Capt. Brian Talks At The Ft. Myers Camera Club

Last spring I took out the members of the Ft. Myers camera club. The president of the club asked me to do a talk about what I do on the water. Tonight I  gave a thirty minute PowerPoint  to the club. My daughter was extremely helpful in this project. She helped set up the PowerPoint and sat with me looking at over three thousand photos giving me the nod on which pictures were good and why.( I used 50 pictures in the Power Point) She has a great eye for photography and colors in the natural world. Tonight she was the AV tech and photographer for dad. She did a great job and took all of the above photos with a D300 Nikon manually. The club asked me to do another PowerPoint in January. Looks like it is time to get out there and start taking more photos.

Nick Hahn and Crew

Nick, Diane, Mikeal and Colette went out today with me for a morning of shelling. Nick is a long time sheller on the islands. He has a great shelling eye and a real knack for finding hard to find shells. His wife Diane puts up with her husband's obsession with shells.(Thank you Diane)  Mikeal and Colette made some great finds today. Colette found many olives and sand dollars. Mikeal just enjoyed all the shells and island atmosphere. Nick found a great alphabet cone and some very nice dark olives. He also enjoyed finding tusk shells. We all enjoyed observing dolphins in the wild, as well as white pelicans. We covered lots of territory in a short time. You never know what the sea will give you. That is the beautiful thing about shelling.

Matt And Sara

It was a great morning and half the afternoon with Matt and Sara from the great state of Nebraska. They were first time customers but long time shellers. Matt has been coming to the islands since he was a little boy. He knows his shells and also enjoys the wildlife. Sara has picked up on the shelling and is a very determined sheller. She got into her "shelling zone" and Matt and I let her stay there. She wanted to find an angel wing, and on the walk back pulled one out of an old high tide line. Matt and I managed to obtain a extremely cool stingray barb, the colors on it were unlike any I have ever found. We also found a few fossilized sharks teeth and pieces of teeth. (I think its time to go north and see my friend Karen and find more sharks teeth) We  pulled the anchor and set off for the Tarpon Lodge.  Shortly after pulling the anchor we saw many dolphin. I noticed a new born dolphin that could not of been over 48 hours old. What an amazing sight in the wild.You never know what nature will throw your way. After viewing the mother dolphin and baby from a safe distance we continued over to the Tarpon Lodge. Matt and Sara loved the food and atmosphere at the Tarpon Lodge. I enjoyed the conversations at lunch as much as the food.  On the trip back to Captiva we made a surprise stop at Capt. Brian's secret spot "no number". Sara doesn't like surprises but she liked this spot. Thank you Matt and Sara for a wonderful day on the water and for being troopers at Secret spot "no number".

Janet From Illinois

I enjoyed the afternoon with Janet from Illinois. The weather was absolutely perfect and the water clear. Janet has an excellent shelling eye and a great knowledge of the shells. I was most impressed. The time seemed to fly as we walked and talked. We talked about Ann Morrow Lindbergh and shells from from far away places. Some of the favorite finds were an "almost albino"whelk, an albino cockle, sunrise tellins, and tusk shells. Thank you Janet from Illinois for an educational walk and talk on the beach.

Chicago Sisters

There is nothing like being on the water at first light.  We drifted with the tide and watched the day unfold as a bald eagle graced us with his presence. Then it was on to the beach. The olives were rolling in. (Secret spot number 3) Many great finds were found. After a morning of shelling we traveled to the Tarpon Lodge for a delicious lunch . On the return trip we saw many dolphin and enjoyed the beautiful Florida fall weather. It is always fun with these Chicago sisters that love to shell.