Bahama Bound and Ian, A Hurricane for the Wealthy

Our friends Dan and Jeremy and their dog Rufus on their Rosborough Sabbatical cruised with us for four days.
Here we are on the Cayo Costa Sand Bar, where we spent three days.

On a Saturday we shared the Cayo Costa Sand Bar with 50 other boats during the day, but by 5 pm they were all gone except for our two Rosboroughs.

The crowds have left the Sand Bar, letting Dan and me walk our dogs off leash.  Our two Rosboroughs, Salty Paws and Sabbatical, are in the background.

Our route across Florida and crossing to the Bahamas.  Anchors
show anchorages and stars show marinas and docks.

We have now crossed interior Florida from the West Coast to the East Coast and find ourselves in Riviera Beach, near West Palm Beach.  The weather forecast for Saturday, May 16^th, is ideal for a Gulf Stream crossing to the Bahamas.  The light wind will be from the south, and waves are expected to be less than 2 feet with a 7 second period between them.  Most any wind from the north means that the crossing should be delayed as the wind will increase the size and frequency of the waves in the north-flowing Gulf Stream.  Our landfall will be Little Grand Cay in the northwest Abacos, roughly 115 statute miles away.  Our journey can be tracked at https://share.garmin.com/CruisingonSaltyPaws

Here Molly greets Dave, her replacement for the crossing.

Of course, Molly won’t be with me for a week.  My friend Dave flew in to West Palm this morning, and Molly flew out as the crew change honors her request not to have any more 100-mile open water crossings to the Bahamas.  She will spend a week with daughter Liz and family in Georgia and then fly to Eleuthera where we will meet on March 24^th.   At least that is the plan!

Rosborough boats everywhere at the Burnt Store Marina.

Over the last two weeks, we enjoyed the Rosborough Rendezvous in Burnt Store along with 20 other Rosboroughs from all over the east.  Owners trailered to Florida from Massachusetts, New York, Michigan, Kentucky and more along with some Florida boats.  We compared notes, ate and drank together, toured each other’s boats, and participated in various talks including mine on last summer’s trip to Newfoundland.

The Rendezvous was well-organized in large part due to the work of Bob Louthen.  Thank you, Bob!  Molly, Tory and I are
all in this picture, although to find us might be like reading Where's Waldo? !

After the Rendezvous 7 Rosboroughs headed over to Cayo Costa.

Molly is holding a whelk
egg casing.

Tory waits patiently while I am engaged in boat talk.

Pelicans at dawn off St. James, Pine Island.

Afterwards, we spent 5 days anchoring on the West Coast and spent our last night off St. James, Pine Island.  As we were never able to start our dinghy motor,  I decided that a 1 ½-mile row each way would be a great exercise for me and allow us to check out the one restaurant in St. James.  We tied up at the dock of the Waterfront Restaurant, only their 2^nd day of being open since the eatery was devastated by Hurricane Ian on September 28, 2022.  Pine Island and its neighbors including Ft. Myers Beach and Cape Coral bore the brunt of Ian’s 15-foot storm surge and 160 mph winds. 

We rowed to the Waterfront Restaurant in St. James.

Seated next to us was 70-year old woman I will call her Mary, the most common name in the USA for someone born in the 1950’s.  She quickly became enamored with our dog, Tory, and began telling us her story.  Her husband was a successful veterinarian, and over 30 years ago they moved to Pine Island from Ohio for the climate and to make a home.  She described an idyllic neighborhood and a community of friends and relatives.  Unfortunately, their house and neighborhood were all destroyed by Ian. 

One of the many homes on Pine Island that is beyond repair.

They, and many others, did not have the funds to rebuild and in just two months sold their condemned house and lot to a developer.  The sale provided enough funds for Mary and her husband to find a home on the mainland, not far from Pine Island, but it was not the same.  They came to the Waterfront Restaurant with Pine Island friends to recapture some of what they have lost.  At the end of the day, though, Mary would be off the island.  She seemed to share all this with a tear in her eye.

This type of story is being repeated in Fort Myers Beach.  Prior to Ian, this community was known for its single family, “Old Florida” homes.  Few have been rebuilt, and many are now in the hands of wealthy developers planning hotels, resorts, and high-end condominiums.  Here and throughout places like Fort Myers, Cape Coral and Captiva Island the larger, fancier homes have either been repaired or rebuilt while many of the smaller homes and condominiums are still uninhabitable.  

What we saw with homes also applies to boats.  I estimated that
20% of the 400 boats or so on land at Indiantown Marina have
been abandoned and are worthless because of mold and neglect. 

We ate dinner with friends in Cape Coral who have a 2-bedroom condo and are still waiting for a building permit to complete their repairs.  They may be lucky, however, as their condo building, 4 units on the 1^st floor and 4 on the 2^nd, was deemed to retain at least 50% of its pre-Ian value.  This meant that the structure could be repaired rather than required to be completely demolished and replaced

Another issue for Florida homeowners is the rising cost of homeowners’ insurance, assuming a homeowner can even find coverage.  Flood insurance rates have more than doubled and most national carriers have left the Florida market altogether.  Increasingly, particularly along the coast, homes are in the hands of wealthy homeowners who can afford to self-insure.  

You may have read about the supposed exchange between F. Scott Fitzgerald and Earnest Hemingway.

Fitgerald: The rich are different than you and me.

Hemingway:  Yes, they have more money.

This exchange never actually took place, but there is an interesting background that gave rise to story.  One description of what really happened is at http://www.quotecounterquote.com/2009/11/rich-are-different-famous-quote.html

Below are a few other pictures -

Both Tory and Rufus are leaning against Molly.

Tory has become quite the boat dog and is the focus of much attention most everywhere we go.

We cruised the shallow, inside passage between Pine Island the mainland.  No one answered our call to open the Malachi Bridge.  We ended up lowering everything on our roof and were able squeezed under.  Oyster shells did gouge the side
of Salty Paws as we hugged the right side of the channel in the swift current.

Hurricane Ian killed most of the mangroves and trees on York Island, off St. James.  How many years will it take for it to come back?

We met old friends Rod and Sheila for lunch in Manatee Pocket.

A pod of dolphins came right up to the Sand Bar as they were feasting on a school of fish.

We have taken a liking to rum and pineapple juice with our card games.

While we were away our house got hit by a 3rd major storm.  The sandbags did their job, though, and there was no further damage.

Here I am with cousin Cliff on Cabbage Key.

Here are the three most well-known Rosborough dogs - Tory, Tyler and Rufus along with owners Bil, Jessie and Dan.