| TRAVELS OF DURSMIRG VOLUME IV THE ROGUES OF ST. AUGUSTINE AND OTHER SOCIAL MISFITS Chapter 66 |
LOGBOOK NAMES FROM ST. AUGUSTINE AND EXCERPT FROM NATIONAL FISHERMAN YEARBOOK
Stewart and Nancy Force, Jacksonville, Florida/ “Aythya” (canvas back duck)
Linda and Hugo (Bubba) Schill, Saint Augustine, Florida/ “Jaeger”/ Dec 15, 1972
(Bubba and Linda aboard their boat Jaeger.)
Bob Currie Milford, Delaware. “Duet”
Dan and Dinah Kossoff, Jacksonville, Florida
Robert White Bayou al Batre, Louisiana “Little Derrick” December, 1972 (photo below)
Bob and Beverly Baker Boston, Massachusetts (photo below)
Nicholas/ Uncle Harry Xynides Saint Augustine, Florida, (Xynides Boat Yard)
James “Eddie” Long St. Augustine, Florida (Desco Marine) 1973
James F. Lumbus Greek from Cuba lived at St. Augustine Beach.
Jay Hendon 23 foot sailboat/sailed to Fort Lauderdale with him (story)
Don Thibault Saint Augustine worked at the post office and did marine photography.
George William Tappin “Terry” (Mary), dog Bimbo (photo below)
Ted Chace, Jim Biers, Byron McGrath; Sailboat “Sea Mist VI” Canadians; sailed to Savannah and went to went to
work at the Thunderbolt Marina.
Martin Tom Dickenson, Alexander, Virginia “Antilla” April 15th 1973
Steve and Lum Brown “Sea Dog” Hartford, Connecticut /Saint Augustine/ Savannah/Cumberland Island (story)
Scott Pothier/Patty address=Matanzas Bay, also 20 Rhode Ave. St. Augustine. From New York State, bought a 5
World War II all wood mine sweeper with a big Buda diesel engine, (story)
Kinsey kids; Jerry, Brad and Jean (stories, aloe, shrimp recipe, uncle Pete, woodworking shop, etc.), also Thompson’
s Cecilia (stories), Jimmy, Pierre, Marian, David, Fred Russel
Harry and Jane Walden (worked at McLancen Boat yard building Ferro-cement boats, lived in apartment on Riberia
Street cold no heat, (stories) boat Sea Nymph; photo below
Chris Carnes, “Scout” St. Augustine Yacht Pier, “when you snooze, you lose” Oct, 1973 (story), partner, Thomas
Greenhalgh, girlfriends/Debbie Kocher/Kathy Brooks
Frank Helm Saint Augustine City Yacht Pier Oct 1973
Thomas Tredor (Tom) Sophie, Saint Augustine Yacht Pier, boat “Gloucester” (stories)
Fred and Ann Everson at St. Augustine “Moonraker” (story) Oct. 1973
John and Mary Gray, St. Augustine home on Water Street, boat “Old Coot” (story)
Brother visited us at Daufuskie Island August 1974
Bruce and Jean Chadwick first met at St. Augustine boat, “Charlotte Jean” 42 foot steel Colvin design. aka “Loose
Bruce” and “Far Out” Later we rendezvoused with them on the Indian River, Miami and Marathon..(stories)
Walter and Cynthia Perry from Pakipsi, New York, boat “Zwalker” steel boat, Walter was a big guy, 6’6” and Cynthia
short with one crippled leg, rendezvoused in Marathon, Melbourne (stories)
Lloyd Wainwright and Caroline 8 Eastman St, St. Augustine signed book Oct 17, 1975 “to two of the nicest people I
know”. Lloyd had been a shrimp boat owner, (stories WWII), worked as delivery captain for Desco Marine and St.
Augustine Trawlers, (stories)
Susan Love St. Augustine Record, she did a feature article in the newspaper on Dursmirg. February 1975
John and Mary Darrell from Riverside, New Jersey boat Pegasus (story; they went to Marathon and later Mary
worked at the St. George Tavern and John opened a bar on Vilano Beach named “The Sandspur”.)
Joe Oliver; worked at Marine Supply and Oil Company; Portuguese (Story)
Stan Thompson and wife Dolores (stories)
Rick James, ran the Victory II tour boat for Frank Usina, later had his own shrimp boat for one season, a Harker’s
Island wooden sport fishing boat converted to pull a single rig trawl net. (story)
Art Lunquist, sailor lost his dinghy and quit boating at St. A. tried to sell us a VW hippy van…beat with no brakes.
(story) March 1975
George and Bonnie Ford boat Rose of Tralee George built a 50-foot trimaran in New York State and sailed to St.
Augustine. (story; went into business with Dom Trakor and began developing a boatyard on the San Sebastian river.
Dom squandered all the money, George did all the work and soon the enterprise sunk.) George later tied his boat
over at our dock and took a job at the 7-11 and moved into a house trailer with his wife, kids and all their caged
animals.
Heinz and Margaret Gearich from Hamilton, Ontario. This was the maiden voyage of their home built Ferro-cement
boat named Albatross VI. The photo below is from the St. Augustine Record newspaper April 12, 1975 depicting the
Albatross VI anchored in Matanzas Bay near the City yacht Pier.
James Ponce 57 Comares Ave Saint Augustine *** (lots of Stories)
George Tappin and Mary Kay Hopping 197 Ferro Rd on Valano Beach Boat Terry. (special story about George),
story about Mary Kay before George
Jerry and Coralee Pomar, Jerry worked at the City Yacht Pier and his wife was head of the chamber of commerce.
(story)
Jerry Colee (stories) worked at the City Yacht Pier, (story Minorca)
Gaetanos family, George wife Katrina, children, Pete and Mikae
Ralph Gosline (shrimp boat deliveries) wife had cancer and worked a the hospital
Ricky Hernandez, friend of Brad and Jean Kimski, worked at fire department and also laid brick.
John Ryder June 23 1975 (story)
Tom Williams, June 6th 1975
Harry, Barb, Andy and Brian Kehler boat Spree. Chris-Craft 34 foot fiberglass sailboat. (story; anchor fouled on
power cable and couldn’t get it back, I helped them rig their winch and trip line. The large heavy cable came up with
several anchors attached and I claimed them for my troubles.) Later we met them at Boot Key October 1975
Robert E. Shelfer boat Amberjack (story, classic sailing schooner, crafty sailor and was just hanging out). August 3,
1977
James Cramer Fish Island Marina, (story, friend of Scott and Pat, glider pilot from New York)
Gary and Pan Kanaly Detroit, Michigan, boat Bolona Divita
Jim and Leigh Muller, “Mr and Mrs”, August 26, 1977 came to visit us in St. Augustine on their honeymoon with their
new little $5,000 bright pea green Volkswagen Rabbit
Above Jim and Leigh Muller aboard Dursmirg in the 1970s as Leigh sketches in pen and ink that she received some
acclaim for. We have the original which we treasure.
