I'm in Hobe Sound, FL

Hi Guys,

Still making adjustments to full-time motor home living.  There are issues being in such a small space, but it's now becoming second nature and I must say pretty enjoyable.  I no longer see the size of my confines as a negative and I'm now just grateful to have such a high quality motor home to live in.  Lord, I can't complain about anything given all the great options I've had installed.  I lack for very little in terms of conveniences and certainly nothing anyone would consider a necessity.  One of the residents here at Floridays RV Park asked for work and offered to hand wash and wax the coach for $150.  I couldn't pass up such an incredible bargain.  I had him apply Liquid Glass and I couldn't be happier.  He then did the same for my Pathfinder for $45.  Again, too much of a bargain to pass up.  The only thing left on my list is getting the washer fixed, but I expect that's going to require taking it in to a Newmar service center.  Did have one other issue recently, though.  I noticed that the water refilling the toilet had turned a bright green.  Turns out algae grows in the inlet water hose when temps get higher and the hose is exposed to a lot of sun light.  The cur was simply to install a filter and shield the hose from sun light with foam pipe insulation.  The water was black for a few flushes, but it's ok now with the new charcoal filter at the faucet.  And the world keeps on spinning.

I discovered the little town of Hobe Sound while playing around with Google Earth.  Hobe Sound is halfway between Stuart/St. Lucie to the north and Jupiter to the south.  The RV park I've settled into has a low year round space rental rate of only $550 a month.  There aren't any amenities to maintain and the savings to the owner has been passed through to the residents.  Nobody complains, especially when we're all aware of the $1,400 to $2,800 a month rates found just to the south.  The biggest amenity in Martin County is the beach and so most everyone has a great tan if they live around here.  And it seems that just about every yard has a boat in it.

The fishing in this area is famous for being great inshore and offshore.  Cinco de Mayo (May 5th) brought with it the King Mackeral migration and a lot of fish in the freezer, but I'm getting ahead of myself.  Along the east coast of Florida lies the Intracoastal Waterway.  The barrier island is called Jupiter Island and it turns out to be the second wealthiest community in the entire USA or so I've been told.  Bill Gates, Tiger Woods, Celine Dion and many other of our nation's wealthiest people live on Jupiter Island.  You simply can not imagine the magnitude of the wealth on display here.  After a little research into Jupiter Island real estate values I'd say the average water front home runs about 8 million $$.  Interior island homes average about 2-3 million.  Tiger's estate is supposed to be about 54 million.  What is interesting about Jupiter Island is that it's not gated.  Anyone can drive in and around the estates and ogle.  Anyway, it's interesting to see how the "other half" lives.  Hobe Sound is located in Martin County.  Martin is known for one important building ordinance.  No structures can be built over 50 tall or 5 stories.  Creating that ordinance was simply catering to the mega rich who have settled here.  And they pay a lot of property taxes for the privilege.  So, all the water front properties are built out with single family homes and you just do not see the condos or heavy population centers that are ever present to both the north and the south.  The population in Martin County is small and there aren't even enough people here to support a Walmart.  It's a really nice change to not see the typical commercial areas of higher density areas of SE Florida.  Hobe Sound is an understated lifestyle if you live off island.  So, it's here that you find the most natural settings and pristine beaches.  It's here that leatherback, loggerhead and other turtles come to lay their eggs in the spring without being disturbed by heavy tourism.  I've driven north and south and the congested areas like Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale are really a lot more stressful with all the associated crime and hassles of big city living.  For me being here is all about socializing and enjoying the water and the local food.  

One of the great finds here in Hobe Sound is a little roadside market 1/2 mile to the north on Hwy 1.  It's there I'm able to buy NEVER FROZEN seafood.  I never realized before now just how much shrimp, fish, stone crab claws, lobster tails and deep sea scallops suffer from freezing.  I'm in heaven or at least seafood heaven.  So, at least once or twice a week I buy scallops, 16 count headless shrimp and stone crab claws and revel in this local bounty.  I say local, but that's not completely accurate.  Much of what they sell comes from the New England area of the country and is flown here fresh on ice.  Again, if the rich people weren't here I'd likely not be enjoying such culinary luxuries.  I am grateful, to be sure.

