FL Aquasport Gathering Fall 2011

[seabob4]

I remember it as two lanes and also no 75, we got popped by the cops for shooting guns out there when they just started building it.

If i'm up your way i will be calling you also  

Scott,
Go to Weeki Wachee Springs.  This time of the year, it's dead...and the water is chilly...and the mermaids are still swimming...get my drift?

[Circle Hooked]

Oh ya i get ya  

[RickK]

It'll be a beautiful day when we get to the ramp tomorrow about noon.  Then we'll be heading out with the breeze and heading toward Sanibel to explore for the rest of the day.  Then we'll decide where we camp for Friday night.  We'll be at the designated islands early for the gathering  

[seabob4]

Man, I tell you guys, it's been a long time since I was out on Siesta...or on Tamiami.  I first started visiting Sarasota in 1966, always loved it...and for you Josh, I bet old Sarasota High still looks the same...

But, DAMN, the Ringling Causeway bridge has grown!!!

[RickK]

Sarasota HS was marked for demo and now has been saved and earmarked for resto and occupancy by Ringling School of Art (I think).
You're right - things have changed - the Ringling bridge is huge.

[Circle Hooked]

Rick that's correct, Bob they tore down the old middle school and rebuilt the high school there, that new bridge is pretty but i hate heights so i don't like it much.

[seabob4]

Rick that's correct, Bob they tore down the old middle school and rebuilt the high school there, that new bridge is pretty but i hate heights so i don't like it much.

So the Skyway is kinda, like, out of the picture?  Remember the old Skyway?  Before it was 2 spans?

[Circle Hooked]

Last time over the Sky Way i thought i was having a heart attack , so no i don't go over that thing anymore.

I remember the old span, my dad went over it an hour before it fell.

[seabob4]

Last time over the Sky Way i thought i was having a heart attack , so no i don't go over that thing anymore.

I remember the old span, my dad went over it an hour before it fell.

But do you remember the old bridge when there was just one span?  2 way traffic...

Windy days were a lot of fun...  

[Circle Hooked]

Last time over the Sky Way i thought i was having a heart attack , so no i don't go over that thing anymore.

I remember the old span, my dad went over it an hour before it fell.

But do you remember the old bridge when there was just one span?  2 way traffic...

Windy days were a lot of fun...  

No i just remember the old double span.

[RickK]

The present bridge replaces a steel cantilever bridge of the same name. The original two-lane bridge built by the Virginia Bridge Company was completed in 1954, with a similar structure built parallel and to the west of it in 1969 to make it a four-lane bridge and bring it to Interstate standards. Opening of the newer span was delayed until 1971 for reinforcing of the south main pier, which had cracked due to insufficient supporting pile depth.[7] The second span was used for all southbound traffic, while the original span was converted to carry northbound traffic.

(Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunshine_Skyway_Bridge)

I don't remember the single bridge either.  I'm sure I travelled over it when I was a kid. I do, however, remember the single bridge after the Summit Venture hit the bridge.

The southbound span (opened in 1971) of the original bridge was destroyed at 7:30 a.m. on May 9, 1980, when the freighter MV Summit Venture collided with a pier (support column) during a storm, sending over 1200 feet (366m) of the bridge plummeting into Tampa Bay. The collision caused ten cars and a Greyhound bus to fall 150 feet into the water (46 m), killing 35 people

Ok, getting ready to head out.  Have to power through this wind (and cold) today for a beautiful day tomorrow.
Don't forget your hoody!!

[Capt Matt]

See you guys tomorrow afternoon, be heading up after my morning trip. The wind finally started to lay down
Capt Matt

[seabob4]

See you guys tomorrow afternoon, be heading up after my morning trip. The wind finally started to lay down
Capt Matt

...and now it's going to get nippy!

A little more on the "Old" Skyway...if we were coming across the bay in the afternoon, when there was just the single span, and a t/storm came in, well, let's just say it wasn't fun!  But my Dad was an ex-fighter pilot, really didn't seem to bother him.

Was living in Orlando many years later, decided to take a 4-day weekend in Sarasota.  The bridge had just been knocked down.  Headed up the east span, all looked normal except for no traffic on the west span.  Got to the top, looked over...and the west span just...stopped.  About 163 ft above the water...

Never forget that.


You boys have a great time this weekend, peppermint schnapps might be in order, but most of all, stay safe, enjoy each other's company, and catch some edibles, if possible!!!  

[woody]

Well I guess I'll show my age and tell you guys that I remember riding the ferry from St. pete to Bradenton before the first skyway was built. Was pretty young, but my dad was notorious for Sunday rides all over the state. We lived in St. Pete but traveled the state fishing or hunting or just exploring almost every weekend in a 1949 Olds 98.
Then as a 14 year old kid my dad would let me take our old Thompson 18 lapstrake all over Boca Ciega bay with buddies from school during the summer. We ran from Pass a grille to Mullet key without telling anybody and spent the night among mosquitos, rattlesnakes and thieving raccoons. We got away with it by telling all the parents that we were spending the night at somebody's house. Then we did it pretty often during the summers after that.  Lotsa good memories..

[gran398]

Any of you boys holdin' a smart phone...your cousins are wishing you all the best this evening