They are literally epoxied to that cement block.
Okay. So this is not marine life. But Inja is a regular at the boat house.
I chose a poor time to test the camera. The tide was flowing through quite fast and the sediment was causing poor visibility (hereafter referred to as "vis"). That explains the green tint to everything. You will see a difference in picture color depending on the tide and sun position and cloud cover.
These pictures will hopefully be just the start of what you get to see from our wonderful underwater world.
cz, 1904 10/5/2014
Saturday, October 4, 2014
Snorkel #1
A couple days ago I supported a couple students in their research efforts. We went to Ball Reef. This is the same location that was used by the folks looking at fish larva. While they were diving and setting up their equipment I watched from the surface 30 feet above. The water was clear and the sun at the proper angle to provide excellent visibility. The years of SCUBA diving in my past started to gnaw at me.
Yesterday, I started on the path to "getting wet" again. With the rush of the last three weeks of support for the research and students behind me, I had the time to slow down and do what I wanted for a while. One of those, yesterday, was to take myself to Ball Reef. I grabbed my snorkel gear: mask, snorkel and fins. I had to clean everything. It has been a long time since it was used. Then off to Ball Reef.
I chose a mooring ball and tied the boat off. I slowly went about preparing the boat and equipment for my time in the water; one dive flag on the boat, tag line (100' swim line with a float on the end) thrown overboard, a second dive flag attached to the tag line. All was ready but my head. I will admit to a bit of anxiety. It had been a long time and I was alone. But I could not back away from a simple snorkel session. So I continued. Splash!
10 feet below me was a world that I had all but forgotten. My memories of this underwater world had faded more than I realized. My memories had become similar to a video we all watch but from which we are removed. They were slipping away from a personal experience into just "something I have done". But in a splash, it was back to fresh and real again.
10 feet below me was a world that needs to be experienced by all who live on this planet. And I don't think viewing a video or looking through the hull of a glass bottom boat is enough. You have to immerse yourself into that environment; become part of it. Below me were fishes* of many varieties, coral heads with tantalizing valleys between, sea fans waving in the current, jelly fish stroking by and more. All within reach if I had just dropped down a few feet from the surface. We all need to know what is down there. We need to understand why we should be more protective of it. There is SO MUCH going on under the surface of that aqueous blanket.
Back to reality. The reality at the end of my dive was ... how to get back into the boat. I am so thankful that no one was around as I made a spectacle of myself. The rolling seas put the swim platform just above the water and then a second later 20 inches above the water. Timing, timing, timing. I just had to kick hard as the platform descended. Hmm. Not that easy. And as those of you who know me realize, I am not the powerful person I once was. In fact I am not close to that person. Where is that ladder?!? But, obviously, I made it onto the swim platform, maybe more scuffed than I care to admit. I retrieved my swim trunks from my left ankle. Then all was well in my world as I sat there catching my breath, feet dangling in the water, and thinking about what I had just seen.
cz, 1028 10/4/2014
I was incorrectly corrected for my use of "fishes"but...
"The plural of fish is usually fish, but fishes has a few uses. In biology, for instance, fishes is used to refer to multiple species of fish. "
And that is what I meant. Many species were within view. cz
Yesterday, I started on the path to "getting wet" again. With the rush of the last three weeks of support for the research and students behind me, I had the time to slow down and do what I wanted for a while. One of those, yesterday, was to take myself to Ball Reef. I grabbed my snorkel gear: mask, snorkel and fins. I had to clean everything. It has been a long time since it was used. Then off to Ball Reef.
I chose a mooring ball and tied the boat off. I slowly went about preparing the boat and equipment for my time in the water; one dive flag on the boat, tag line (100' swim line with a float on the end) thrown overboard, a second dive flag attached to the tag line. All was ready but my head. I will admit to a bit of anxiety. It had been a long time and I was alone. But I could not back away from a simple snorkel session. So I continued. Splash!
10 feet below me was a world that I had all but forgotten. My memories of this underwater world had faded more than I realized. My memories had become similar to a video we all watch but from which we are removed. They were slipping away from a personal experience into just "something I have done". But in a splash, it was back to fresh and real again.
10 feet below me was a world that needs to be experienced by all who live on this planet. And I don't think viewing a video or looking through the hull of a glass bottom boat is enough. You have to immerse yourself into that environment; become part of it. Below me were fishes* of many varieties, coral heads with tantalizing valleys between, sea fans waving in the current, jelly fish stroking by and more. All within reach if I had just dropped down a few feet from the surface. We all need to know what is down there. We need to understand why we should be more protective of it. There is SO MUCH going on under the surface of that aqueous blanket.
Back to reality. The reality at the end of my dive was ... how to get back into the boat. I am so thankful that no one was around as I made a spectacle of myself. The rolling seas put the swim platform just above the water and then a second later 20 inches above the water. Timing, timing, timing. I just had to kick hard as the platform descended. Hmm. Not that easy. And as those of you who know me realize, I am not the powerful person I once was. In fact I am not close to that person. Where is that ladder?!? But, obviously, I made it onto the swim platform, maybe more scuffed than I care to admit. I retrieved my swim trunks from my left ankle. Then all was well in my world as I sat there catching my breath, feet dangling in the water, and thinking about what I had just seen.
cz, 1028 10/4/2014
I was incorrectly corrected for my use of "fishes"but...
"The plural of fish is usually fish, but fishes has a few uses. In biology, for instance, fishes is used to refer to multiple species of fish. "
And that is what I meant. Many species were within view. cz
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
A surprise evening
Old Lock 13 on the Monongahela River, Morgantown, WV has a variety of reputations. But it is a place where people gather. Where it makes no difference who you are. You are accepted as part of the family. In fact I tell people that they have to leave their prejudices as they cross the tracks or they may not be too comfortable at the river.
While this description of OL13 may seem irrelevant, something that very often comes from the random visitors is a spontaneity that I have always loved. Boat rides that were not planned. Dinners that were not planned. And more...
