Indian River Marine Flea Market 2K25 . . . .

[Charles Brennan]

So, FaceBook has been blasting the Indian River Marine Flea Market and Seafood Festival all over my page, for about 6 weeks, now.
Gullible Rube that I am,    I just HAD to go and see what it was all about and how it compared to the West Palm Beach Marine Flea Market and Seafood Festival, in February.
Short version verdict: A me too, wannabe. 

Figured as cold as it is up here, couldn't paint anyway, so I left in 24ºF weather    (mightily bundled up) and drove down to Vero Beach, where bulky coats were no longer needed.
In an enclosed pavilion at the Indian River Fairgrounds, they had numerous tented kiosks selling an array of goods and services.
Check the SeaTow and TowBoatUS booths, side by side.
It's better than that: Both services use the same boat, in Vero Beach! 
The Captain was manning the TowBoatUS booth.   He said between the two services, he was reasonably busy on weekends.
I asked him if his boat was painted yellow on one side and red on the other side.
Make New Friends, everywhere I go!   
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There was also a U. S. Coast Guard Auxiliary booth and I again asked the same question I've been asking for a  dozen years, now:
When reporting GPS coordinates over a VHF radio, should I use Degrees, Minutes, Seconds, or should I use Degrees and Decimal Minutes? 
Yup.
Got a different answer in Vero Beach, than I got when asking the same question in Micanopy. 
So if I ever get in a Real Jam and have to communicate GPS coordinates, I'll know the True Answer is:
Depends on who you're talking to! 

I suppose a bar stool and a parrot, are reasonably Marine in nature, not so sure about the tree sculpture and candle sticks    . . . . .
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 . . . . . . But, face it: A lot of the stuff on those tables, was just glop.

The place was crazy with fishing tackle; this was one of four different areas selling hundreds of fishing rods and reels.
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They had a bunch of themed carvings and art, causing me to wonder why it was not billed as:  The Indian River Marine Flea Market, Art Festival and Seafood Festival. 
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A lot of cool carvings, at ruinous prices. 
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At an enclosed space they had a mini boat show with a couple dealers displaying boats down each side of the hall.
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Because, you know, that's what you buy at a Marine Flea Market: $60,000.00 dollar boats.   
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One of the things I miss from the Miami International Boat Show, was the small convention rooms, stuffed with the Dreamers and Schemers.
Entrepreneurs with off-beat ideas and cool gadgets, sometimes gone by the next year and rarely, manufacturers of a successful product.

So I was heartened to see Anchor 911, an anchor retrieval gadget.
It's basically a 316 Stainless Steel welded loop that got bent.
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It hangs off the anchor stock, held captive by a galvanized chain link and a galvanized nut and bolt, through the eye of the anchor.
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And then the loop slides along the anchor shank, to allow the snagged anchor to be lifted and retrieved.
Apparently for the people that don't know how to rig their chain to that hole in the anchor with a shackle and then tie a big nylon ty-rap to the shank eye, and break the ty-rap when they need to get unstuck.
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They also have a version for Danforths, that also slides along the shank.
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https://anchor911.com/

They also had booths outside on the fairgrounds and while a lot of them were fairly commercial, I had hopes that there were guys that were cleaning out their odds and ends of marine parts.
This after all, was the reason I went there; always looking to pick up discounted boat gear and parts.
They also had a couple dozen food trucks with 3 or 4 selling sea food.
But I decided that 25 bucks for about a 4½-inch long lobster roll, was a little rich for my blood    and I got a burger after I left the Fairgrounds. 
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I have to be honest: It was pretty slim pickings. 
I recognized some of the vendors from the West Palm Beach Marine Flea Market, but guys selling junk from their garage, were notably missing.
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Tee-Shirts and Towels, etc  . . . .
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But!!   
Wayyyyy out at the end, was one guy with a bunch of odds and ends, including a 6-inch Armstrong hatch, that can be cleaned up enough to be used for my ballast tank cover, that I got for 5 bucks.
SCORE!!   
Although in the end, what I saved in boat parts, I used up in gasoline; so this trip was at best, a wash. 
At least, I'm getting a better feel for what's real and what's hype, up here.
The Dania Marine Flea Market, these guys: Ain't.   
OTOH, I keep getting closer and closer to having all the required components for a completed SCAMP, once the weather lets me start painting and epoxying, again.   

Charles Brennan

[Wayne Howard]

Charles, my dad had a tie wrap on his anchor. Which, while being a great idea, was almost undone by the fact that he had a INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH tie wrap double looped on the anchor. We were fishing on the Galveston jetties and must have gotten too close the the rocks when we anchored. Yeah, the anchor was stuck. Dad says "Just keep pulling and the tie wrap will break." I wrestled the anchor line for a while in the 2-3 foot swells rolling in the channel. I'd get a bit of line in and the next swell would drag it right back overboard. I finally got close to the bow cleats and inspiration hit me to tie off the line before the next swell stole it back. A couple of fast figure 8's and I was ready for the swells to do the work. The bow started going down. And down. And down some more. Water started coming over the bow and I got nervous that I was going to sink the boat before the tie wrap broke and released the anchor. As we started getting an actual waterfall coming into the boat and I was reaching for the anchor line to release it and save us both, the tie wrap finally snapped and the bow popped back up, dumping all that water back to dad in the cockpit. I get the anchor up and set it back in its locker with a bit of loop hanging out to remind us to put a new tie wrap on it later. Dad has the engine gunned but the boat is wallowing like a pig in a mud bath from all the water we've taken onboard. Dad yells "Pull the plugs so we can dump the water." Because we've had issues before, the plugs have been inserted from the inside under the rear deck. That's so we don't have to lean out of the boat and overboard to pull the plugs if needed. The plugs are currently under the rear in about a foot or foot and a half of saltwater and the gas tanks are floating around back there. So I hold my breath, lay down on the deck and reached under the water for the first plug which means I am now soaked from head to toe with saltwater and a bit of 50:1 gas mixture. And I have to repeat this for the other plug on the other side of boat. I was pretty young at the time but it seemed like it took about 2 miles before enough water drained out that the boat finally got up on plane.

For some reason after that trip, dad used much thinner tie wraps on the anchor. But then again, I don't recall having to replace them anymore.

[Norm L.]

I wonder what percentage of the elders that retired and moved south did woodwork. Possibly to stay in the shed away from spouse. With the spouse possibly buying the wood to keep him in the shed.

Wayne, I had one adventure wondering if the result would be broken line or missing bow bitt. An anchor well buried in mud can be a challenge.

[Riley Smith]

I'd love to shop the fishing rods. I need a new rig.

[Timm R Oday25]

Thanks for taking us along . We are on our second full week of below or near zero temperatures .
Boat projects have been put on hold for the foreseeable future ..
The water up here is still hard ..