Brass Bowl

Blue Bottle Tree

George — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:00:28 +0000

Flotsam is everywhere, I just need to keep my eyes and mind open to see it. Like this classic piece I spied along a secondary road.

Tree, Bottle, One Each, Blue in color.....

It looks like it would be fun to make. First, you need a bunch of empty wine bottles……..

American White Ibis

George — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:00:57 +0000

I normally see these birds in groups on the ground, grubbing in lawns and fields for insects. When I saw them roosting in trees in the late morning, I had to stop and take a picture.

Small group in tree.

Solo perch. Maybe he's been kicked out of the family tree?

So I’m standing there, wondering why these birds are up in tree’s during the day. Hmm. It’s late morning, they should be foraging for food. There doesn’t appear to be food in the trees, so why aren’t they on the ground? What else do I see. Hmm. Mangroves. Mangroves mean swampy water. And in Florida, swampy water means…..gators.

Whups, time to leave……..bye bye birdies….

Ummm, yeah. About those TPS Reports…

George — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:00:32 +0000

I think of Initech, red Swingline staplers and of course, TPS Reports every time I walk past this building.

Got a favorite line from Office Space? Share it with us. Just not the one about Federal Prison, ummmmkay?

Fishhawk Gets His Fish

George — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 12:00:43 +0000

I shot these at Flatwoods a couple of weeks ago. We tried not to annoy the osprey while he was eating, but he ended up flying off with his lunch anyway.

Wrong Way Driver

George — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 12:00:46 +0000

I took this picture awhile ago. We are looking south on Florida Ave, just north of Kennedy. For those of you who are not familiar with the traffic flow on Florida Ave in downtown Tampa, Florida is one way at this point, Northbound.

The vehicle came out of the bank (on the pictures left), crossed over and starting going the wrong way. I think it would have kept going, except the lane it was it is closed at Kennedy.

USCGC Eagle

George — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 12:00:03 +0000

As part of the Tall Ships event, the USCGC Eagle is here in Tampa. It was a busy weekend for us, so we spread out the event. On Saturday, we make a quick detour to Davis Island to catch the Eagle as she came up the bay.

Inbound to dock

We took a lot of photo’s, but the distances showed the limitations of our point and shoot camera’s. The above picture is the best of the lot.

On Sunday, we grabbed our water bottles and hats, and joined the crowd to wait to see this steel hulled sailing vessel up close.

Dockside, next to the cruise terminal

The wait was warm, but not too bad. After about thirty minutes, we were going up the gangplank and setting foot onboard.

The forward view as you enter. Note the belaying pin to the right. It's always a good idea to have a blunt instrument near the door.

There are a -lot- of ropes on the Eagle. Over five miles of rigging. That is a lot of cheese to keep on one cracker.

Those old salts have a verse and rhyme for everything.

These signs are all over the ship. I've tried to match pictures with the sign content.

There is a lot of equipment here. No room for a deck chair.

Just a -little- bit more involved than a parking brake.

With so much rope, they have to keep it neat. I'm thinking this could be a full time chore.

This furry part of the rope is called a Baggywrinkle. I loved the sound of it when I first heard it. Info sign follows.

Remember, if you want to stop the chafing, then get some Baggywrinkle.

This picture shows some of the rigging running up along the center mast.

As I understand it, every sailing ship carries multiple sets of sails.

The denter mast of the Eagle. You can see some of the lines used to manipulate the sails, AKA, Running Rigging.

Any sailor that can identify and work on this sort of thing should get an honorary geometry degree.

There are light bulbs up there. Which means that someone has to change them. Light bulbs don't go out during the day......

I saw this type of thing in several places. I'm guessing it's to prevent wear on the wooden deck. You realize that this was made on ship by a sailor, not ordered from Pier One...

I understand the ropes are to aid in recovering the boat, as the Eagle, when under sail, can't match speed with other boats. Note the rope pad bottom left.

This is the helm, with room for six people to man it during heavy weather. It is the original helm, from when the ship was built in 1936.

The emergency steering station. The wood housing immediately to the rear of the wheel is called the "Captians Coffin".

You can see part of the capstan in the previous picture.

The American Flag on the fantail.

Leaders are made, not found. The United States Coast Guard has a long and noble heritage of leadership and protection of our country. I'm glad we have this type of ship on our rolls.

The Eagle, viewed from Harbor Island.

We enjoyed ourselves completely, and learned a lot about sailing. If you would like to learn more about the USCGC Eagle, follow this link.