Handcuffed To The Ocean

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Hi everyone,

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We are now in Hampton, Va, having arrived in a gale about seven yesterday evening.  On the way we got smacked around by some muscular waves in the five to six foot range, and got hit with lots of hail and rain so being in the cockpit was not pleasant.  Since a rigger inspected our rigging in Pasadena, Maryland and said some of it was coming apart, we didn’t put up any sail.  Without sail up to stabilize the boat things were a little rocky.  Well, maybe more than just a little.  The Chesapeake is shallow so there’s lots of wave action in a gale.  I think the rigger was not quite honest, he seemed a little shady, but I didn’t want to take the chance.  Anyway, most everything in the boat got rearranged during the voyage.  And we found a few leaks.

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Defiant at the dock

We left Yorktown where we’d spent two night on a mooring ball because the guy who rented us the mooring ball for $25 a night was not quite sure if we’d be safe there in the gale that was coming, so we left.  Hubris, right?  Thinking we can take it, the boat can take it, and heck it was only about 50 miles.  It was not an easy time.  We had a little trouble finding the narrow channels, and sometimes we found less than 9 feet under the keel, but we never touched mud.  Liza, it turns out, is a born navigator.  It was only as we got toward Norfolk and Hampton that she seemed to get a little frustrated, there are so many channels and markers and so many big ships, it’s like you’re caught in a video game.  We found this great little marina here in Hampton on the internet that charges a $62 a night but if you stay for two nights you get another night free, which makes it a bargain.  And the folks here are really kind and helpful, they even offered to loan us a car to go to the store.  But we took a bus.  

-When we got in we discovered that we had no 12 volt.  Gads, I couldn’t figure out why.  So I called an electrician and for only $65 he looked over our system and pointed out that the four new deep cycle batteries the previous owner had installed were not hooked up to the $650 West Marine battery charger he had installed, nor was it hooked up to the alternator on the engine, so for a month we’ve been using up the charge that must have come from the store.  It did seem odd that putting on the charger didn’t seem to do much.

Jim Frey and Liza Frey

Yorktown was a great place, being the site of the last Revolutionary War Battle  The Brits took a beating at sea from the French, and that’s what won it.  One problem with Yorktown as a cruising destination.  No groceries for sale anywhere.  Liza has to have fresh fruit every day or she gets grumpy.  But in Yorktown, if you want to eat something, you have to bring it with you or go to a restaurant.  The Seven-Eleven is seven miles away.  We went to town in our inflatable dingy and got plenty wet in the chop on the way back.  Two things we’ve found out so far, we need a bigger dinghy and Liza needs foul weather gear.

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More to follow.  Next, we head south through the Dismal Swamp with canals and locks and lots of snakes.

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All the best,

jim

New Year’s day and the temperature still felt like late summer, everyone wearing shorts and T shirts. The air just cool enough so that sweat would not roll off our bodies on a hike. So Kitty and I headed to Wakodahatchee to stroll around the wetlands on the raised wooden boardwalk.

I expected to see only a few people observing the wildlife. Surprise, surprise. The crowds had discovered this area of beauty. Everyone had cameras, a few with honkin’ long lenses. I had thought about taking my 800mm lens, but decided against it to photograph animals close to the walkway. A long lens is nice for the shy birds out in the distance, but so many egrets, herons, and ducks like to stay close to the viewing area that a 200mm lens will usually suffice.

Heron on the hunt

Even though many people chose to visit this site today, the noise level was almost on mute. No running, shouting, or tossing items at the creatures occurred. Different photographers compared notes with one another, describing where to set-up for an excellent photo op. And from time to time, the out-of-towner wanting to know “are there any alligators around?” So, yes, I would lead them to a place for them to see their first gator.

Gator for the tourist

Wakodahatchee is a Seminole Indian word roughly meaning “created waters”. And that is what this place is all about. This is a working example of waste water being cleaned by natural vegetation. Fifty acres of wetlands are home to 140 species of turtles, frogs, alligators, and birds. Truly a birder’s paradise.

