Geographic, Cultural Differences

We’ve only been here 24 hours, and already we recognize things are different from “back home”, and we’ve got lots to learn.

Last night talking to Sandy, the marina manager where we’ll moor our boat for the next month, she mentioned the importance of staying in the charted (dredged) channel in the area. Cathryn inquired how deep the water is once inside the marina, and Sandy replied, “Oh, it’s way deep in here – at least 10 feet!”  Our eyes got big.  In the waters of Puget Sound, the San Juan Islands and Canadian Gulf islands, we’re accustomed to very wide waterways with depths in the 100 – 400 foot range. Anytime our boat’s depth sounder shows at home fewer than 40 feet of water, we start paying very close attention, examining the nautical charts even more closely for rocks or other obstructions that might jump out from the depths.  We’ll have to adjust our thinking and close observation here, as 85% of the water on the Great Loop is reportedly 12 feet deep or shallower.  The good news about that is, if our boat were to actually sink, as long as we were standing on the flybridge (upper helm) we’d still be well above water!

We’ve been to restaurants 4 times since we arrived in Florida, and almost everything on the menus is fried. We’re not accustomed to seeing or eating much fried food at home, so if we want grilled food here, we have fewer choices.  That’s ok, but we’ll have to add more mileage to our running if we get accustomed  to those deep-fried shrimp or “hush puppies” (which were not nearly so tasty as the ones Cathryn’s brother-in-law Eric fed us at his house one time).

We were talking to a man in the marina this morning and inquired about some of the names of nearby places, assuming the names had historical significance. In responding, he referenced “The War of Northern Aggression”, and we saw no tongue in his cheek. We should not be surprised the view of history may be different here.