| Travels of Dursmirg Vol. 2 |
| Chapters 10-12 |
VOL. 2, CHAPTERS 10-12
CHAPTER 10 ABOARD DURSMIRG, SIGHTS, SMELLS AND SOUNDS
Our boat was our own little private “island” that moved, a special place at a special time in our youthful years when
we had the time and the money to enjoy it all.
Sights;
Insulation and skylights:
When the sun would beat down and it was so hot outside that you couldn’t go barefoot on deck it was still cool and
comfortable inside the boat. Two inches of Styrofoam insulation under the paneling did the trick. Even back in
Wisconsin when we were still building the boat in our back yard that insulation kept us comfortable inside though
outside it might have been as cold as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit with a foot or two of snow on deck.
Besides our 30 inch hatch covers, the one over our front berth hinged open to scoop air through the entire boat. At
anchor we normally sat bow to the wind so we would have copious quantities of fresh airflow that was controlled by
how much we opened the front hatch... In places where we sat in strong tidal currents and the wind couldn’t
overpower the current it was necessary to use a special wind scoop that Jane made that automatically self
pivoted to capture the airflow of the wind no matter what direction it came from and directed that airflow down the
hatch and through the boat.
In the design of the boat I took into consideration the many boats we had previously sailed that were dark, damp,
moldy and stuffy. With just a few innovations we had a boat that was bright, dry, mold-free and airy.
The insulation was an imperative first step. Next we needed natural light, which we got from our large hatch covers
plus six more one-foot square sky-lights in our deck over our main salon, galley, dinette, chart table and marine
head. Well, we knew that all of these lovely ½ inch plate glass skylights needed to be controlled so a very simple
system was employed. We had cover plates made of the same material as our paneling was made from (northern
white cedar) and painted a bright reflective white on their upper sides only and mounted in slotted tracks that
allowed us to open and close the deck sky-lights or adjust them to just the proper amount of light we desired.
On rare occasions when the sunlight was scarce and fog, rain and high humidity persisted we watched the humidity
within the boat and whenever it climbed above 55 % we would light off our fireplace. (This was not at all a
conventional fireplace; made of 1/8 inch steel plate it had doors that closed and had a cooking chamber capable of
being used as a smoke oven). Well in short order our little floating home was dry and very comfortable again with
only a small fire.
In that fireplace/smoke oven we cooked many a meal, popped popcorn and even smoked all types of seafood.
***
Our chart table that doubled as my workbench; to the right are two bookshelf ends that I hand carved.
Just inside the companionway and opposite the galley was located our chart table that had a large flat work surface
and plenty of drawers, one of which would accommodate full sizes charts unfolded.
You can see in the photo that I had many projects piled upon the chart table. Besides all of my hobby pursuits I also
used this space to take care of our maintenance projects and as Jane always used to jokingly say, “one day of
sailing was good for two weeks of repairs”. Our friend Bubba’s comment was, “if you have to have a boat break
down, make sure it is next to Dursmirg”. His reasoning was that we always had the repair parts or could fabricate
one from our inventory of extra parts and we even had a gas-welding outfit that got us out of some compromising
close calls and we even managed to keep many a friend’s boat floating and functional.
I wasn’t the only one to do woodcarving. The trivet above was hand carved by Jane. An interesting note
about this trivet; One cold winters day before we had finished our boat the Dursmirg, Jane and I were
walking the frozen shore of Lake Superior and came across a lovely mahogany board that we took home.
That board managed to make its way in the bilge of our boat all the way to Florida. Part of the board I
carved into a deep relief name board for Jane’s parents for Christmas that year and with the remaining
piece Jane carved this little trivet for her mother. We now have it and we use it to this day.
When during our construction of the boat project I first bolted a ten-inch carpenters vise to the chart table that chart
table became my workbench and would be a place that I passed many a happy hour pursuing one of my special
hobbies.
Woodworking and woodcarving have been a great pleasure to me ever since my early youth and here on the boat I
would have the time and many exotic different woods to carve into what ever tickled my fancy.
That woodworking vise that I bolted to our chart table had an interesting history. I purchased it with my first check
that I received from working at my father’s drug store when I was in the eighth grade and paid $20.00 for it. It came
from the Berger Hardware Store owned by my father’s good friend Sam Berger. I have used that vise ever since and
I have lugged it around as one of my personal treasures. I not only use it for all of my hobby endeavors but have
used it in the construction of countless boats I have built over the years. To this day I still have it here in my
workshop at our home in Mexico along with a hand joiner plane I paid $18.00 for. Not a week goes by that I don’t use
the vise. Every time I touch the vise and plane I feel a personal connection with my father and his good friend Sam
Berger.
A couple of other tool items from my younger years that I still use to this day are; a 29 piece drill index and a 4 inch
machinists vise that I purchased for $7.95 each at the East End Hardware Store in Superior, Wisconsin.
While I am on the subject of tools purchased in my youth that I still possess and use to this day I must mention a
multipurpose woodworking tool called a Super Shop that I paid $79.00 for while in my freshman year of high school.
With all the attachments and motor complete this thing has been my woodworking shop friend over many years and
through many a project. This versatile tool converts from a table saw to a lathe, drill press, grinder, and even a
saber saw. I have many attachments that have made it possible to complete a multitude of projects and they
included all of the boats I have built over the years plus most of the furniture and cabinets for our home here in
Mexico.
One more item that we carried aboard our Dursmirg that made almost any kind of repair out to sea or underway
possible was our Oxy-acetylene gas welding and cutting rig. This item definitely kept us going in some very
compromising conditions when a breakdown was very unexpected and unwanted.
In the photo inset above you can see a couple of bookcase ends that I hand carved for our boat. The upper one of
the pelican was nearly two inches thick and done with fiddle back mahogany. The lower one is a silhouette of Jane
and I and that was done in a piece of southern heart pine.
The ships engine: This photo is of our 353 Detroit Diesel Engine as viewed from the top of our companionway
looking down. Easy access was made by removing two cover hatches from over the engine that made the engine
and drive train completely exposed. The engine room had four feet of overhead clearance so that the maintenance
was never done in cramped or poorly lighted conditions. This engine was definitely not installed to pleasure boat
specifications but rather was similar to work boats that plied the briny seas.
I designed and installed a stainless steel closed system “keel-cooler” with a reservoir tank and pressure relief cap so
that the engine always was cooled with clean fresh coolant. The exhaust system was hot and very short and direct
because diesel engines hate any exhaust system back pressure. The engine was fastened directly to the engine
bed and the drive shaft was direct and level. The fuel tanks we originally installed needed replacement because we
were still learning as we went along and even though I had read up on every subject that I could pertaining to marine
engineering I definitely was not always 100%. Just about the time we were ready to quit boating we definitely could
have designed the near perfect ship…and I have built that ship many times in my dreams.
The most important part of all was that we did make our escape and had those youthful years to enjoy realizing that
we didn’t have a single person on the planet that we had to impress with our trendy “yacht”.
In the engine room photo note the 16-gallon beer keg; that and the beer tap in our galley made for some good times
.
The dinette was not just a place to have our meals but also a good place to lean back against a pillow and do
some reading. Under each seat was a storage locker because every available place aboard was needed for our
stuff. Jane had a saying, “if you haven’t used it in four years you don’t need to own it”. What she also used to say
about sailing out to sea was; “everything eventually works its way to the bilge”.
In the photo there were a couple of things that had continual use; the nine-band radio and the globe of the world
were continuously being pressed into service.
The front berth, a view from the entryway looking forward: At the head and foot of the bed were hanging lockers,
(hanging closets), under the bed was storage and above the front berth was a 30-inch hatch cover that hinged open
and also had sliding covers to cut out or adjust the amount of light and also the amount of airflow entering. Mounted
on the bulkhead just below this hatch was a ladder. The berth was so cozy and well insolated our body heat needed
venting even on the coolest of nights, which the boat was well designed to do.
An interesting thing is the fact that Jane and I took our mattress from our home in Wisconsin two nights before we
first moved the boat to its launching. So, we confidently and anxiously moved our bedroom to our new home, the
Dursmirg, where we would live for the next fifteen years but in many different locations and conditions.
We became very avid readers and our inventory of books was amazing. Jane would often read a book a night and
she always got a little edgy when her collection of unread books got down to less than two shopping bags full. Our
boat turned out to be a floating library.
The galley of Dursmirg with Jane busy bottling wine. She is in the process of filling bottles with a siphon
while she has a number of bottles in a steam bath on the stove sterilizing them.
Our bottle inventory was a real motley collection because we had collected the majority of them while
beach combing the many beaches we explored from the Carolinas to the Florida Keys.
SMELLS:
Wine and beer making with the yeasty aroma of fruity fermentation gave a heavenly and inviting olfactory potpourri
that was forever changing. The heavenly hops and malt aromas were commingling with sassafras, plum,
persimmons and elderberry all beckoning your nose to drink it in.
Bread and pastries in the oven sent out scents that tweaked you senses and triggered salivary glands and invoked
instant hunger pangs. Jane’s honey whole-wheat bread, cinnamon rolls, pecan pies and even mullet quiche, all
fresh from the oven were all irresistibly irresistible!
Sea food cooking: There was no way to describe the wondrous world of the freshest of fresh sea food that has
never had to be iced, refrigerated or frozen, that is exquisitely handled and prepared to perfection. I am among the
luckiest people on this planet earth because my Jane is without a doubt the most talented culinary genius I have
ever had the opportunity to sample. Every single day Jane innovates and makes the best of recipes even better. Be
it crab, oyster, conch, fish, clams, shrimp or whatever presents itself at mealtime Jane instinctively, without a second’
s hesitation, converts the catch into some exotic culinary extravaganza that dreams are made of. It was good that we
were young and very active or we would have become fat as toads with our gluttonous eating habits. It was also a
big help that our diet was almost 100% animal fat free.
Some favorite recipes; Boiled shrimp, shrimp pizza, shrimp omelets, Saint Augustine fried shrimp, shrimp Creole,
crab cakes, fried crab, crab gumbo, steamed crabs, crab quiche, stone crab claws, oysters(steam, fried and in
fritters), and also conch chowder, cracked conch, conch ceviche, smoked fish, steamed clams, clam linguine, clam
chowder, plus at least 50 ways to fix mullet and other fish.
Fresh seafood was definitely one of the big advantages of living on a boat at anchor.
Jane loved to use the rod and reel and I loved the big production results of net fishing. Besides the
thrill of the sport fishing, we also loved the thrill of having really fresh meals from whatever came our
way.
In the above photos: Jane with a barracuda she caught and we ate, Jane with a flounder that I caught in
the “Spanish” cast net behind her, a plate of freshly steamed lobster we both dove down to catch, (Jane
didn’t like to dive in water over six feet deep but she didn’t let any lobsters escape and pursued them
with due diligence), and the last photo on the lower right is of stone crab claws. We always kept a crab
trap or two baited and in the water so we managed to catch our share of crabs. Blue crabs would be
steamed live and picked later but the stone crabs only lost one claw and were returned to the water to
regenerate a new claw so that we could enjoy their succulent meat while they were still able to live on.
Note; these stone crabs had a powerful grip that was capable of snapping off a wooden broom handle
and we definitely have seen the results of this savage power first hand. We had some Cuban crab
fisherman friends down in the Florida Keys and several had lost fingers to these powerful little critters.
Besides the many fragrant galley aromas that greeted you as you entered the boat there was also an ever-present
petroleum smell that was part diesel and part kerosene that was emitted from our diesel engine and the various
kerosene lamps we used throughout the boat. We even had a kerosene powered refrigerator that though extremely
efficient burned around the clock and consumed a cup of fuel every day, it was also absolutely silent and only
required Jane’s vigilance to keep its reservoir tank filled and the wick cleaned and trimmed.
SOUNDS
This is a photo of me blowing a “conch horn” that was very loud and effective for opening bridges and
giving other signals required in boat maneuvering.
I can’t remember just who it was that showed me how to cut the end of the conch shells to make these
horns or how to “purse” my lips and blow them like a trumpet but I definitely have passed that
knowledge along to many a sailor over the years.
Sounds were ever present aboard the boat. Even when it seemed like there was no noise if you closed your eyes
and concentrated you would hear the sounds of barnacles snapping on the bottom of the boat or the gurgle of water
flowing past. Many fish made various sounds that were distinctive like the fish known as croakers and also porpoises.
The sound that changed the most was the wind in the rigging. With a gentle breeze only the lapping of tiny waves
against the hull could be heard but as the wind intensified this soon built the wave action into waves that would
thump and then the rigging would begin its various stages of noises. First would come flapping of any flag or cloth
put up to dry. Next came the drumming of the halyards. (Halyards are the ropes that run from deck level to the
masthead and back again that are used for raising and lowering the sails; we had four). We always kept our
halyards tied off securely for this reason. The most unpopular person in an anchorage or marina was the person
that would go off and leave their halyards slack to flap and frap in the wind…this sound quickly would fray your
nerves…sort of like an obnoxious and persistent barking dog could.