Now the reason for this introduction. Last night as two storms converged overhead, a boat lands at the dock on Broad Key. So, in my capacity to meet and greet (and sometimes run off) those who approach the island, I went to see what was happening. The boat captain, mate and four individuals were all huddling under their tiny sun shade trying to avoid the rain. It was not working and they did seem to be good folks. I invited them to move to the shelter of the boathouse roof overhang. (Now you will notice that I did not offer the shelter of the boathouse. I am just a bit wary of strangers to the island. So they were offered partial shelter for the storm's duration. And, of course, I stayed with them) And I got to know them a bit. Two of the "customers" were owners of an Indian restaurant in Pine Crest (just north of where I dock in Homestead). Their father who is in the US visiting the sons is from Kenya. And the fourth is a friend of the father from New Jersey.
I left Morgantown where I have been friends with an Indian family who own an Indian restaurant. In fact I have a tandoor thanks to them. I move to an island for quiet and solitude 1200 miles away. And the first strangers to hit the island are almost a mirror image of my friends in Morgantown.
The charter captain told me that he had been hired to take them fishing and to find an island where they could beach and cook. The weather foiled their trip on both counts. Well one thing moved to another in the conversations and before you know it - they were cooking a chicken curry dinner with expensive wine and fire toasted naan and french bread. These visitors were equally surprised at finding on an island a white guy who cooks Indian foods and owns a tandoor.
We had a wonderful evening. Everyone involved thought it was incredibly special - unique. And then it hit me. The cosmopolitan atmosphere and spontaneity of OL13 has been extended to Broad Key.
cz, 1641 10/1/2014
While this description of OL13 may seem irrelevant, something that very often comes from the random visitors is a spontaneity that I have always loved. Boat rides that were not planned. Dinners that were not planned. And more...
Now the reason for this introduction. Last night as two storms converged overhead, a boat lands at the dock on Broad Key. So, in my capacity to meet and greet (and sometimes run off) those who approach the island, I went to see what was happening. The boat captain, mate and four individuals were all huddling under their tiny sun shade trying to avoid the rain. It was not working and they did seem to be good folks. I invited them to move to the shelter of the boathouse roof overhang. (Now you will notice that I did not offer the shelter of the boathouse. I am just a bit wary of strangers to the island. So they were offered partial shelter for the storm's duration. And, of course, I stayed with them) And I got to know them a bit. Two of the "customers" were owners of an Indian restaurant in Pine Crest (just north of where I dock in Homestead). Their father who is in the US visiting the sons is from Kenya. And the fourth is a friend of the father from New Jersey.
I left Morgantown where I have been friends with an Indian family who own an Indian restaurant. In fact I have a tandoor thanks to them. I move to an island for quiet and solitude 1200 miles away. And the first strangers to hit the island are almost a mirror image of my friends in Morgantown.
The charter captain told me that he had been hired to take them fishing and to find an island where they could beach and cook. The weather foiled their trip on both counts. Well one thing moved to another in the conversations and before you know it - they were cooking a chicken curry dinner with expensive wine and fire toasted naan and french bread. These visitors were equally surprised at finding on an island a white guy who cooks Indian foods and owns a tandoor.
We had a wonderful evening. Everyone involved thought it was incredibly special - unique. And then it hit me. The cosmopolitan atmosphere and spontaneity of OL13 has been extended to Broad Key.cz, 1641 10/1/2014
Sunday, September 28, 2014
Walk behind...
I have a good friend who has started a lawn care business. I think it is pretty cool for a high school student. He seems to be doing well. He sent me a picture of a walk behind mower he just bought. I thought it looked really cool. After all, I am a guy who loves machines. 
cz, 20:26 9/28/2014
Friday, September 26, 2014
Just a note about the new Picture Gallery
I have added a new page (to the right side of the blog site) called Picture Gallery. That page is just a dumping spot for pictures of interest that don't make it into a blog post. I started with a couple night time lightening shots I took last night.
cz, 0730 9/26/2014
cz, 0730 9/26/2014
Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Broad Key Marine Life #1
Just a few minutes ago I went to the boathouse. I discovered why. A 14 inch diameter (typical size) Moon Jellyfish was swimming through. There were several other smaller Moon Jellies there too. It was fun to watch the big one. Without question it was swimming. Often we have a mental image of jellyfish floating but that is not accurate. They swim and this one was "stroking" along at a good rate.A moon jelly side note: On one of the trap retrieval trips, a flock/pod/gaggle/school (?) of at least 50 moon jellyfish went past us. They actually interfered with the rigging on the traps. But credit Matt and Andy for their patience as they worked to not hurt or sacrifice the jellies in the process of bringing in their traps.
I got to thinking you might like to see some of the marine life here at dock side and the boathouse. But please note that the pictures are not mine. I have tried to shoot some but taking pictures from the surface is very hard. there are definitely technical issues to overcome. So what I will show you are pictures I have discovered online that come as close as I can find to what is to be seen by looking off the dock.
Spiny Lobsters are around the dock and boathouse and in between. They are not the cold water type with the pinchers. In place of the pinchers there are long "antenna". This a lobster sanctuary. Commercial harvesting is prohibited. (See another side note at the bottom of this post.) But there are hundreds of them, literally, around the boathouse. They are a social critter and are found backed into any crevice or hole they can find. Recently, it was molting season. The bottom is now littered with the evacuated shells of this curious crustacean.
A few days ago one of the students was fishing off the dock for barracuda. Long story but not for now. In the process he caught a Nassau Grouper. It was a smaller one at about 20". We worked together to carefully free it from the hook and return it to the water. Not sure but I don't think catching them is appropriate. I have so much to learn...The afore mentioned side note: The other night, as we returned from a trap setting run, I was confused by some lights that were not where they should be. Using the boat's search light I lit up a pair of boats at the edge of the channel. Their lights were what confused me. There was not supposed to be anything there. I let it go, feeling bad for flooding their boat with bright light (their night vision was not going to be returning for a while...). The next day I was discussing this find with the "captain" working with the grad student who is here for the month. He informed me that I had run across Cuban lobster poachers. He, too, had run across them later on his night run. He called it in to the FWC (Fish and Wildlife Commission) who indicated they would be patrolling the area and to not approach the poachers. And you thought I was kidding when I said part of my job was to keep Cubans off the island...
cz, 1200 9/24/2014
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Picking up the sample gear was not as easy as setting it out
Well my wish to get involved with the research side of things here has already commenced. In preparation of setting out the sample gear last night, we had to make modifications. The students were open to my help ( and tools and silicon). We worked together to make the sample gear a bit better. Or so we thought.