Steve Hestler, Chester Basin Nova Scotia, Canada, boat name Duchess (story)
Dick Huffman, Dorrs Ferry NY boat name Joshua Slocum (story, “drawling Josh”)
Kippy Kimski September 24, 1977 (stories; “Kippi-Dippi the pot smoking hippie”, held up the sight seeing train at
gun point in broad daylight, had an affair with his eight grade teacher, did wheelies with his dad’s fuel transport
trucks, changed his oil on his shrimp boat off-shore at night because , “you don’t pollute after dark”…and much
more).
(His quote in our log book= “the craziest bastard in town”)
Steve and Gina Buell from Charleston later St. Augustine boat name Queen Bess (stories) December 24, 1977
Capt. Mack Forman boat name Sea Wonderer (stories, “Mack the jailbird monkey”, boat delivery to Trinidad, jump
parole, and much more) March 28, 1978
Jeff Jones 35 Dufferin 3B tennent at Flamingo Apartments April 1, 1978
Glenn Spotts boat name Spado, (stories) June 4, 1978
Helen and Ken Falconer former owners of the Flamingo Apartments. 28 June 1978
Roger Kenzor, St. Augustine Trawlers and later San Sebastian Marine, (stories, watchman job, boat delivery to
Tampa, and etc) April 4, 1978
Jim Roarty (stories) below Bev, Jamie and Jim Roarty (photo below)
Fred Cullem boat name Sea Dog (stories) April 29, 1979
Reggie Pamies San Sebastian Marine
Jim Banks, Richard McMullen St. Augustine City building inspectors (stories) October 27, 1979
Valerie Siddall New Hampshire, boat name Tlonadrak (stories)
Rodney and Phyllis Shutt (photo below, our sailing buddies and good friends)
John O’Sullivan County Cork, Ireland January 29, 1980 (lots of stories)
Dan Holiday April 29, 1980
James Jackson, used furniture and refrigeration
Gregg and Marian Vaccaro ; Photo; Mary Ann, Greg and son Jorel (photo below)
John Senfield; real estate salesmen from Jacksonville (stories)
Steve Xynides
Bob and June Crumbly
Bill Davis sport fishing store (stories)
Roger Hendricks (stories)
Mike Wilson, boat Second Wind; Palatka, Florida, (stories, store Dursmirg up river, he helped us get it out) April 28,
1982
Last entry in log book April 29, 1982 Jim Mooney, John and Evelyn Burtchell
Monroe Drake; “If you get up in the morning and see anyone else you are too late”
“I’m not building a boat out of anything that I can’t get high
on”,
therefore he wouldn’t use Ferro cement
construction.
David Pacetti; local legend and preponderance of prosperity preacher.
Brett Hollerith aboard his lovely 36 foot Choy Lee Anjan 1970s
Chris Janet Knudler with sons Adam and Patric; 1970s drop out sailors that settled down and adjusted to family life
ashore. This photo is from a 1983 visit to us in St. Augustine.
STAN LITSAS was aboard Dursmirg in 1979;
What a perfect way to wind up this story.
Stan wasn’t a social misfit in the strictest sense of the word, in fact he just might have been the prefect fit.
This strong-minded Greek immigrant went to colossal extremes to get to America and St. Augustine.
With a focused mind-set Stan first jumped ship in America, went to work as a “wet-back” without papers, got caught,
got deported and upon leaving paid his own way back to Greece. This didn’t detour indomitable Stan.
Yet again he took a job as seamen and jumped ship. Without papers he took a job and again got himself deported.
This second trip to America however he had the forethought to stash clothes and cash with a friend because he had
thought it through and was going to be prepared for all eventualities on his next attempt. Well as luck would have it
Stan’s third attempt to come to America landed him on a ship that didn’t land in the U.S. for over a year. This time
Stan registered himself and got legal status with the help of a pervious employer.
A hard worker and well suited with exceptional management skills Stan landed a job with Borden Foods in New
Jersey where he excelled at his job.
Next he was transferred to St. Augustine to ramrod the production of a company branch called Wise Potato Chips.
Being Greek and being in St. Augustine soon Stan became acquainted with our Greek friends and that is how we
met this likable guy who became our very dear friend.
Of all of St. Augustine’s citizens we haven’t met anybody that had put forth as much unwavering effort to get to town
as Stan Litsas did.
NATIONAL FISHERMAN YEARBOOK EXCERPT;
FERNANDINA, FLORIDA THE BIRTHPLACE OF SHRIMPING
By Mike Rolleston; a feature article from the “National Fishermen Yearbook”
The birth of the modern shrimping industry can be compared to that of a child of questionable parentage. Just when
and where it arrived can be pinpointed with reasonable accuracy, but determining the father is another matter
altogether. The difference is while no one is willing to claim the child, everyone wants to tae credit for the birth of
shrimping.
Without question, the birthplace is Fernandina, on the northeast coast of Florida. And the year with the best
credentials is 1913, when the development of otter trawl revolutionized the industry. But just who developed the trawl
is open to question.
Although 1913 was a big year, one must go back before the turn of the century to get a complete picture. Actually,
shrimp had been caught for years earlier, but it was not until the late 1800s that records came into use.
The earliest fishery statistics that involve Fernandina appear in the US government report for 1979-’80 season,
stating that shrimp were “abundant in the harbor…the entire year, and a man can readily secure three or four
bushels with a small cast net on any pleasant night. The catch …is boiled and dried for shipment to New York,
Philadelphia and Savannah.”
That same year, the entire catch on Florida’s east coast was said to be 72,000 pounds, valued at $4,000 dollars,
but that was far behind Louisiana’s 534,000 pounds worth $42,000.
At the time, most of the shrimp were being caught with cast nets or haul seines dragged just off the beaches of from
rowboats. By 1897, the shrimp catches along the Gulf Coast and in California totaled millions of pounds, while the
Florida east coast catch still numbered in the thousands. However, things were about to change.
During this time, European immigrants were flooding into the United States. Among the arrivals were families of
fishermen from Sicily. One of these fishermen, Sollecito Salvatore from Siracuse, found his way to Fernandina.
Salvatore, who became known as Mike Salvatore, could speak several languages, according to his oldest son, Felix,
and acted as interpreter among the ships which came into port.
Salvador decided to sty in Fernandina and quickly joined the fishing and shrimping activity around the area.