Even with the halyards tied off securely the wind could build to the point that they would begin to thump the mast
and need additional securing.
When the wind intensified to 35 knots, our mast would begin to “pump” and send a tremble through the entire hull,
and at 40 knots the pumping became an oscillation that was then developing into heavy sound waves. When the
wind got over 40 knots, a roar developed and at 60 knots and above the roar commingled with a whistle and singing
that was deafening.
We happened to have a wind speed indicator aboard our boat and we were always surprised when we would hear
people’s estimates of the wind speed in various windstorms. For some reason when the wind got over 25 knots most
people would swear that it was blowing a gale and when the wind speed got over 35 knots we would hear estimates
of 60 knots. Well, when the wind is blowing at 60 knots and above, it is so strong that you must hang on or be blown
away and the noise level is so high that you cannot scream directly into someone’s ear and be heard.
In the main salon of Dursmirg: The door at left, port side, leads to our front berth and the other door,
starboard side, to our marine head.
Jane in the galley with many of the things we used in our daily living aboard.
Jane and I standing in the galley with a view of our main salon and front berth.
A view looking forward from the companionway of our main salon: You will notice many items sitting on
shelves and even the table in the center of the photo that would go flying out in the open sea. Well,
everything in this photo is bolted down except the books that all had a lip on the bookshelves so that
they had to be lifted and then pulled out to remove them. As Jane used to say, “Anything that isn’t
bolted down quickly makes its way to the bilge.”
Coffee time as Jane pours me a cup. In this view of our galley you can see Jane’s diesel fuel powered
galley range and our wood fired combination fireplace/ cook stove/smoke oven on the right.
Jane sitting back at our dinette reading a book. This spot became one of our favorite spots to sit and
read and we would place a pillow behind our backs and with our feet up on the seat, this place was
made to order for reading because of the large port holes and sky lights that let in plenty of natural light.
On the dinette you can see our ships log, (the large book with the black binding), that we recorded all of
our movements in plus it doubled as our guest book which everybody that came aboard signed. We
have kept it to this day. It has become a very valuable tool in the writing of this story.
BUGS
This is an interesting topic. Back in Wisconsin when the temperature was a minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit there was
no bug problem. In the sunny south we would be entering a completely new realm of insects.
Spending most of our time at anchor, (we only went to the dock for fuel in six years), we managed to collect all of the
drinking water we needed with our rain catcher plus we had a 750 gallon fresh water holding tank, we were
independent with our fresh water, though frugal.
So, insects that came aboard our boat either flew, swam or we inadvertently carried them onboard with our
provisions.
We lived aboard a long time before our first cockroach appeared. Jane’s food handling and galley cleanliness made
it almost impossible to believe that one of those persistent invaders could survive in our home. Well, they did arrive
and we found that they would even eat foil labels off of jars to consume the glue that held them on.
At one point we imported two chameleon lizards to help us control the bugs. They became our pets and we named
them Big Bob and Floozy. They were very effective and we enjoyed having them around but they didn’t like the boat
life and we several times found them jumping ship as we would row our dinghy to shore. Several times we caught
them in the act of jumping ship and returned them to the boat but finally we realized that they would only be happy
living in the woods on shore and we ultimately relented and let them have their freedom.
It was Mr. Burn at Daufuskie Island that gave me the most insight into the local bugs. I still remember him taking me
around their home to show me one of the most fascinating of the local bugs called “mud-dabbers”.
I found it interesting that Mr. Burn had taken such a special interest in the nature around him and that he was also
eager to share that knowledge with me.
First he pointed out the busy long legged wasp looking bugs flying repeatedly to various locations that were mostly
under protected portions of the buildings there on the Burn property.
These insects that looked a lot like elongated wasps were relentlessly building nests made of wet mud.
Mr. Burn took out his knife and scrapped down one of these nests that were about 3/8 inch in diameter and two
inches long. In some places there would be several of these nests built one upon the other. Well, inside these nests
made of mud were packed countless dead spiders and as Mr. Burn told it these dead spiders were packed into the
nests as food for the freshly laid mud-dabber eggs. This all sounded relatively harmless but Mr. Burn told me that I
needed to be very vigilant for these nests because they would be placed in some of the worst places like inside
radios and other electronic devices where the caustic effect of the salty mud and sand mixture would soon put
whatever device they were laid in out of service. Sometimes they would find any small hole and fill it with their eggs
and that mud-sand mixture so I began to look around our boat and sure enough there they were. So, Jane and I had
another pastime; tracking down these busy bugs before they had an opportunity to build their nests.
As we sat out in the swing in the Burn yard one afternoon when the breeze was dying away large numbers of
“dragon flies” appeared and busily hovered over the yard. Mr. Burn asked me if I knew what these insects were and
then he proudly told me the story of the “mosquito hawks”.
Sure enough, these four-winged creatures that resembled miniature dive bombers were diligently attacking and
devouring mosquitoes. They were definitely fighting on our side of this never-ending battle with mosquitoes. After
Mr. Burn pointed out this flying army, I only wished that there were more of them.
Another strange insect phenomenon was that of the crickets on Daufuskie Island. In the late afternoons when the
wind would die away or shift, almost in an instant and completely in unison the woods would burst into a resounding
cricket orchestra with a prolonged crescendo of these little critters that had to number in the thousands.
Gnats could make life unbearable. These tiny insects would pass through ordinary window screens unless the
screens were treated with diesel fuel or insect repellent. For some strange and unexplained reason these gnats
never ventured inside our boat, the Dursmirg. We often thought that this might have something to do with the fact
that the inside of our boat was lined with cedar paneling or the fact that we used kerosene lamps. Well, for whatever
reason, we were truly blessed not to have these pesky, biting buggers inside our vessel.
I do remember early one damp morning anchored in the Sea Islands and going out on deck to discover that our
anchor rode was completely black and about two inches in diameter. Without thinking I went forward and gave the
anchor rode a kick. Wow! In an instant that black anchor rode turned back to white and resumed its original
diameter of ¾ inch. I ran for my life because in that instant I realized that countless billions of gnats were now
airborne and headed my way!
Some years later we had a smaller fiberglass sailboat and I definitely remember using every kind of repellent plus
copious quantities of kerosene to repel the gnats but it was to no avail and they attacked from every possible angle
entering our ears and noses as we desperately tried to hang on to our sanity until the coming of day and a stiff
breeze to carry these “bad neighbors” away…that is just one of the things that can turn paradise sour.
Mosquitoes didn’t have any compunction about staying out of our boat and for that reason we used screens on the
portholes and over our opening hatches. I devised a rather ingenious system for the hatch cover screens. It
consisted simply of fiberglass window curtain material that Jane sewed pockets in the ends of to hold wooden dowels
that acted as spreaders and also weights. To install them we merely placed them over the hatch and companionway.
They acted like a swinging door if you needed to pass through and quickly returned to their original position. When
they were not in use they could be quickly rolled together and easily stowed.
***
Among the many considerations that had to be considered and incorporated into the design and construction of our
vessel Dursmirg was a sewage holding system in order to comply with a then new law that required them on all newly
documented boats.
This concept was a noble one that we were happy to comply with. We even applauded the new law in order to clean
up the world’s water for everyone.
When Jane and I first started sailing in the waters of Lake Superior back in the 1960s, sewage from all boats was
discharged directly overboard and admittedly the yacht harbors were amongst the very worst places for the stench
laden, putrid and disgustingly awful water and it all didn’t sink.
We witnessed a marked improvement in the water quality by the early 1970s and thought that the world was a better
place now while pleasure boats were quickly bullied into compliance with stiff fines. Companies like Reserve Mining
Company of Silver Bay, Minnesota were flagrantly plundering the waters of the worlds largest fresh water lake, Lake
Superior.
Reserve Mining Company was the processor of iron ore into taconite pellets used in the manufacture of steel.
It so happened that Reserve Mining Company was dumping 47 tons or the equivalent of one railroad car full of
taconite tailings into Lake Superior every two minutes and they persisted at this for twenty five years until 1980 when
a court order finally got them to cease and desist. It wasn’t just muddy water that Reserve Mining Company was
producing but one of the deadliest of carcinogens, asbestos.
As Jane and I later sailed the southern waters we discovered another paradox when we inquired about facilities
where we could pump out our sewage holding tank and we were told that none were available plus that here the tide
alone took care of the sewage. This meant that now we would have to improvise a sewage pump out system of our
own so that we too could also let the tide take care of our sewage.
At this same time on the Chesapeake Bay boaters were required by law to have holding tanks or port-a-potties
toilets into which a special chemical had to be added in order to kill any infectious diseases that could be transmitted
into the waters. This too was a nobly intended move aimed at cleaning up the waters but it soon became apparent
that this wonderful chemical additive that rendered the sewage germ free was killing off all of the marine life with its
deadly formaldehyde.
***
The chain locker or forecastle, sometimes spelled “fo’c’sle”
This part of the vessel is typically in the extreme forward part of the boat and in our case was only accessible
through a hatch from the main deck.
The first eight feet of our vessel was taken up with this compartment that was a storage place for our ground tackle
or in other words our anchors and their associated ropes, chains, shackles, thimbles and chafing gear.
Over the years we discovered that the bigger the anchor, the better we slept so our inventory of anchors increased
until we had nine, not including the small ones we used for our dinghy. We lost several anchors over the years but in
the end we actually found many more than we ever lost.
Our first anchor was given to us by our good friend Don Currie. It was a 42-pound fisherman, a.k.a. kedge style that
is the type of anchor that everyone thinks of when visualizing an anchor. Don maintained that he wanted to have
something aboard our boat and the two things that he donated to our boat that will forever be remembered were this
“fisherman” anchor and also a hand bilge pump that Jane almost pulled the handle off of on more than one
occasion…the water is supposed to be on the outside of the boat!
That anchor saved us and also served us well over the years and of all the anchors we used in so many different
anchoring conditions, this one proved to be a top choice in coral, rock or weedy conditions.
That old time 42-pound fisherman (Wilcox-Crittenden) anchor had a phenomenal galvanizing job done to it because
it took the worst beating of any piece of equipment we ever owned aboard our Dursmirg and never did show any
signs of rust.
I can remember swimming down to inspect that anchor after several days of 50 plus knot winds and finding its tip
(fluke) riding up and down behind a rocky ledge. We wouldn’t have slept a wink knowing the minute point of contact
holding our 20-ton vessel that trembled, shook and lurched through pounding swells of that storm. Other times I
have witnessed that very same anchor literally slice through the sea bottom like a knife through soft butter without
even beginning to slow our boats downwind glide. As an old friend used to say, “Anything that floats will sail
downwind”.
One of the idiosyncrasies of this particular anchor is the fact that as it is dug into the bottom doing its holding job
with one of its flukes, the other one is then protruding upwards and can then be easily fouled by the anchor rode at
times of slack tide or with a change in wind direction if you are only riding on one anchor. That particular
idiosyncrasy can be one of the anchors biggest assets especially when it becomes fouled in some underwater
obstruction. Having discovered that I could always get our anchor back, sometimes sailing around in circles a few
times first to deliberately foul the anchor, it was always retrieved.
I could easily write a lengthy story on our anchors and anchoring experiences but I will leave that to the likes of
Nathanial Bowditch and the yachting magazines.
The basic rule when anchoring was; when entering an anchorage you always asked the other boats there ahead of
you how many anchors and the amount of scope they used, then you would do the same and also respect their first
come status not crowding them out.
We have met just a few anchorage pigs; one of these types of anchorage pigs would come into an anchorage and
try to raft off of someone else’s vessel because of their laziness. Another was the “dog in the manger syndrome”,
where a boater would drop a single anchor in the middle of an anchorage and then proceed to pay out enough
anchor scope so that no other boat could safely anchor there.
Of the nine anchors we owned and used our smallest was a 35 pound British “plow”, the largest being a 150 pound
Northill. We had favorites and the one that sticks out in mind as one of my favorites was a number 50 all aluminum
Viking brand. This anchor had a couple of very redeeming features, one was its no rust aluminum construction and
the other was its lightweight. It was patterned after the Danforth brand and sized to equal their #50 high-tensile
models to be used on vessels up to 50 feet in length. I always used to joke that it was so light that we had to put a
length of heavy chain on it just to keep it from floating away.
To complement our chain locker, which was a top loading storage room in the bow, that had a hatch that snapped
shut and latched automatically when it closed, we had a double anchor chute on the bow of the boat incorporated
into the bow pulpit.
