JANUARY 2004

Happy New Year!

 

A quick download of data from the National Weather Service on the HAM radio reveals why we are not too upset about being “stuck” in Tampa Bay until the dental work is finished:

TABULAR FORECAST

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL & MILWAUKEE/SULLIVAN WI

419 AM EST TUE JAN 6 2004

 

ROWS INCLUDE...

DAILY PREDOMINANT DAYTIME WEATHER 6AM-6PM

FORECAST TEMPERATURES...EARLY MORNING LOW/DAYTIME HIGH    

PROBABILITY OF PRECIPITATION 6AM-6PM

- INDICATES TEMPERATURES BELOW ZERO

MM INDICATES MISSING DATA

 

   FCST    FCST    FCST    FCST    FCST    FCST    FCST

   TODAY   WED     THU     FRI     SAT     SUN     MON

   JAN 06  JAN 07  JAN 08  JAN 09  JAN 10  JAN 11  JAN 12

 

           ..SOUTHWEST FLORIDA...

   SUNNY   PTCLDY  SUNNY   SUNNY   SUNNY   SUNNY   SUNNY

     /80    65/74    59/74    61/76    57/73    57/75   57/75

   POP 0   POP 10  POP 0   POP 20  POP 0   POP 0   POP 0

 

        ...NORTHERN WISCONSIN...

  VRYCOLD  FLURRY  VRYCOLD VRYCOLD MOCLDY  MOCLDY  VRYCOLD

       /6     -8/18    -2/15     1/16      7/24      7/23     -1/12

  POP 40  POP 30  POP 20  POP 0   POP 30  POP 30  POP 30

It seems that we could be stuck in less hospitable locations, not that we didn’t thoroughly enjoy living up north for a while! How can you not enjoy this while knowing there is 4” of snow falling on our previous home?

 

The holiday boat parades are over, and we enjoyed half dozen tours around different SunCoast communities entertaining thousands of spectators while viewing hundreds of decorated boats and homes along the shore. We received fabulous prizes (mostly in the form of restaurant gift certificates) and cash prizes! We had guest passengers on most nights, and a good time was had by all.

 

We enjoyed an opportunity to housesit for the Sweeney’s over Thanksgiving, and we prepared quite a feast! We have enjoyed a full social life in the last month, with all the parade parties, and saying goodbye to our friend Jim Mundy, who is on his way to Belize. We said hello to Gene Lucky, who had left us for three weeks to volunteer on the S/V Bounty during its voyage from Baltimore to St. Pete (upon which I received the full 25˘ tour). And Karin’s son Adam visited for the holidays to beat the Wisconsin winter for 10 days.

 

 

My cousin Tom Polzin was in the area visiting his friend Bernice, who is working on getting him to move here permanently. [I think sending him home to sub-zero weather was a stroke of genius!] Currently, Mark Genisee is visiting on sort of a working vacation, something he plans to do every winter from now on! I am eagerly awaiting the sale of a home in Shorewood, WI so Sandy Baim can come on a voyage with me, and although Jim Kasdorf missed his annual late fall visit, I am sure cabin fever will force him south before winter is through.

 

Let see. . . other exciting news is I found a talented bike mechanic in a local shop who made up a “recipe” for a super-strong rear wheel for my Moulton. I have had three wheels there over the last few years, and have applied sufficient stress and miles to destroy each one. The new one is for sure rock-solid, and has 600 flawless miles on it. Tony, the mechanic, also happens to be a former cycle racer, and in our routine “spoke head” conversation we discovered that we participated in the same races in 1991 & 1992 in Wisconsin! The further one travels, the smaller the world seems . . .

 

Last, and most importantly, my daughter has still NOT given birth to my grandson! Although no one is more uncomfortably anxious than she, I can hardly stand it! Joshua James Civitate is gonna be one big kiddo if he stays in there any longer! After the big event, I will be at the top of the world, and I am sure Jessy will find needed peace . . .

 

This month’s science facts come from the unique mangrove plants:

 

There are 80 species of plants considered to be mangrove plants around the world, and many more plants that are known to occur in the mangrove areas. Mangrove plants, as such, are those plants which have adapted to life in the Intertidal Zones; those areas where land and see meet, between the reaches of high and low tide.

 

Most mangrove plants are distinctive not only of their location, but in the way they have adapted to living where they do. The roots of many mangrove species are an adaptation to the poor soils often found in intertidal zones. The most common root adaptation of the mangroves are the aerial roots, often in the form of peg like structures, or pneumataphores which stick out of the substrate around the mangrove trees. Another type of aerial root is the stilt roots that support the trees in the constantly shifting substrate. These two types of root adaptations also help the mangrove trees trap detritus, flotsam and jetsam which in turn make the mangrove soils so fertile, second only to the tropical rain forests. In doing this, the mangrove plants group together and eventually establish dry land and form a vital fringe or barrier along coastal shores and riverbanks to stop erosion.

 

The reproductive adaptations of many mangrove trees are also quite interesting. One such adaptation is vivipary, which is the ability of the mangrove seeds to germinate and begin growing their own roots while still on the parent tree, essentially, bearing live young. This allows many mangrove trees to establish themselves very quickly before being swept away by tides and currents.

 

Another adaptation of the mangrove plants is their ability to tolerate the high levels of salinity found in tidal seawater. Some of these adaptations used by mangrove plants are excluding the salt from the root systems, exuding the salt from leaf and bark, or concentrating the salt in old leaves that die and fall off the plant. The morning dew sometimes washes salt from healthy leaves. As a consequence of the different salt tolerance of the different species, most species exhibiting one or another adaptation can usually be found growing together in very distinct zones.

 

What I find most completely interesting is that there are hundreds of islands in the Florida Keys and the Caribbean consisting of entirely mangrove forests. Many, many of these islands exist on sandbars that actually have no land above sea level. The dense coverage precludes any encroachment by man, and preserves a pristine and undisturbed ecosystem for hundreds of species of flora, sealife and birds.

 

Our permanent and EXACT address:
Capt. KL & Karin Hughes
S/V WindigoIII • PMB 365
88005 Overseas Hwy. #9
Islamorada, FL  36033-3087

A temporary address here in St. Pete:
Capt. Kevin L. Hughes
2475 47th Street S.
St. Petersburg, FL  33711

Text-only Email addresses aboard Windigo, checked almost daily:
W3IGO@winlink.org

Email addresses checked when at a land-based computer:
Boat@Consultant.com
Windigoiii@Netscape.net

And of course, the NEW LOCATION of the Windigo Travelogue Catalogue:
http://www.ciekurzis.org