Helen Gordon Litrico, who publishes a guide booklet to Amelia Island (Fernandina area), has written on the early
years of shrimping there and has extensively, researched local records. At the Nassau County Courthouse, she
unearthed an 1899 mortgage held by a J. D. Millan for Salvador’s purchase of supplies, including “one large ice box,
one small ice box, one large iron boiler (about 10 gallons), one shrimp cast net, 20 kegs (for shipping shrimp) and
150 lbs. of preserving powder.”
Salvator sent back favorable reports to relatives and countrymen about Florida’s sunny climate and fishing
possibilities there. He was joined by his brothers-in-law, Salvatore Versaggi and Antonio Poli. Shortly after came
Joseph Gianino.
By 1902, Florida’s shrimp production had jumped to more than 3 million lbs., though the fishermen were still using
cast nets and haul seines.
“My daddy used to row Nassau Sound with my mother in the boat,” says Felix Salvador, “fishing all night just to make
some money to buy food.”
Although shrimp were abundant, there was little market for them.
“People just didn’t know what to do with them, how to fix them,” says John Versaggi, eldest son of Salvatore Versaggi.
Some were sold for a nickel a pound in Fernandina, but “most went to bars up north where they were boiled and
heavily salted,” recalls Versaggi. “You could eat them free as long as you bought beer.”
Because it was tough to make any money, Salvatore Versaggi went to New York, where he worked as a
longshoreman.
“It was hard, forbidding work,” says John. “He was constantly exposed to the elements, I was just four or five then, he
had his big mustache and he would come home in winter with icicles hanging from his mustache. He would lean over
the stove and let them melt. I used to think that was the funniest thing.”
Then in 1910 something happened that was going to turn Fernandina upside down and pave the way for later
development of the shrimping industry.
That was the year of the big bluefish, and the money attracted boats and men from the north. Versaggi was among
those convinced to come south again and share the profits.
John says, “They (his friends and relatives) were all immigrants. They had to help each other back then. It was just
self preservation.” So word went out and the influx began.
Richard Janson, A native of Sweden and now 79 years old, was not among the first arrivals. He came a few years
later but met many who had been there catching the big blues and heard their stories. One of the men who
befriended Janson was a fisherman called “Horse Mackerel” Sam, who became well known in the area and years
later sold Janson his first boat.
“Sam was there,” says Janson, “and he would lie in his bunk, smoking his pipe, and tell me about it.”
Sam was among the fishermen who worked off the New Jersey coast in summers and spent the winters in the Florida
Keys. Most of the skiffs were shipped down on railroad flatcars. A few skiffs, though, had cabins, and in the fall of
1910, “Sam and six others left Wildwood to run the boats down,” When they hit Brunswick, Ga., they ran into bluefish
“so big they had to pack them head first in barrels. They wouldn’t fit n boxes. They were 20-25 lbs. each.”
They caught blues all the way down to Mayport, just south of Fernandina.
“They’d never seen so many fish,” says Janson.
When word reached the North, everybody wanted to go to Fernandina. Soon came the big schooners from Fulton
Fish Market. There were 18 smacks, each with up to 22 men aboard. Then merchants followed. There were bait
men, packers and others. Up to 300 hundred fishermen swelled into the area after the bluefish.
“It was like a gold rush,” says Janson. Talk to anyone knowledgeable about the early years of shrimping and they
first mention the big blues and the fishermen that came after them. About half of the new arrivals were
Scandinavians (Swedes, Norwegians, and Icelanders), and half were Portuguese. “Good fishermen,” says Janson.
When the blues left, so did the fishermen, but both returned in 1911 and again in 1912. “This was the biggest ever
for blues in Florida,” Janson maintains.
It was big for Fernandina too. When the fishermen got off the boats, they were usually looking for two things. One, of
course was whisky, which they found at the Palace Bar, still in operation today. Established in 1878, it claims to be
the oldest in the state.
“Never in history has so much gone on as there,” says Janson. “There were 200 men, and all of them had money.
They would come in in oil and boots and drink and dance until there were so many fish scales on the floor it was
hard to walk.”
And wherever there were fishermen, plenty of women followed.”
One of the fishermen, “Staysail Jack,” had a sweetheart in Atlantic City, a rich woman who ran a “boarding house.”
Whenever Jack called, she brought down a number of women. The fishermen and women would wind up at the
Keystone Hotel, where, according to Janson, “They would dance all night, even on the tables. The owner didn’t care.
As long as there was money around, you could tear the place down.”
By 1912, though, the big blues were thinning out. And in 1913, the boom was over. Some had already turned to
snapper fishing. Others were thinking of other ways to catch shrimp. It was then that the first otter trawl was
developed for shrimping. A number of accounts gave the credit to Capt. Billy Corkum, a Massachusetts fisherman.
But pick a different nationality and you get a different name.
“He (Corkum) copied Sam.” Janson says, explaining that Sam made the first shrimp net in the country in 1912,
adapting nets he had used for flounder off New Jersey.
Shortly thereafter, Salvatore Tringali, net maker for the Salvador and Versaggi fleets, modified the sardine net of his
native Sicily for shrimping. Regardless who gets the credit, the net was soon copied by nearly everyone there. By
1918, 9 million lbs. of shrimp were caught off the Florida east coast, with 33 million off Louisiana. This was a time
when both methods and machinery were quickly adapted or copied to meet the demands of the day.
For example, gasoline, selling at about 7¢-8¢a gal., was “too expensive.” So a Dane by the name of Sirhansen (“He
was a mechanic and could do any damn thing,” says Janson) developed a hot box that would mount to the
carburetor and heat the cheaper “skunk oil” hot enough to use. At 3¢-4¢ a gal., that saved a lot of money. One boat
builder earned the name “Kerosene John” by instilling hot boxes on all his boats.
The early boats had an A-frame rig for hauling nets, and everything had to be pulled aboard by hand. Then
someone tried a boom. Another developed a motor-driven hoister for hauling the nets aboard.
“The way things went,” says Janson, “someone would have an idea and then try it out. In about a month, everyone
would have it.”
Sam, sys Janson, decided to try a tickler chain that he had used for flounder off New Jersey. It worked well, stirring
up shrimp off the bottom and into the nets.
“He caught more shrimp quicker than anyone else, and no one could figure out what he was doing,” says Janson.
“He would hide the chain below as soon as he got the nets onboard.” But it was fully exposed, and then everyone
had one.
Many names came to be synonymous with shrimping from the early years. Native families from Fernandina include,
Hardee, Cook, Brazzell, Little, Freeman, Wilder, Evatt, and Bennett. Among the immigrants to the area were
Bassetta, Litrico, Fazio, Serra, Carinhas, Santos, Johnson, Hanson, Olson, Sundeman, Ferguson and Tappin.