It was pompano season when I arrived here in late March and I gave it my best effort, but alas.  Thing is I know what I was doing wrong and I still couldn't catch the fish like the commercial fisherman could.  The ONLY difference is I can't cast as far.  I'm coming up about 50 feet short of where I need to cast my sand fleas.  That's what pompano eat, sand fleas.  They are actually little crabs and not actual fleas.  They can be found along the surf line on the beach.  When the waves wash out from the beach the little crabs can be seen burying themselves in the sand.  Those too slow to bury in the sand are eaten by pompano cruising on the tide.  To catch sand fleas you have to use a sand flea rake and I've got one of them in my beach cart arsenal.  I've never really been much of a beach person, but I now find it relaxing fun to sit out and enjoy the ocean air and sun.  I should buy stock in sun screen for all I use.  Back to Cinco de Mayo.  A fellow Chofu Viking, Ray Bank, has known about this area for a very long time since he and his fishing buddies from the Orlando area have been coming down here for many years to fish the Kingfish migration.  I was invited this year and I'm happy to report we caught the shit out of those Kingfish.  We're talking about a unique experience for me given that Kings average about 25-30 lbs.  They put up one hell of a fight, too.  When the boys went back home they took over 200 lbs of Kingfish fillets on ice.  I kept 25 lbs for myself and gave most of it away to my new fishing buddy and RV park manager George Vrolof.  I don't eat nearly as much fish as I do other seafood and don't particularly enjoy fishy fish, if you know what I mean?  People claim Kings are a bit oily, but it seemed pretty mild to me.  I did, however, take one 5 lb package to my local BBQ house and had it smoked over hickory wood.  The fish was transformed into something reminiscent of my younger years living in the panhandle.  It was there that I acquired a taste for smoked mullet.    Turns out smoked Kingfish is even better and a lot milder even with the Cajun spices used for seasoning.  Smoked Kingfish will keep for about a month without freezing.  I'll vacuum bag and freeze the left overs if there are any.  It was suggested that I use up the smoked meat as a substitute for canned tuna fish for sandwiches.  Dolphin or Mahi-Mahi as some prefer to call it is a relatively short season at the end of May and the first weeks of June.  After that it's mostly billfish; sailfish, marlin and bottom fishing if you can find the wrecks.  The other day while partying at a local sandbar with new friends the guy with the boat beached behind us hooked and jumped a tarpon.  It appeared to be about 30 lbs and it threw the hook on the first jump.  Most people don't know how to set the hook on a tarpon and do not put enough brute force into it.  Tarpon have very bony mouths and it's hard to get a good hook set if you don't give it your all.  Like the guide once told me, "John, you need to hit the tarpon as hard as you can and remember, nobody ever jerked the lips out of a tarpon".  We may go out in the morning looking for tarpon on the incoming tide when water clarity is highest.  George has several boats to choose from and all I do is put gas into them.  Hey, it's a lot cheaper than owning a boat, eh?  June is the height of tarpon season down here and so I expect we'll eventually get onto them.  There is also a big population of snook here in the Intracoastal Waterway.  The vast majority of Jupiter Island land is still bordered with mangroves and that's perfect habitat for snook.  It's from those tangled mangrove roots that snook can ambush their baitfish prey.  Also saw a manatee the other day.  It appeared to be a cow and her calf.  Suffice it to say there is an abundance of wildlife in this area.  Some of it is not indigenous to the area and is a result of people letting their exotic pets loose.

My original plan was to leave here in the 3rd week of June and head out west to the northern Rockies.  I'm not certain I'll be leaving then, though.  I'm really enjoying Hobe Sound and I'd really like to get into some snorkling and scuba diving.  I've had to order a new battery for my SeaDoo seascooter as I didn't heed the warning label on the original battery that it needs to be charged on a regular basis when not in use.  Out of sight, out of mind, I guess.  There is a new model out now that uses a lithium ion battery and charging that model isn't nearly as critical.  Tomorrow I'm heading down to a snorkling park at Jupiter Inlet.  They've built an artificial reef there and it is supposed to be full of exotic tropical fish species.  I'll update after my little outing and let you all know what I saw.  I do have an underwater housing for my new 12 megapixel Canon pocket camera and will be giving it a try soon.  I should be able to post picture attachments to these posts, which will be very cool.  The new camera will also shoot HD quality video, so hopefully I'll be able to edit and upload those as well.  I might have to do it through Youtube.  We'll see.

Went out on an actual date May 24th.  It was my first date since the divorce.  I took it slow and it was a good experience.  Florence is her name and I found her on an Internet dating service, POF.com.  Flo is a professional musician and plays keyboard and sings for her daily bread.  I won't be seeing her again given just how geographically undesirable she is living so far south, but it was really nice walking down the boardwalk at Pompano Beach holding hands.  It's been a very long time since I've gotten a kiss good night and it was then that I realized just how much I miss women.  This brings up the subject of finding a traveling companion.  I'm a little confused at the moment about whether or not I really want a traveling companion.  Right now I'm leaning towards, "not", but never say never, eh?  It would be fun to have someone to share it all with, but maybe it would be better to find new friends where ever I travel.  I seem to have a nack for it.  Not to mention, new friends are just a key stroke away on the Internet, not to mention I've got great Chofu Viking friends all over the country who would welcome me in their homes.  That's not the same thing, though.  I do hunger for female companionship and so I'm just now starting to re-invent myself as a single man.  I don't feel any urgency, though, and I'm taking my time.  Really, I've got other priorities on my mind like fishing and swimming my way back into shape.  Girls can wait for a little while longer.  In the meantime, I'll just remain open to all the possibilities of life and simply enjoy living.

I'm very happy with my choices so far and life is finally, once again, an adventure.  I still watch a lot of satellite TV and I'm still laughing out loud at 2 1/2 men while laying on the couch.  And I'm really looking forward to Charlie Sheen's new series called Anger Management.  I guess some things never change even when my house has wheels under it.  Again, I'm suffering for nothing.  

Sorry it's been so long since my last post.  I'll try to do better now that my laptop has mysteriously fixed itself and I once again have access to roadhogblog.

mb/jd