Modifications done, we loaded up and set out to find those mooring balls. There are 20 inch mooring balls set by the Park Service at this site. Boaters and divers can tie off to these instead of dropping a bottom disturbing anchor. These also make a good place to secure a sampling system to catch some fish larva swimming by.
There are three mooring balls. The guys wanted to put out four sampling traps so we put the forth one on a tether that allowed it to hang about 50 feet down current from number three.
But these pretty romantic pictures were of the placing of the traps last night. This morning pickup was not the same. In fact you will notice no pictures.
As usual this week, another storm moved in and demanded our attention. We were on the water just as the eastern sky was showing some light. We went down the creek with little issue. But, once in more open water, the surface got rougher. The transit out to the mooring balls was a little slower and a lot rougher than previous trips. Then the fun started. The seas were about 3 feet with a short period between the crests. Also the wind was running about 30 degrees off the waves. The end result was two slightly conflicting forces wanting to have their way with my boat.
Let's talk about the boat for a minute. It is a good boat and I like it. But... it has a relatively flat bottom and, apparently, little to no keel. Evan told me it was like driving a box. In the conditions this morning it was as likely to slide sideways as go in the direction I wanted. Note that this handling issue is only in close quarters. Underway, steerage control is good. But I had to put the boat where the guys could reach the traps.
Remember those 3 foot waves? Many times the bow of the boat was playing submarine. I don't mean spray over the bow. I mean 3 inches of solid water above the bow as the bow drove into the oncoming wave which then washed across the deck. I don't mean to make this sound dramatic. The boat is able to deal with this easily. But it makes for a rough ride - and a busy captain. It took me 7 tries to get the first trap. The others were not quite that bad. But I did not get pictures of the process.
And through this Matt and Andy were slipping, sliding and bracing themselves all over the aft deck. But they did a good job of covering for my inability to give them good access to the traps.
But - they were disappointed with the results after the effort. So it is with research.
cz, 1555 9/23/2014
But these pretty romantic pictures were of the placing of the traps last night. This morning pickup was not the same. In fact you will notice no pictures.As usual this week, another storm moved in and demanded our attention. We were on the water just as the eastern sky was showing some light. We went down the creek with little issue. But, once in more open water, the surface got rougher. The transit out to the mooring balls was a little slower and a lot rougher than previous trips. Then the fun started. The seas were about 3 feet with a short period between the crests. Also the wind was running about 30 degrees off the waves. The end result was two slightly conflicting forces wanting to have their way with my boat.
Let's talk about the boat for a minute. It is a good boat and I like it. But... it has a relatively flat bottom and, apparently, little to no keel. Evan told me it was like driving a box. In the conditions this morning it was as likely to slide sideways as go in the direction I wanted. Note that this handling issue is only in close quarters. Underway, steerage control is good. But I had to put the boat where the guys could reach the traps.
Remember those 3 foot waves? Many times the bow of the boat was playing submarine. I don't mean spray over the bow. I mean 3 inches of solid water above the bow as the bow drove into the oncoming wave which then washed across the deck. I don't mean to make this sound dramatic. The boat is able to deal with this easily. But it makes for a rough ride - and a busy captain. It took me 7 tries to get the first trap. The others were not quite that bad. But I did not get pictures of the process.
And through this Matt and Andy were slipping, sliding and bracing themselves all over the aft deck. But they did a good job of covering for my inability to give them good access to the traps.
But - they were disappointed with the results after the effort. So it is with research.
cz, 1555 9/23/2014
Monday, September 22, 2014
Yesterday, a snapshot of the day
Before sunrise I got the day started with feeding my critters and my coffee habit. Then the official stuff started. The night before I took a pair of grad students out to a reef about 5 miles off shore. They attached some sampling equipment to a couple of the Biscayne National Park mooring balls. This morning it was our task to retrieve said equipment before sunrise. Yes, maybe a bit early but what a way to start the day.
The picture to the left is one of my offices. WVU never offered me accommodations like these. This was the return trip after sun up. The water was smooth. Easy boating.On Saturday I went to BNP to pick up four students. Two of them are the ones who are working the sampling discussed above. The other two are doing a survey of the mangrove that surrounds Broad Key. Today I took the mangrove surveyors back to BNP. I did some grocery shopping while on the mainland. The shopping took some time and two stores. I started to get a bit nervous about the schedule I had set. I am still learning how to time the boat loading, transit and offloading at BK. I guess the students left on BK were concerned too. I got a cell phone call from them as I approached the boathouse. Twenty minutes later we were loaded and headed back to the mooring buoys to set the sampling equipment for a second night. Guess where I can be found at dawn in the morning...
Filling in around the boating and research support, I did normal keeper things. I started cleaning my house, a never ending process. But each cleaning usually takes on another area untouched in previous cleanings. This time the new area had not been cleaned in 40 years. And to do so, I had to disassemble some window screens which of course, got washed. With the screen removed I was able to wash the back side of the windows. It was then that I noticed the the window opening mechanism was not working. Well we can't have that! So I took an hour to working on that faulty opener. Do you see what is happening? Start one simple task which leads to another and another. That is how my time here has been going. There is just so much to clean, fix, tighten, rearrange...
This is being written at 0300. Not sure why but I was awake at 0200. But now I want to close these eyes again. Should I save this posting to further additions or just hit send?
cz, 0300 9/22/2014
Saturday, September 20, 2014
The offer is no longer in the mail
Here I sit
Head hung low
Promised to write
But did not so...