Most of the early boatbuilders were blacks, including Wizzie Biddle, Bill Rivers (who built Salvador’s early boats) and
Oscar Danburg. Then came the Greeks, including Tilialos, Kotelas, Sarris and segarris.
And, in addition to Salvador, Versaggi and Poli, Market operators included such names as Brooks, Hirth and Corbett.
Most of the early operators were family oriented, and the kids were started early.
“I can remember,” says Felix Salvador, “when I was about three year sold, My father would carry me down to the
docks and set me up on my own table heading shrimp.”
During these early years, most of the boats were getting 30-40 bu. A day and would be back in port in the late
afternoon. Then there were fewer shrimp and the boats started working their way south. But few liked to go to St.
Augustine; about 40 miles south of Fernandina, for there were no decent inlets until Ft. Pierce, nearly 200 miles
away. And, of course, the markets were back in Fernandina.
Salvador decided to move his market to St. Augustine.
“It was the first dock in St. Augustine,” says Felix.
When it was set up in 1920, the city wasn’t too happy because of the odor. But as the boats started pouring in (“At
times you could walk across the san Sebastian River from one boat to another,” says Versaggi), and more docks
and markets sprang up, the smell of money became stronger than the smell of fish.
During the 1920s there were as many as 250-300 boats working out of St. Augustine, of about half were based
there.
And among the fishermen were a few characters.
Janson remembers a big Icelander named Nils, about 6’6” with a “big fine set of teeth. But he was always feeling
bad. He went to the marine hospital in Savannah (where fishermen got free treatment) and the doctors said, “Your
teeth have got to come out. They’re poisoning your body.”
When Nils got back to St. Augustine a couple of weeks later, it was Christmas week, and most of the shrimpers were
in port and at Spanish Jack’s Café, a regular hangout near the docks.
“He looked so funny,” says Janson, “like his face was caved in. everyone laughed.”
On shrimper named Shorty told him, “Christmas is coming and all you will be able to eat is oatmeal.”
“Well, by God,” boomed Nils, “I got good gums,” and with that he picked Shorty up by the neck and bit down on his
nose.
‘It swelled up like a 10 –lb. ham,” says Janson, cupping his hands over his nose for emphasis.”
Shorty swore that he would get even. He didn’t have to wait long. Nils kept drinking for several days. When he finally
fell asleep on the bench in the bar, Shorty got a taxi, managed to stuff the big Icelander into the back seat and gave
the driver $10 (“that was big money in those days”) and told him to take the passed-out Nils as far as the money
allowed.
When the driver got to Tampa, he woke the Icelander up and told him to get out. “You’re here.” The big man
stumbled out without a penny, still drunk, not knowing where he was.
“It took him two or three days to get back to St. Augustine,” says Janson. “He was really mad. It was lucky he didn’t
find Shorty.”
Christmas was when there were a lot of drinking and a lot of pranks.
Janson recalls a Norwegian who was “always dry when he fished, but when he started drinking, there was no
monkey business. It was serious drinking. He was a big guy. You could hit him with a sledgehammer and not knock
him down.” And he had a prized mustache that he curled back over his ears.
One Christmas this Norwegian started out in his smelly fish cloths, taking with him several suits to the bar whose
owner would send them to the laundry. When he dropped off the suits with a note to clean and press them, a
Hollander by the name of Case, “who was always playing tricks,” got the note and added, “And shorten pants 4”.”
The Norwegian drank until he got his pants back, then went to Big Margaret’s, a “sport’ in house,” for a bath and girl.
He apparently picked the wrong girl, “an Alabama hellcat,” because, while he was asleep, she cut one side of his
prized mustache. When he woke up and got dressed, he was still drunk and went down the street wearing half a
mustache and pants 4” too short.
“Everyone was laughing at him and he didn’t know what was going on. You don’t see people like that anymore,” says
Janson.
By the 1920s, both Salvador and Versaggi had developed small fleets. But both died during that decade, so sons
Felix and John took over the Salvador operation. John Versaggi was followed into the family business by brothers
Virgil, Joe, Manuel and Dominic. The Versaggi’s also moved to St. Augustine.
“My father has planned to move down,” says John. “He felt there were better opportunities there.”
The ‘20s were a boom for shrimp in St. Augustine.
“I’ve seen as many as eight or nine (train) carloads of shrimp leave at a time.” says Versaggi.
St. Augustine was the Versaggi base of operations until the war years, when they expanded to Louisiana and then
pioneered shrimping in South America. And in the ‘20s shrimping mover further down the Florida coast. Janson was
on a smack, the John Erickson, fishing for snapper of Cape Canaveral with 20-25 men and eight dories when a
northeaster drove them into a cove. (There was no inlet then.) When the storm abated, they hauled up the anchor,
on which was a “hunk of mud with shrimp stuck to it.”
Janson decided to come back later and try shrimping. He and a French Canadian, Ed Marcus, “who was game for
anything,” went down in the late fall around 1926. They ran all night, then set their nets the next day and started
dragging. After about a half hour, “the toe line came together. I thought that it was fast or something was wrong, so
we decided to haul it up.”
When they did, “shrimp rained off the doors.” They split open the bag and started scooping up shrimp. They had
picked up about 35-40 bu. They set the nets again.
“It didn’t matter where you dragged that day, you pulled up shrimp.”
When they had filled the hold and had 40 bu. On deck, they set out for Ft. Pierce. At the dock, they called B. B.
Brooks, who had a packing house in St. Augustine, then iced the catch and started heading shrimp. Brooks came
down with a truckload of workers to take care of the shrimp. The docks at Ft. Pierce were coming alive, and the
townspeople were glad to have it.
“the mayor came down to the dock and shook my hand,” says Janson. “He said this would be a big boom for the
town.”
The next week, he adds, “They were building fish houses all along the old wood bridge there.”
Later, it was Mike Salvador’s sons, John and Felix, who opened up the Dry Tortugas beds. Felix remembers making
a number of drags during one day off the Keys and getting “just one or two shrimp.” But as they were coming back
in at night, he kept seeing flashes of phosphorescence in the water behind the boat. So they dropped the net, and
when they pulled it in, it was full. So began night fishing in the Keys.
As the War approached shrimping was still good along the East Coast, though the price had dropped from $1 to
about 65¢ a bu. during the Depression.
Janson recalls being below the cape, near Sebastian, and seeing “something on the top of the water near the
beach.” They set the nets and pulled in 15 bu. After two more toes, they headed for Ft. Pierce. They had to stop,
though, because they only had one cake of ice.
back to the beginning of vol. 4
Stewart and Nancy Force, Jacksonville, Florida/ “Aythya” (canvas back duck)
Linda and Hugo (Bubba) Schill, Saint Augustine, Florida/ “Jaeger”/ Dec 15, 1972
(Bubba and Linda aboard their boat Jaeger.)