The chain locker had a bulkhead-mounted ladder and duckboards to make a standing platform that give it full
headroom. This compact store room contained a strange collection of various anchors, and anchor roads that I had
taken the time to color code with brightly colored plastic tapes at intervals of fathoms making it easy and quick to
determine any amount of anchor rode we had out. (A basic rule of anchoring was to use a minimum of five times the
depth of water for the length of anchor rode. Seven times the depth being maximum when using our method of three
fathoms of chain followed by nylon anchor rode.)
When we were underway we always had two anchors slung in the anchor chutes and ready to put overboard in a
moments notice with only the simple maneuver of pulling loose a bow knot securing them.
On various occasions we have had our vessel and possibly even our lives spared by having these anchors rigged
and ready for immediate action.
When it came to getting out of tight compromising situations, our sails, our motor and even our dinghy have each
had their part in sparing our vessel. Here I must add that all of the equipment in the world won’t do the slightest
amount of good if the knowledge to put it to work properly and expediently is not there. Of course the knowledge of
what the outcome could possibly be can also be an inspiring impetus to motivate prompt action.
CHAPTER 11
Jane travels to Wisconsin and I am alone.
Anchored at Papy’s Landing on the south side of Daufuskie Island, South Carolina with Bloody Point in
the background, I am in the process of refinishing the boom. This photo was taken from the cockpit area
looking forward to the bow.
***
1975 August 3rd - August 25th
Sea Islands-Daufuskie Island
A series of letters that I wrote to Jane while she was visiting her parents in Wisconsin and I was taking down
the mast of our boat to refinish it all by myself while at anchor at Daufuskie Island.
(Written on stationary from my former business; Grimsrud Sales Company.)
August 3rd, 1975
Jane;
I miss you!
It is Sunday night and I have been busy all day…got the boom about 80% done and got a sunburn, started at
8 this morning and quit at six tonight, more work than I thought. Tomorrow I will go ashore and get the
timber for the bi-pod crane, also finish planing the boom and sanding it plus preservative.
Finished the shrimp today and got some crabs which I picked tonight and the pie is gone…sure was good!
There were twenty boats on Bloody Point today… lots of water skiers also.
I helped a couple from Hilton Head get their boat going and they gave me a couple of beers…sure tasted good
in that hot sun today.
Mr. Burn came to the post office at about 1:30 on Saturday.
I helped him get the school bus started and then walked home. I sure was tired last night…didn’t even light
the lantern and don’t think I will tonight.
Bob and Emily stopped with some wine and I finally got to bed at10.
I am giving them this letter.
Love Grim
***
August 4th letter;
Jane;
I just got the first letter off to you and started to fix breakfast when Mr. Burn came along. He got 180 pounds
of shrimp in a 45 minute drag and needed some help with them. He said that he just about pulled his fingers
off getting the net in the boat. I just had a bowl of cereal and cup of coffee and we went over to his dock to
sort them out. Bob gave me a ride back.
I will have crab for lunch and shrimp for supper. I should have enough shrimp to eat for tomorrow also.
I had to go and get more ice this morning. I cleaned out the icebox and put some baking soda in it to get rid
of any smell.
The screen came off the companionway last night and the bugs got me up this morning.
It is a good thing for mosquito coils, saved me from those bloodthirsty little devils.
Hope you had a good trip back, bet you were tired.
I sure hated to see you go but it was worth it just to get rid of Tom…he needed a good kick in the head and in
the ass. We should have tried some way to straighten him out but he isn’t our problem anymore. Did he
manage to thank you at all? That kid doesn’t know when he is well off. I am going out to work on the boom,
will continue later.
(Tom was a neighbor from Superior, Wisconsin that came to visit us that summer and spent about six weeks
sailing up from Saint Augustine together.)
***
Thursday the 5th
This morning Gene Burn came and needed help with his shrimp so I ate a quick breakfast…grits and hard-
boiled eggs…I didn’t boil them long enough.
Gene gave me about 5 pounds of shrimp and I will have them tonight.
Last night I didn’t quite finish sanding the boom in time to get the Cupernol on; it rained so I will have to give
it a light sanding before I treat it tonight. I don’t want to do it in the heat of the day as the treatment will dry
before it gets a chance to soak in.
After I got back from the Burn’s this morning I sharpened the ax and went to shore to cut the trees for the bi-
pod crane.
I cut one oak and one pine, the pine is at least three times as heavy as the oak. What a job! I had a hell of a
time getting them to the river. Would you believe that they both sunk? Dragged them one at a time out to
Dursmirg and tied them on. I went in to have lunch and when I came out they were both jammed under the
Dursmirg. I moved them out at slack water and then the tide changed they both hooked against the bottom
and the side of the boat. I had a good time engineering them up on the boat. I used the jib sheet winch on
each side and pulled them up over the stern. After I got them part way up I ran a line through a block
forward and back to the jib sheet winch to finish getting them all the way up on deck.
I just went up and re-sanded the boom and gave it a coat of preservative.
At present I have the Swedish stove fired up so I can’t hear the radio, I am fixing shrimp again, and they sure
are good.
I have been making coffee and putting it in the thermos, it sure helps to have it ready in the morning.
If there is enough time after supper I will go out and start fixing up the head of the bi-pod crane, Hooper,
(Ben Smith) gave me some nails. 40% chance of rain tomorrow so between the rain and the community club
I will see what I can get done.
Bob said that the road is getting in worse condition, he got stuck where we did and also in the wet spot just
west of there.
I will write later;
***
August 6th;
I drank a thermos of coffee this morning and I am just going out to work on the mast project. I will eat an
early lunch and go over to the Burn’s house at about 11 this morning so I can make it to the community club
meeting in time. On the way back I will stop and see how the garden is doing.
I better go out and get to work.
It is 10: 20 and I must hurry to the Burn’s house or I will be late for the meeting.
Love you much
Write soon;
Love Grim
***
August 7th;
Jane;
I just got a letter at 10:00 PM.
I was over at Shorty and Bens for supper and it was good…no fried food, but lots of peppers. Had supper last
night with Lance and Emily, rabbit, and it was very good. Emily made a loaf of bread for me, just in time; I
had just run out of your bread.
Today I had some success; I got the bi-pod crane up and in place…quite an engineering project. I did it all
myself and everything is ready for the mast to come down in the morning.
I can’t see any problem getting the mast down by myself, but I will need a hand getting it back up…too many
things to do when it gets up to the right height. If I planned it out I could probably do it.
Did you get my first letter?
When I wrote the first one I was tired also.
We got our Aladdin lamp today and they shorted us a few parts, the rings for the lampshade, one wick and
mantle otherwise everything seemed OK. I haven’t tried it yet.
I am going to bed directly as I want to give this letter to Mr. Burn when he comes by in the morning.
I hope you have a good time as you don’t get home every day…I miss you very much and still love you after
all this time!
Be sure to greet all your friends for me.
See you soon
As ever, Love Your Grim
***
August 8th;
Jane;
Good news! I got the mast down!
I had a little trouble, the blocks kept twisting up and the lines wouldn’t feed through them the right way. I
made 4 trips up to the spreaders in the boatswain’s chair. You wouldn’t believe the blisters on my hands,
they feel like they are on fire. That Dacron line doesn’t help much either; I don’t think that I have ever
handled that much line before.
The deck is a mess because I just got the mast down at dark tonight. The big Bi-pod crane worked out very
well, with two people I think the mast could be taken down in 1/10 the time.
I had one small problem, the base of the mast got away from me and the truck came down and twisted up the
lawn chairs and the crab trap…nothing I can’t fix in a few minutes. Those few minutes have been adding up.
I have been busy every minute and it sure feels good to lay down at night.
The Aladdin lamp sure works well. I fired it up a few minutes ago. It takes a little time to get it adjusted, as I
was writing here it sooted up. So I turned it down and the soot is burning off. I am sure you will like it.
***
August 9th;
Today was another busy day, had company this afternoon; Frank Wiley, plus the schoolteacher and his wife
Jim and Carol Alberto and two colored friends of theirs. Tonight Leion and a friend of his came by and a
good thing they did. I was going to go to bed early. Just as they were leaving the boat swung around and
started heading for Bob’s boat, just missed it and stopped along side it. The tide was flooding and almost
high so I couldn’t understand what had happened at first.
Leon helped me try to get the anchor line up that the Danforth was on but it was caught under the rudder or
propeller. I set the alarm for high water time and went out to see what I could do. I managed to get the
anchor up. That was no problem as it was fouled. Then I got the anchor line loose from the rudder, I wish the
moon was out tonight. The tide was supposed to turn a half hour ago but the boat hadn’t turned yet. I have
everything set so all I have to do is go out and drop the hook when the boat turns. I think I will fix some
popcorn and have a beer. It is getting so late that I am getting hungry again.
I got a lot of work done on the mast today, I got it up on the Styrofoam blocks and moved it completely
inboard. I took most of the hardware off except the track. There was very little dry-rot under the spreaders. I
will start scrapping and sanding in the morning.
23:55 (five minutes to mid-night)
I got the fire going and the butter on. I put the anchor down and the dinghy up. I am going to get up early and
check it.
***
August 10th;
Today I worked on the steel fittings of the mast, got the steel chipped and treated. That took all day.
Tomorrow I will go over to the Burn house and mail this letter and I must get more ice.
After I get done with that I am going to clean and treat the chain plate tops and if I get the time I will scrape
and sand the mast. It should take a few days to do that. I want the metal primer to set up a few days between
coats.
I took some slack out of one of the anchor lines so that they wouldn’t foul again. I don’t care to spend
another night with that project.
Bob and Emily went to Statesboro for the weekend and should be back tomorrow.
I am going to stop and check the garden in the morning, it has been doing good. I have been watering the
plants on the boat and they are doing good, the prickly pear is almost up to the ceiling, but the plant in the
wheel house died…gone forever.
There were the usual amount of water cars today, (outboard speedboats we referred to as “water cars”), and
I can’t wait till Sunday nights when they will be gone.
I am going to bed and will send a letter again as soon as I can.
Love Grim
Wish you were here!!! XXX
P.S. If your folks want to take you for a ride try Bayfield and look up Jerry and Bonnie Peterson.
***
August 11th;
Jane;
This morning I went over to the Burn house and on the way back I stopped to look at the garden. It is doing
fine, except the radishes they look like they got their last lick. Fixed the runners on the sweet potatoes and
they are growing at an incredible rate. The (peas-beans?) are a foot and a half high, it will soon be time to
spread them out with some strings. Well it started to rain just after lunch so I did all I could inside and
thought I would write until it quit. The rain has just stopped so I am going out to work on the mast, sand and
scrape. Write you later.
Later at 1600 hrs. I got rained out again, third time today. I should try some fishing if the rain lets up. Would
you believe that in nine days I haven’t used the can opener one time, all of the meat I have used from the
boat is ham for lunch for two days. I did manage to get one side of the mast scrapped. I still have to sand it. I
haven’t taken the track or the downhaul off yet.
I made a shade for our lamp out of sailcloth. I had to make every part because they didn’t send the rings. I
finished lacing it up this morning so I haven’t had a chance to see how it works. It should work better than
that wrinkled piece of cardboard that was sent with the lantern.
***
August 12th;
Last night I took the cast net and got some shrimp for bait. I then went to catch some fish. The fish stole all
my bait and all I had were two croakers. I decided to get some more fish so I went up to get some fiddler
crabs. That was the answer, as fast as I could cast the line out I got fish. All were croakers and one
sheephead. I had fish for breakfast and lunch today. Tonight Emily brought me another loaf of bread.
First thing this morning I started taking the last of the track and etc off the mast, I finished by noon. This
afternoon I scrapped and sanded three sides of the mast. I looked like a “white man”. I was covered with
paint dust…completely. It is much more work just getting the mast ready to paint than it was to take it down.
The menhaden are back, the biggest school I have ever seen. The fish were just solid for over an hour and a
half this morning.
Thank you for the letters, love. I got one you wrote August 6th and one other. I am glad you are seeing the 40-
degree weather in August instead of me. I almost forgot that even in the warmest two weeks of the summer it
gets that cool up in the “waste land”.
I am glad that you got your silver dollars; the mineral value is overt $2.00 an ounce for one silver dollar. The
1889 and 1890 dollars are worth much more than the 1921 and 1922 dates. If the 1889 and 1890 dollars have
a mintmark they are worth even more. The mintmark is found on the back just under the tail feathers of the
eagle. The most valuable mark is CC; O is the next in value and S next. If there is no mintmark the coin was
minted in Philadelphia.
We had a big day and 24 hours with no rain, tomorrow is suppose to be the same. The temperature is still the
same, the day highs of 80 degrees and nights in the 70s, with the water temperature of 83 degrees.