Okay. A poet I am not. But that expresses my sentiment. I have not written anything to you for what seems to be a long time. I have many reasons and excuses. But I don't want to bore you with the list (for a nominal fee I will email you the list - please allow three weeks for delivery).
I am on Broad Key. I am an employee of University of Miami. There you go - status update.
The offer came through and was a touch better than expected. I think it fair. And since then my world has been a whirlwind. Between getting my house cleaned and "de-Galed" and work related tasks I have not stopped. I realized yesterday that I had not stopped doing stuff from about 0700 to 2100 for three days. I don't think that it is always going to be like this. I am hoping this is just the initial phase. The house is dirty (not that I am a clean freak but...) and the previous keeper, Gale, left a legacy for me to address. His stuff, dirty house and general lack of organization. Plus he and the previous keepers were satisfied to just exist. I am not. I want this to feel like home.
The facilities here are generally in shambles. The researchers here, the previous keepers and the various maintenance folks have little sense of organization. There are rooms in the big house basement where you will see dirt on the floor, various paint pails, many coils of electric wire, concrete blocks, bed frames and water treatment chemicals all just thrown, literally, in the middle of the floor. There are some shelves in that room but you can not get too them. At least situations like these make it easy to make a good impression. Two hours of work and the worst room will look SO much better.
As previously posted, the standards do need to be raised. I know I have mentioned some issues like the refrigerator and the bed linens. I am sure I will have a fight on my hands. I want to spend money. For example, I want to purchase two full sets of bed linens. I am sure I can get industrial linens reasonably inexpensively. I think it reasonable to have 20 beds made and 20 sets of linens in wash or ready status. Specially when you factor in the "solar drier". No electric drier. Just hang them out. That is fine when it is not raining and the humidity is down. But I have clothes draped across my couch drying after they were on the line (oops, solar drier) a day ago.
Sorry. I am rambling. And I know it sounds like I am complaining. Not so. These are just facts. Things with which I will be dealing in the future.
Basically that is where things are now. I know this was not a fun read. Frankly I just wanted to get a catchup post to you.
cz, 1700 9/20/14
Head hung low
Promised to write
But did not so...
Okay. A poet I am not. But that expresses my sentiment. I have not written anything to you for what seems to be a long time. I have many reasons and excuses. But I don't want to bore you with the list (for a nominal fee I will email you the list - please allow three weeks for delivery).
I am on Broad Key. I am an employee of University of Miami. There you go - status update.
The offer came through and was a touch better than expected. I think it fair. And since then my world has been a whirlwind. Between getting my house cleaned and "de-Galed" and work related tasks I have not stopped. I realized yesterday that I had not stopped doing stuff from about 0700 to 2100 for three days. I don't think that it is always going to be like this. I am hoping this is just the initial phase. The house is dirty (not that I am a clean freak but...) and the previous keeper, Gale, left a legacy for me to address. His stuff, dirty house and general lack of organization. Plus he and the previous keepers were satisfied to just exist. I am not. I want this to feel like home.
The facilities here are generally in shambles. The researchers here, the previous keepers and the various maintenance folks have little sense of organization. There are rooms in the big house basement where you will see dirt on the floor, various paint pails, many coils of electric wire, concrete blocks, bed frames and water treatment chemicals all just thrown, literally, in the middle of the floor. There are some shelves in that room but you can not get too them. At least situations like these make it easy to make a good impression. Two hours of work and the worst room will look SO much better.
As previously posted, the standards do need to be raised. I know I have mentioned some issues like the refrigerator and the bed linens. I am sure I will have a fight on my hands. I want to spend money. For example, I want to purchase two full sets of bed linens. I am sure I can get industrial linens reasonably inexpensively. I think it reasonable to have 20 beds made and 20 sets of linens in wash or ready status. Specially when you factor in the "solar drier". No electric drier. Just hang them out. That is fine when it is not raining and the humidity is down. But I have clothes draped across my couch drying after they were on the line (oops, solar drier) a day ago.
Sorry. I am rambling. And I know it sounds like I am complaining. Not so. These are just facts. Things with which I will be dealing in the future.
Basically that is where things are now. I know this was not a fun read. Frankly I just wanted to get a catchup post to you.
cz, 1700 9/20/14
Friday, August 22, 2014
The offer is in the mail...
Yesterday I was told that the offer was ready to go. It would arrive either yesterday (it didn't) or Monday. The weird timing has to do with the need to coordinate the offer and a 48 hour window for getting a drug test. Included in the offer package will also be a background check form. Neither test will be a problem though I am sure some of you are trying to make jokes of this right now. While there are still details of the position that I don't know, the offer will disclose these and I am sure we will be able to come to an agreement.
With the notice of the pending offer, I chose to let my Extension family know of my plans and changes. My heart was warmed again by the responses received. I truly believe there is not a better college, division or unit within WVU than the Extension Service. It is much more than a part of WVU; it is a family.
My current plan, while in constant flux, is to finish work this coming week. My last day will be Aug. 29. I will finish my employment at WVU using my remaining annual leave. My retirement date will be when there is no leave left. I will spend the first week of September in pack and prep mode. The weekend following packing week is a special annual camping trip. I want to camp with my extended family. And then depart on Monday. I plan two days on the road. I have let the folks in Florida know that I expect to be in the area on Wednesday. I have not heard back from them. This schedule is about 10 days longer than they would like. I cut my requested time in half for this schedule so I have compromised a little. I hope I have not started off on a wrong foot...
There you are. My calendar for the next couple weeks. Anyone want to help load the motorcycle and grill? Anyone needing a slow ride to Florida?
Thanks for reading this far...
cz, 10:16 8/22/2014
With the notice of the pending offer, I chose to let my Extension family know of my plans and changes. My heart was warmed again by the responses received. I truly believe there is not a better college, division or unit within WVU than the Extension Service. It is much more than a part of WVU; it is a family.
