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Sunday, December 19, 2010

Wind And Waves

It was one of those windy days we've had with 25 mph winds. I enjoyed looking out at Big Spanish Channel, as much as forty feet deep some of it, and watching the waves race down on me.The intricate systems of reefs and shallows prevent big waves from piling up around the Keys so surfing isn't much of a sport here. I don't think the Atlantic Coast of Florida produces much in the way of waves compared to the Pacific Coast, but there is some Florida surfing, just not in the Keys. These are the regimented lines of supports for the new (1982) Bahia Honda four lane road bridge.The water pipe that runs down the Keys from the Florida Aquifer hangs alongside the roadway all the way to Key West.It amazes me how these bridges hold up against the salt water corrosion, the wave action and the forces of nature in general. The old bridge was an engineering nightmare for Flagler's people a hundred years ago. But the bridge is still standing and the concrete colums are quite solid.Surfing may not be big in the Keys but windsurfing when strong winds blow is another matter entirely. The new bridge close up and the old bridge in the distance.From the seawall Cheyenne and I strolled up the hill back to the Ford and we set off north for some exploring by car.It was a productive day as we ended up taking and keeping 134 pictures which I've scattered in various essays on the different things we saw.The new (1982) Seven Mile Bridge, the longer bridge but not as complicated to build in 1910 they say as the deep water bridge across Bahia Honda.

11 comments:

  1. Key West is on my wish list! Thanks for the follow on Twitter -

    Caron

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  2. "Thanks for the follow on twitter" I winder what that means? Enlightenment please Jeffrey (in English)?

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  3. It means you have selected Caron's Twitter profile, so now when she "tweets" (i.e. sends a text message) you will see what she has to say. Often it's something along the lines of "I am eating a sandwich."

    You have a Twitter account? Really?

    __Orin
    Scootin' Old Skool
    @scootinoldskool on Twitter

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  4. Firt, let me apologize to caron for commenting over her head but I lack the tecnology skills clearly hinted at by Orin's remark:
    "You have a Twitter account? Really?"
    Of course I don't. How could I express anything in 140 spaces? Besides I just cancelled by Facebook account as i worry about people getting into trouble with those stupid things. And if you are eating a sandwich it's the last thing I need to know.
    I think some electronic wires have been crossed here.
    Twitter indeed. Where's my quill?

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  5. It seems somebody is pushing your common sense blog out via twitter (could be a bot, I found some SEO analysis of this blog, and you are going well).

    To semi quote the great Billy Gates, "140 characters should be enough for anyone".

    BTW, I have a quill I can loan you.

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  6. Jeffrey, that must be why my blog gets all these odd referral pages. Oh well, a viewer's a viewer... that's one reason for the Twitter account. WordPress sends a tweet with a link whenever I post. And the industry is using it, so it's an easy way to keep up with scooter news.

    But at the moment, I am not eating a sandwich. I am reading "To Have and Have Not," however.

    __Orin

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  7. I have no idea what you lot are talking about. it's all twitter to me.
    cheers to all.

    ReplyDelete