Posing for pictures

Heron grooming itself

The boardwalk is less than a mile in length, but can easily take an hour or two to complete the loop. Just so much to see. At times, Kitty and I like to stop and listen to the sounds of the moor hens, mottled ducks, limpkins, and the sounds coming from the rookeries.

Turtle hotel

Nesting

 

 

Wakodahatchee is the place to see a wide variety of birds, turtles, and a few gators. What a great way to start the new year.

A question has arisen as to when was the last verified sighting of Haleigh. In the interview I did with Chelsea in August 2010 she talked briefly about Grandma Sykes bringing laundry over to the trailer on Green Lane. She also touches on the sleeping arrangements in the trailer on Green Lane.

Steven Kerry Brown

The following is a transcription of an interview I conducted with Chelsea Croslin. As you may remember, Chelsea is married to Timmy Croslin, Misty’s brother. These are her words and I assume no liability for what she says or for her opinions.

Steve:           So Monday, Ronald picks up Haleigh with Misty and they go back to the trailer and then the AC guy comes over and  Tommy comes over late in the afternoon.

Chelsea:        Yeah, Tommy came over.

Steve:            Smoked a joint out front.

Chelsea:       Yep, they were watching the kids do wheelies on their bikes.

Steve:            Right, right, right.

202 Green Lane

Chelsea:         And then supposedly Granny came over.  A few hours after Tommy did.

Steve:            Did Misty tell you that?

Chelsea:      Um, well, not at first she didn’t but then it all started coming out with the media and with Granny saying that she had  come over with clean folded laundry.

Steve:            Uh huh.

Chelsea:      Um, which that’s the thing, I think that Granny and Teresa probably know what happened to Haleigh that night  too because why would they come over with folded clean laundry when Ronald had a washer and dryer at his own house.  I mean yes, Teresa, or not Teresa but um, Granny would always match Haleigh’s outfits when laundry was done and they were in baskets.  Granny would come over usually on the weekends, Saturday or Sunday and hang everything according to outfit.  From shirt to belt to pants.  Haleigh matched from top to bottom at all times.  And it would be all on a hanger in the closet.  In the closet would be outfits.  Perfect matched outfits all the way across the closet.  That way it would be easy for Misty to just grab an outfit, get her dressed in the mornings you know and take her to school.  Well to the bus stop or wherever we took her that day.  So, um, so yeah, Granny did do that part, but I don’t, Granny didn’t even have, as far as I know, I don’t even know if Granny has a washer and dryer in her house and if she does why would, why were they doing, that doesn’t make sense to me.  Why would she be doing their laundry? And bring it home folded at that because there were no drawers in the house.  And she just said on Nancy Grace like a month ago she brought home the folded laundry and put it away.  Well why would you fold Haleigh’s laundry when Haleigh didn’t have a drawer in her house and no one had no drawers, everything was hung in closets?

Steve:            So you had been in their trailer there…

Chelsea:            Oh, yeah, many times.

Click on the link below to see the floor plan of the mobil home at 202 Green Lane.

FloorPlan.tiff

Steve:            Let’s talk about the beds for a minute, ok?  What were the sleeping arrangements?

Chelsea:            Oh well, technically Haleigh you know had her own room and Junior had his.  They had toddler size beds.  Um.

Steve:            They weren’t on the floor?

Chelsea:            It is like crib mattresses up on the little plastic beds.  Like Haleigh had like a I don’t know, I don’t remember if hers was princess or one of those little characters and Junior had the little boy one and they were inside of like tents.  They had tents in their bedroom.  Like a Dora tent was in her room and the Spiderman one was in his room and that was where their beds were.  But they would just pull their mattresses off and usually throw them on the floor in the living room.  And they would sleep side by side in the living room in front of the TV and that’ is where they would sleep pretty much every night.  That is where I always saw them asleep.  Um, you know or they would get in bed with Misty sometimes, but.

Steve:            Misty and Ron had separate bedrooms?