My current plan, while in constant flux, is to finish work this coming week. My last day will be Aug. 29. I will finish my employment at WVU using my remaining annual leave. My retirement date will be when there is no leave left. I will spend the first week of September in pack and prep mode. The weekend following packing week is a special annual camping trip. I want to camp with my extended family. And then depart on Monday. I plan two days on the road. I have let the folks in Florida know that I expect to be in the area on Wednesday. I have not heard back from them. This schedule is about 10 days longer than they would like. I cut my requested time in half for this schedule so I have compromised a little. I hope I have not started off on a wrong foot...
There you are. My calendar for the next couple weeks. Anyone want to help load the motorcycle and grill? Anyone needing a slow ride to Florida?
Thanks for reading this far...
cz, 10:16 8/22/2014
Tuesday, August 19, 2014
The offer is coming...
Progress. Agonizingly slow progress.
As I watch the transition date, Sept. 1, get closer and closer I am more stressed than ever about getting down there on time. But whose time? I told UM folks that I needed 4 to 6 weeks from the time of a firm, acceptable offer until I was going to be on the island. I have refused to start retirement proceedings at WVU until I had an offer in hand. I really don't think my stand is unreasonable.
But as of this afternoon, Evan (you remember him - the guy who is hiring me and the guy who has to cover the island in my absence) was informed that "it was a process and would take 5-7 days" but they (HR) felt that was fine for a hire date of 9/1. Don't forget to add a drug test and background check to the schedule. Hmm. Seems to me they did not take into consideration MY process of retiring, packing my world and driving it all to southern Florida. Now add to that the current keeper is leaving 4 days early. Methinks the island is going to remain Chuckless longer than they might want.
Okay. That was a long way around to telling you that the offer is definitely in the works. It will probably get to me in a week or so. I will also receive a request for drug test and a form to fill out starting my background check. I would like to say I will be there September 15. But I will probably try to compromise with a start date of Sept. 7 or so.
Now I want to know if you think I am being a little unreasonable and should trust them. Announce my retirement. Work hard to pack and hit the road ASAP. I really don't want to turn my world upside down in an effort to meet THEIR wishes. Remember, I told them 4 to 6 weeks advanced offer months ago. Am I being a little cocky? You tell me.
But there it is. Progress. Painfully slow progress.
cz, 19:25 8/19/2014
As I watch the transition date, Sept. 1, get closer and closer I am more stressed than ever about getting down there on time. But whose time? I told UM folks that I needed 4 to 6 weeks from the time of a firm, acceptable offer until I was going to be on the island. I have refused to start retirement proceedings at WVU until I had an offer in hand. I really don't think my stand is unreasonable.
But as of this afternoon, Evan (you remember him - the guy who is hiring me and the guy who has to cover the island in my absence) was informed that "it was a process and would take 5-7 days" but they (HR) felt that was fine for a hire date of 9/1. Don't forget to add a drug test and background check to the schedule. Hmm. Seems to me they did not take into consideration MY process of retiring, packing my world and driving it all to southern Florida. Now add to that the current keeper is leaving 4 days early. Methinks the island is going to remain Chuckless longer than they might want.
Okay. That was a long way around to telling you that the offer is definitely in the works. It will probably get to me in a week or so. I will also receive a request for drug test and a form to fill out starting my background check. I would like to say I will be there September 15. But I will probably try to compromise with a start date of Sept. 7 or so.
Now I want to know if you think I am being a little unreasonable and should trust them. Announce my retirement. Work hard to pack and hit the road ASAP. I really don't want to turn my world upside down in an effort to meet THEIR wishes. Remember, I told them 4 to 6 weeks advanced offer months ago. Am I being a little cocky? You tell me.
But there it is. Progress. Painfully slow progress.
cz, 19:25 8/19/2014
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Posted...
University of Miami has finally posted and made public the official announcement for the position of Keeper for Broad Key.
And I have applied as of yesterday.
Now the normal HR stuff. Leave it open for 5 days. Interview at least three applicants. Make an offer...
Slow process.
cz, 13:17 8/12/2014
And I have applied as of yesterday.
Now the normal HR stuff. Leave it open for 5 days. Interview at least three applicants. Make an offer...
Slow process.
cz, 13:17 8/12/2014
Sunday, August 10, 2014
The job is posted
Good morning! I am back from WV State Fair. My first email upon return was a note from Even telling me the job has been posted. Now we go through the normal application process. I need to apply, the posting has to be open for 5 days and they need to interview several applicants. The timing does not sound good for a Sept. 1 transition, does it?
I still have concerns about the position. For starters I fear the salary is not in the range I expect. Nothing has given me an indication that the salary is wrong; just anxiety jitters I hope.
cz, 08:14 8/10/14
Monday, August 4, 2014
Just a little update...
A little bit has happened so I will fill you in. I got an email from Gale, the current keeper, telling me that he is leaving a few days earlier than planned. He said if I wanted to come down earlier, we could have a bit of overlap time. I told him to leave the keys under the mat...
Evan, the professor, copied me on a couple emails to their HR person asking that the job be posted ASAP so an offer could be sent to me. It is all running too late to allow me to make it down there for a smooth transition.
And some bad news for me... Seth, my son, won't be helping me move. That is an extreme disappointment.
cz, 09:00 8/4/14
Evan, the professor, copied me on a couple emails to their HR person asking that the job be posted ASAP so an offer could be sent to me. It is all running too late to allow me to make it down there for a smooth transition.
And some bad news for me... Seth, my son, won't be helping me move. That is an extreme disappointment.
cz, 09:00 8/4/14
Wednesday, July 30, 2014
Emotions #3 - Adventure
I went to my favorite sunrise location this morning. I hope Sam's Club doesn't mind my parking with the trucks out back. Nina and I used to stop there regularly to watch the sun rise over the valley that is Morgantown. I pulled up to the edge of the lot and turned off the motorcycle. Upon surveying the sun's fresh rays and the valley of wispy fog below and after a wonderful feeling of awe, it hit me.
ADVENTURE! ... That is one of the primary reasons for my wish to go to Broad Key. Adventure. I think much of my love for riding a motorcycle is the sense of adventure I can get just driving to work. A smell, a blowing leaf or the morning chill, something reminds me of the morning air as I drove up the mountain toward the early Fall foliage in Killington, VT. Or I am facing a long straight stretch of road in the Great Dismal Swamp, NC. Of course there are the non-motorcycle treks in the bush in Africa or wandering the back streets and Torii lined walks of Kyoto, Japan. It seems that I have always been planning a forthcoming, in the midst of or still in the afterglow of ... adventure. These days adventure is eluding me.
