North Florida Freeze

[sphelps]

Re: North Florida Freeze

Now ya,ll ready for that frosty one ! I sure am ! :very_drunk:

 

[WIMUSKY]

Re: North Florida Freeze

sorry wimusky.....cabin fever!!!

I hear ya. I don't know about you, but we could have another 3 months at least of winter. We need to pace ourselves...

 

[nwcove]

Re: North Florida Freeze

I hear ya. I don't know about you, but we could have another 3 months at least of winter. We need to pace ourselves...

i know where yer coming from!

 

[Chris1956]

Re: North Florida Freeze

How about those Mets? (New York City area version of "let's change the subject").

This topic is almost as volatile as discussions of religion. BTW - My religion is the only one true religion.....sic

 

[agallant80]

Re: North Florida Freeze

One thing I like about this site is the mods tend to do a good job if keeping it clean. The other sites I frequent (something about lumber and jocks and another one about hulls and trooth) can turn in to the gutter of the internet pretty quick with the spam posts and constant debate over things that are off topic to the forum.

 

[Outsider]

Re: North Florida Freeze

Outboard owners should check those areas where water can be trapped, like the swivel column. I lubricate after each fishing season, and water is always extruded out the top ...

 

[sphelps]

Re: North Florida Freeze

Well this post came up . So I guess it does happen down here ..
http://forums.iboats.com/omc-i-o-inboard-engines-outdrives/cold-days-fla-636422.html#post4468634
Tough break !

 

[V153]

Re: North Florida Freeze

Outboard owners should check those areas where water can be trapped, like the swivel column. I lubricate after each fishing season, and water is always extruded out the top ...

Good thought. A gearcase too might have enough water in it to freeze. Ya i'd blow some fresh grease through the fittings & double check the gear lube. Mebbe TnT too?

 

[IraRat]

Re: North Florida Freeze

It's supposed to get cold again tonight and tomorrow night in So Fl! Into the 40s!

I might have to actually wear socks.

I bought firewood 3 years ago for my backyard campfire pit, one of those portable things. No fireplace in the house, because you have to own a really old house (there are none in Coral Springs), own a really big mansion (none associated with MY fiscal portfolio), or you have to be an idiot to have a fireplace. (No flames please; it's just no reason to have one except for show.)

Each year I buy some more wood just in case, and in all this time, it still hasn't been cold enough for more than a day to fire her up. And I'm usually too drunk that one day to do it, and then it gets warm again.

Maybe tonight!

 

[V153]

Re: North Florida Freeze

Yup it's gonna get chilly the next few days, better put yer socks on ...

Where does one boat in Coral Springs?

 

[IraRat]

Re: North Florida Freeze

Yup it's gonna get chilly the next few days, better put yer socks on ...

Where does one boat in Coral Springs?

Well, my friends who are REAL boaters go off-shore--we're only about 30 minutes west of the Intercoastal.

Me, I'm a wimp, especially with this vessel. And all freshwater:

I go to a Federal Preserve called Arthur Marshall Loxahatchee, as well as the Francis Taylor Wildlife Management Area, where you can also hunt. Both are part of the Everglades system and that same 30-minute drive, and although we have some lakes, they're crappy county park lakes. No cool rivers, unless I want to shlep north a little bit. So basically, everything is accessible from here, but nothing right in my backyard, like you have in Venice.

I want to start hitting Everglades City and the 10,000 Islands, because I LOVE that area. It's real, old, unspoiled Florida, as you know. I used to have a few acres in the Picayune Strand State Forest, just west of Big Cypress, but the government forced me out for Everglades restoration. (It's supposed to be flooded as part of the plan.) I had a small cabin on it, and when all was said is done, I came out of the deal minus at least $10,000 in sweat equity. (Bastards!)

The solitude of that place was spectacular, and I really miss it--except I don't miss the mosquitoes. Some years, you couldn't get out of the car between April and September because it was so bad! However, when I exited Alligator Alley, and saw a lot of dragon flies around the gas station I always stopped at, I knew it wasn't gonna be a bad mosquito day:

Love those dragon flies and their appetite for mosquitoes!