Bob Currie Milford, Delaware. “Duet”
Dan and Dinah Kossoff, Jacksonville, Florida
Robert White Bayou al Batre, Louisiana “Little Derrick” December, 1972 (photo below)
Bob and Beverly Baker Boston, Massachusetts (photo below)
Nicholas/ Uncle Harry Xynides Saint Augustine, Florida, (Xynides Boat Yard)
James “Eddie” Long St. Augustine, Florida (Desco Marine) 1973
James F. Lumbus Greek from Cuba lived at St. Augustine Beach.
Jay Hendon 23 foot sailboat/sailed to Fort Lauderdale with him (story)
Don Thibault Saint Augustine worked at the post office and did marine photography.
George William Tappin “Terry” (Mary), dog Bimbo (photo below)
Ted Chace, Jim Biers, Byron McGrath; Sailboat “Sea Mist VI” Canadians; sailed to Savannah and went to went to
work at the Thunderbolt Marina.
Martin Tom Dickenson, Alexander, Virginia “Antilla” April 15th 1973
Steve and Lum Brown “Sea Dog” Hartford, Connecticut /Saint Augustine/ Savannah/Cumberland Island (story)
Scott Pothier/Patty address=Matanzas Bay, also 20 Rhode Ave. St. Augustine. From New York State, bought a 5
World War II all wood mine sweeper with a big Buda diesel engine, (story)
Kinsey kids; Jerry, Brad and Jean (stories, aloe, shrimp recipe, uncle Pete, woodworking shop, etc.), also Thompson’
s Cecilia (stories), Jimmy, Pierre, Marian, David, Fred Russel
Harry and Jane Walden (worked at McLancen Boat yard building Ferro-cement boats, lived in apartment on Riberia
Street cold no heat, (stories) boat Sea Nymph; photo below
Chris Carnes, “Scout” St. Augustine Yacht Pier, “when you snooze, you lose” Oct, 1973 (story), partner, Thomas
Greenhalgh, girlfriends/Debbie Kocher/Kathy Brooks
Frank Helm Saint Augustine City Yacht Pier Oct 1973
Thomas Tredor (Tom) Sophie, Saint Augustine Yacht Pier, boat “Gloucester” (stories)
Fred and Ann Everson at St. Augustine “Moonraker” (story) Oct. 1973
John and Mary Gray, St. Augustine home on Water Street, boat “Old Coot” (story)
Brother visited us at Daufuskie Island August 1974
Bruce and Jean Chadwick first met at St. Augustine boat, “Charlotte Jean” 42 foot steel Colvin design. aka “Loose
Bruce” and “Far Out” Later we rendezvoused with them on the Indian River, Miami and Marathon..(stories)
Walter and Cynthia Perry from Pakipsi, New York, boat “Zwalker” steel boat, Walter was a big guy, 6’6” and Cynthia
short with one crippled leg, rendezvoused in Marathon, Melbourne (stories)
Lloyd Wainwright and Caroline 8 Eastman St, St. Augustine signed book Oct 17, 1975 “to two of the nicest people I
know”. Lloyd had been a shrimp boat owner, (stories WWII), worked as delivery captain for Desco Marine and St.
Augustine Trawlers, (stories)
Susan Love St. Augustine Record, she did a feature article in the newspaper on Dursmirg. February 1975
John and Mary Darrell from Riverside, New Jersey boat Pegasus (story; they went to Marathon and later Mary
worked at the St. George Tavern and John opened a bar on Vilano Beach named “The Sandspur”.)
Joe Oliver; worked at Marine Supply and Oil Company; Portuguese (Story)
Stan Thompson and wife Dolores (stories)
Rick James, ran the Victory II tour boat for Frank Usina, later had his own shrimp boat for one season, a Harker’s
Island wooden sport fishing boat converted to pull a single rig trawl net. (story)
Art Lunquist, sailor lost his dinghy and quit boating at St. A. tried to sell us a VW hippy van…beat with no brakes.
(story) March 1975
George and Bonnie Ford boat Rose of Tralee George built a 50-foot trimaran in New York State and sailed to St.
Augustine. (story; went into business with Dom Trakor and began developing a boatyard on the San Sebastian river.
Dom squandered all the money, George did all the work and soon the enterprise sunk.) George later tied his boat
over at our dock and took a job at the 7-11 and moved into a house trailer with his wife, kids and all their caged
animals.
Heinz and Margaret Gearich from Hamilton, Ontario. This was the maiden voyage of their home built Ferro-cement
boat named Albatross VI. The photo below is from the St. Augustine Record newspaper April 12, 1975 depicting the
Albatross VI anchored in Matanzas Bay near the City yacht Pier.
James Ponce 57 Comares Ave Saint Augustine *** (lots of Stories)
George Tappin and Mary Kay Hopping 197 Ferro Rd on Valano Beach Boat Terry. (special story about George),
story about Mary Kay before George
Jerry and Coralee Pomar, Jerry worked at the City Yacht Pier and his wife was head of the chamber of commerce.
(story)
Jerry Colee (stories) worked at the City Yacht Pier, (story Minorca)
Gaetanos family, George wife Katrina, children, Pete and Mikae
Ralph Gosline (shrimp boat deliveries) wife had cancer and worked a the hospital
Ricky Hernandez, friend of Brad and Jean Kimski, worked at fire department and also laid brick.
John Ryder June 23 1975 (story)
Tom Williams, June 6th 1975
Harry, Barb, Andy and Brian Kehler boat Spree. Chris-Craft 34 foot fiberglass sailboat. (story; anchor fouled on
power cable and couldn’t get it back, I helped them rig their winch and trip line. The large heavy cable came up with
several anchors attached and I claimed them for my troubles.) Later we met them at Boot Key October 1975
Robert E. Shelfer boat Amberjack (story, classic sailing schooner, crafty sailor and was just hanging out). August 3,
1977
James Cramer Fish Island Marina, (story, friend of Scott and Pat, glider pilot from New York)
Gary and Pan Kanaly Detroit, Michigan, boat Bolona Divita
Jim and Leigh Muller, “Mr and Mrs”, August 26, 1977 came to visit us in St. Augustine on their honeymoon with their
new little $5,000 bright pea green Volkswagen Rabbit
Above Jim and Leigh Muller aboard Dursmirg in the 1970s as Leigh sketches in pen and ink that she received some
acclaim for. We have the original which we treasure.