I think we all have to admit that heading to BK is an adventure. Now, is it a three day adventure? A month adventure? A year? Of course I don't know. But it is stepping into the unknown. Isn't that what basically defines adventure?
ad·ven·ture. adˈvenCHÉ™r,É™d-/
noun
1. an unusual and exciting, typically hazardous, experience or activity.
"her recent adventures in Italy"
"her recent adventures in Italy"
Seems to fit.
While I am not an adrenalin junkie, I guess I do need an adventure rush once in a while. It is a big world out there and I continue to want to try out pieces of it.
(I hope you don't mind my ramblings. I feel like a sports commentator who is compelled to fill in the blank spots in the action. Little is happening so I fill the holes with what is in my head.)
cz, 07:42 7/30/14
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Emotional #2
Not all the posts under the category of Emotional are bad or sad. But they reflect emotions within my head and heart. Yesterday was a great day. I include this post as an example of what I love and am leaving behind. It IS emotional.
My home, the place where Nina and I have lived for 37+ years is a unique place. It is an old lock and dam on the Monongahela River. The social environment for those who live there is pure and complete family. We do everything together. I could go on and on here but that would deviate from the intent of this blog.
Why am I including this in the keeper's blog? Yesterday we worked to get the walls and roof on an addition that is being put on Rick and Kim's cottage. The weather was about perfect and we had some very good help. This is a time when work is fun. Seth, my favorite son, even came out for the day. We worked so well together and got so much done.
The weather even cooperated completely. All day it was sunny and maybe too hot. But good working conditions. We got sheathing on one side of the addition finished when the sky darkened and quickly started to dump rain that lasted into the evening. But we were ready with a tarp. The tarp went up as soon as the rain started and the floor did not get wet at all. I swept the floor. Tables and chairs were gathered. We had the first meal in their addition - in the rain. Nina pointed out how much she loves the sound of rain on the plastic. It was truly wonderful.
Life on the river is so much a part of me. It tears me apart sometimes to think about not being there.
Notice, however, I am relocating to another water based life for a while. I have to have access to the water...
cz, 11:45 7/27/2014
Why am I including this in the keeper's blog? Yesterday we worked to get the walls and roof on an addition that is being put on Rick and Kim's cottage. The weather was about perfect and we had some very good help. This is a time when work is fun. Seth, my favorite son, even came out for the day. We worked so well together and got so much done.The weather even cooperated completely. All day it was sunny and maybe too hot. But good working conditions. We got sheathing on one side of the addition finished when the sky darkened and quickly started to dump rain that lasted into the evening. But we were ready with a tarp. The tarp went up as soon as the rain started and the floor did not get wet at all. I swept the floor. Tables and chairs were gathered. We had the first meal in their addition - in the rain. Nina pointed out how much she loves the sound of rain on the plastic. It was truly wonderful.
Life on the river is so much a part of me. It tears me apart sometimes to think about not being there.
Notice, however, I am relocating to another water based life for a while. I have to have access to the water...
cz, 11:45 7/27/2014
Friday, July 25, 2014
Turkey Point #2 - The crocodiles
As mentioned in my previous post, Turkey Point #1, I have read about the crocodiles thriving in the cooling canals at Turkey Point power plant. I found the NPR article. Here is the link if you are interested:
NPR - Crocodiles
Hmm. I wonder how far a crocodile will swim in salty water.
cz, 09:50 7/25/2014
NPR - Crocodiles
Hmm. I wonder how far a crocodile will swim in salty water.
cz, 09:50 7/25/2014
Turkey Point #1 - Cooling water
I have mentioned before that the night-time view of the western night sky is less than pristine because of the Turkey Point Nuclear Power Plant. The subtle glow of low pressure sodium vapor lights dominates the horizon. And I am not sure if I have discussed the crocodiles in the plant's cooling canals. Very cool thing. (I will review my posts and discuss the critters later).
But Turkey Point made the news recently. NPR had a report of their cooling canal temperatures rising to near permit levels. So, in an effort to keep you as closely involved with my Broad Key experience as possible, here is that report:
NPR - Turkey Point
I have thought that the cooling plan at the plant was good in general. But the rising temperatures are bringing new issues. The high salinity is affecting the ground water, a problem Florida has anyway because of pumping fresh water for human consumption. All things for another discussion - another day.
Stay tuned...
cz, 09:40 7/25/2014
But Turkey Point made the news recently. NPR had a report of their cooling canal temperatures rising to near permit levels. So, in an effort to keep you as closely involved with my Broad Key experience as possible, here is that report:
NPR - Turkey Point
I have thought that the cooling plan at the plant was good in general. But the rising temperatures are bringing new issues. The high salinity is affecting the ground water, a problem Florida has anyway because of pumping fresh water for human consumption. All things for another discussion - another day.
Stay tuned...
cz, 09:40 7/25/2014
After the Florida Prep trip
In a tiny bubble, the trip to Florida was a success.
As I drove from the Fort Lauderdale - Hollywood International Airport I stopped at the The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami (hereafter known as RSMAS and UM because I am not into typing that long name) to make my first visit to that portion of campus. Unfortunately, I was not early enough to meet with too many folks but Evan did his best to show me around. While I have not been offered the position, I was introduced repeatedly as the new keeper of Broad Key. The visit went well and some headway was made to introducing me to the facilities, people and even some interesting off island options for get-aways.
It was at one of the little meetings that my on-land boat storage went from $110/month to $0. The owner of the island (Remember, UM leases the island) has a tree nursery. It was thought of and immediately arranged to keep the boat and trailer at the nursery. Perfect. And to finish the coverage of this part of the trip: Lindsay and I took the boat to the nursery and met Moses who lives on the property. Moses chose a great place to park the boat and I feel like I have made another friend in the area. Good guy.