Tell Marge if she wants to catch some fish on her vacation to come visit us.
I hope to have the mast back up in a week if I work hard tomorrow so that I can start putting the paint on.
The metal primer needs two days between coats. It is getting late, I will write more later, and I will try to mail
this on Friday.
***
August 14th at 22:15;
I had another day of hard work but I finished sanding the mast and got a coat of metal primer on the track,
Spreader plates, base and step and started chipping on the Sampson posts and chain plates. By the way the
good luck penny under the mast is in a safe place. I couldn’t help but think of you when I saw it. Do you
remember that you put it in that bank that you gave me some years ago?
In the morning I will take the letter to the post office. The dinghy hasn’t been down in three days, as of
tomorrow morning. Have you seen the Marcovichs? They stay at Iron River in the summer. Why don’t you
give Sharon a call? I bet she would love to hear from you. You could ask about their plans to fly to Hilton
Head Island this fall. If you get to Berger hardware you could check on the price of Aladdin lantern chimneys,
and also complete burner assemblies. I could easily make a lamp if I had one.
I will write again soon.
I love you- Grim and miss you
Wish you were here, have a good time and greet every one for me.
***
August 14th;
Jane;
I got your letter of August 9th, thank you; it sure was good to hear from you.
Today I went to the post office at 8:30 and it sure was nice in the woods at that time of morning. It turned out
to be another hot day, on deck anyway.
I chipped and primed the chain plates and the heat got to me. I went down to get the fish pole to get fish for
lunch and passed out. I t must have been the loss of salt. I have been drinking about five gallons of water a
day. I had an early supper and opened my first can of food since you left, corn beef. I had that and some rice
with pudding for desert. I went up and did a couple hours work and Bob and Emily came by with a letter and
some wine. We talked for a while and after they left I fixed the VHF antenna. The antenna worked fine it just
was broken off near the top, (the housing only). I split up some bamboo and made an internal repair.
The moon is out and it is a beautiful night, I wish you were here. The crickets and the water running by the
boat are the only noises.
I must go to sleep. I have a busy day tomorrow. I start the white paint.
***
August 15th;
Another beautiful morning, it is 9:30 and the dew is still heavy on the deck and mast so I am going to go
fishing. It is just about low water.
Later; Jane I just got your letter of August 11th, thank you. It sounds like you are having a wonderful time. I
was glad you were able to see Marge. Tell her I still love her and want her to come and spend some time with
us.
Sounds like you are getting to see more people than you had planned, that is good. I told you that if you didn’t
have a good time it would be your fault.
The weather here is beautiful and if it holds I should get the mast up Wednesday or Thursday. It is a lot of
work for one person but I am at the point in the project that all I can do is paint from each day on. All repairs
have been made; I even got the crab trap pounded back into shape and have it out. This morning after
breakfast I went fishing and got enough for two meals. I wasn’t having very good luck with fiddler crabs.
Then Frank Wiley came by and gave me some shrimp. Then I did some good.
Tonight Lance and Emily came by and we had some beer and they invited me to dinner tomorrow night. Sure
will be good to get out of the galley duty.
I’m going over to the post office in the morning.
I will paint one side of the mast in the afternoon, I painted three sides today. Also I have some iron that needs
some painting, a second coat.
I am going to try to clean up some of the sawdust, shavings, bark and rust chips among other things that are
on deck.
I still have to fix the lawn chairs, but that shouldn’t take too long.
When I get ahead of things around here I am going to put the sail rig on the dingy and go for a sail. I need a
change of pace.
Daufuskie isn’t any fun without someone to share it with and that someone is you. I still love you and miss
you. Don’t rush back as you don’t get home everyday and I understand.
All my love Grim
***
August18th;
Jane;
I just finished my painting today. I have had a busy day so far. This morning I put the track back on the mast,
all of the winches and cleats on two sides, rewired the anchor light and white running light and put them
back in place plus I made some stainless steel connectors to connect the mast track together electrically.
That should make a much better antenna.
This afternoon I put a second coat of paint on the fourth side of the mast.
If I don’t find someone to take this letter to the post office in the morning I will take it.
Tomorrow I put the spreaders back, the rest of the cleats and winches and paint the standing rigging.
The weather has been fine for painting. Yesterday is the only day that we had any afternoon rain, (any rain
at all), since I started painting. I just put the last brush full on when it started, perfect timing.
The project is going well but it takes time, and just like the preservative and paint only one coat at a time. I
am going to have an early supper and will write later.
***
August 25th;
It’s up!!!
I got up this morning at 4, made a big breakfast, ate, washed the dishes and was hard at work at 04:55. The
big old moon was still up and the stars out. The mast was about half way up when the sun came over the
horizon. Not on single stink pot, (speed boat), would slow down , Lance and Bob included…I had one hell of a
time with that big old thing reeling, swaying, creaking and groaning and I can’t understand what kept it
up…my determination maybe.
It’s safe for you to come home---hurry, I love you Grim
***
Projects like taking down the mast and putting it back up, though very labor intensive were good lessons in self
reliance.
Jane and I could handle just about any type of engineering project and had proved ourselves over and over again.
At this time in history when the world was in turmoil and we had escaped to this life apart we discovered self-
fulfillment and the value of time together was the most important commodities we could share.
CHAPTER 12
THE WAVING GIRL; the people we met and the experiences we had:
First I have to describe the Waving Girl; this was the name of a large passenger and freight boat that was available
for hire in and around Savannah, Georgia. The boat was owned and operated by a very prominent black man
named Captain Sam Stevens and he kept the boat docked in downtown Savannah.
“Captain Sam”, as he was known, was retired from the military. He also had a night club over on Daufuskie Island,
South Carolina and made a couple of trips a week from Savannah to Daufuskie transporting his clients to his night
club there. We could always hear the boat returning to Savannah late at night on the weekends as the loud music
and singing carried across the marsh lands with its “jump and jive rhythm” to where we anchored our boat about two
miles from the waterway. Captain Sam always seemed to pack his two-deck vessel to its limits coming and going. On
the island he had created a small industry of food venders that mainly did crab cakes, which were a big hit at his
nightclub.
***
Captain Sam Stevens
One time a month Captain Sam brought his boat, the Waving Girl, over to the island and all the residents that
wanted to go to Savannah were given free passage over and back.
Jane and I never missed this opportunity to mingle with the natives though we were almost always the only white
people that took the trip.
The Waving Girl would dock early in the morning down at the public landing on the western side of the island
situated just south of Rams Horn Creek that led off to Hilton Head Island via the Intracoastal Waterway.
This was a strange and interesting sight in the first years we came to the island because there were more ox carts
than automobiles on the island and of the 85 people living on the island full time, only 11 were white.
Jane and I were the only ones to arrive on bicycles but there was no parking problem because of the lack of motor
vehicles. Many of the patrons arrived on foot.
The boat was packed with people of all ages and our first couple of times we felt like outsiders but the trip was close
to two hours each way so sooner or later we got involved with our fellow travelers.
The trip back to the island was different because some of the men managed to get slightly inebriated or even worse.
Even one time when we went to town on “Election Day” these guys managed to find some booze.
The trip was very scenic for Jane and I because we never tired of the fascinating country of the Sea Islands with
countless little islands or savannas where aromatic cedar, long leaf pine and palm trees mixed with white oaks
draped in wispy Spanish moss. The waters were prolifically filled with an abundance of sea life; porpoises played,
mullet jumped and huge schools of menhaden flipped frantically along with the surging tidal currents.
When we disembarked in downtown Savannah at the historic district on Factor’s Walk the Daufuskie Islanders were
an eager bunch of shoppers because for many it had been at least a month or more since they had been off the
island, let alone to town.
The two stores that managed to get the bulk of the islanders business were the Bargain Corner and the Feed Store
and were an easy walk from the boat landing.
Jane and I always loved to shop at the Bargain Corner where we stocked up on daisy cheese sold from huge round
slabs where your portion was sliced off and wrapped in paper. Country smoked cured hams that didn’t require
refrigeration were another big hit that we made sure we never ran out of. Jane would buy large quantities of eggs
that she packed in sodium silicate so that they would keep fresh without refrigeration. Butter she also stocked up on
and packed it in large glass jars covered with a layer of salt so it would keep even in the hot summer heat without
refrigeration. Whole-wheat flour, salt, rice, sugar and corn grits were purchased in cloth bags that would be at least
a month’s supply.
The island bootleggers were easy to spot because of their hundred pound sacks of corn grits and sugar and it was
known that they didn’t have any chickens at home to feed. We of course laid in big quantities of sugar to maintain
our wine and beer production.
I will never forget going to a downtown hardware store and asking for lag bolts which are heavy duty screws with
square or hex heads. The lady clerk asked me, “how many watts?” The southern accent mixed with the low country
Gullah spoken in the Savannah area definitely made me realize this was a different country. I can’t imagine how you
would pronounce light bulbs in the local dialect but on the street when you were greeted they would say, “haus y’all”
and to me it still sounds like I am being asked, “How is your oil?”
Jane and I always used to joke about this end of the world famous for; peanuts, peaches, pine trees, palmettos,
porpoises, pecans and poor-folks. Poor-folks was pronounced, “Po’r fooks”.
By the time we would get back to the island at night I couldn’t help but think of A. Lance’s comment upon returning
from town, “I spent a week in town today!”
1974 October 28th (Daufuskie Island)
A letter Jane wrote to her parents;
Dear Mom, Dad and Joel;
Thank you so much for your letter. I was very happy to get it and hear all the news. I hope that Jim and
Penny and their new baby are doing fine. I got a letter from them right after I got yours. I got one from John
too so I’m getting caught up on what everyone’s up to.
Bing and I are still at Daufuskie and busy as ever. A week and a half ago we had friends from Saint
Augustine visit us. Two of them only stayed one night and the other two, Bob and Beverly, for almost a week.
When Bob and Beverly were here we put the Dursmirg on the beach at high tide, waited for the water to go
out which left us high and dry on the beach and cleaned the boat’s bottom. When the tide came back in, we
floated and were able to get off the beach. We need to paint the boat now and will go to Fernandina Beach,
Florida soon and put the boat on the marine railway to do that.
I’m not sure when we are going yet, possibly as soon as next week. I’ll let you know when we know for sure;
in the mean time you can keep sending our mail here. I sure hate to leave… it is still beautiful weather. It
was 85 degrees today but usually it’s been in the 70s the last couple of weeks. We have been out gill net
fishing 3 times the last week with a friend that has a commercial license. We got 200 fish the first time and
about 100 each of the other times. It was a lot of fun and we got plenty of fish to eat. Our friend sells the fish
to people on the island. Bing went shrimping yesterday with another friend, so we got shrimp last night for
supper. We sure eat good here. It takes a great deal of time to get our food but it sure is worth it.
We’ve been doing some work on the boat, (it never ceases), to make sure everything’s in top condition for
our trip south. We got our fuel tanks full for 38 cants a gallon plus 55 gallons of kerosene at 41 cents for our
lights and stove. We paid 16 cents two years ago for both. The cost of living has sure gone up in the last two
years, but we sure have learned to live more economical. We are spending less money per month than we
ever have and living better and happier too! Not much goes to waste on Dursmirg. We have gone to town
once a month since June aboard the ”Waving Girl”, a boat that takes island people once a month to
Savannah to buy supplies. The government pays for the boat as Daufuskie is classed as a poverty stricken
area and there is no bridge to the mainland. The island also has its own (government supported), ferry but it
is too small to carry all of the chicken feed, cow feed, refrigerators and etc that the people buy. The “Waving
Girl” also brings fuel to the island once a month during the winter season. That is how we got our diesel fuel
and kerosene.
We are still looking for property here but haven’t found what we want in our price range yet. I think that
land price will come down soon. Economically the South is hit hard now. Last year they were screaming for
workers, this year unemployment has run wild. Our friends from Saint Augustine said it’s bad there too. The
big move to the South has been halted. Last year over 2000 people were moving to Florida a day, this year
they will probably go back. Not us however, we sure love the South, and fortunately we don’t have to look
for work here.
It sure is pretty here this time of year. A lot of the trees turn color, (the sweet gums look like maple trees),
and the woods are full of wild berries and nuts. We have been gathering elderberries, persimmons, hickory
nuts and pecans from the woods, plus sassafras roots for our wine. There are a lot of old trails though the
woods where we can ride our bikes. We keep a sharp lookout for snakes however. Our friend, Mrs. Billie
Burn killed a rattlesnake with a stick a couple of weeks ago. It was six feet four inches long. I’m glad that one
is dead so I don’t have to meet it.
I guess I’ve rambled on long enough. I hope everyone is well and your winter isn’t too cold for you. If it is, you
can always join us.
Love Jane and Bing
How is Joel doing in school? What has he been up to?
