Capt. Brian's Shelling Finds Today

Great finds today at the Goodwill Bookstore! First I saw one shelling book, then another, then another and another. I bought all they had in the store. Two books were by Tucker Abbott. It was a great day for shelling books. I also had to throw in a picture of one of my favorite shelling books, Capt. Mike Fuery's Shelling Guide. Mike is a great writer and I enjoy his writing from a guide's perspective. His book to me is an island classic. It was printed in 1982 and is hard to come by, like the elusive junonia, but with enough searching... you may find one.

Shelling With Beth And Russell

I enjoyed shelling with the humorous Russell and veteran sheller Beth.  Beth has excellent shelling eyes. She found an interesting formation of the fighting conch (Second photo from the top). Much to my surprise and hers, she found a piece of a deer cowrie. WOW, this is only the second piece of deer cowrie I have seen in 18 years. (The first was by my Cayo buddy Carolyn, this summer.)  Beth also spotted this beautiful horse conch. It was one of those days when you could have just kept walking the beach and looking all day. Great finds! Hope to see you again in a couple of months.

Bare Foot Ladies

What a wonderful day on the water. Today, I travelled with Libby, Lisa, Lori and Barb from White Bear Lake Minnesota.We started the trip by exploring a newly formed sandbar/island off the coast of Captiva.  These ladies christened the island and called it Bare Foot Sisters Island.  Next we travelled to one of Captain Brian's secret spots and found many excellent discoveries as a result of the recent heavy surf.  To name a few, a very large banded tulip, a winged oyster, the most unbelievable olive shell that I have ever seen, miniature rice shells, a wentletrap and many other minis.  Another great day of shelling was had with the Bare Foot Sisters.

Wentletrap

Lately I have been exploring by land and sea. Revisiting black mangrove forests I haven't walked in for 15 years. In my exploring I discovered a new secret spot. I will call it Secret Spot, "Wentletrap". I remember  many young grasshoppers in that area of the island and also many moths. It was like a Charles Dickens novel, "A Tale of Two.....

Capt. Brian Completes Wilderness First Aid

Today I completed CPR and First Aid training. The instructor was superb. He focused on wilderness first aid and what to do when things happen on the water. He had a vast knowledge on different situations and offered new techniques for handling those situations. I learned a lot from this class. I look forward to adding new items to my wilderness first aid kit.

Shelling With Chuck And Mayda

Chuck and Mayda are experienced shellers. We covered a lot of beach in four hours. The trip started at favorite spot number one. We all enjoyed walking and searching this isolated stretch of beach. Next we traveled to secret spot thirteen. They found many smaller shells that were in great condition. The favorite find of the day was a  beautiful alphabet cone.  Great finds Chuck and Mayda!