What’s Happening in Your Parks, Charleston, SC
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CRUISERS NET
Cruisers Helping Cruisers
Comprehensive cruising resource for the Intracoastal Waterways
from Norfolk to the Northern Gulf and Bahamas.
from Norfolk to the Northern Gulf and Bahamas.
FREE to use due to the generosity of our sponsors - please patronize them
In Memoriam – Dona Jean Dorminy
On Friday, June 14, my beautiful wife of 42 years, Dona Jean, passed away from esophageal cancer. At age 63, she has crossed the bar.
Dona Jean grew up on the New Jersey shore and was a boater all her life. She attended Ocean City High School and graduated from West Chester University as a saxophone major. Before retiring she was a public school elementary instrumental music teacher in Pennsylvania. After retiring and moving to Charleston in 2007, we lived on a trawler for four years where she assisted and supported me as I began editing Cruisers Net for Claiborne Young.
She will be missed by me, by her daughters, Amelia and Millie and by her two grandsons, Micah and Leo, ages 3 and 4.
Comments from Cruisers (3)
- Reply to Perry
Larry
We are praying for the peace that only God can
provide for you and your family at this moment.
You were blessed with years of beautiful memories. - Reply to Jim
Larry,
I am so saddened to hear this news.
Prayers for her soul, and prayers for you and her family left behind!
Jim
- Reply to Bob
Condolences on the loss of your bride. Thoughts and prayers to you and your family.
-
Is Collapse of the Atlantic Ocean Circulation Really Imminent? – Peter Swanson
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes mariners with salt water in their veins will subscribe.. $7 a month or $56 for the year and you may cancel at anytime.
Click here for Is Collapse of the Atlantic Ocean Circulation Really Imminent?
Be the first to comment!
BoatUS News: BoatUS Foundation Announces Grant to Remove ADVs
BoatUS is the leading advocate for boating safety in the US and A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR!
Be the first to comment!
Matanzas Pass Mooring Field reopens, Fort Myers Beach, FL
Few Floridian communities are as welcoming to the cruising community as CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, Fort Myers Beach! This is a town that knows how to treat cruisers and we are delighted they are reopening following Hurricane Ian.
We thank you for supporting the Fort Myers Beach Community! The Matanzas Pass Mooring Field has REOPENED following Hurricane Ian. Interested in Mooring with us? Find out how you can below!
Click here for Matanzas Pass Mooring Field reopens
Click Here To Open A Chart View Window, Zoomed To the Location of the Fort Myers Beach Mooring Field
Be the first to comment!
Sea-Bean Motherlode Discovered – Peter Swanson
Cruisers Net publishes Loose Cannon articles with Captain Swanson’s permission in hopes mariners with salt water in their veins will subscribe.. $7 a month or $56 for the year and you may cancel at anytime.
Click here for Sea-Bean Motherlode Discovered
Be the first to comment!
June 10, 2024 Weekly Email Newsletter, City of Gulfport, Boca Ciega Bay, FL
Gulfport Municipal Marina, A CRUISERS NET SPONSOR, is located in the heart of downtown Gulfport. The marina and harbor, found on the northern shores of Boca Ciega Bay, are easily accessible from the Western Florida ICW, just north of Tampa Bay.
Weekly news & updates 
June 10, 2024 | City of Gulfport, FL – Gateway to the Gulf Newsletter 
Upcoming Events See what’s happening this month.
Senior Center E-news Click here to see what’s happening next.
Library Calendar of Events Upcoming activities at the Gulfport Library.
Recreation Center Click here to see all classes and activities.
Casino Ballroom Weekly Dances Click here to see the weekly dance schedule.
Gulfport Community Update Click here to read more.
Gulfport Arts & Heritage Click here to see upcoming events.
ArtOUT 2024
Art and Soul Exhibit
6/1 – 6/29
Virtual Gallery Gulfport City Council Mayor
Sam Henderson
826-7208
Ward 1
April Thanos
826-7138
Ward 2
Christine Brown
826-7311
Ward 3 Paul
Ray
262-2479
Vice Mayor
Ian O’Hara
826-7355
City Manager’s Gulfport Community Update 
Gulfport Community Update: June 2 – 8, 2024 The City of Gulfport kicked off Pride Month on June 1 with a Flag Raising & ArtOut Exhibit at the Library (video), followed by the Fourth Annual Gulfport Pride event.