By the time I made this trip, I already knew about how to deal with the storage unit I will need and the post office box. While Evan has said to use an address at RSMAS, I feel like I should do something more local and less reliant on others to transport my mail and packages. Maybe both? Bills to RSMAS and care packages to Homestead PO Box! You can tell where my priorities are... Did you know that the USPS PO Boxes will not receive packages other than those shipped USPS? UPS PO Boxes receive and hold packages from ANY shipper. Guess which I plan to use. Both storage and PO Box are something I have to commit to and therefore could not arrange on this trip. Remember - no offer from UM yet.
The other part of the this trip was Lindsay's move. While I had hoped to get to BK, I realized what Linz was going through. There was no way I could do anything so selfish as take to the water. Lindsay has been in her current position with NOAA in Miami for about three and a half years. She has made quite an impact on their small boats program there. She and Erik established their first real home there. My grandson was born and spent two years there. Erik and Lindsay made a home that was welcoming to all who knocked on their door. And now she had to pack it up...
Erik and Ethan went north a month ago to stay with his parents. Lindsay's summer schedule would only allow a few days of dual parenting time. While Erik is about the perfect single parent, it would be nice to have the additional help from his parents. So Linz was left to prep the house for the move. And this was the weekend before the movers took their stuff away. I was there for her...
For many reasons, it was an extremely emotional time for me. I guess, as it relates to the BK transition, I was looking at my family all moving or existing up north. While I was moving south, alone (but for Inja and Qat). It was very hard... It is hard to write these words right now.
So it was with Linz that I spent my weekend. I did not even think of water...
cz, 08:55 7/25/2014
Preparatory trip to Florida
Sheepish #2 (Read Sheepish #1 first)
This is the other draft I just discovered. While it is hard to just send these drafts, I think it adds to the continuity of the overall blog experience. But I bet you will read them backwards just as I would...
Still with no official word, I continue on with my preparatory activities. Some of my tasks would have to be done anyway, move or no move. Daughter Lindsay is finishing her assignment in Miami as NOAA's small boats officer. She is being transferred to Silver Spring, MD. THAT part of my overall plan sure didn't work. Moving our boat has to be done anyway. But why not take care of other activities in preparation to move while I am down there?
So I hope to be heading to Miami next week. I hope to meet with the dean for whom I will be working, move the boat around (with, as of yet, no tow vehicle), arrange for boat storage, find and acquire a storage unit, arrange for a mail box and have a drink with Linz as she packs.
(Not dated - I don't when this was written)
Prep note #1
Sheepish #1
I am feeling a bit sheepish. I just found the following in my Drafts folder. I thought this was posted long ago. While I know it is not good form - my creative writing friends will remind me, I am sure - I am going to post the following without much review. There is an other draft discovery coming soon after this, Double sheepish.
Just a catch up note...
Looking into storage and PO Boxes and other things related to being on BK. If I did not want to maintain a land-side life it would a whole lot cheaper. But as many of you know, I am really tied to a motorcycle so one has to be there even if it is used only a few hours every couple weeks. And the boat... I hope I really, REALLY like having it there. Half of my storage costs are related to the boat. I may discover that these things are either not necessary in my new life or maybe they will make a significant contribution to my sanity.
As to the officiality of it all, nothing new yet.
Thanks for reading...
cz, 11:00 7/9/14
I am feeling a bit sheepish. I just found the following in my Drafts folder. I thought this was posted long ago. While I know it is not good form - my creative writing friends will remind me, I am sure - I am going to post the following without much review. There is an other draft discovery coming soon after this, Double sheepish.
Just a catch up note...
Looking into storage and PO Boxes and other things related to being on BK. If I did not want to maintain a land-side life it would a whole lot cheaper. But as many of you know, I am really tied to a motorcycle so one has to be there even if it is used only a few hours every couple weeks. And the boat... I hope I really, REALLY like having it there. Half of my storage costs are related to the boat. I may discover that these things are either not necessary in my new life or maybe they will make a significant contribution to my sanity.
As to the officiality of it all, nothing new yet.
Thanks for reading...
cz, 11:00 7/9/14
Monday, June 30, 2014
Blog techie note #1
I am sorry to bring technology into the blog posts. I, the technologist, want to get away from technology as much as I can. Hmm. Hypocritical? Using this blog technology to discuss my escape from technology? Anyway...!
Scroll to the bottom of this page. You will see a couple contact options. #1 Keeper's Journal -> RRS and #2 Follow by email. These are two ways to read new posts soon after they are published. While I don't expect anyone to be waiting with baited breath for my next post, there might be someone other than my mother who wants to know what is going on. I hope you will find time to go to the actual blog also. After all, it is prettier.
#1 Keeper's Journal to RRS (or ATOM). For those of you who are into news readers, this is the tool to link the blog entries to your news reading applications. Two options are available. The first is to link to my posts only. The second will link to comments. I am testing Feedly news reader at the moment. I think I like it.
#2 Follow by email. This system will send you an email with the contents of my recent post. This is managed through a third party but seems quite well done. You will have to sign up for a free account (It is an automatic process) at FeedBurner to get the post forwarded to your email. I have not seen a downside to this approach yet.
Of course you can always just browse back to the website anytime you want to see the latest posts or search for other entries. I hope you get something out of this blog in the long run. I think it will be fun from my end...
cz, 11:17 6/30/14
Scroll to the bottom of this page. You will see a couple contact options. #1 Keeper's Journal -> RRS and #2 Follow by email. These are two ways to read new posts soon after they are published. While I don't expect anyone to be waiting with baited breath for my next post, there might be someone other than my mother who wants to know what is going on. I hope you will find time to go to the actual blog also. After all, it is prettier.
#1 Keeper's Journal to RRS (or ATOM). For those of you who are into news readers, this is the tool to link the blog entries to your news reading applications. Two options are available. The first is to link to my posts only. The second will link to comments. I am testing Feedly news reader at the moment. I think I like it.
