Florida Scallops with a hitchhiker... fresh from the bay.

We arrived in Horseshoe Beach on July 1 as scheduled. The rest of our crew arrived on time and the great scalloping adventure of 2010 was about to begin. We had our three grandsons with us for the summer and showed them all the wonders of the great outdoors here in sunny Florida. They learned how to sail, catch and release sharks, beach metal detect, and now … scalloping!

Last year we were catching our daily limit within an hour or so at this spot, so we were hopeful. The first day showed us that we were going to have to work a bit harder at filling our five gallon buckets. We ended up going north of Steinhatchee where we ‘slammed’ them. Everyone was limited out in under an hour, no oil either.

Before you head out make sure you know what YOUR daily limit is. Check with the FWC website for the official rules and regulations as they change by the number of people you are scalloping with. The maximum daily limit per boat is 10 gallons of whole scallops, regardless of the size of your crew. Check the per person regulation, too. The youngest grandson, who just turned 5, counted towards the daily limit the same as the adults.

We noticed fewer scallops in this area. I’m not sure if they migrated to someplace different this year or if the early season opening depleted the stocks already, but we were working hard to get our limit.

Teaching my youngest grandson how to 'look' for scallops

If you have never been scalloping before, it’s very easy. Just snorkel along and pick up the tasty little critters as you spot them. It may take a bit to develop an eye for them, but you will quickly get the hang of it.

Sometimes the white part of the shell is turned upwards which makes them really easy to see. Generally though, the darker side is up and it matches the grass beds very nicely. With the sun shining into the water, you can sometimes see their sparkling blue eyes along the entire opening of the bi-half shell as they are filtering water.

As you approach they will generally snap shut and remain still. This makes them easy prey. Sometimes you get a swimmer and they are fun to catch. They rapidly open and close the halves of their shell which propels them through the water in an attempt to escape, usually with out success. I’ve seen them swimming along and I’ll hold open my collection bag and let them swim right in. Volunteers, you got to love them.

Watch out for the OUCH! Scallops can snap shut on your fingertips and they really pinch. If you’re picking up a scallop with Attention Deficit Disorder (the one that forgot to slam his big mouth shut as you are reaching for him), grab it from behind along the hinge side. It will keep you from getting pinched.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pU6L_BCwjw

Some folks I know are going scalloping for the first time and have requested a detailed explanation of this fun event. So then, here it is.

BASIC ITEMS NEEDED

A good mask and snorkel. Essential. You will have your face stuck in the water most of the time. The snorkel really makes breathing underwater much easier. When you get your mask home, wet the inside lens in the sink. Take some toothpaste, just a tad, and use the tip of your wet finger to very gently clean the inside lens. Trust me on this … it will really make a difference. Rinse the mask well. If you have some anti-fog drops (recommended), apply as directed before swimming. The drops can be obtained where you got the mask or at any dive shop. Don’t forget to dip your mask in the salt water to give it one last rinse before putting it on your head.

If this is all I got, I'm gunna starve here!

Being able to clearly see the scallops is the key to success. A poorly fitting mask, or one that fogs up constantly, makes for a less fun day. Hint: To find a properly fitting mask, stick it on your face without the strap on the back of your head. If the suction created by the mask holds it in place for a few seconds after you let it go … it fits. Then go for a nice stylish look.

I do suggest going to a dive shop or expedition outfitter type store for the mask and snorkel. Discount stores sell discount merchandise. It won’t fit or last. The professional stores have qualified sales people to help you with your selection.

Fins. Necessary. Quality fins will last years and years. I have a set of Rocket fins that still work well. I’ve owned them for over 20 years now. I highly recommend some sort of bootie or wet sock to wear with your fins. This will prevent chafing and the occasional blister.

Dive Flag: Required by law. The dive flag is red with a diagonal white stripe and must be flown when you are in the water. You are required to remain within 300 feet of the flag. Flags are available at all dive shops.

Collection bag: Necessary. This can be any kind of mesh type bag that will hold your catch.

Five gallon bucket(s): Necessary. You need some place to put all your scallops as you collect them, and the bucket gives you a good gauge of your catch to keep you within legal limits. The scallops NEED some place to chill out (in salt water) until such time as the cleaning process begins.

Scallop knife: Necessary (maybe). It all depends on how you like to clean scallops. Some folks use a spoon, I like the knife. You can buy these at the dive shops as well. They are not particularly sharp and only three inches long. The tip of the knife is curved to fit the inside of the top half of the shell. This is important when cleaning scallops.

Ice cold frosty adult beverage: Necessary, for our crew anyhow. Got to keep hydrated!