Steve Hestler, Chester Basin Nova Scotia, Canada, boat name Duchess (story)
Dick Huffman, Dorrs Ferry NY boat name Joshua Slocum (story, “drawling Josh”)
Kippy Kimski September 24, 1977 (stories; “Kippi-Dippi the pot smoking hippie”, held up the sight seeing train at
gun point in broad daylight, had an affair with his eight grade teacher, did wheelies with his dad’s fuel transport
trucks, changed his oil on his shrimp boat off-shore at night because , “you don’t pollute after dark”…and much
more).
(His quote in our log book= “the craziest bastard in town”)
Steve and Gina Buell from Charleston later St. Augustine boat name Queen Bess (stories) December 24, 1977
Capt. Mack Forman boat name Sea Wonderer (stories, “Mack the jailbird monkey”, boat delivery to Trinidad, jump
parole, and much more) March 28, 1978
Jeff Jones 35 Dufferin 3B tennent at Flamingo Apartments April 1, 1978
Glenn Spotts boat name Spado, (stories) June 4, 1978
Helen and Ken Falconer former owners of the Flamingo Apartments. 28 June 1978
Roger Kenzor, St. Augustine Trawlers and later San Sebastian Marine, (stories, watchman job, boat delivery to
Tampa, and etc) April 4, 1978
Jim Roarty (stories) below Bev, Jamie and Jim Roarty (photo below)
Fred Cullem boat name Sea Dog (stories) April 29, 1979
Reggie Pamies San Sebastian Marine
Jim Banks, Richard McMullen St. Augustine City building inspectors (stories) October 27, 1979
Valerie Siddall New Hampshire, boat name Tlonadrak (stories)
Rodney and Phyllis Shutt (photo below, our sailing buddies and good friends)
John O’Sullivan County Cork, Ireland January 29, 1980 (lots of stories)
Dan Holiday April 29, 1980
James Jackson, used furniture and refrigeration
Gregg and Marian Vaccaro ; Photo; Mary Ann, Greg and son Jorel (photo below)
John Senfield; real estate salesmen from Jacksonville (stories)
Steve Xynides
Bob and June Crumbly
Bill Davis sport fishing store (stories)
Roger Hendricks (stories)
Mike Wilson, boat Second Wind; Palatka, Florida, (stories, store Dursmirg up river, he helped us get it out) April 28,
1982
Last entry in log book April 29, 1982 Jim Mooney, John and Evelyn Burtchell
Monroe Drake; “If you get up in the morning and see anyone else you are too late”
“I’m not building a boat out of anything that I can’t get high
on”,
therefore he wouldn’t use Ferro cement
construction.
David Pacetti; local legend and preponderance of prosperity preacher.
Brett Hollerith aboard his lovely 36 foot Choy Lee Anjan 1970s
Chris Janet Knudler with sons Adam and Patric; 1970s drop out sailors that settled down and adjusted to family life
ashore. This photo is from a 1983 visit to us in St. Augustine.
STAN LITSAS was aboard Dursmirg in 1979;
What a perfect way to wind up this story.
Stan wasn’t a social misfit in the strictest sense of the word, in fact he just might have been the prefect fit.
This strong-minded Greek immigrant went to colossal extremes to get to America and St. Augustine.
With a focused mind-set Stan first jumped ship in America, went to work as a “wet-back” without papers, got caught,
got deported and upon leaving paid his own way back to Greece. This didn’t detour indomitable Stan.
Yet again he took a job as seamen and jumped ship. Without papers he took a job and again got himself deported.
This second trip to America however he had the forethought to stash clothes and cash with a friend because he had
thought it through and was going to be prepared for all eventualities on his next attempt. Well as luck would have it
Stan’s third attempt to come to America landed him on a ship that didn’t land in the U.S. for over a year. This time
Stan registered himself and got legal status with the help of a pervious employer.
A hard worker and well suited with exceptional management skills Stan landed a job with Borden Foods in New
Jersey where he excelled at his job.
Next he was transferred to St. Augustine to ramrod the production of a company branch called Wise Potato Chips.
Being Greek and being in St. Augustine soon Stan became acquainted with our Greek friends and that is how we
met this likable guy who became our very dear friend.
Of all of St. Augustine’s citizens we haven’t met anybody that had put forth as much unwavering effort to get to town
as Stan Litsas did.
NATIONAL FISHERMAN YEARBOOK EXCERPT;
FERNANDINA, FLORIDA THE BIRTHPLACE OF SHRIMPING
By Mike Rolleston; a feature article from the “National Fishermen Yearbook”
The birth of the modern shrimping industry can be compared to that of a child of questionable parentage. Just when
and where it arrived can be pinpointed with reasonable accuracy, but determining the father is another matter
altogether. The difference is while no one is willing to claim the child, everyone wants to tae credit for the birth of
shrimping.
Without question, the birthplace is Fernandina, on the northeast coast of Florida. And the year with the best
credentials is 1913, when the development of otter trawl revolutionized the industry. But just who developed the trawl
is open to question.
Although 1913 was a big year, one must go back before the turn of the century to get a complete picture. Actually,
shrimp had been caught for years earlier, but it was not until the late 1800s that records came into use.
The earliest fishery statistics that involve Fernandina appear in the US government report for 1979-’80 season,
stating that shrimp were “abundant in the harbor…the entire year, and a man can readily secure three or four
bushels with a small cast net on any pleasant night. The catch …is boiled and dried for shipment to New York,
Philadelphia and Savannah.”
That same year, the entire catch on Florida’s east coast was said to be 72,000 pounds, valued at $4,000 dollars,
but that was far behind Louisiana’s 534,000 pounds worth $42,000.
At the time, most of the shrimp were being caught with cast nets or haul seines dragged just off the beaches of from
rowboats. By 1897, the shrimp catches along the Gulf Coast and in California totaled millions of pounds, while the
Florida east coast catch still numbered in the thousands. However, things were about to change.
During this time, European immigrants were flooding into the United States. Among the arrivals were families of
fishermen from Sicily. One of these fishermen, Sollecito Salvatore from Siracuse, found his way to Fernandina.
Salvatore, who became known as Mike Salvatore, could speak several languages, according to his oldest son, Felix,
and acted as interpreter among the ships which came into port.
Salvador decided to sty in Fernandina and quickly joined the fishing and shrimping activity around the area.
Helen Gordon Litrico, who publishes a guide booklet to Amelia Island (Fernandina area), has written on the early
years of shrimping there and has extensively, researched local records. At the Nassau County Courthouse, she
unearthed an 1899 mortgage held by a J. D. Millan for Salvador’s purchase of supplies, including “one large ice box,
one small ice box, one large iron boiler (about 10 gallons), one shrimp cast net, 20 kegs (for shipping shrimp) and
150 lbs. of preserving powder.”