Chelsea:            They had their own bedroom.  It was a three-bedroom house, yes.  Everybody had their own room, but the kids usually ended up pulling their mattress into the living room because they didn’t have TV’s in their rooms.  Um, and they, Ronald’s family was a lot more strict on them then obviously Misty was.  Eight o’clock lights, no TV, no nothing.  Everybody has to be asleep.  And no kid in the world follows that.  I mean no kid that I know follows that rule.  I’m sure as heck none of our kids did.  So, Misty would put the TV on because that’s the best way to make the kids fall asleep is to a movie you know.  So, if somebody would come over or something like me and Misty would be like on the porch or something like that and if we seen like Granny or something like that pull up I would run inside like I was going to the bathroom and like shut off the TV and be like Granny is here and the kids would like throw the blankets over their heads and pretend like they were sleeping.  Because you know, they knew that they would be in big trouble by Ronald if they got caught being awake after 8:00 pm.  Ronald was always very strict on everything.  And the kids were always very on edge with him they were always scared of getting in trouble.  A yes ma’am, no ma’am, yes sir, no sir to everybody.  That is how Haleigh and Junior spoke.  I mean very, very well respected children.  I couldn’t believe that a man raised them two kids the way that they were you know.  They were very respectful.  They were just, they are awesome kids they are, but they were always on edge of Ronald and they would be scared of anything that they could get themselves in trouble.

Steve:            So it is very possible that, that night, I’m talking I guess that Monday night now right?

Chelsea:            Yeah. Monday night.

Steve:            Haleigh would have been in her bed and Ronald Junior in another bedroom in his bed?

Chelsea:            Well, no because they usually didn’t sleep in their bedrooms.  They like barely every, I mean like if they did sleep in their bedroom it was probably because one other them were in trouble and they got sent to their room and they fell asleep on their bed and they went to sleep in there.  But otherwise they didn’t go to sleep in their rooms, I mean they always slept usually the mattresses were on the floor in the living room or sometimes they would go on the floor in Misty’s room and Misty would just lay in her bed and watch a movie and the kids would be on you know their beds.  So that is why I’m like I can see Haleigh’s bed being where it was and.

Steve:            Where was it?

Chelsea:            On the side of Misty’s bed.  There was a little toddler mattress right there.  But I just don’t really get I mean see even that, I don’t know, because if Haleigh is gonna sleep on her bed then Junior’s mattress I would have think, I would have thought would have been in there too.  He would have been on his.  Why would he be in Misty’s bed but Haleigh not be in Misty’s bed like either they both would have been in the bed with her sleeping or they wouldn’t have, they both would have been on their own mattresses.  It was never one or the other.  Haleigh and Junior always needed to be near each other.

Steve:            So sometimes you said that they would drag the mattress out into the living room and watch TV, right?

Chelsea:            Yeah, well this night the mattress was drug into Misty’s bedroom but only one.

Steve:            Well, I don’t know what the police report says about where the mattresses were…

Chelsea:            Yeah, like the mattress was …

Steve:            I saw the Nancy Grace thing.

Chelsea:            Yeah, right against the wall right here.

Steve:            Obviously that was days later and you don’t really know.

Chelsea:            Yeah, you don’t really know where everything was that night. 

So it seems the deeper we look into what happened the night Haleigh disappeared the more confusing things appear. In any investigation, the truth comes out though interviews of witnesses, physical facts/evidence  and sometimes, if you’re lucky, confessions from subjects.

Blowing Rocks Preserve is not the typical Florida beach. Small gentle ripple of waves do not lap up against soft white sugar sand. The barrier island that forms Blowing Rocks has a under lying substrate of Anastasia limestone, better known in Florida as coquina. Centuries of rain have cut holes into the sedimentary rock giving it a rough face and pocketed surface.

Blowing Rocks Preserve - crashing waves

Blowing Rocks Preserve - another wave

Blowing Rocks Preserve - Calmness

 

Blowing Rocks Preserve - Not so calm

 I was told we could go snorkeling if we wanted. The shore entry looked very difficult. Not sure if I want to face a wave of water larger than a concrete warehouse coming at me.

But the waves are mesmerizing. At times, images of Poseidon formed, some smiling, some daring me to edge closer to the water. Seeing I had a land camera, not one that was water proof, I decided to not let the Greek god tempt me to tip-toe any closer.

