Diving Under the Waters of the Florida Keys: Marathon to Key West

Jane and I found a new world of adventure awaiting us in the shallow bay waters and mangroves of the Florida Keys.

We discovered that one man’s garbage may be another man's treasure. Hundreds of derelict and abandoned vessels litter the Florida waters. Many are from the huge influx of Cuban refugees who came across the Florida Straits from Cuba to Florida in anything that would float.  Hurricanes sent many wooden sport fishing boats and old wooden cabin cruisers that were past their prime to the bottom to feed the sea worms. 

This ancient bronze Sampson post with no foundry markings and lots of nicks from a long life of hard service arrived in the south Florida waters on a Cuban refugee boat. 

When we recovered it from the sea bottom it was green and heavily oxidized giving the appearance of rubbish. 

A little tender loving care brought it back to a thing of dazzling artistic beauty, and it became our treasure.  

This stainless steel dinghy boat anchor is made of a collection of items from an old sport fishing vessel left to die a slow death at the hands of Mother Nature. The flukes are rub-rail, the shank is a water pump drive shaft, and the eye is a bolt. A few minutes with a hack saw, a file, and one stainless welding rod, and I had another treasure from under the waters of Florida. 

This fun-filled pass-time in the tropical waters generated a huge collection of anchors, chain, and marine hardware that helped to support our cruising life style.

The only semi precious metal we ever found while diving in the Florida Keys was silverware, and it wasn’t old…no gold. 

Read the rest of this story in Sailing the Florida Keys: Travels of Dursmirg.  

Available in paperback and Kindle. Click here for more information.

 

St. Augustine, Florida - An End Destination

St. Augustine, Florida: Ponce de León, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés, and John and Jane Grimsrud all sailed to St. Augustine making it their end destination.

Pictured below is the Dursmirg, the Grimsruds’ 46-foot motor sailing yacht, as it passed through the Bridge of Lions in Matanzas Bay. John and Jane were drawn to St. Augustine on their four month long maiden voyage from Superior, Wisconsin, and made the Oldest City their port of call.

That story and more St. Augustine based adventures are in their recently published books; Sailing Beyond Lake Superior and Sailing to St. Augustine, part of a four book series, which are available in paperback and digital editions from booksellers throughout the world.  Read more.

This is the famous Matanzas Bay on St. Augustine’s waterfront. It has been an anchorage to sailing ships for nearly five centuries.

Joshua Slocum. Miami, Florida, and the Bermuda Triangle

Joshua Slocum, author and first single handed sailor to circumnavigate the world, made Coconut Grove on Biscayne Bay his last port of call in 1909. His departure was to be the last time he would ever be seen. Sailing out of Biscayne Bay and into the Straits of Florida, the Bermuda Triangle was there to claim another vessel and its crew.

The Straits of Florida is one of the most heavily traveled bodies of water in the world and no place to be drifting at night. All of the shipping traffic from the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean Sea converged here upon entering the Atlantic Ocean. This is the famous and treacherous “Bermuda Triangle”.

The above photo is of the schooner Our Dream, which is of similar rig and size to Joshua Slocum’s, was one of the last of its breed. Our Dream is a traditional Bahamas built wooden schooner that made Coconut Grove at Dinner Key, Miami, Florida, its home port. Owners Warren and Nira Brown called their Our Dream home anywhere they dropped their anchor.

For the rest of these interesting stories read  Sailing the Florida Keys by John M. Grimsrud.  It is available in paperback and digital editions from booksellers throughout the world.  Click here for more information. 

Recommended Reading:

Sailing Alone Around the World and The Voyage of the Liberdade by Joshua Slocum. These two books are all time classic sailing adventure stories that have stood the true test of time. These kinds of books are the variety that any lover of the sea or sailing will want to own and pass on to their next generation or also reread as I have.  Both books are available as free audio books from librivox.org or download as ePub, Kindle, or text from Project Gutenburg.

St. Augustine, Florida: Home of Ponce de León of the 20th Century

Jimmy Ponce, a legend in his time now has a historical book dedicated to him.

Jimmy (James Augustine) Ponce was unquestionable St. Augustine’s single biggest promoter in modern times, a public spirited do-gooder who truly loved the Oldest City and put it on the map giving it international name recognition.

Read the rest of this fascinating story of the Ponce ancestry dating back to St. Augustine’s discovery and founding.  Then get to know this one-of-a-kind visionary who became our friend.

Sailing to St. Augustine by John M. Grimsrud is available from Amazon.com in paperback or Kindle digital edition…click this link.