Do you have any pictures of the family you could send me?
next chapter
CHAPTER 10 ABOARD DURSMIRG, SIGHTS, SMELLS AND SOUNDS
Our boat was our own little private “island” that moved, a special place at a special time in our youthful years when
we had the time and the money to enjoy it all.
Sights;
Insulation and skylights:
When the sun would beat down and it was so hot outside that you couldn’t go barefoot on deck it was still cool and
comfortable inside the boat. Two inches of Styrofoam insulation under the paneling did the trick. Even back in
Wisconsin when we were still building the boat in our back yard that insulation kept us comfortable inside though
outside it might have been as cold as minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit with a foot or two of snow on deck.
Besides our 30 inch hatch covers, the one over our front berth hinged open to scoop air through the entire boat. At
anchor we normally sat bow to the wind so we would have copious quantities of fresh airflow that was controlled by
how much we opened the front hatch... In places where we sat in strong tidal currents and the wind couldn’t
overpower the current it was necessary to use a special wind scoop that Jane made that automatically self
pivoted to capture the airflow of the wind no matter what direction it came from and directed that airflow down the
hatch and through the boat.
In the design of the boat I took into consideration the many boats we had previously sailed that were dark, damp,
moldy and stuffy. With just a few innovations we had a boat that was bright, dry, mold-free and airy.
The insulation was an imperative first step. Next we needed natural light, which we got from our large hatch covers
plus six more one-foot square sky-lights in our deck over our main salon, galley, dinette, chart table and marine
head. Well, we knew that all of these lovely ½ inch plate glass skylights needed to be controlled so a very simple
system was employed. We had cover plates made of the same material as our paneling was made from (northern
white cedar) and painted a bright reflective white on their upper sides only and mounted in slotted tracks that
allowed us to open and close the deck sky-lights or adjust them to just the proper amount of light we desired.
On rare occasions when the sunlight was scarce and fog, rain and high humidity persisted we watched the humidity
within the boat and whenever it climbed above 55 % we would light off our fireplace. (This was not at all a
conventional fireplace; made of 1/8 inch steel plate it had doors that closed and had a cooking chamber capable of
being used as a smoke oven). Well in short order our little floating home was dry and very comfortable again with
only a small fire.
In that fireplace/smoke oven we cooked many a meal, popped popcorn and even smoked all types of seafood.
***
Our chart table that doubled as my workbench; to the right are two bookshelf ends that I hand carved.
Just inside the companionway and opposite the galley was located our chart table that had a large flat work surface
and plenty of drawers, one of which would accommodate full sizes charts unfolded.
You can see in the photo that I had many projects piled upon the chart table. Besides all of my hobby pursuits I also
used this space to take care of our maintenance projects and as Jane always used to jokingly say, “one day of
sailing was good for two weeks of repairs”. Our friend Bubba’s comment was, “if you have to have a boat break
down, make sure it is next to Dursmirg”. His reasoning was that we always had the repair parts or could fabricate
one from our inventory of extra parts and we even had a gas-welding outfit that got us out of some compromising
close calls and we even managed to keep many a friend’s boat floating and functional.
I wasn’t the only one to do woodcarving. The trivet above was hand carved by Jane. An interesting note
about this trivet; One cold winters day before we had finished our boat the Dursmirg, Jane and I were
walking the frozen shore of Lake Superior and came across a lovely mahogany board that we took home.
That board managed to make its way in the bilge of our boat all the way to Florida. Part of the board I
carved into a deep relief name board for Jane’s parents for Christmas that year and with the remaining
piece Jane carved this little trivet for her mother. We now have it and we use it to this day.
When during our construction of the boat project I first bolted a ten-inch carpenters vise to the chart table that chart
table became my workbench and would be a place that I passed many a happy hour pursuing one of my special
hobbies.
Woodworking and woodcarving have been a great pleasure to me ever since my early youth and here on the boat I
would have the time and many exotic different woods to carve into what ever tickled my fancy.
That woodworking vise that I bolted to our chart table had an interesting history. I purchased it with my first check
that I received from working at my father’s drug store when I was in the eighth grade and paid $20.00 for it. It came
from the Berger Hardware Store owned by my father’s good friend Sam Berger. I have used that vise ever since and
I have lugged it around as one of my personal treasures. I not only use it for all of my hobby endeavors but have
used it in the construction of countless boats I have built over the years. To this day I still have it here in my
workshop at our home in Mexico along with a hand joiner plane I paid $18.00 for. Not a week goes by that I don’t use
the vise. Every time I touch the vise and plane I feel a personal connection with my father and his good friend Sam
Berger.
A couple of other tool items from my younger years that I still use to this day are; a 29 piece drill index and a 4 inch
machinists vise that I purchased for $7.95 each at the East End Hardware Store in Superior, Wisconsin.
While I am on the subject of tools purchased in my youth that I still possess and use to this day I must mention a
multipurpose woodworking tool called a Super Shop that I paid $79.00 for while in my freshman year of high school.
With all the attachments and motor complete this thing has been my woodworking shop friend over many years and
through many a project. This versatile tool converts from a table saw to a lathe, drill press, grinder, and even a
saber saw. I have many attachments that have made it possible to complete a multitude of projects and they
included all of the boats I have built over the years plus most of the furniture and cabinets for our home here in
Mexico.
One more item that we carried aboard our Dursmirg that made almost any kind of repair out to sea or underway
possible was our Oxy-acetylene gas welding and cutting rig. This item definitely kept us going in some very
compromising conditions when a breakdown was very unexpected and unwanted.
In the photo inset above you can see a couple of bookcase ends that I hand carved for our boat. The upper one of
the pelican was nearly two inches thick and done with fiddle back mahogany. The lower one is a silhouette of Jane
and I and that was done in a piece of southern heart pine.
The ships engine: This photo is of our 353 Detroit Diesel Engine as viewed from the top of our companionway
looking down. Easy access was made by removing two cover hatches from over the engine that made the engine
and drive train completely exposed. The engine room had four feet of overhead clearance so that the maintenance
was never done in cramped or poorly lighted conditions. This engine was definitely not installed to pleasure boat
specifications but rather was similar to work boats that plied the briny seas.
I designed and installed a stainless steel closed system “keel-cooler” with a reservoir tank and pressure relief cap so
that the engine always was cooled with clean fresh coolant. The exhaust system was hot and very short and direct
because diesel engines hate any exhaust system back pressure. The engine was fastened directly to the engine
bed and the drive shaft was direct and level. The fuel tanks we originally installed needed replacement because we
were still learning as we went along and even though I had read up on every subject that I could pertaining to marine
engineering I definitely was not always 100%. Just about the time we were ready to quit boating we definitely could
have designed the near perfect ship…and I have built that ship many times in my dreams.
The most important part of all was that we did make our escape and had those youthful years to enjoy realizing that
we didn’t have a single person on the planet that we had to impress with our trendy “yacht”.
In the engine room photo note the 16-gallon beer keg; that and the beer tap in our galley made for some good times
.
The dinette was not just a place to have our meals but also a good place to lean back against a pillow and do
some reading. Under each seat was a storage locker because every available place aboard was needed for our
stuff. Jane had a saying, “if you haven’t used it in four years you don’t need to own it”. What she also used to say
about sailing out to sea was; “everything eventually works its way to the bilge”.
In the photo there were a couple of things that had continual use; the nine-band radio and the globe of the world
were continuously being pressed into service.
The front berth, a view from the entryway looking forward: At the head and foot of the bed were hanging lockers,
(hanging closets), under the bed was storage and above the front berth was a 30-inch hatch cover that hinged open
and also had sliding covers to cut out or adjust the amount of light and also the amount of airflow entering. Mounted
on the bulkhead just below this hatch was a ladder. The berth was so cozy and well insolated our body heat needed
venting even on the coolest of nights, which the boat was well designed to do.
An interesting thing is the fact that Jane and I took our mattress from our home in Wisconsin two nights before we
first moved the boat to its launching. So, we confidently and anxiously moved our bedroom to our new home, the
Dursmirg, where we would live for the next fifteen years but in many different locations and conditions.
We became very avid readers and our inventory of books was amazing. Jane would often read a book a night and
she always got a little edgy when her collection of unread books got down to less than two shopping bags full. Our
boat turned out to be a floating library.
The galley of Dursmirg with Jane busy bottling wine. She is in the process of filling bottles with a siphon
while she has a number of bottles in a steam bath on the stove sterilizing them.
Our bottle inventory was a real motley collection because we had collected the majority of them while
beach combing the many beaches we explored from the Carolinas to the Florida Keys.
SMELLS:
Wine and beer making with the yeasty aroma of fruity fermentation gave a heavenly and inviting olfactory potpourri
that was forever changing. The heavenly hops and malt aromas were commingling with sassafras, plum,
persimmons and elderberry all beckoning your nose to drink it in.
Bread and pastries in the oven sent out scents that tweaked you senses and triggered salivary glands and invoked
instant hunger pangs. Jane’s honey whole-wheat bread, cinnamon rolls, pecan pies and even mullet quiche, all
fresh from the oven were all irresistibly irresistible!
Sea food cooking: There was no way to describe the wondrous world of the freshest of fresh sea food that has
never had to be iced, refrigerated or frozen, that is exquisitely handled and prepared to perfection. I am among the
luckiest people on this planet earth because my Jane is without a doubt the most talented culinary genius I have
ever had the opportunity to sample. Every single day Jane innovates and makes the best of recipes even better. Be
it crab, oyster, conch, fish, clams, shrimp or whatever presents itself at mealtime Jane instinctively, without a second’
s hesitation, converts the catch into some exotic culinary extravaganza that dreams are made of. It was good that we
were young and very active or we would have become fat as toads with our gluttonous eating habits. It was also a
big help that our diet was almost 100% animal fat free.
Some favorite recipes; Boiled shrimp, shrimp pizza, shrimp omelets, Saint Augustine fried shrimp, shrimp Creole,
crab cakes, fried crab, crab gumbo, steamed crabs, crab quiche, stone crab claws, oysters(steam, fried and in
fritters), and also conch chowder, cracked conch, conch ceviche, smoked fish, steamed clams, clam linguine, clam
chowder, plus at least 50 ways to fix mullet and other fish.
Fresh seafood was definitely one of the big advantages of living on a boat at anchor.
Jane loved to use the rod and reel and I loved the big production results of net fishing. Besides the
thrill of the sport fishing, we also loved the thrill of having really fresh meals from whatever came our
way.
In the above photos: Jane with a barracuda she caught and we ate, Jane with a flounder that I caught in
the “Spanish” cast net behind her, a plate of freshly steamed lobster we both dove down to catch, (Jane
didn’t like to dive in water over six feet deep but she didn’t let any lobsters escape and pursued them
with due diligence), and the last photo on the lower right is of stone crab claws. We always kept a crab
trap or two baited and in the water so we managed to catch our share of crabs. Blue crabs would be
steamed live and picked later but the stone crabs only lost one claw and were returned to the water to
regenerate a new claw so that we could enjoy their succulent meat while they were still able to live on.
Note; these stone crabs had a powerful grip that was capable of snapping off a wooden broom handle
and we definitely have seen the results of this savage power first hand. We had some Cuban crab
fisherman friends down in the Florida Keys and several had lost fingers to these powerful little critters.
Besides the many fragrant galley aromas that greeted you as you entered the boat there was also an ever-present
petroleum smell that was part diesel and part kerosene that was emitted from our diesel engine and the various
kerosene lamps we used throughout the boat. We even had a kerosene powered refrigerator that though extremely
efficient burned around the clock and consumed a cup of fuel every day, it was also absolutely silent and only
required Jane’s vigilance to keep its reservoir tank filled and the wick cleaned and trimmed.
SOUNDS
This is a photo of me blowing a “conch horn” that was very loud and effective for opening bridges and
giving other signals required in boat maneuvering.
I can’t remember just who it was that showed me how to cut the end of the conch shells to make these
horns or how to “purse” my lips and blow them like a trumpet but I definitely have passed that
knowledge along to many a sailor over the years.
Sounds were ever present aboard the boat. Even when it seemed like there was no noise if you closed your eyes
and concentrated you would hear the sounds of barnacles snapping on the bottom of the boat or the gurgle of water
flowing past. Many fish made various sounds that were distinctive like the fish known as croakers and also porpoises.
The sound that changed the most was the wind in the rigging. With a gentle breeze only the lapping of tiny waves
against the hull could be heard but as the wind intensified this soon built the wave action into waves that would
thump and then the rigging would begin its various stages of noises. First would come flapping of any flag or cloth
put up to dry. Next came the drumming of the halyards. (Halyards are the ropes that run from deck level to the
masthead and back again that are used for raising and lowering the sails; we had four). We always kept our
halyards tied off securely for this reason. The most unpopular person in an anchorage or marina was the person
that would go off and leave their halyards slack to flap and frap in the wind…this sound quickly would fray your
nerves…sort of like an obnoxious and persistent barking dog could.
