Day 155: Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Port to Port: Fort Myers Beach
Underway: 0:00 am Motor Off: 0:00 pm Miles Traveled: 0 Stayed At: Marina
First Things First: First birthday with no snow (warm sunshine sounds a lot better).
Mile to Mile: What a fun birthday. We started the day by walking with Sally and Richard over to the Otsego Bay Foundation Marine Science Center to take part in their guided tour of the museum and shrimp docks. The museum is small and runs on a tiny budget but packs a lot of interesting exhibits into a small space. Betty, our guide and the vice president of the museum, was a bundle of energy in a small package. She has lived in Fort Myers Beach for 50+ years and is actively involved in the community. They had exhibits on everything from ship wrecks to fish to seashells to fossil mammoth. You could even touch a small stingray or flounder in their small touch pool.
The best part of the tour was the shrimp docks. What an interesting and tough way to make a living. The guys on these boats are typically away from home for almost a month at a time and they travel thousands of miles – usually all the way to the Yucatan or Texas chasing shrimp. They do not go to shore but live on the boat 24/7 and normally fish at night when the shrimp come out of the sand on the bottom. They return to port once a month to unload, restock and repair before going out again. The shrimp are flash frozen on the boat and stored in the hold of the boat that is one big freezer. Only three people typically man these boats.
We saw the net repair area where some new nets were being made and the shrimp processing equipment which sizes and sorts the shrimp before they are refrozen, boxed and shipped all over the country. There were pallet loads of 50 lb bags of shrimp waiting to be processed. I have a new appreciation for the work that goes into getting those shrimp from the Gulf to our BBQ. I wonder if they would miss a bag?
That was just our morning. We made it back to the marina in time to enjoy their BBQ for the dock residents and some of the Inn residents – BBQ hamburgers, hot dogs, fixings, and beer. On a warm, sunny day overlooking the water. What great timing – just in time for my birthday. We sat around and enjoyed the party until mid afternoon before returning to Aurora to rest and relax. Thanks girls for the Happy Birthday messages. I’m looking forward to the mail in the next couple of days. Thanks GMG and GMA for the cards and $$ – I’m sure I can find a good use for the gifts. And thanks Cindy for the surprise caramel treats and angel food cake and strawberries. Let’s see, what could we celebrate tomorrow?