Salvator sent back favorable reports to relatives and countrymen about Florida’s sunny climate and fishing
possibilities there. He was joined by his brothers-in-law, Salvatore Versaggi and Antonio Poli. Shortly after came
Joseph Gianino.
By 1902, Florida’s shrimp production had jumped to more than 3 million lbs., though the fishermen were still using
cast nets and haul seines.
“My daddy used to row Nassau Sound with my mother in the boat,” says Felix Salvador, “fishing all night just to make
some money to buy food.”
Although shrimp were abundant, there was little market for them.
“People just didn’t know what to do with them, how to fix them,” says John Versaggi, eldest son of Salvatore Versaggi.
Some were sold for a nickel a pound in Fernandina, but “most went to bars up north where they were boiled and
heavily salted,” recalls Versaggi. “You could eat them free as long as you bought beer.”
Because it was tough to make any money, Salvatore Versaggi went to New York, where he worked as a
longshoreman.
“It was hard, forbidding work,” says John. “He was constantly exposed to the elements, I was just four or five then, he
had his big mustache and he would come home in winter with icicles hanging from his mustache. He would lean over
the stove and let them melt. I used to think that was the funniest thing.”
Then in 1910 something happened that was going to turn Fernandina upside down and pave the way for later
development of the shrimping industry.
That was the year of the big bluefish, and the money attracted boats and men from the north. Versaggi was among
those convinced to come south again and share the profits.
John says, “They (his friends and relatives) were all immigrants. They had to help each other back then. It was just
self preservation.” So word went out and the influx began.
Richard Janson, A native of Sweden and now 79 years old, was not among the first arrivals. He came a few years
later but met many who had been there catching the big blues and heard their stories. One of the men who
befriended Janson was a fisherman called “Horse Mackerel” Sam, who became well known in the area and years
later sold Janson his first boat.
“Sam was there,” says Janson, “and he would lie in his bunk, smoking his pipe, and tell me about it.”
Sam was among the fishermen who worked off the New Jersey coast in summers and spent the winters in the Florida
Keys. Most of the skiffs were shipped down on railroad flatcars. A few skiffs, though, had cabins, and in the fall of
1910, “Sam and six others left Wildwood to run the boats down,” When they hit Brunswick, Ga., they ran into bluefish
“so big they had to pack them head first in barrels. They wouldn’t fit n boxes. They were 20-25 lbs. each.”
They caught blues all the way down to Mayport, just south of Fernandina.
“They’d never seen so many fish,” says Janson.
When word reached the North, everybody wanted to go to Fernandina. Soon came the big schooners from Fulton
Fish Market. There were 18 smacks, each with up to 22 men aboard. Then merchants followed. There were bait
men, packers and others. Up to 300 hundred fishermen swelled into the area after the bluefish.
“It was like a gold rush,” says Janson. Talk to anyone knowledgeable about the early years of shrimping and they
first mention the big blues and the fishermen that came after them. About half of the new arrivals were
Scandinavians (Swedes, Norwegians, and Icelanders), and half were Portuguese. “Good fishermen,” says Janson.
When the blues left, so did the fishermen, but both returned in 1911 and again in 1912. “This was the biggest ever
for blues in Florida,” Janson maintains.
It was big for Fernandina too. When the fishermen got off the boats, they were usually looking for two things. One, of
course was whisky, which they found at the Palace Bar, still in operation today. Established in 1878, it claims to be
the oldest in the state.
“Never in history has so much gone on as there,” says Janson. “There were 200 men, and all of them had money.
They would come in in oil and boots and drink and dance until there were so many fish scales on the floor it was
hard to walk.”
And wherever there were fishermen, plenty of women followed.”
One of the fishermen, “Staysail Jack,” had a sweetheart in Atlantic City, a rich woman who ran a “boarding house.”
Whenever Jack called, she brought down a number of women. The fishermen and women would wind up at the
Keystone Hotel, where, according to Janson, “They would dance all night, even on the tables. The owner didn’t care.
As long as there was money around, you could tear the place down.”
By 1912, though, the big blues were thinning out. And in 1913, the boom was over. Some had already turned to
snapper fishing. Others were thinking of other ways to catch shrimp. It was then that the first otter trawl was
developed for shrimping. A number of accounts gave the credit to Capt. Billy Corkum, a Massachusetts fisherman.
But pick a different nationality and you get a different name.
“He (Corkum) copied Sam.” Janson says, explaining that Sam made the first shrimp net in the country in 1912,
adapting nets he had used for flounder off New Jersey.
Shortly thereafter, Salvatore Tringali, net maker for the Salvador and Versaggi fleets, modified the sardine net of his
native Sicily for shrimping. Regardless who gets the credit, the net was soon copied by nearly everyone there. By
1918, 9 million lbs. of shrimp were caught off the Florida east coast, with 33 million off Louisiana. This was a time
when both methods and machinery were quickly adapted or copied to meet the demands of the day.
For example, gasoline, selling at about 7¢-8¢a gal., was “too expensive.” So a Dane by the name of Sirhansen (“He
was a mechanic and could do any damn thing,” says Janson) developed a hot box that would mount to the
carburetor and heat the cheaper “skunk oil” hot enough to use. At 3¢-4¢ a gal., that saved a lot of money. One boat
builder earned the name “Kerosene John” by instilling hot boxes on all his boats.
The early boats had an A-frame rig for hauling nets, and everything had to be pulled aboard by hand. Then
someone tried a boom. Another developed a motor-driven hoister for hauling the nets aboard.
“The way things went,” says Janson, “someone would have an idea and then try it out. In about a month, everyone
would have it.”
Sam, sys Janson, decided to try a tickler chain that he had used for flounder off New Jersey. It worked well, stirring
up shrimp off the bottom and into the nets.
“He caught more shrimp quicker than anyone else, and no one could figure out what he was doing,” says Janson.
“He would hide the chain below as soon as he got the nets onboard.” But it was fully exposed, and then everyone
had one.
Many names came to be synonymous with shrimping from the early years. Native families from Fernandina include,
Hardee, Cook, Brazzell, Little, Freeman, Wilder, Evatt, and Bennett. Among the immigrants to the area were
Bassetta, Litrico, Fazio, Serra, Carinhas, Santos, Johnson, Hanson, Olson, Sundeman, Ferguson and Tappin.
Most of the early boatbuilders were blacks, including Wizzie Biddle, Bill Rivers (who built Salvador’s early boats) and
Oscar Danburg. Then came the Greeks, including Tilialos, Kotelas, Sarris and segarris.
And, in addition to Salvador, Versaggi and Poli, Market operators included such names as Brooks, Hirth and Corbett.
Most of the early operators were family oriented, and the kids were started early.