Even with the halyards tied off securely the wind could build to the point that they would begin to thump the mast
and need additional securing.
When the wind intensified to 35 knots, our mast would begin to “pump” and send a tremble through the entire hull,
and at 40 knots the pumping became an oscillation that was then developing into heavy sound waves. When the
wind got over 40 knots, a roar developed and at 60 knots and above the roar commingled with a whistle and singing
that was deafening.
We happened to have a wind speed indicator aboard our boat and we were always surprised when we would hear
people’s estimates of the wind speed in various windstorms. For some reason when the wind got over 25 knots most
people would swear that it was blowing a gale and when the wind speed got over 35 knots we would hear estimates
of 60 knots. Well, when the wind is blowing at 60 knots and above, it is so strong that you must hang on or be blown
away and the noise level is so high that you cannot scream directly into someone’s ear and be heard.
In the main salon of Dursmirg: The door at left, port side, leads to our front berth and the other door,
starboard side, to our marine head.
Jane in the galley with many of the things we used in our daily living aboard.
Jane and I standing in the galley with a view of our main salon and front berth.
A view looking forward from the companionway of our main salon: You will notice many items sitting on
shelves and even the table in the center of the photo that would go flying out in the open sea. Well,
everything in this photo is bolted down except the books that all had a lip on the bookshelves so that
they had to be lifted and then pulled out to remove them. As Jane used to say, “Anything that isn’t
bolted down quickly makes its way to the bilge.”
Coffee time as Jane pours me a cup. In this view of our galley you can see Jane’s diesel fuel powered
galley range and our wood fired combination fireplace/ cook stove/smoke oven on the right.
Jane sitting back at our dinette reading a book. This spot became one of our favorite spots to sit and
read and we would place a pillow behind our backs and with our feet up on the seat, this place was
made to order for reading because of the large port holes and sky lights that let in plenty of natural light.
On the dinette you can see our ships log, (the large book with the black binding), that we recorded all of
our movements in plus it doubled as our guest book which everybody that came aboard signed. We
have kept it to this day. It has become a very valuable tool in the writing of this story.
BUGS
This is an interesting topic. Back in Wisconsin when the temperature was a minus 30 degrees Fahrenheit there was
no bug problem. In the sunny south we would be entering a completely new realm of insects.
Spending most of our time at anchor, (we only went to the dock for fuel in six years), we managed to collect all of the
drinking water we needed with our rain catcher plus we had a 750 gallon fresh water holding tank, we were
independent with our fresh water, though frugal.
So, insects that came aboard our boat either flew, swam or we inadvertently carried them onboard with our
provisions.
We lived aboard a long time before our first cockroach appeared. Jane’s food handling and galley cleanliness made
it almost impossible to believe that one of those persistent invaders could survive in our home. Well, they did arrive
and we found that they would even eat foil labels off of jars to consume the glue that held them on.
At one point we imported two chameleon lizards to help us control the bugs. They became our pets and we named
them Big Bob and Floozy. They were very effective and we enjoyed having them around but they didn’t like the boat
life and we several times found them jumping ship as we would row our dinghy to shore. Several times we caught
them in the act of jumping ship and returned them to the boat but finally we realized that they would only be happy
living in the woods on shore and we ultimately relented and let them have their freedom.
It was Mr. Burn at Daufuskie Island that gave me the most insight into the local bugs. I still remember him taking me
around their home to show me one of the most fascinating of the local bugs called “mud-dabbers”.
I found it interesting that Mr. Burn had taken such a special interest in the nature around him and that he was also
eager to share that knowledge with me.
First he pointed out the busy long legged wasp looking bugs flying repeatedly to various locations that were mostly
under protected portions of the buildings there on the Burn property.
These insects that looked a lot like elongated wasps were relentlessly building nests made of wet mud.
Mr. Burn took out his knife and scrapped down one of these nests that were about 3/8 inch in diameter and two
inches long. In some places there would be several of these nests built one upon the other. Well, inside these nests
made of mud were packed countless dead spiders and as Mr. Burn told it these dead spiders were packed into the
nests as food for the freshly laid mud-dabber eggs. This all sounded relatively harmless but Mr. Burn told me that I
needed to be very vigilant for these nests because they would be placed in some of the worst places like inside
radios and other electronic devices where the caustic effect of the salty mud and sand mixture would soon put
whatever device they were laid in out of service. Sometimes they would find any small hole and fill it with their eggs
and that mud-sand mixture so I began to look around our boat and sure enough there they were. So, Jane and I had
another pastime; tracking down these busy bugs before they had an opportunity to build their nests.
As we sat out in the swing in the Burn yard one afternoon when the breeze was dying away large numbers of
“dragon flies” appeared and busily hovered over the yard. Mr. Burn asked me if I knew what these insects were and
then he proudly told me the story of the “mosquito hawks”.
Sure enough, these four-winged creatures that resembled miniature dive bombers were diligently attacking and
devouring mosquitoes. They were definitely fighting on our side of this never-ending battle with mosquitoes. After
Mr. Burn pointed out this flying army, I only wished that there were more of them.
Another strange insect phenomenon was that of the crickets on Daufuskie Island. In the late afternoons when the
wind would die away or shift, almost in an instant and completely in unison the woods would burst into a resounding
cricket orchestra with a prolonged crescendo of these little critters that had to number in the thousands.
Gnats could make life unbearable. These tiny insects would pass through ordinary window screens unless the
screens were treated with diesel fuel or insect repellent. For some strange and unexplained reason these gnats
never ventured inside our boat, the Dursmirg. We often thought that this might have something to do with the fact
that the inside of our boat was lined with cedar paneling or the fact that we used kerosene lamps. Well, for whatever
reason, we were truly blessed not to have these pesky, biting buggers inside our vessel.
I do remember early one damp morning anchored in the Sea Islands and going out on deck to discover that our
anchor rode was completely black and about two inches in diameter. Without thinking I went forward and gave the
anchor rode a kick. Wow! In an instant that black anchor rode turned back to white and resumed its original
diameter of ¾ inch. I ran for my life because in that instant I realized that countless billions of gnats were now
airborne and headed my way!
Some years later we had a smaller fiberglass sailboat and I definitely remember using every kind of repellent plus
copious quantities of kerosene to repel the gnats but it was to no avail and they attacked from every possible angle
entering our ears and noses as we desperately tried to hang on to our sanity until the coming of day and a stiff
breeze to carry these “bad neighbors” away…that is just one of the things that can turn paradise sour.
Mosquitoes didn’t have any compunction about staying out of our boat and for that reason we used screens on the
portholes and over our opening hatches. I devised a rather ingenious system for the hatch cover screens. It
consisted simply of fiberglass window curtain material that Jane sewed pockets in the ends of to hold wooden dowels
that acted as spreaders and also weights. To install them we merely placed them over the hatch and companionway.
They acted like a swinging door if you needed to pass through and quickly returned to their original position. When
they were not in use they could be quickly rolled together and easily stowed.
***
Among the many considerations that had to be considered and incorporated into the design and construction of our
vessel Dursmirg was a sewage holding system in order to comply with a then new law that required them on all newly
documented boats.
This concept was a noble one that we were happy to comply with. We even applauded the new law in order to clean
up the world’s water for everyone.
When Jane and I first started sailing in the waters of Lake Superior back in the 1960s, sewage from all boats was
discharged directly overboard and admittedly the yacht harbors were amongst the very worst places for the stench
laden, putrid and disgustingly awful water and it all didn’t sink.
We witnessed a marked improvement in the water quality by the early 1970s and thought that the world was a better
place now while pleasure boats were quickly bullied into compliance with stiff fines. Companies like Reserve Mining
Company of Silver Bay, Minnesota were flagrantly plundering the waters of the worlds largest fresh water lake, Lake
Superior.
Reserve Mining Company was the processor of iron ore into taconite pellets used in the manufacture of steel.
It so happened that Reserve Mining Company was dumping 47 tons or the equivalent of one railroad car full of
taconite tailings into Lake Superior every two minutes and they persisted at this for twenty five years until 1980 when
a court order finally got them to cease and desist. It wasn’t just muddy water that Reserve Mining Company was
producing but one of the deadliest of carcinogens, asbestos.
As Jane and I later sailed the southern waters we discovered another paradox when we inquired about facilities
where we could pump out our sewage holding tank and we were told that none were available plus that here the tide
alone took care of the sewage. This meant that now we would have to improvise a sewage pump out system of our
own so that we too could also let the tide take care of our sewage.
At this same time on the Chesapeake Bay boaters were required by law to have holding tanks or port-a-potties
toilets into which a special chemical had to be added in order to kill any infectious diseases that could be transmitted
into the waters. This too was a nobly intended move aimed at cleaning up the waters but it soon became apparent
that this wonderful chemical additive that rendered the sewage germ free was killing off all of the marine life with its
deadly formaldehyde.
***
The chain locker or forecastle, sometimes spelled “fo’c’sle”
This part of the vessel is typically in the extreme forward part of the boat and in our case was only accessible
through a hatch from the main deck.
The first eight feet of our vessel was taken up with this compartment that was a storage place for our ground tackle
or in other words our anchors and their associated ropes, chains, shackles, thimbles and chafing gear.
Over the years we discovered that the bigger the anchor, the better we slept so our inventory of anchors increased
until we had nine, not including the small ones we used for our dinghy. We lost several anchors over the years but in
the end we actually found many more than we ever lost.
Our first anchor was given to us by our good friend Don Currie. It was a 42-pound fisherman, a.k.a. kedge style that
is the type of anchor that everyone thinks of when visualizing an anchor. Don maintained that he wanted to have
something aboard our boat and the two things that he donated to our boat that will forever be remembered were this
“fisherman” anchor and also a hand bilge pump that Jane almost pulled the handle off of on more than one
occasion…the water is supposed to be on the outside of the boat!
That anchor saved us and also served us well over the years and of all the anchors we used in so many different
anchoring conditions, this one proved to be a top choice in coral, rock or weedy conditions.
That old time 42-pound fisherman (Wilcox-Crittenden) anchor had a phenomenal galvanizing job done to it because
it took the worst beating of any piece of equipment we ever owned aboard our Dursmirg and never did show any
signs of rust.
I can remember swimming down to inspect that anchor after several days of 50 plus knot winds and finding its tip
(fluke) riding up and down behind a rocky ledge. We wouldn’t have slept a wink knowing the minute point of contact
holding our 20-ton vessel that trembled, shook and lurched through pounding swells of that storm. Other times I
have witnessed that very same anchor literally slice through the sea bottom like a knife through soft butter without
even beginning to slow our boats downwind glide. As an old friend used to say, “Anything that floats will sail
downwind”.
One of the idiosyncrasies of this particular anchor is the fact that as it is dug into the bottom doing its holding job
with one of its flukes, the other one is then protruding upwards and can then be easily fouled by the anchor rode at
times of slack tide or with a change in wind direction if you are only riding on one anchor. That particular
idiosyncrasy can be one of the anchors biggest assets especially when it becomes fouled in some underwater
obstruction. Having discovered that I could always get our anchor back, sometimes sailing around in circles a few
times first to deliberately foul the anchor, it was always retrieved.
I could easily write a lengthy story on our anchors and anchoring experiences but I will leave that to the likes of
Nathanial Bowditch and the yachting magazines.
The basic rule when anchoring was; when entering an anchorage you always asked the other boats there ahead of
you how many anchors and the amount of scope they used, then you would do the same and also respect their first
come status not crowding them out.
We have met just a few anchorage pigs; one of these types of anchorage pigs would come into an anchorage and
try to raft off of someone else’s vessel because of their laziness. Another was the “dog in the manger syndrome”,
where a boater would drop a single anchor in the middle of an anchorage and then proceed to pay out enough
anchor scope so that no other boat could safely anchor there.
Of the nine anchors we owned and used our smallest was a 35 pound British “plow”, the largest being a 150 pound
Northill. We had favorites and the one that sticks out in mind as one of my favorites was a number 50 all aluminum
Viking brand. This anchor had a couple of very redeeming features, one was its no rust aluminum construction and
the other was its lightweight. It was patterned after the Danforth brand and sized to equal their #50 high-tensile
models to be used on vessels up to 50 feet in length. I always used to joke that it was so light that we had to put a
length of heavy chain on it just to keep it from floating away.
To complement our chain locker, which was a top loading storage room in the bow, that had a hatch that snapped
shut and latched automatically when it closed, we had a double anchor chute on the bow of the boat incorporated
into the bow pulpit.