Scallop parts, double click for large view

CLEANING SCALLOPS

We generally set up an assembly line for cleaning. This consists of one person splitting the shell open with the scallop knife. You hold the scallop, white shell down, in the palm of your left hand (reverse this for southpaws). Put the back, or hinge part of the scallop facing your fingertips and the bivalve opening of the hinge towards your wrist. The goal here is to use the curved portion of the blade to scrape the upper inside of the shell. This cuts the muscle and membrane free from the top (dark) half of the shell . Peel this half of the shell away. Save the shells if you are crafty … they make lots of neat things.

The next person cleans out the guts (kids love doing this part). Use a spoon or the curved edge of a scallop knife to scrape out the membrane. Practice makes perfect here. The only thing remaining in the lower half of the shell when you are done should be the white muscle. The last person cuts the meat from the remaining bottom shell. This is the easiest job.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=76D5w2Qzcag

Store your scallops in salt water in a good zip lock type freezer bag. A good fresh water rinse before cooking is all you will need after you thaw them out.

Lined up for cleaning..... yummmm

So there you have it … go out and enjoy some of nature’s bounty. Just don’t forget the sunscreen.

The link below has  more detailed information about cleaning, with photos!

http://www.southerncrosses.com/2009/07/15/florida-bay-scallops-the-how-to-guide/

By the way… have you read my novel yet?

Last Tuesday evening we stopped by the Boca Ciega Yacht Club for a little bit. There were some folks getting the Catalina’s ready to go out into the bay.

Getting the Catalina's ready to go

The boats are stored on trailers and need to be hoisted into the channel. The task takes several people to accomplish, but is fairly easy to do. The boats are easily readied and out into the bay they go.

Dropping a couple of red buoys quickly sets up a race course. There is no official judges standing by, just some of the club folks having a great time, most of them anyhow.

There always has to be someone vying for special attention in every event I suppose… this one being not much different.

I don’t want to mention any names so Bill and Belinda shall be hereafter referred to as: The Swimmers.

Have you ever been preparing to do something and there is this nagging little voice that get’s you to thinking, ‘I shouldn’t be doing this, I should just go home?’

Using the hoist to drop another in the water.

When you try 3 or 4 times to push away from the dock in a little sailboat and the wind just keeps pushing you back against the dock… and all the other boats just glide away easily~ there is that little voice.

So the ‘Swimmers’ finally push off of the dock and get the little boat heading into the bay. We (Sheree and I) reposition ourselves to take some photos of the ‘race’.

We see why that little nagging voice should not be ignored in one of the videos below. For us Floridian’s it’s no big deal, when the water is in the 80′s. The water is only in the 60′s which is absolutely frigid for most of us. Bill, Belinda, and son, (I mean the Swimmers) are all recently from N.Y. so I would surmise that this was not as cold as I am imagining. (see the last YouTube video)

I shall have to wait for the full story. Until then, enjoy the videos.

Ahoy,

Larry

The Swimmers try again to get away from the dock!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThgIdaD3eD4

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vBwmu9WGbc

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5w-ijwulCk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCPicbmLzXE

Xanadu, Panache, The Rachael, Casa Mia, Second Love, Sailacious, and Celebration made up the expedition.

Fort Jefferson, Dry Tortugas

We hop scotched down Florida’s west coast stopping at Venice, Pelican Bay, Ft. Meyers Beach and Marco Island before embarking on our overnight passage to Key West. Each of these stops along the way could be a story unto itself, but in the interest of time, we’ll leave those stories for the porch.

We arrived at daybreak in Key West after an 18 hour or so passage from Marco Island. This was my first passage of any length, and I would be lying if I didn’t say I was somewhat apprehensive about this long, overnight ordeal. Our group stayed in contact via the VHF, at most separated by 2 or 3 miles. Every hour during the night we reported in stating our condition and our position relative to the Key West marker. I was surprised how quickly the night passed. Thank God it was daylight as we entered the Key West channel. I say this because looking at the lights marking the channels, shoals, etc. approaching Key West, it was the most confusing set of visual aids I had ever seen. Being a 30-year, multiengine instrument pilot, licensed to fly in zero visibility, navigating by instruments is something that comes easy to me. However, having little or no sleep while lining up the paper charts, with the plotter, watching your depth meter for conformation, and coordinating all this with what you visually see which was a myriad of lights blinking and flashing in every direction, I can only say that whoever the guy was who sold Key West the hundreds of lights marking the waterways must have made a lot of money.

