Delusions of Grandeur!

Lay Day: Bimini Basin, Cape Coral, FL OWW MM 145.7

Weather: mostly sunny; high 85, low 63; wind E @ 10 knots

Comment:    Bocce: Team "About Time," Lee and Anna Marie, really can talk a good game. Today was no exception. Talk, as the saying goes, is cheap! While each player made the rare "good shot," one could say that they were "off their game." Dee and I, wearing the 100% Irish Team visors, picked up where we left off at Cayo Costa. We continued to make clutch shots on the Bocce court.

The two teams agreed that we'd play a best of three series. It wasn't necessary to play three games as Dee and I were victorious in the minimum of two games. Team About Time, being demoralized in defeat, chose to pass on tomorrow's games preferring to "lick their wounds." It won't do any good. We'll get them the next time too!

Bimini Ashore: this is proving to be a great stop. Four Freedoms Park is on the basin. It sports a sunbathing beach, although kids do splash and play in the water. There are picnic benches and pavilions and a playground. There is an outdoor shower for rinsing off sand, and public restrooms in the park building. It seems that there are frequent classes and activities offered in the building. Today, someone was conducting a Marshall arts class.

Within a mile walk to the east, one can find several restaurants, bars, fast food eateries, grocery store and even a cool little Italian Market. Dee and Lee tell us there is a great Farmers Market on Saturday Mornings. There are at least two hardware stores and a West Marine. While Anna Marie was shopping in the Kiwanis Thrift Store, I made arrangements to have ABC Canvas repair the sail cover. we enjoyed lunch at the Monkey Bar and later walked to the Back Porch bar for $0.25 wings. They were great!

Tomorrow, we are going to explore the west side of town using the county's public transportation system. At 1700 hours, we will attend a boaters Happy Hour being organized by Dee and Lee.

Strange Sounds in the Night: Yesterday, Lee warned us that we would hear a strange "boing" sound in the night. Sure enough, we heard the sound between about 2100 and 2400 hours. It sounded like a rhythmic gulping sound, we presumed it to be coming from a fish. It was definitely emanating from underwater.

We heard the sound again tonight at approximately the same time period as last night. Wanting to know what it was, I performed a Google search. What I discovered was astonishing.

Apparently, in 2005, folks who live along the myriad lagoons in Cape Coral (that's the town in which Bimini Basin is located) complained that they heard strange, deep frequency sounds in their homes. They feared there were engineering faults in the walls of the canals.

Scientists were called in, and after some research, found that the sounds were the mating noises of the Black Drum fish. The townspeople had a hard time believing that the deep, loud noises they were hearing could be coming from fish in the lagoons.

The scientists were able to prove that the sounds were indeed coming from Black Drum fish. The typical frequency ranges from 40 to 400 Hz and can carry long distances in the water. What sounds like it is right under the boat, may actually be miles away. The low frequency is also be transmitted through the canal walls and the ground, into the homes!

Strange indeed!