 

[V153]

Re: North Florida Freeze

Man that's a bummer 'bout yer cabin. Sorry to hear that. Betcha never saw that one coming? Bastards is right!

Ya the 10,000 Islands area is cool but, like you said, the skeeters'll carry ya away in summertime.

Here's one for ya: Mom'n Dad decided to take our family vacation in the Everglades one year in August ... Need I say more?

Had an Uncle Gary in Tamarac years ago. 'Member him takin me'n my little bro up around Loxahatchee. He said that was where the Everglades really used to start before we dug canals, etc and drained it.

Ya Venice'll spoil you. Bought my house here 23 yrs ago'n never looked back. For a boater it don't get much better. Though I don't live 'on the water', I have a private, keyed, ramp less than a mile away. Puts me in the Intracoastal roughly halfway between the Venice Inlet & Stump Pass.

That area of the Intracoastal is affectionately known as "The Ditch" btw. And I am a proud member of the Ditch Runners local #69 ...

But I ramble. Put yer socks on'n stay warm. Seeya

 

[IraRat]

Re: North Florida Freeze

Here's one for ya: Mom'n Dad decided to take our family vacation in the Everglades one year in August ... Need I say more?

Had an Uncle Gary in Tamarac years ago. 'Member him takin me'n my little bro up around Loxahatchee. He said that was where the Everglades really used to start before we dug canals, etc and drained it.

I once went to DisneyWorld in August. Need I say more!?

While I was building my cabin, instead of hitting Alligator Alley to go home, I used to take the park road into Faxahatchee Strand park, which butted Picayune Strand, where I was. To refresh your memory (if needed), that's where Jane's Scenic Drive is, which went through Faxahatchee and dumped you into Copeland on Rte. 29. A mile or so south and you're in Everglades City.

Anyway, during stone crab season, I would stop by Triad Seafood to pick up my fix for the week, and after one particularly bad mosquito day, the owner, Orlo, jumped back in shock at the sight of me and asked if I needed an ambulance. My face was swollen up to two times its natural size, and I looked like the Hunchback!

And guess what? The Arthur Marshall preserve I go to IS the Loxahatchee. I enter the southernmost end, probably like you did, taking Loxahatchee Road off of State Road 7. Tamarac is right next to Coral Springs.

And your uncle was right--it's considered the northern most "remnant" of the original Everglades system:

Loxahatchee National Wildlife Refuge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eco-wise, the area isn't doing great because of invasive plants, and they don't know how that's affecting the native fauna and wildlife. Me, I think a lot of the alarms and concerns about non-natives are misguided. After all, many of our palm tree species (maybe all?) came from SPAIN, not native at all.

The refuge is really cool on the south side because it doesn't get a whole lot of boaters, especially during the week, where you pretty much have the place to yourself.

 

[V153]

Re: North Florida Freeze

Ya I know all about "invasive species". It's a constant battle. Both above'n below water. We got lotsa problems over here. Mantis Shimp & Lionfish to name a couple. They're tearin up the reefs.

'Bove ground we got Iguanas now in addition to the snakes. On the canine front Coyotes have been seen on the Island of Venice. And more than one household pet has disappeared. Where's "Fluffy"?!

Speaking of Didney World. Thought ya might like this: Opening day. Have postcards to prove it. Dig those groovy outfits? Note Dads ever present pocket protector. And my lil bro having already stained and/or bloodied himself ...

 

[IraRat]

Re: North Florida Freeze

OH MY GOD! THAT PHOTO IS TOO COOL!!!

That had to be The Contemporary, right? And wasn't that like the ONLY hotel there when it first opened?

 

[V153]

Re: North Florida Freeze

Yes that was the Contemporary Hotel. Monorail went right by our window. You are correct, the Polynesian Hotel wasn't finished yet.

Yeah were we hip or what? Too bad Mom wasn't in the pic, she took it. Don't remember exactly but she was probly wearing some shiny plastic dress and a long blond wig. And some 'far out' sunglasses.

Straight outa 'Austin Powers' I'm tellin ya.