Most of us stayed at the Conch Harbor Marina for Thursday and Friday and we departed Saturday morning. Conch Harbor is a Latin phrase meaning “over priced”. However, it was one of the nicest marina’s I’ve been to. Great pool, good food and drinks, showers, laundry…all the amenities. Bill Casey and his crew aboard Second Love had some mechanical difficulties and anchored out. So, we didn’t see Bill or his crew very much until we were on our way back days later. But the rest of us did our thing in Key West. We were a short walk to Duval Street where as they say, “the action is.” We also made a pilgrimage to Mallory Square at sundown to watch and toast the sundown and enjoy the circus like atmosphere that is so Key West. Restaurants, bars, streets, music, lifestyles, it is so different but so neat to see. We decided to rent a motor scooter which made getting around Key West very easy.

Before we knew it Saturday morning had come. Panache left the dock begrudgingly around 6:30 am. Coffee was hot, weather was good, wind was wrong, sun at our backs and the big W on the compass told us go west young man, go west. So west we went. We passed the Marquesas, a string of uninhabited islands 25 miles or so west of Key West. Then, hours and hours of hours and hours, until finally, late in the day Fort Jefferson started rising above the horizon. We had made it. We were still alive. One by one, all of the remaining BCYC boats entered the crystal clear waters of the anchorage abutting Fort Jefferson, dropped our hooks, and settled in. I had never been there before. What a sight. A fortress, in the middle of nowhere. I wanted to drop my dingy in the water and rush over to get a first hand up close look at this thing. But first, there was relaxing to do, wine to open, and a cigar was calling my name. There would be plenty of time to explore. It was only Saturday, and we weren’t leaving until Tuesday afternoon. On the other hand, a quick trip to shore would be nice. We could walk and get some exercise, see and touch Fort Jefferson up close, plus check out the scene in general. We dropped the dingy and headed through the crowded anchorage. We eased through the gin clear water and up on the beach. We had landed at Fort Jefferson. Our feet were on solid ground. The highlight of this first, short, shore expedition was discovering where the visitor’s center was. It had a lot of interesting stuff, but the best part about it, it was air-conditioned. Over the next few days we would visit that air-conditioned center a lot. I personally watched their orientation movie 12 times.

A little later, back on the boat, wine was flowing and cigars were glowing. A big dinner of pan fried pork chops, grilled onions, real mashed potatoes, and salad was devoured with all the gusto of a pack of hound dogs. Panache’s water tanks were full so hot showers were in order. I crawled in my bunk thinking I might read but fell asleep way too fast for that.

Sunday & Monday at Fort Jefferson

The crowded anchorage got less crowded as a few non-BCYC boats departed Sunday. We had 6 BCYC boats and I’m guessing there was probably another 10 or so in the anchorage with us. Like any cruise, we had a lot of comradery going on between club boats, and in doing so, we managed to make friends with other boats as well. One boat in particular, from Cortez, had a father/son on board who lived to fish. We had some killer pot luck dinners onshore that went on late into the night. We invited the father/son team, Mike & Mike Jr., to our pot luck. That day, they caught a yellowfin tuna that they lightly seared and brought to the potluck providing all 6 boats with all the delicious sushi we could eat. While we were there, Mike & Mike Jr. would come by Panache once or twice a day offering us fresh snapper, yellowtail, and grouper.

All this fresh fish got us excited, so Guy O’Conner, our marvelous trip leader, and I jumped in my dingy and went on a fishing expedition. We caught nothing, zip, nada in the way of fish. Guy managed to “fish” a baby bird out of the water who had somehow managed to fall into the sea. Unfortunately, the little bird didn’t make it but it wasn’t for lack of effort on Guy’s part. For those of you who don’t know Guy O’Connor, he is one terrific person. He’s honest and kind, dedicated and knowledgeable, considerate, loyal and just such a good man. He did such a good job in planning and leading this trip.

Later that day our BCYC group had fun snorkeling and saw some awesome sights including some pretty big fish. I think that almost everyone in our group took advantage of the wonderful snorkeling opportunities surrounding Fort Jefferson.

I’ve got to write a little bit about the birds, as they were a complete surprise to me. As it turns out, our anchorage was bordered to the west by Garden Key which houses Fort Jefferson. Bush Key borders it to the north, which house about 100,000 birds. These are not the normal run of the mill seabirds we are used to seeing. These birds, about 4 different varieties, come from as far away as Africa to nest on this one particular island in the Dry Tortugas. For some of the species, it’s the only spot on earth where they do so. I guess it’s a bird watching paradise for some and interesting to all of us. Now these birds make a lot of noise…day and night. I thought birds roosted at night and went to sleep. Honestly, the noise of the birds was no match for comfort and serenity of our bunks, and sleep came easily.