Blowing Rocks Preserve - Sea Grape tree canopy

 

Blowing Rocks Preserve – Old road bed

Blowing Rocks has other features to see, such as a hardwood hammock. These thick clumps of trees on sand dunes or on a rise in the middle of a swamp have given rise to many theories of why they are called “hammocks”. The one I like, true or not, is that ancient sailors found this area to be dry and the trees just far enough apart to tie their bedding (a hammock) in between the skinny trunks.

Being on the beach, a nice breeze is usually found and the sun doesn’t cook you. Upon entering the coastal hammock, life changes, the humidity soars to 100%. No puff of wind ever flows through the corridor. The air is thick and hot and you feel that you have to push yourself through a sponge.

 

During WWII, highway A1A was built on top of the coastal dune. This made for a very scenic drive. The bad part, at night, the car’s headlights silhouetted passing tankers. Thus, easy targets for the German submarines. The road was closed and moved onto the mainland and forgotten. Strolling along the base of the dune on the ocean side, parts of the old road bed can be seen. I sat on a portion of it and tried to visualize what it was like, seventy years ago, traveling the coast of Florida a stone’s toss from the ocean. How often did the travelers back then stop for a swim, or watch dolphins and rays skim along the surface? Were they always in a rush as we are today?

 

I’m glad the Nature Conservancy was able to grab this piece of land. Florida has enough steel and glass condos built on shifting sand.

 

For more information on Blowing Rocks Preserve visit: nature.org/blowingrocks.

We’ve been so swamped with spam, almost 300 a day, that we’ve added a registration feature to the blog. You ‘ll now have to register with a user name and an email address. The blog will send you a password. Use that password to enter the blog at your profile and then you can change the password to something that is easier to remember. 

I hope this isn’t too much trouble. Deleting all of this spam is has been a big pain and a time waster for us.

Thanks for your understanding.

Steve

The remnants of Rina swept over us yesterday, today, and supposedly tomorrow. Forecasters predicted Rina to walk over us as a category 3 hurricane. Didn’t happen. Wind shear tore the storm apart. The system moved south and only rain bands whisked over us dumping 3 to 4 inches of rain. Florida is still suffering from a drought and the news media complained of the rain.

After checking the radar and seeing that clear skies were south of us, Kitty and I decided to explore the mangroves at Gumbo Limbo.

Gumbo Limbo - Ocean View

Gumbo Limbo - Intracoastal View

Gumbo Limbo sits on a barrier island that straddles the Atlantic Ocean and the intracoastal. It is on the western (estuarine) side of the island where the mangroves thrive because of the low tidal energy. They don’t do well with a crashing surf. The root system of these trees provides a protected area for fish nurseries. Several species of fish that mature in this brackish water eventually swim out to the reefs to finish out their lives.

Red Mangroves - drop roots

Red Mangrove

The red mangrove is the one I consider the pioneer, the adventurer, the guy that is out their exploring no-man’s land. This is the tree that stretches out into the brackish water extending the island’s circumference. All the other types (black, white, and buttonwood) follow behind this unfearing plant. But what surprises me, seeing this tree stretch first into the salty water, is the least tolerant of the salt. The least bit of salt that gets in the leaves could kill this landloper. The root system has a micro filter build into them that excludes the salt from the water that is sucked into its circulation system.

Black Mangrove

 The black mangrove usually follows behind the red like a faithful soldier invading the watery world. But sometimes, he gets ahead of the leader by the use of his underground root system that from time to time sprouts upward out of the mud and projects above the water line looking like pencils. This is my favorite mangrove. He doesn’t care if salt gets past his roots and into his circulatory system because his leaves excrete the unwanted salt. Often I’ll run my finger across the top of the leaves scraping the salt onto my index finger. If for some reason you think your diet needs more salt, visit a black .

The next species of mangrove is the white, known for the tannin in its bark. It is this chemical that turns the water a tea color and is used in “tanning” leather. The last species, the buttonwood, is usually found on higher ground, but it is not unusual for him to get his feet wet.