The chain locker had a bulkhead-mounted ladder and duckboards to make a standing platform that give it full
headroom. This compact store room contained a strange collection of various anchors, and anchor roads that I had
taken the time to color code with brightly colored plastic tapes at intervals of fathoms making it easy and quick to
determine any amount of anchor rode we had out. (A basic rule of anchoring was to use a minimum of five times the
depth of water for the length of anchor rode. Seven times the depth being maximum when using our method of three
fathoms of chain followed by nylon anchor rode.)
When we were underway we always had two anchors slung in the anchor chutes and ready to put overboard in a
moments notice with only the simple maneuver of pulling loose a bow knot securing them.
On various occasions we have had our vessel and possibly even our lives spared by having these anchors rigged
and ready for immediate action.
When it came to getting out of tight compromising situations, our sails, our motor and even our dinghy have each
had their part in sparing our vessel. Here I must add that all of the equipment in the world won’t do the slightest
amount of good if the knowledge to put it to work properly and expediently is not there. Of course the knowledge of
what the outcome could possibly be can also be an inspiring impetus to motivate prompt action.
CHAPTER 11
Jane travels to Wisconsin and I am alone.
Anchored at Papy’s Landing on the south side of Daufuskie Island, South Carolina with Bloody Point in
the background, I am in the process of refinishing the boom. This photo was taken from the cockpit area
looking forward to the bow.
***
1975 August 3rd - August 25th
Sea Islands-Daufuskie Island
A series of letters that I wrote to Jane while she was visiting her parents in Wisconsin and I was taking down
the mast of our boat to refinish it all by myself while at anchor at Daufuskie Island.
(Written on stationary from my former business; Grimsrud Sales Company.)
August 3rd, 1975
Jane;
I miss you!
It is Sunday night and I have been busy all day…got the boom about 80% done and got a sunburn, started at
8 this morning and quit at six tonight, more work than I thought. Tomorrow I will go ashore and get the
timber for the bi-pod crane, also finish planing the boom and sanding it plus preservative.
Finished the shrimp today and got some crabs which I picked tonight and the pie is gone…sure was good!
There were twenty boats on Bloody Point today… lots of water skiers also.
I helped a couple from Hilton Head get their boat going and they gave me a couple of beers…sure tasted good
in that hot sun today.
Mr. Burn came to the post office at about 1:30 on Saturday.
I helped him get the school bus started and then walked home. I sure was tired last night…didn’t even light
the lantern and don’t think I will tonight.
Bob and Emily stopped with some wine and I finally got to bed at10.
I am giving them this letter.
Love Grim
***
August 4th letter;
Jane;
I just got the first letter off to you and started to fix breakfast when Mr. Burn came along. He got 180 pounds
of shrimp in a 45 minute drag and needed some help with them. He said that he just about pulled his fingers
off getting the net in the boat. I just had a bowl of cereal and cup of coffee and we went over to his dock to
sort them out. Bob gave me a ride back.
I will have crab for lunch and shrimp for supper. I should have enough shrimp to eat for tomorrow also.
I had to go and get more ice this morning. I cleaned out the icebox and put some baking soda in it to get rid
of any smell.
The screen came off the companionway last night and the bugs got me up this morning.
It is a good thing for mosquito coils, saved me from those bloodthirsty little devils.
Hope you had a good trip back, bet you were tired.
I sure hated to see you go but it was worth it just to get rid of Tom…he needed a good kick in the head and in
the ass. We should have tried some way to straighten him out but he isn’t our problem anymore. Did he
manage to thank you at all? That kid doesn’t know when he is well off. I am going out to work on the boom,
will continue later.
(Tom was a neighbor from Superior, Wisconsin that came to visit us that summer and spent about six weeks
sailing up from Saint Augustine together.)
***
Thursday the 5th
This morning Gene Burn came and needed help with his shrimp so I ate a quick breakfast…grits and hard-
boiled eggs…I didn’t boil them long enough.
Gene gave me about 5 pounds of shrimp and I will have them tonight.
Last night I didn’t quite finish sanding the boom in time to get the Cupernol on; it rained so I will have to give
it a light sanding before I treat it tonight. I don’t want to do it in the heat of the day as the treatment will dry
before it gets a chance to soak in.
After I got back from the Burn’s this morning I sharpened the ax and went to shore to cut the trees for the bi-
pod crane.
I cut one oak and one pine, the pine is at least three times as heavy as the oak. What a job! I had a hell of a
time getting them to the river. Would you believe that they both sunk? Dragged them one at a time out to
Dursmirg and tied them on. I went in to have lunch and when I came out they were both jammed under the
Dursmirg. I moved them out at slack water and then the tide changed they both hooked against the bottom
and the side of the boat. I had a good time engineering them up on the boat. I used the jib sheet winch on
each side and pulled them up over the stern. After I got them part way up I ran a line through a block
forward and back to the jib sheet winch to finish getting them all the way up on deck.
I just went up and re-sanded the boom and gave it a coat of preservative.
At present I have the Swedish stove fired up so I can’t hear the radio, I am fixing shrimp again, and they sure
are good.
I have been making coffee and putting it in the thermos, it sure helps to have it ready in the morning.
If there is enough time after supper I will go out and start fixing up the head of the bi-pod crane, Hooper,
(Ben Smith) gave me some nails. 40% chance of rain tomorrow so between the rain and the community club
I will see what I can get done.
Bob said that the road is getting in worse condition, he got stuck where we did and also in the wet spot just
west of there.
I will write later;
***
August 6th;
I drank a thermos of coffee this morning and I am just going out to work on the mast project. I will eat an
early lunch and go over to the Burn’s house at about 11 this morning so I can make it to the community club
meeting in time. On the way back I will stop and see how the garden is doing.
I better go out and get to work.
It is 10: 20 and I must hurry to the Burn’s house or I will be late for the meeting.
Love you much
Write soon;
Love Grim
***
August 7th;
Jane;
I just got a letter at 10:00 PM.
I was over at Shorty and Bens for supper and it was good…no fried food, but lots of peppers. Had supper last
night with Lance and Emily, rabbit, and it was very good. Emily made a loaf of bread for me, just in time; I
had just run out of your bread.
Today I had some success; I got the bi-pod crane up and in place…quite an engineering project. I did it all
myself and everything is ready for the mast to come down in the morning.
I can’t see any problem getting the mast down by myself, but I will need a hand getting it back up…too many
things to do when it gets up to the right height. If I planned it out I could probably do it.
Did you get my first letter?
When I wrote the first one I was tired also.
We got our Aladdin lamp today and they shorted us a few parts, the rings for the lampshade, one wick and
mantle otherwise everything seemed OK. I haven’t tried it yet.
I am going to bed directly as I want to give this letter to Mr. Burn when he comes by in the morning.
I hope you have a good time as you don’t get home every day…I miss you very much and still love you after
all this time!
Be sure to greet all your friends for me.
See you soon
As ever, Love Your Grim
***
August 8th;
Jane;
Good news! I got the mast down!
I had a little trouble, the blocks kept twisting up and the lines wouldn’t feed through them the right way. I
made 4 trips up to the spreaders in the boatswain’s chair. You wouldn’t believe the blisters on my hands,
they feel like they are on fire. That Dacron line doesn’t help much either; I don’t think that I have ever
handled that much line before.
The deck is a mess because I just got the mast down at dark tonight. The big Bi-pod crane worked out very
well, with two people I think the mast could be taken down in 1/10 the time.
I had one small problem, the base of the mast got away from me and the truck came down and twisted up the
lawn chairs and the crab trap…nothing I can’t fix in a few minutes. Those few minutes have been adding up.
I have been busy every minute and it sure feels good to lay down at night.
The Aladdin lamp sure works well. I fired it up a few minutes ago. It takes a little time to get it adjusted, as I
was writing here it sooted up. So I turned it down and the soot is burning off. I am sure you will like it.
***
August 9th;
Today was another busy day, had company this afternoon; Frank Wiley, plus the schoolteacher and his wife
Jim and Carol Alberto and two colored friends of theirs. Tonight Leion and a friend of his came by and a
good thing they did. I was going to go to bed early. Just as they were leaving the boat swung around and
started heading for Bob’s boat, just missed it and stopped along side it. The tide was flooding and almost
high so I couldn’t understand what had happened at first.
Leon helped me try to get the anchor line up that the Danforth was on but it was caught under the rudder or
propeller. I set the alarm for high water time and went out to see what I could do. I managed to get the
anchor up. That was no problem as it was fouled. Then I got the anchor line loose from the rudder, I wish the
moon was out tonight. The tide was supposed to turn a half hour ago but the boat hadn’t turned yet. I have
everything set so all I have to do is go out and drop the hook when the boat turns. I think I will fix some
popcorn and have a beer. It is getting so late that I am getting hungry again.
I got a lot of work done on the mast today, I got it up on the Styrofoam blocks and moved it completely
inboard. I took most of the hardware off except the track. There was very little dry-rot under the spreaders. I
will start scrapping and sanding in the morning.
23:55 (five minutes to mid-night)
I got the fire going and the butter on. I put the anchor down and the dinghy up. I am going to get up early and
check it.
***
August 10th;
Today I worked on the steel fittings of the mast, got the steel chipped and treated. That took all day.
Tomorrow I will go over to the Burn house and mail this letter and I must get more ice.
After I get done with that I am going to clean and treat the chain plate tops and if I get the time I will scrape
and sand the mast. It should take a few days to do that. I want the metal primer to set up a few days between
coats.
I took some slack out of one of the anchor lines so that they wouldn’t foul again. I don’t care to spend
another night with that project.
Bob and Emily went to Statesboro for the weekend and should be back tomorrow.
I am going to stop and check the garden in the morning, it has been doing good. I have been watering the
plants on the boat and they are doing good, the prickly pear is almost up to the ceiling, but the plant in the
wheel house died…gone forever.
There were the usual amount of water cars today, (outboard speedboats we referred to as “water cars”), and
I can’t wait till Sunday nights when they will be gone.
I am going to bed and will send a letter again as soon as I can.
Love Grim
Wish you were here!!! XXX
P.S. If your folks want to take you for a ride try Bayfield and look up Jerry and Bonnie Peterson.
***
August 11th;
Jane;
This morning I went over to the Burn house and on the way back I stopped to look at the garden. It is doing
fine, except the radishes they look like they got their last lick. Fixed the runners on the sweet potatoes and
they are growing at an incredible rate. The (peas-beans?) are a foot and a half high, it will soon be time to
spread them out with some strings. Well it started to rain just after lunch so I did all I could inside and
thought I would write until it quit. The rain has just stopped so I am going out to work on the mast, sand and
scrape. Write you later.
Later at 1600 hrs. I got rained out again, third time today. I should try some fishing if the rain lets up. Would
you believe that in nine days I haven’t used the can opener one time, all of the meat I have used from the
boat is ham for lunch for two days. I did manage to get one side of the mast scrapped. I still have to sand it. I
haven’t taken the track or the downhaul off yet.
I made a shade for our lamp out of sailcloth. I had to make every part because they didn’t send the rings. I
finished lacing it up this morning so I haven’t had a chance to see how it works. It should work better than
that wrinkled piece of cardboard that was sent with the lantern.
***
August 12th;
Last night I took the cast net and got some shrimp for bait. I then went to catch some fish. The fish stole all
my bait and all I had were two croakers. I decided to get some more fish so I went up to get some fiddler
crabs. That was the answer, as fast as I could cast the line out I got fish. All were croakers and one
sheephead. I had fish for breakfast and lunch today. Tonight Emily brought me another loaf of bread.
First thing this morning I started taking the last of the track and etc off the mast, I finished by noon. This
afternoon I scrapped and sanded three sides of the mast. I looked like a “white man”. I was covered with
paint dust…completely. It is much more work just getting the mast ready to paint than it was to take it down.
The menhaden are back, the biggest school I have ever seen. The fish were just solid for over an hour and a
half this morning.
Thank you for the letters, love. I got one you wrote August 6th and one other. I am glad you are seeing the 40-
degree weather in August instead of me. I almost forgot that even in the warmest two weeks of the summer it
gets that cool up in the “waste land”.
I am glad that you got your silver dollars; the mineral value is overt $2.00 an ounce for one silver dollar. The
1889 and 1890 dollars are worth much more than the 1921 and 1922 dates. If the 1889 and 1890 dollars have
a mintmark they are worth even more. The mintmark is found on the back just under the tail feathers of the
eagle. The most valuable mark is CC; O is the next in value and S next. If there is no mintmark the coin was
minted in Philadelphia.
We had a big day and 24 hours with no rain, tomorrow is suppose to be the same. The temperature is still the
same, the day highs of 80 degrees and nights in the 70s, with the water temperature of 83 degrees.
Tell Marge if she wants to catch some fish on her vacation to come visit us.