Tuesday morning was approaching. Some of us were leaving early morning and heading for Ft. Meyers Beach, the rest of us were leaving early afternoon and heading for Marco Island. Everyone had a safe passage and rested well Wednesday night. Thursday night we all wound up in the Cayo Costa area and we reunited with Bill Casey and his crew aboard Second Love. This crew was unable to get to the Tortugas due to mechanical problems, but they made lemonade out of lemons and had a great time in and around Key West. Friday night was spent in Venice where about 2 weeks earlier we had spent our first night. Then Saturday afternoon, our little fleet from BCYC passed through structure C and into the home waters of Boca Ciega Bay.

Many thanks to Guy O’Conner and Cathy Tallisman, our cruise directors, who put together a simply marvelous cruise. Well planned from beginning to end. Panache, along with Casa Mia, Sailacious and Celebration were first timers on this cruise. Xanadu and The Rachael both had made the trip and crossings before and were veterans. I also have to give thanks to Dave Brangaccio aboard Xanadu for coming to our aid on more than one occasion with his mechanical expertise. Looking back, I learned a lot about myself and a lot about my boat and was surprised how enjoyable the long crossings were. I envisioned being on pins and needles while 60 or 70 miles offshore. That wasn’t the case. Of course it helped that the weather was good and other boats were close by.

This may have been the best adventure of my life…so far! Thanks BCYC.

Written by Jeff Reckson, Fleet Captain BCYC.

(reprinted with permission)  Photos stolen from Wikipedia and added for dramatic effect 

Wasting an entire day is truly becoming an art form for me.  It’s not for everybody.  My standards of a normal day have changed over the years.  

So you ask, just what is normal?  Well… this day it was being totally worthless at being a productive human being.  I was previously a success at fixing the wind generator a couple of days ago, so today will be different.  The much delayed part from ‘eMarine Systems’ had finally arrived, the fix was easy.  I simply had to have the correct part.  I’d fixed a few other things as well, but that will be in a later blog entry.  This one is about being worthless on a sailboat…

The sun rises to an empty schedule.  Nothing on the calendar but the day and date.  Were it not for the miracle of the personal computer, I would not even know that much information most of the time.  But, since I’m part of the modern electronic world, allow me to share the day’s events.

Watch the sunrise. Drink coffee.

Yep, that about sums it up.  Next thing you know it’s around noon.  We are anchored off the beach in Gulfport Florida, one of my favorite places on the west coast.  The anchor is holding very well, the bay is reasonably calm, and the pace is slow.

We decide to go for a bit of a dinghy ride and exploring a little bit.  It’s always nice to go poking about in a little rubber boat with an outboard.  There is very little work involved and if you hit something, you bounce off without too much damage.  

We find the entrance to Clam Bayou a bit east of the Gulfport Pier.  This is a piece of natural Florida that has managed to survive the urban sprawl along the waterfront. Entering the Bayou we are greeted with a wide assortment of waterfowl relaxing about as much as we are.  Fish are schooling ahead of the boat as we push deeper into the mangroves.

The water is getting shallower as we progress which is limiting our explorations.  This is a perfect place for a canoe or kayak.  One of the water trails is marked for human powered boats only, no internal combustion engines allowed.  We explore the areas that we can get to with our dinghy and enjoy the serenity once I kill the engine.  If you own a kayak, this trail is just what you are looking for.

Entering Boca Ciega bay once again as we continue around the bay back into civilization.  The weather appears like it will be changing in the next day or so.  High clouds are forming some impressive overhead scenes which is usually a sign of another front on the way.  

So we head back to the boat in time to enjoy the evening activities.

Watch the sunset. Enjoy a cocktail.

Yeah, life on a boat…

Links you might enjoy:

http://www.dep.state.fl.us/coastal/sites/bocaciega-pinellas/

http://www.stpete.org/parks/clambayou.asp

N 27 44.5 W 82 41.4

The Gulfport Pier is on the lower left, with Clam Bayou being the nice green area. Click on the picture for a little closer view.

The mighty scallop

First and foremost, MAKE SURE IT IS SCALLOPING SEASON. A second little tip, MAKE SURE YOU ARE IN A LEGAL HARVESTING AREA. Failing to make sure you are in compliance will mean you will no longer be able to call the little shells scallops, and will have to use the moniker, ‘baby clams.’

The folks that know me know the back story, but since there may be some Florida Wildlife Commission officers reading this, I have never intentionally, and let me repeat… almost never violated any rules or regulations as set forth by the legal eagles of the Great State of Florida and enforced by those with guns and ticket books.