Read More This Weeks Events & Meetings 
Senior Advisory Committee Meeting Tuesday, June 11th | 8 a.m. | AGENDA
Senior Center, 5501 27th Ave. S.
Visit our webpage 
Gulfport Tuesday Fresh Market Tuesday, June 11th | 9 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Downtown Waterfront District, Beach Blvd. S.
Join us weekly at our open-air fresh market for the region’s freshest produce, arts & crafts from local creators and a fresh array of locally sourced botanicals along the shops and restaurants of scenic Beach Boulevard.
More info 
Ballroom Dance Lessons w/ Carol Baker Tuesday, June 11th | noon – 3 p.m.
Gulfport Casino Ballroom, 5500 Shore Blvd. S.
$15 admission | $25 for couples
Call 727-798-3660
Noon – 1:30 p.m. Beginner Tango
1:30 – 2:30 p.m. Tango
2:30 – 3 p.m. Dancing
Weekly dance info 
Gulfport Arts Center: June 2024 Workshops Gulfport Arts Center, 2726 54th St. S.
Fun with Finger Painting for Kids: Tuesday, 6/11 @ 3 p.m. – Have fun finger painting with us using nontoxic paint!.
Styrofoam Block Prints for Kids: Tuesday, 6/25 @ 3 p.m. – Participants will “ carve “ their own design into a styrofoam block as a kid-safe method of block printing!
Supplies are limited. Please register for all programs by emailing ArtsCenter@mygulfport.us.
Argentine Tango Dance & Lesson w/ Kathleen & Steve Prucher
Tuesday, June 11th | 6:30 p.m. – 11 p.m.
Gulfport Casino Ballroom 5500 Shore Blvd. S.
$10 admission
Call 727-742-3368
Weekly dance info 
…[Message clipped] View entire message
Be the first to comment!
Letter from the Bahamas 2024 #6 – Greg Allard
Our sincerest thanks to Greg and Barbara Allard for once again sharing their thoughts and beautiful photography from their Bahamas cruises. These photos and descriptions will have you aching to follow in Meander‘s wake! For more of this excellent photography, type Allard in our Homepage search window for letters from previous cruises.Hello Everyone –
In the last Letter from the Bahamas, we introduced you to Bobby Little, and to Rum Cay – a small out-island in the remote southern Bahamas. In 2011 it had a population of around 69, and over the years that has decreased.Bobby Little owned and ran the Sumner Point marina on Rum, and in our last Letter we told you about Bobby’s intriguing and talented background. And then we told you that the marina is no more.A number of years ago, another American who had a place on Rum, asserted his ownership to the Sumner Point marina, which had been owned by Bobby’s parents. The dispute was prolonged. Then, one night, when Bobby was “off island”, unknown persons bulldozed to the ground all of the marina’s buildings, including the clubhouse and several rental cottages.The dispute as to ownership continued in the Bahamian courts for years, and Bobby reports that it has now been finally determined that he is the rightful owner of the marina… which of course doesn’t exist, other than for a few remaining docks in poor condition.Bobby has determined that he will not be reopening the marina, and he will be putting the land up for sale. So what is this multi-talented person doing now? Well, he is a farmer on Eleuthera, another Bahamian island.
Bobby Little today, on his farm. At 62 years of age, he has begun the next of his life’s stories. He is married to a wonderful woman named Gro, who is Scandinavian. Another long time friend is now a partner with Bobby in this unusual undertaking.
He grows watermelons, hot and sweet peppers, herbs, onions, broccoli, and tomatoes.
A laden mango tree.
He also raises bananas and he explained that this particular variety were firmer and better tasting than most. We took some home and they were the very best we have ever had. Sorry Chiquita.
At the front gate to Spring Land Farm, you meet this artistic carving which can only have been done by Bobby. It gives you an idea of what else Bobby raises…
Goats. 500 of them.
Within five minutes of arriving, Bobby enlisted Barbara to help round up a few of the critters who had escaped the main holding pen.
In his past life, Bobby had been an excellent fish cleaner, so there was no reason to expect that he wasn’t equally capable of cleaning a goat. Here he is starting to remove the skin, which is valuable.