I hope to have the mast back up in a week if I work hard tomorrow so that I can start putting the paint on.
The metal primer needs two days between coats. It is getting late, I will write more later, and I will try to mail
this on Friday.
***
August 14th at 22:15;
I had another day of hard work but I finished sanding the mast and got a coat of metal primer on the track,
Spreader plates, base and step and started chipping on the Sampson posts and chain plates. By the way the
good luck penny under the mast is in a safe place. I couldn’t help but think of you when I saw it. Do you
remember that you put it in that bank that you gave me some years ago?
In the morning I will take the letter to the post office. The dinghy hasn’t been down in three days, as of
tomorrow morning. Have you seen the Marcovichs? They stay at Iron River in the summer. Why don’t you
give Sharon a call? I bet she would love to hear from you. You could ask about their plans to fly to Hilton
Head Island this fall. If you get to Berger hardware you could check on the price of Aladdin lantern chimneys,
and also complete burner assemblies. I could easily make a lamp if I had one.
I will write again soon.
I love you- Grim and miss you
Wish you were here, have a good time and greet every one for me.
***
August 14th;
Jane;
I got your letter of August 9th, thank you; it sure was good to hear from you.
Today I went to the post office at 8:30 and it sure was nice in the woods at that time of morning. It turned out
to be another hot day, on deck anyway.
I chipped and primed the chain plates and the heat got to me. I went down to get the fish pole to get fish for
lunch and passed out. I t must have been the loss of salt. I have been drinking about five gallons of water a
day. I had an early supper and opened my first can of food since you left, corn beef. I had that and some rice
with pudding for desert. I went up and did a couple hours work and Bob and Emily came by with a letter and
some wine. We talked for a while and after they left I fixed the VHF antenna. The antenna worked fine it just
was broken off near the top, (the housing only). I split up some bamboo and made an internal repair.
The moon is out and it is a beautiful night, I wish you were here. The crickets and the water running by the
boat are the only noises.
I must go to sleep. I have a busy day tomorrow. I start the white paint.
***
August 15th;
Another beautiful morning, it is 9:30 and the dew is still heavy on the deck and mast so I am going to go
fishing. It is just about low water.
Later; Jane I just got your letter of August 11th, thank you. It sounds like you are having a wonderful time. I
was glad you were able to see Marge. Tell her I still love her and want her to come and spend some time with
us.
Sounds like you are getting to see more people than you had planned, that is good. I told you that if you didn’t
have a good time it would be your fault.
The weather here is beautiful and if it holds I should get the mast up Wednesday or Thursday. It is a lot of
work for one person but I am at the point in the project that all I can do is paint from each day on. All repairs
have been made; I even got the crab trap pounded back into shape and have it out. This morning after
breakfast I went fishing and got enough for two meals. I wasn’t having very good luck with fiddler crabs.
Then Frank Wiley came by and gave me some shrimp. Then I did some good.
Tonight Lance and Emily came by and we had some beer and they invited me to dinner tomorrow night. Sure
will be good to get out of the galley duty.
I’m going over to the post office in the morning.
I will paint one side of the mast in the afternoon, I painted three sides today. Also I have some iron that needs
some painting, a second coat.
I am going to try to clean up some of the sawdust, shavings, bark and rust chips among other things that are
on deck.
I still have to fix the lawn chairs, but that shouldn’t take too long.
When I get ahead of things around here I am going to put the sail rig on the dingy and go for a sail. I need a
change of pace.
Daufuskie isn’t any fun without someone to share it with and that someone is you. I still love you and miss
you. Don’t rush back as you don’t get home everyday and I understand.
All my love Grim
***
August18th;
Jane;
I just finished my painting today. I have had a busy day so far. This morning I put the track back on the mast,
all of the winches and cleats on two sides, rewired the anchor light and white running light and put them
back in place plus I made some stainless steel connectors to connect the mast track together electrically.
That should make a much better antenna.
This afternoon I put a second coat of paint on the fourth side of the mast.
If I don’t find someone to take this letter to the post office in the morning I will take it.
Tomorrow I put the spreaders back, the rest of the cleats and winches and paint the standing rigging.
The weather has been fine for painting. Yesterday is the only day that we had any afternoon rain, (any rain
at all), since I started painting. I just put the last brush full on when it started, perfect timing.
The project is going well but it takes time, and just like the preservative and paint only one coat at a time. I
am going to have an early supper and will write later.
***
August 25th;
It’s up!!!
I got up this morning at 4, made a big breakfast, ate, washed the dishes and was hard at work at 04:55. The
big old moon was still up and the stars out. The mast was about half way up when the sun came over the
horizon. Not on single stink pot, (speed boat), would slow down , Lance and Bob included…I had one hell of a
time with that big old thing reeling, swaying, creaking and groaning and I can’t understand what kept it
up…my determination maybe.
It’s safe for you to come home---hurry, I love you Grim
***
Projects like taking down the mast and putting it back up, though very labor intensive were good lessons in self
reliance.
Jane and I could handle just about any type of engineering project and had proved ourselves over and over again.
At this time in history when the world was in turmoil and we had escaped to this life apart we discovered self-
fulfillment and the value of time together was the most important commodities we could share.
CHAPTER 12
THE WAVING GIRL; the people we met and the experiences we had:
First I have to describe the Waving Girl; this was the name of a large passenger and freight boat that was available
for hire in and around Savannah, Georgia. The boat was owned and operated by a very prominent black man
named Captain Sam Stevens and he kept the boat docked in downtown Savannah.
“Captain Sam”, as he was known, was retired from the military. He also had a night club over on Daufuskie Island,
South Carolina and made a couple of trips a week from Savannah to Daufuskie transporting his clients to his night
club there. We could always hear the boat returning to Savannah late at night on the weekends as the loud music
and singing carried across the marsh lands with its “jump and jive rhythm” to where we anchored our boat about two
miles from the waterway. Captain Sam always seemed to pack his two-deck vessel to its limits coming and going. On
the island he had created a small industry of food venders that mainly did crab cakes, which were a big hit at his
nightclub.
***
Captain Sam Stevens
One time a month Captain Sam brought his boat, the Waving Girl, over to the island and all the residents that
wanted to go to Savannah were given free passage over and back.
Jane and I never missed this opportunity to mingle with the natives though we were almost always the only white
people that took the trip.
The Waving Girl would dock early in the morning down at the public landing on the western side of the island
situated just south of Rams Horn Creek that led off to Hilton Head Island via the Intracoastal Waterway.
This was a strange and interesting sight in the first years we came to the island because there were more ox carts
than automobiles on the island and of the 85 people living on the island full time, only 11 were white.
Jane and I were the only ones to arrive on bicycles but there was no parking problem because of the lack of motor
vehicles. Many of the patrons arrived on foot.
The boat was packed with people of all ages and our first couple of times we felt like outsiders but the trip was close
to two hours each way so sooner or later we got involved with our fellow travelers.
The trip back to the island was different because some of the men managed to get slightly inebriated or even worse.
Even one time when we went to town on “Election Day” these guys managed to find some booze.
The trip was very scenic for Jane and I because we never tired of the fascinating country of the Sea Islands with
countless little islands or savannas where aromatic cedar, long leaf pine and palm trees mixed with white oaks
draped in wispy Spanish moss. The waters were prolifically filled with an abundance of sea life; porpoises played,
mullet jumped and huge schools of menhaden flipped frantically along with the surging tidal currents.
When we disembarked in downtown Savannah at the historic district on Factor’s Walk the Daufuskie Islanders were
an eager bunch of shoppers because for many it had been at least a month or more since they had been off the
island, let alone to town.
The two stores that managed to get the bulk of the islanders business were the Bargain Corner and the Feed Store
and were an easy walk from the boat landing.
Jane and I always loved to shop at the Bargain Corner where we stocked up on daisy cheese sold from huge round
slabs where your portion was sliced off and wrapped in paper. Country smoked cured hams that didn’t require
refrigeration were another big hit that we made sure we never ran out of. Jane would buy large quantities of eggs
that she packed in sodium silicate so that they would keep fresh without refrigeration. Butter she also stocked up on
and packed it in large glass jars covered with a layer of salt so it would keep even in the hot summer heat without
refrigeration. Whole-wheat flour, salt, rice, sugar and corn grits were purchased in cloth bags that would be at least
a month’s supply.
The island bootleggers were easy to spot because of their hundred pound sacks of corn grits and sugar and it was
known that they didn’t have any chickens at home to feed. We of course laid in big quantities of sugar to maintain
our wine and beer production.
I will never forget going to a downtown hardware store and asking for lag bolts which are heavy duty screws with
square or hex heads. The lady clerk asked me, “how many watts?” The southern accent mixed with the low country
Gullah spoken in the Savannah area definitely made me realize this was a different country. I can’t imagine how you
would pronounce light bulbs in the local dialect but on the street when you were greeted they would say, “haus y’all”
and to me it still sounds like I am being asked, “How is your oil?”
Jane and I always used to joke about this end of the world famous for; peanuts, peaches, pine trees, palmettos,
porpoises, pecans and poor-folks. Poor-folks was pronounced, “Po’r fooks”.
By the time we would get back to the island at night I couldn’t help but think of A. Lance’s comment upon returning
from town, “I spent a week in town today!”
1974 October 28th (Daufuskie Island)
A letter Jane wrote to her parents;
Dear Mom, Dad and Joel;
Thank you so much for your letter. I was very happy to get it and hear all the news. I hope that Jim and
Penny and their new baby are doing fine. I got a letter from them right after I got yours. I got one from John
too so I’m getting caught up on what everyone’s up to.
Bing and I are still at Daufuskie and busy as ever. A week and a half ago we had friends from Saint
Augustine visit us. Two of them only stayed one night and the other two, Bob and Beverly, for almost a week.
When Bob and Beverly were here we put the Dursmirg on the beach at high tide, waited for the water to go
out which left us high and dry on the beach and cleaned the boat’s bottom. When the tide came back in, we
floated and were able to get off the beach. We need to paint the boat now and will go to Fernandina Beach,
Florida soon and put the boat on the marine railway to do that.
I’m not sure when we are going yet, possibly as soon as next week. I’ll let you know when we know for sure;
in the mean time you can keep sending our mail here. I sure hate to leave… it is still beautiful weather. It
was 85 degrees today but usually it’s been in the 70s the last couple of weeks. We have been out gill net
fishing 3 times the last week with a friend that has a commercial license. We got 200 fish the first time and
about 100 each of the other times. It was a lot of fun and we got plenty of fish to eat. Our friend sells the fish
to people on the island. Bing went shrimping yesterday with another friend, so we got shrimp last night for
supper. We sure eat good here. It takes a great deal of time to get our food but it sure is worth it.
We’ve been doing some work on the boat, (it never ceases), to make sure everything’s in top condition for
our trip south. We got our fuel tanks full for 38 cants a gallon plus 55 gallons of kerosene at 41 cents for our
lights and stove. We paid 16 cents two years ago for both. The cost of living has sure gone up in the last two
years, but we sure have learned to live more economical. We are spending less money per month than we
ever have and living better and happier too! Not much goes to waste on Dursmirg. We have gone to town
once a month since June aboard the ”Waving Girl”, a boat that takes island people once a month to
Savannah to buy supplies. The government pays for the boat as Daufuskie is classed as a poverty stricken
area and there is no bridge to the mainland. The island also has its own (government supported), ferry but it
is too small to carry all of the chicken feed, cow feed, refrigerators and etc that the people buy. The “Waving
Girl” also brings fuel to the island once a month during the winter season. That is how we got our diesel fuel
and kerosene.
We are still looking for property here but haven’t found what we want in our price range yet. I think that
land price will come down soon. Economically the South is hit hard now. Last year they were screaming for
workers, this year unemployment has run wild. Our friends from Saint Augustine said it’s bad there too. The
big move to the South has been halted. Last year over 2000 people were moving to Florida a day, this year
they will probably go back. Not us however, we sure love the South, and fortunately we don’t have to look
for work here.
It sure is pretty here this time of year. A lot of the trees turn color, (the sweet gums look like maple trees),
and the woods are full of wild berries and nuts. We have been gathering elderberries, persimmons, hickory
nuts and pecans from the woods, plus sassafras roots for our wine. There are a lot of old trails though the
woods where we can ride our bikes. We keep a sharp lookout for snakes however. Our friend, Mrs. Billie
Burn killed a rattlesnake with a stick a couple of weeks ago. It was six feet four inches long. I’m glad that one
is dead so I don’t have to meet it.
I guess I’ve rambled on long enough. I hope everyone is well and your winter isn’t too cold for you. If it is, you
can always join us.
Love Jane and Bing
How is Joel doing in school? What has he been up to?
Do you have any pictures of the family you could send me?
next chapter
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