A fine collection of scallops

Should you accidentally find yourself in an awkward situation whereas you may possess some baby clams, do not do anything that would draw attention to yourself until you are safely ashore and the sun has set. And most certainly do not anchor next to the nearest US Coast Guard station.

Anyhow, as it is presently legally scalloping season, let’s concentrate on the task at hand…

First off, you need to be in an area along the west coast of Florida between the Pasco-Hernando county lines and running up to Mexico Beach in the Florida panhandle. The season runs from July 1st to September 10th. The adept scalloper is permitted to collect two gallons of whole scallops a day, which is about one pint of cleaned meat, but no more than ten gallons whole scallops a day, for any boat.

Step one, let the cleaning begin

You must capture the critters, and take them to shore in an area where it’s legal to harvest scallops. I suppose that this is should you actually be in possession of scallops, on a vessel outside the designated collection area, you will not be permitted to call them ‘baby clams’ and continue on your way. I would also suspect that you would face less of a punishment if you were in possession of 12 illegal immigrants and a kilo of cocaine.

Have a bag of baby clams in the onboard reefer while out of season, and outside the designated area… Well, you may get set adrift by the people who would seize your vessel and subsequently sell it back to you at a government auction six years from now. I suppose you could keep a pack of Ms. Paul’s fresh frozen sea scallops as a handy throw down box should you get boarded and searched.

Step two, guts

Getting back to the original story, we went to Cross City which is due west of Gainesville Fl. We found a small RV park where we set up camp. The water along the coast here is too shallow for our sailboat, the AbbyGale. We cajoled our relatives into coming along, boats and trailers required. We found Poor-Boy’s RV park which was a really neat little campground. $23.00 a night for full hook-ups was a sweet bonus.

Our intended destination for boating is Horseshoe Beach, due west of Cross City, about 21 minutes by auto. They have a county park at the beach with a free boat ramp. They also have a couple of paid campsites there, but they are generally full, and they don’t have much for power, water, or sewage hook-ups. The drive from Poor Boy’s is not that long considering the convenience of the park and nearby restaurants and such.

Step three, getting closer!

This is also a great place if you are interested in going to any of the many natural springs in the area. Perhaps another post…

We put the boats in the water and parked the trailers. Within 20 minutes we were in scalloping territory. All you need is about 5-6 feet of clear water about five miles away from the ramp, and a desire to go swimming. We dropped the anchor in some wiregrass beds and began the hunt.

The scallops are easy to spot once you know what to look for. Once you get the hang of it, it’s very easy to get your limit in an hour or so. Some will be lying on the grass, and when you dive to get that one, you generally see one or two more. Some of our hunters were picking up five scallops in one dive.

Step four, here's the meat

We would bring them up to the mother ship dumping our collection bags and continue the hunt. Anyone not wanting to get wet can begin the cleaning process speeding things up.

Grasp the scallop in one hand and with a scallop knife, insert the blade into the side. The knife is curved, and not sharpened. You need to use the blade to scrape the membrane free from the inside of the top half of the scallop shell. Peel this shell off and toss in a bucket.

There will be a glob of goo remaining in the lower shell. The next step is to scrape the membrane away and into a bucket. What remains is the scallop muscle, which is white in color and about the size of your finger tip, from the knuckle up.

The boat cleaning station

Using the backside of the blade, scrape off the scallop muscle and put it into a pint Tupperware container. (This helps with seeing when you have reached your limit)

There you have it… cleaned scallops. Feel free to try one of many recipes available for the tiny morsels. Just remember, do NOT overcook them. Drop a scallop in a hot skillet with butter, lemon, garlic, and a little seasoning, for an easy treat. It will take less than 60 seconds to completely cook the little guy.

Should you desire to relax and enjoy your catch, there is another way. For the truly lazy (which I’ve been known to be a time or two) there is a nice little restaurant at the end of Horseshoe Beach. You can get the standard frozen microwave fare if you’re absolutely starving, but for the true seafood lover; hand them your baggies of fresh caught seafood.

The Horseshoe Cafe

They will cook your catch for under $10.00 per person, which includes two sides. They will blacken or fry your catch and serve it up hot and steamy. It’s tough to get anything fresher. They did have fresh caught soft-shell crab available the night we were there, and it was mighty tasty.

And there you have it, another hidden Florida tasty treat just waiting to be plucked from the sea. Oh, and by the way, ‘baby clams’ taste amazingly like scallops!

Enjoy!

For more information please see the newest post on scalloping:

http://www.southerncrosses.com/2010/07/25/florida-bay-scallops-2010/

You could get lucky and find a flounder