Some of these skins are destined to be used to make Junkanoo drums. Junkanoos are yearly festivals with dance and music held throughout the Bahamas.
While touring the farm, we noticed that the soil was very red and rich. Bobby explained that his farm is situated in a hollow or valley, and that the red soil is carried by the winds from the Sahara in Africa. That was a head-scratcher. We’ve never known Bobby to be inaccurate, but after we left the farm we just had to learn about that claim. Well, it is true, and there have been numerous professional scientific studies to confirm it. It occurs even today; Eleuthera is a prime beneficiary, and is the reason it has farmland which is extremely productive.Bobby’s eventual idea is to open the farm as a working showcase for visitors. He already supplies local restaurants and resorts with his crops.After all of the struggles which Bobby has gone through, we were thrilled to see that his new project has been so successful. We found Bobby extraordinarily happy with his new life, which of course is far different from his life on Rum Cay. After all, for our friends and family – and in fact for people everywhere – isn’t happiness all we wish for them?__________________________________________________ Next, a few more photos from the Bahamas.
The French Leave Resort at Governor’s Harbour on Eleuthera.
Tarpum Bay. The settlement was originally meant to refer to the Tarpon fish which were plentiful, but the name evolved.
Cracked conch. My favorite Bahamian meal.
Yellowfin tuna.
A grouper, created by a local artist, from beach glass.
The bounty of Eleuthera. Watermelon and bananas from Bobby’s farm, and a pair of Eleutherian pineapples. Years ago we learned about these exceptional pineapples, and when we finally had one we could see that they were significantly better than pineapples from anywhere else: they are more tender, so much so that you can eat the core, the texture is softer and the flavor – just extraordinary – sweeter and fresher. The distinguishing difference in appearance is that the leaves have serrated edges, where other pineapples have smooth edged leaves. They start ripening in mid May.From a previous trip to the Bahamas, Barbara has learned how to propagate them. After you cut the tops off and leave about 1” of the pineapple, you peel off a couple of rows of the lower leaves, then just plant the top in the ground. It takes 18 months for a full sized pineapple to be produced.____________________________________________________________ _______________________– And finally, a couple of interesting Bahamian expressions:Don’t yuk up my vexation: “Don’t get my aggravation up.”Broughtupsy: “ That young man has no manners – he has no broughtupsy.”Sip-Sip: GossipWell Mudda Sick! Wow!Boderation: As in: “The Bahamas are free of stress – there is no boderation here.”__________________________________________________________ _________________________ This will be our last Letter from the Bahamas from our 2024 cruise, and we hope you have enjoyed traveling with us. Goodbye for another year to a wonderful country and its extraordinary people. It’s da people, mon.Warmest regards to you all…Greg and BarbaraCopyright Greg Allard,2024Comments from Cruisers (1)
- Reply to Winston
Thanks Greg and Barbara for taking the time to document and share some very informative and interesting experiences of people and the islands. I remember in the Sahara Desert getting credit often for the beautiful sunrise colors. Good to see that Bobby has found a partner and a new way to live. Sure bet the locals are enjoying the "fruits" of Bobby's labor….. pun intended "LOL"
-
Letter from the Bahamas, 2024 #5 – Greg Allard
Our sincerest thanks to Greg and Barbara Allard for once again sharing their thoughts and beautiful photography from their Bahamas cruises. These photos and descriptions will have you aching to follow in Meander‘s wake! For more of this excellent photography, type Allard in our Homepage search window for letters from previous cruises.Hello Everyone – More from Eleuthera, and then the first half of a story which goes back well over a decade.
In some cemeteries in the Bahamas people are buried in a sarcophagus like this one, sometimes because there may be a low water table in the ground. In other places, including Bimini, we have seen this custom of painting or putting a permanent photograph of the deceaseds on the tombstone or a sarcophagus. A nice thing.
Bannerman Town is on the remote southeast lower corner of Eleuthera. In the mid 19th century there was a thriving town here. They had shops, homes and cobblestone streets, and a church. The remains of the Episcopalian church, shown above, are hidden in the bush and difficult to find. As best we can tell, it was built around 1850, and this is all that remains of the settlement 175 years later. The reason this much is leftof the church because it was sturdily built of local limestone; the wooden roof is long since gone. Note the exterior stone buttresses.There is a small settlement of Bannerman nearby, but that is composed of a handful of newer buildings.Learning about local history in remote parts of the Bahamas is difficult. Finding anything about this church took a significant amount of digging which produced scant information.