“I can remember,” says Felix Salvador, “when I was about three year sold, My father would carry me down to the
docks and set me up on my own table heading shrimp.”
During these early years, most of the boats were getting 30-40 bu. A day and would be back in port in the late
afternoon. Then there were fewer shrimp and the boats started working their way south. But few liked to go to St.
Augustine; about 40 miles south of Fernandina, for there were no decent inlets until Ft. Pierce, nearly 200 miles
away. And, of course, the markets were back in Fernandina.
Salvador decided to move his market to St. Augustine.
“It was the first dock in St. Augustine,” says Felix.
When it was set up in 1920, the city wasn’t too happy because of the odor. But as the boats started pouring in (“At
times you could walk across the san Sebastian River from one boat to another,” says Versaggi), and more docks
and markets sprang up, the smell of money became stronger than the smell of fish.
During the 1920s there were as many as 250-300 boats working out of St. Augustine, of about half were based
there.
And among the fishermen were a few characters.
Janson remembers a big Icelander named Nils, about 6’6” with a “big fine set of teeth. But he was always feeling
bad. He went to the marine hospital in Savannah (where fishermen got free treatment) and the doctors said, “Your
teeth have got to come out. They’re poisoning your body.”
When Nils got back to St. Augustine a couple of weeks later, it was Christmas week, and most of the shrimpers were
in port and at Spanish Jack’s Café, a regular hangout near the docks.
“He looked so funny,” says Janson, “like his face was caved in. everyone laughed.”
On shrimper named Shorty told him, “Christmas is coming and all you will be able to eat is oatmeal.”
“Well, by God,” boomed Nils, “I got good gums,” and with that he picked Shorty up by the neck and bit down on his
nose.
‘It swelled up like a 10 –lb. ham,” says Janson, cupping his hands over his nose for emphasis.”
Shorty swore that he would get even. He didn’t have to wait long. Nils kept drinking for several days. When he finally
fell asleep on the bench in the bar, Shorty got a taxi, managed to stuff the big Icelander into the back seat and gave
the driver $10 (“that was big money in those days”) and told him to take the passed-out Nils as far as the money
allowed.
When the driver got to Tampa, he woke the Icelander up and told him to get out. “You’re here.” The big man
stumbled out without a penny, still drunk, not knowing where he was.
“It took him two or three days to get back to St. Augustine,” says Janson. “He was really mad. It was lucky he didn’t
find Shorty.”
Christmas was when there were a lot of drinking and a lot of pranks.
Janson recalls a Norwegian who was “always dry when he fished, but when he started drinking, there was no
monkey business. It was serious drinking. He was a big guy. You could hit him with a sledgehammer and not knock
him down.” And he had a prized mustache that he curled back over his ears.
One Christmas this Norwegian started out in his smelly fish cloths, taking with him several suits to the bar whose
owner would send them to the laundry. When he dropped off the suits with a note to clean and press them, a
Hollander by the name of Case, “who was always playing tricks,” got the note and added, “And shorten pants 4”.”
The Norwegian drank until he got his pants back, then went to Big Margaret’s, a “sport’ in house,” for a bath and girl.
He apparently picked the wrong girl, “an Alabama hellcat,” because, while he was asleep, she cut one side of his
prized mustache. When he woke up and got dressed, he was still drunk and went down the street wearing half a
mustache and pants 4” too short.
“Everyone was laughing at him and he didn’t know what was going on. You don’t see people like that anymore,” says
Janson.
By the 1920s, both Salvador and Versaggi had developed small fleets. But both died during that decade, so sons
Felix and John took over the Salvador operation. John Versaggi was followed into the family business by brothers
Virgil, Joe, Manuel and Dominic. The Versaggi’s also moved to St. Augustine.
“My father has planned to move down,” says John. “He felt there were better opportunities there.”
The ‘20s were a boom for shrimp in St. Augustine.
“I’ve seen as many as eight or nine (train) carloads of shrimp leave at a time.” says Versaggi.
St. Augustine was the Versaggi base of operations until the war years, when they expanded to Louisiana and then
pioneered shrimping in South America. And in the ‘20s shrimping mover further down the Florida coast. Janson was
on a smack, the John Erickson, fishing for snapper of Cape Canaveral with 20-25 men and eight dories when a
northeaster drove them into a cove. (There was no inlet then.) When the storm abated, they hauled up the anchor,
on which was a “hunk of mud with shrimp stuck to it.”
Janson decided to come back later and try shrimping. He and a French Canadian, Ed Marcus, “who was game for
anything,” went down in the late fall around 1926. They ran all night, then set their nets the next day and started
dragging. After about a half hour, “the toe line came together. I thought that it was fast or something was wrong, so
we decided to haul it up.”
When they did, “shrimp rained off the doors.” They split open the bag and started scooping up shrimp. They had
picked up about 35-40 bu. They set the nets again.
“It didn’t matter where you dragged that day, you pulled up shrimp.”
When they had filled the hold and had 40 bu. On deck, they set out for Ft. Pierce. At the dock, they called B. B.
Brooks, who had a packing house in St. Augustine, then iced the catch and started heading shrimp. Brooks came
down with a truckload of workers to take care of the shrimp. The docks at Ft. Pierce were coming alive, and the
townspeople were glad to have it.
“the mayor came down to the dock and shook my hand,” says Janson. “He said this would be a big boom for the
town.”
The next week, he adds, “They were building fish houses all along the old wood bridge there.”
Later, it was Mike Salvador’s sons, John and Felix, who opened up the Dry Tortugas beds. Felix remembers making
a number of drags during one day off the Keys and getting “just one or two shrimp.” But as they were coming back
in at night, he kept seeing flashes of phosphorescence in the water behind the boat. So they dropped the net, and
when they pulled it in, it was full. So began night fishing in the Keys.
As the War approached shrimping was still good along the East Coast, though the price had dropped from $1 to
about 65¢ a bu. during the Depression.
Janson recalls being below the cape, near Sebastian, and seeing “something on the top of the water near the
beach.” They set the nets and pulled in 15 bu. After two more toes, they headed for Ft. Pierce. They had to stop,
though, because they only had one cake of ice.
back to the beginning of vol. 4
Janson still has the bill of sale from that haul. Dated 1942, it
accounts for 2,020 lbs. of shrimp at 19¢ per lb., after
heading, for a total of $383.80. He also got $1 for several
fish.
“The next day there we got twice as many. After two days, I
had over $1,000 in my pocket.”
He decided to spend it on some bottom work, so the Stella
was hauled out. Janson still has the bill, faded and crumbled,
for this, too. It includes two days work- and 1 ½ gals. of
copper paint. The total cost was $25.10.
“I wish I had those years back,” he says. “But they’ve all gone
now.”
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