#2 Follow by email. This system will send you an email with the contents of my recent post. This is managed through a third party but seems quite well done. You will have to sign up for a free account (It is an automatic process) at FeedBurner to get the post forwarded to your email. I have not seen a downside to this approach yet.
Of course you can always just browse back to the website anytime you want to see the latest posts or search for other entries. I hope you get something out of this blog in the long run. I think it will be fun from my end...
cz, 11:17 6/30/14
Friday, June 27, 2014
Another box checked off
I got word today that the current keeper has submitted his resignation. Another step toward my getting an offer from UM. I am starting to think it is going to happen.
I have been doing things for weeks as if I were going to the island. Like today I took Inja (my dog, 9a will dispute that statement - our dog :-) ) to the vet. She got a clean bill of health (Inja, not 9a) and a lot of lovin'. Seth has been harassed about helping me move. While the help will be appreciated, my real goal is to get him down there and into that environment. He needs to experience what I am doing first hand - and to drive the boat...
I also had a long talk with my dentist and friend about moving to the island. She adamantly votes no. She thinks I will suffer from lack of social contact. She is also concerned about the lack of quick response to emergencies. (I have tried to get Inja and Qat interested in an EMT course or at least first aid training but so far no go.) I realize the problems but am willing to take the risks. You can not have an adventure in a cushy, always safe environment. BUT I appreciate her and everyone's input. It will help me to better prepare for my island life.
As I said early on - your thoughts, ideas and concerns are very welcome.
cz, 17:48 6/27/2014
Saturday, June 21, 2014
Emotions #1
As I prepare to head to BK, both physically and mentally, I run across parts of my current life that I realize I really like. Today is one of those times. Over the years I have collected tools. I can do many things and have collected the tools to do them. I always rationalized that it is okay to spend that money because I am not paying someone else to do things for me. I have been lucky; Nina (9a) has generally bought into that idea.
At the river, I am/was equipped to do many many things. I had supplies and tools on hand that allowed me to have an idea and take it to reality. And working with my pseudo-brother, Nigel, there was nothing we could not do. With dental picks to backhoes, we could do anything.
But my move into town has really restricted me. I have so few tools with me. I can only do basic repair tasks. NOT the same thing...
How does this relate to Broad Key? I will have even fewer tools. (I have seen the tools there. I'll be polite and comment no more) I can take some tools to Florida but not everything can go out to the island. I see a storage unit in my future. So what do I take? Harder yet, what gets left behind? Who ever thought that tools would be such an emotional issue. Hmm. Underlying issues?
I have made the statement that EVERY aspect of my life is changing. So true.
cz, 10:50 6/21/14
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Getting close to being a reality
I had a long phone call with Evan of UM last night. Things are progressing on that front. There is no question about my being offered the position. I'm quite sure I'm going to be the next keeper of Broad Key. Conversations have progressed to what boats to use and how to manage them. Evan is also trying to arrange simple housing on the mainland so I have a place to park my flips when I get away from the island for a few days. I expressed an interest in being more involved with research and hosting. Evan seems very open to this; he needs help in these areas.
All in all it was a good conversation. We are still waiting for Gale to officially announce his departure so HR can start my paperwork.
cz, 17:42 6/15/14
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Sleepless night
As an indicator of my anxiety caused by yesterday's news, I did not have a quiet night. Do I use my own boat? Should I be working on my 6 Pac (basic boat captain license)? Can I handle the solitude? What to take? What to do with what I don't take. Where to keep the boat when I am on the mainland? On and on. And Nina...
cz, 16:24 6/10/14
cz, 16:24 6/10/14
Monday, June 9, 2014
News from the current keeper.
As of this afternoon, Gale, the current keeper, informed me that his last day is Aug. 31. He indicated that there was little chance of his staying more than a couple minutes longer...
Sooo.... That part of the equation is finally known to me. The UM side? I haven't heard anything yet. I am sending emails with questions to both the keeper and the project overseer (I am going to have to learn his position.)
I just wanted to let you know the news.
cz 16:16 6/9/14
Sooo.... That part of the equation is finally known to me. The UM side? I haven't heard anything yet. I am sending emails with questions to both the keeper and the project overseer (I am going to have to learn his position.)
I just wanted to let you know the news.
cz 16:16 6/9/14
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Update...
I have not been making entries because little is going on at this time. I still need to communicate with the current keeper. He needs to fill me in on the real life there. I have a list of questions to ask him. Any suggestions for information to request would be welcome. I have made some additions to the static pages. Throughout this blog I will try to provide links to points of interest for those of you who might like to see or learn things beyond my bloggish ramblings. You might find them interesting. Otherwise, I am just planning and trying to guess at what I need to be prepared for the move. I have a list started. With it I hope to minimize the items that are forgotten.
I took a short creative writing class recently. For that class I wrote a paragraph that I thought I would use as the description of this blog. It was not used for that purpose but it reflects my thoughts at this time and I decided to include it here:
I took a short creative writing class recently. For that class I wrote a paragraph that I thought I would use as the description of this blog. It was not used for that purpose but it reflects my thoughts at this time and I decided to include it here:
"Broad Key, at the same
time is paradise and scary. To those with whom I discuss the island
and the forthcoming opportunities, paradise seems to be the common
thought. All of the things that seem titillating and desirable are
there; sun, warmth and water. Aren't these things we have all paid to
access: vacations, travels beyond our daily grind or even just the dreams of what if...? But are we just
desirous of things beyond our normal, perceived as boring, lives? Is
this a "grass is greener..." scenario? Are we really ready
change everything to make this paradise a possibility? When faced
with the reality of making the necessary lifestyle alterations the
view changes. Suddenly the comfort of knowing the neighbor is there
for you or the smiles of friends as you enter the diner or even
knowing the aisles in your grocery store become more important. Is
giving up these comforts for a chance at a perceived paradise
lifestyle really worth it? To take the giant step into the unknown is
scary. Am I ready? Who knows. But let the adventure begin."
Note that there are more questions asked than answered. That is where my head is these days. The opportunity may be there. I would hate to admit I am not up to the challenge.
cz, 12:50 6/8/14
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