The altar at the front of the church proudly remains.
Even the smaller settlements in the Bahamas often have several churches, some of them active or others abandoned. This is St. Luke’s Anglican Church in Rock Sound, on the west coast of Eleuthera. Yes, it is literally on the main road, and a stone’s-throw from the water. I guess in Rock Sound it is difficult for people to say they didn’t go to church because they didn’t know where it was.
Da Beach.
In Waterford, at the Davis Harbour marina, we met Donovan Anderson, born and raised on Eleuthera. What a superb young man – bright, articulate and well educated. He saw we had bought some local pineapples, and he showed his exceptional knowledge of Eleutherian variety, a very special kind of pineapple. More on that in the next Letter. He also taught us how to make a bush-medicine tea for joint pain, by shaving the outer skin, boiling it, and then putting the result through a sieve.
In a small settlement in S. Eleuthera is this “Car Wash.” Not quite the automated version we see in the U.S.Unfortunately this one is no longer in use and the building abandoned, but several years ago it was active, and the owner made good use of his bucket of water, sponge and chamois.____________________________________________________________ ______________________________ _____ Rum Cay is a small island in the remote southern Bahamas. The population when we first visited Rum in 2010 was around 69. Today it is less than 60. This photo, below, is from 2011.
There is no deepwater harbour on Rum, but there was this small gem of a marina which made you feel as if you had travelled to the far side of the world. To enter the Sumner Point marina you had to wend your way through a complex path of shallow water strewn with coral heads, some of them just a few inches below the surface – just waiting to bend your propellers or puncture a hole in your boat. A puckering experience….It was at Rum that we first met the extraordinary, multi-talented owner of the marina, Bobby Little. He is originally from Miami, a high school graduate but better educated than a PhD. He moved to the Bahamas, and soon morphed into a Bahamian. In his youth he was an award-winning skateboarding champion. Besides being a hands-on marina operator (dredging the marina with a backhoe), he is a world class chef, a pilot, and a highly recognized artist, mostly in carving fossilized coral. He has been described as a Renaissance man.
Bobby Little in 2011We spent many exceptional days there, with Bobby going boat-to-boat asking for ingredients he needed for the evening’s meal. There was always fresh fish, locally caught and creatively done, and most everyone pitched-in around the kitchen work table helping with the prep work. The “club house” was a a beautiful open layout stone building. There was a big bar, and those who did not wish to cook, just drank, and added each drink to the tally on the bar. No one ever failed to enter every last drink.
The bar. Not much fun happening here.
World class fishing and diving, right off shore.
Bobby in the kitchen. The rather large individual to the right of Bobby is Rasta.
Rasta. He’s a Rastafarian. A massive man; he must be almost 6’6” tall, with dreadlocks down to his waist. When he coils the dreadlocks on top of his head, it makes him almost a foot taller. Despite his size he is a kind, gentle giant.Here’s a story which some of you may remember. Before we left Rum Cay one year, I brought Rasta one of our boat shirts as a gift, and apologized because the biggest we had was a XXL, and knew it wouldn’t fit. He said: “It dunt mattah if da shirt dunt fit; what mattah is dat you taught of Rasta.” We hear that he is either on Cat Cay or in Fort Lauderdale. Like Bobby, Rasta is an outstanding artist, who often also carves in fossilized coral. We have a number of Bobby’s and Rasta’s exceptional pieces.
Bobby and Rasta on the dock at Rum Cay.
Bobby in his ceremonial dress, likely carrying conch shells which he has made into horns, to be traditionally blown with the setting sun.Being at Rum Cay, as described above, was an almost mystical experience, which unfortunately came to an end. That’s the second part of this story: what happened to Bobby and why the marina no longer exists. And, where is Bobby today and what is he doing?We’ll talk about that in our next Letter.Thanks for joining us.Greg and BarbaraCopyright Greg Allard 2024Be the first to comment!
Behind NC coast’s range lights, buoy depots, gas works – David Cecelski
Click here for Behind NC coast’s range lights, buoy depots, gas works
CoastalReview.orgBe the first to comment!
Social Media Auto Publish Powered By : XYZScripts.com
Be the first to comment!