Peregrine Falcon

 I like hiking through the wet lands. My sight is often on the ground looking for the land crabs with oversized pinchers or looking into the water watching minnows dart among the thicket. Rarely do I look upward. This I should do more, because perched in trees is another ecosystem. A high pierced sound caused be to look skyward. That’s when I saw the falcon perched on a leafless branch.

Another treasure of nature has been shared with me.

Once that ocean salt is in your blood, no matter how hard you try, you cannot resist the call of the sea.

The beach at Sand Dune Resort

Sea Gull restaurant - Jupiter, Florida

We started the day with breakfast at the Sea Gull restaurant. This place reminds me of the Florida long gone. It is not some fast food chain or an eatery that needs to move people in and out to maximize profits, but a place where you can relax, enjoy a Florida breakfast from grits or pigs-in-a-blanket to steak and eggs, with everything in between. And best of all, the staff knows your name.

outside our room at the Sand Dune Shores Resort

 

Did I mention that I am the only male in the office? Some days that’s a good thing, and some days, not the best.

After discussing P&L statements, spreadsheets, new products, upcoming conventions, and credit courses we need to complete before the end of the year, we broke to go to the conference room. Most corporations have a long wooden table, a credenza with glasses and a silver pitcher of water, and big cushy chairs on casters. Not us. We rented a room at the Sand Dune Shores Resort on Singer Island. A mom and pop motel tucked between two sky-high hotels. Sand Dune (www.sandduneshoresresort.com) has a private pool, ocean views, and no crowds.

Gathered around the metal dinette table and knee-high coffee table we slugged through the agenda. The upcoming week the staff is sponsoring a dinner and seminar for the local dentists. Many things had to be decided, dress code, handouts, videos, Powerpoints, and blah blah blah. The discussion started to hurt my brain.

But outside, a cool front had moved in. The air temperature dropped to the mid-80′s, the surf hovered around 82 to 84, and we had a picnic basket we hadn’t opened yet. And with her great wisdom, Dr. Marino moved the meeting outside.

Dr. Marino's staff

Bait fish in the surf

On the beach we discussed the important things in life, like why can’t we just set up the hygiene chairs here in the sand.

Some of us went beach combing, or swimming, some worked on their tans (yes, that is very important in this town), and others read. I can assure you there were no trade magazines being perused.

Several times schools of bait fish swam by, a few minutes later followed by sharks. Don’t panic, this is no scene out of “Jaws”. The sharks have no interest in the bathers and prefer to swim around the people. The time to be concerned is when a fisherman shows up and starts tossing dead bait in the water. Or if you get caught up in a school of fish, it is best to swim away from them.

Our office meeting turned out to be a great day. One of sharing stories, our past, our dreams with one another. The feel of the sand between your toes, the sun warming your back, and the wet breeze flowing across the ocean makes you forget or not care, that the calling of the salt water will always be there.

Beach life

 

Maybe life can be a day at the beach.

Just a quick note. 

Grace, Barb, LFJ and everyone else,

There are lots of Steve’s in the world. Lots of Steve Browns. Also lots of Graces, Barbs, etc.

So if there is a case of mistaken identity, so be it. I have an accountant whose name is John Smith. We use to own a boat together and sometimes traveled together. When we checked into the hotel, I gave my name as Steve Brown and he gave his as John Smith. The clerk always gave us a funny look and thought we were up to no good. So if there’s been a case of mistaken identity on this blog, please just let it go. I’m all for spirited debate, but please no name calling etc.

I am open to all theories about Haleigh. As we proceed, you’ll see what  facts I am certain about concerning the night Haleigh disappeared and what is maybe not so certain. There are those that believe she is alive, but can’t show us a live body, and there are those that believe she is deceased but can’t show us a dead body. So there you go.

As I mentioned in the comment section, I continue to work this case because I think I can “bring Haleigh Home.”  I just need the resources and time to do it.

Please, let’s all play nice. We have some terrific researchers here who read this blog. I am very impressed with are of your abilities to  recall the facts concerning this investigation before I became involved in it. And I’m also impressed with your abilities to find links and facts.

Maybe we could all work together somehow to bring this case to a conclusion. Hmm, have to think about that.