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Thankfulness. Healing. Gulf Access for Everybody!
It seems to me that for the most part Ian spared the majority of us Islanders significant damage. The south side of the island definitely took more of the storms fury… Which strengthened quickly (as predicted) but wow, that cyclone hugged the right side of the ‘cone’ for the last 48 hours! If your house wasn’t elevated in Everglades city area, you had water in it. Jessi, I and a group of Jayden and his pals enjoyed an afternoon stripping drywall and pulling furniture and appliances out of her mom‘s place in Chokoloskee. Which was deja vu… Remember Irma? It was the same for Goodland and Isle of Capri, most places there were underwater if not recently built. I think we should consider re-naming Goodland, ‘OK-land’. But thankfulness and blessings are the overall theme in this neck of the woods. Sadly, that’s not the case so very close to our north. May God comfort and bless those that were devastated by that storm, especially those that lost loved ones.
Healing is now the theme here in Southwest Florida. Obviously for the hurricane impacted, but also the water clarity/cleanliness and for my shoulder. I was asked shortly after the storm when I thought the gulf would be clear enough to dive. My response now appears to have been overly optimistic, “3 to 4 weeks”. We haven’t been out and I haven’t gotten any reports from out there, so please reply if you have any information or come Friday and tell everybody how it is in person! On New Year’s Eve of 2018 I tore my rotator cuff wrestling Jayden. I wrote a blurb about it in January‘s Captains Chronicles of that year entitled, Shaking Left Handed, where I explain that why I am a dip stick and have no one but myself to blame. A couple weeks ago Dr. Parent (he’s awesome) sewed back together what had become a massive tear. So I’m being a good patient, taking it easy and healing. Thanks to my wonderful wife-mom for nursing me in my time of need!
A lot of crazy thoughts went through my head the afternoon of September 28. Besides praying, please don’t let the water come up any higher, I was also thinking; wow, I have direct gulf access, just like everybody else around the neighborhood. It was about that time that Jayden asked me if he could take his gheenoe out (which had comfortably ridden out the brunt of the storm beside the house). I had a quick internal debate before I answered because part of me thought of how cool a boat ride that would be! I somewhat reluctantly told him that probably wouldn’t be a smart idea because of debris in the water and downed electrical wires. It was just enough to keep the boat on the trailer, although that day we did go play in the water and record how crazy high the water had risen. The water at our house actually started receding a couple hours before high tide peaked, which I was grateful for. I came up with a theory why that happened the following day while driving on San Marco Road. I believe the water on the south side of the island started to drop as it surged over San Marco Road and allowed it to flow north.
Come tell me what you think about and hopefully expand on that thought this Friday at our gathering. So all is well with Scuba Marco and the Dawson‘s and for that I am grateful and thankful!
Live Love Buy Dive Gear!! —Jeff
Hugs!
As you may know, I am an “old timer”, coming down for 45 years. When my extended family began moving down to the Cape (literally one week after my dad passed) in Oct’76, I came down for a month or two. Pine island was like Gilligan’s Island: deserted,(making Goodlands look like Times Square), and Sanibel had one hotel. My cousin and husband, the first to move down, eventually became administrator @ Lee Memorial. Ironically my niece/Goddaughter (who’s been on the ScubaMarco boat with us as a child), is a nurse, got her Masters this past June (on her way to a Doctorate), quit her job in NYC’s top hospital. Took the summer off stayed @ the beach at the NJ Shore, Sept. became a “Traveling Nurse”, and of all the places she was offered, (against my better judgement) chose Lee Memorial!. My last report: from her: hospital: still no water to wash patients, use washrooms, etc. Bad news and very sad.
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Chris
November 11, 2022
So glad you guys were overall ok. So many of us have been blessed with mercy. Unfortunately there are many that were unable to escape the storms path. Thanks for all you do for the community.