Friends, Yachts, and Fish Stories

Vince and Mary Birleson!

When we left Purdue in 1969, Bob's first job (as an engineer) was at Texas Instruments in Dallas. We quickly discovered that true Texans were a rare breed indeed and that most of the engineers were from the Big Ten schools! Vince was assigned to the same project as Bob and we soon became great friends. Mary and Theresa hit it off well. We were in the same boats economically and family wise. Vince taught Bob how to water ski and it was a given that Saturdays were spent at Grapevine Reservoir. We get an opportunity to see them whenever we come to Florida and look forward to our visits with eagerness. They live aboard their boat, a 58 foot long Hateras Long Range Cruiser but also own a house nearby which they graciously turned over to us!


Mary jokingly had Vince don this "Surfer-Dude Hat" with a full head of hair.


We drove to nearby Stuart for a stroll on the docks to visit some of their boating friends and then the downtown area which is filled with shops of all variety of thing you might want (including a gelato store run by an Italian who made terrific gelato - Italian soft ice cream!)


Look closely and you'll see that the second story "windows" are actually murals!


Dinner at the Tiki Bar in St Lucie.
(I'm sorry, I had the hamburger and it was very good indeed!
You can only be good so much ;-)


On Wednesday, the wind had died down quite a bit and Vince asked the "magic" question "Wanta go for a boat ride?" Silly question!


Mary cast off the lines and brought in the fenders and then joined Theresa on the focsle (forecastle to you lubbers).


Vince is in his element when steering a boat, whether it is an 18' ski boat or a 58' Yacht like the "Betty B" (named for his Mom)!
He is extremely thorough and cautious, double checking everything and taking nothing for granted. You always feel safe with Vince at the helm!


Vince and Mary's boat is about as big as two people can handle, but there are even bigger yachts in the basin!
BTW: The boating market is depressed right now so you can get some great buys on some very nice boats!


It is a nice 15 minute drive to the Ft Pierce inlet and the open seas.
The bridge in the background is one we'd drive over many times but this gave a whole new perspective.


As we transited the inlet, we could see surfers and kite surfers on the beach.
Fishermen line the edges of the channel (too close for comfort sometimes).


There are some nice homes along the way. This one is close to Vince and Mary's but theirs is not on the water, so the "rule of ten's" comes into play. A house on the water will sell fro approximately 10 times what it would even a block off the water.


Pelicans are everywhere. These two were enjoying a nice siesta when we disturbed their rest. They looked for moment as though they would take off but finally settled for staring us down!


Later, we went to Harbor Branch Research Institute (part of Florida Atlantic University) for a talk on "farm raised" fish (aquaculture is the correct term).


They advised they would have snacks afterward, so we sat close to the door!


The two Profs that gave the talk used a staged dialog format, pretending they'd met at a coffee house to discuss the pros and cons of aquaculture. I don't know if it's because Harbor Branch is big in aquaculture or not, but they seemed to think it was great.
Later they had a "show and do" where she showed ow to identify and pick put fresh seafood.


The "reception" was a bust (one not very good cookie) but the staff was there to answer questions and the displays were great.


This deep diving unit delivered two divers to 700 feet and allowed them to go out, swim, return and then surface. The unit then acted as the decompression chamber on deck!


In front they had some great sculptures that were appreciated by a number of birds looking for dinner!


Tomorrow, breakfast with Vince and Mary and then off to Naples for the Purdue Molenkopf Weekend.