ENJOY CALADESI ISLAND

In 1921, a hurricane roared onshore just north of Tampa Bay, Florida, battering the area’s fragile barrier islands. The force of the storm opened a new inlet between the Gulf of Mexico and the inner Sound, slicing the barrier island in two between Honeymoon Beach and Clearwater Beach.

Cut off from easy access, the tip of the island that was home to Clearwater Beach was so remote that locals began thinking of it as a separate entity which eventually became known as Caladesi Island.


The northern tip of Caladesi, with its spectacular white sand beach, is a 30 minute walk from the main beach. Photo courtesy of Florida State Parks.
A lesser visited and relatively unknown beach destination for many years, Caladesi Island entered the spotlight when it was discovered by Dr. Stephen Leatherman. Every year since 1991 Leatherman, better known as as “Dr. Beach,” has been ranking America’s top ten beaches. In 2008 he named Caladesi the best beach in America. Fortunately, the Florida Park Service began acquiring the property on Caladesi Island in 1966, ensuring that it will be preserved in its natural state for generations to come. Today there are only three ways to reach Caladesi Island. Most visitors pay a $10 fee and hop aboard the passenger ferry for a 15 minute ride from Honeymoon Island State Park, but it can also be reached by private boat or by walking. From Pier 60 in Clearwater Beach, Caladesi is a little more than an hour’s walk.


Caladesi Island may well be the best beach in Florida for shelling
Getting there may be a bit of a chore, but it is definitely worth the effort. Caladesi Island has three miles of spectacular white sand beaches with shallow, calm waters that lend themselves to swimming, snorkeling, and kayaking. The exquisite clarity of the Caribbean-like turquoise water is best seen from the air, as in the above photo of the northern tip of the island.

Because the sand is not raked or manicured by machines, Caladesi’s beach contains more seaweed and beach rubble than found on other public peaches, but this also provides beach-goers with an opportunity to scavenge for interesting things that have washed up. Coral and ballast from old shipwrecks are occasional finds, but the real treasures are Caladesi’s abundant, unblemished shells, which are tossed up on the beach by the warm currents of the Gulf Stream. While collecting live shells is prohibited, a short stroll along the beach will net dozens of collectible specimens, including olive shells, conchs, cowries, clam shells, and sand dollars.

In addition to the beach, Caladesi offers numerous other activities. Rent a kayak and paddle through the mangrove tunnels on the bay side of the island or walk the nature trail behind the dunes for a close-up view of the maritime hammock. Boaters can enjoy day use or overnight stays in the 108 slip marina, or in calm weather, anchor offshore. Visitors who arrive later in the day are usually treated to spectacular sunsets.


Even on stormy days, Caladesi sunsets are spectacular
Facilities at Caladesi Island include a concession stand, covered picnic pavilions, picnic tables under the palms, restrooms, changing rooms, showers, and a drinking fountain. Equipment rentals, including chairs, umbrellas, beach wheelchairs, and kayaks, are available from the rental shack on the beach. Ferries run on the hour, every day of the week, beginning at 10 a.m. The last ride over to the island is at 3 p.m. each day, and the final return trip is 4 p.m. Visitors who arrive by ferry are limited to a four hour stay

HOW TO STAY SAFE IN A STORM

There’s no way to know where lightning will strike. It can, in fact, hit the same place twice. And, it’s even been recorded to strike up to 25 miles away from the actual storm.

So how do you defend yourself against something you can’t possibly predict? The key is to be smart in whatever situation you’re in.

Outside
As a general rule, lightning strikes tall things that conduct electricity. So first, stay away from tall things:

The Science of Lightning
It’s common knowledge that lightning is electricity. But how does electricity come out of clouds?

Turns out, ice is to blame. As tiny chunks of ice tumble about in a storm cloud, they separate out into positively and negatively charged ions. The positive ones drift to the top of the clouds and the negative ones drift toward the bottom. Electricity — and lightning — occurs as electrons move between the two charges.

A similar process occurs between the moving storm cloud and the ground: the negatively charged cloud bottom causes a positive charge to build up on the ground, which in turn causes electricity — something like 100 million volts of it — to flow from the cloud to the ground.
•Don’t stand under tall trees, especially ones that stand alone.
•Stay away from fields, beaches, and other areas where everything around is shorter than you are.
•Stay off mountains during a storm — or at least get below the tree line.
Secondly, stay away from likely-to-be-struck materials. You can’t do much about conducting electricity yourself (the human body is pretty good at it), but you can at least make sure you’re not doing anything to enhance it:

•Get out of the water, including puddles. Even rubber boots won’t help much.
•Avoid touching anything made of or containing metal.
Of course, your best bet for staying safe is to find shelter. However, common outdoor shelters can be just as dangerous as no shelter in a lightning storm. When lightning hits something like a house or school, it travels through the wiring and pipes — which are grounded — and the dangerous current ends up going into the earth where it can’t do any harm. When lightning strikes something like a shed, however, you won’t have that protection.

So make sure you choose your shelter appropriately. You want something that’s fully enclosed — no picnic shelters or open garages — and has plumbing and wiring.

Inside
Being inside a plumbed and wired building is safer than being outside, but there are still some precautions to take. Remember lightning does travel through wires and pipes. So, avoid them. Stay away from sinks, toilets, and bath tubs as well as any electronic devices you’re likely to interact with, such as computers, video game consoles and corded phones.

When is it safe?
Stay inside until at least 30 minutes after the last flash of lightning or crash of thunder

PICK UP AFTER YOUR PET

Pet waste affects water quality
Every time it rains, thousands of pounds of pet waste wash down storm drains and into streams, rivers and lakes. If not disposed of properly, pet waste flows directly into nearby streams and creeks without being treated at wastewater treatment facilities.

A recent U.S. Geological Survey study of streams and creeks in the Kansas City region showed that bacteria associated with pet waste is the source of approximately 25% of the bacteria in samples collected from local waterways.

When pet waste is disposed of improperly, water quality isn’t the only thing that suffers — your health may be at risk, too. Adults working in their gardens, children playing outside and family pets are the most at risk for infection from some of the bacteria and parasites found in pet waste

What you can do:
•Pick up pet waste from your yard. It is not a fertilizer.
•Carry disposable bags while walking your dog to pick up and dispose of waste properly. When you dispose of pet waste in the trash, wrap it carefully to avoid spilling during collection.
•Bury the waste in several different locations and keep it away from vegetable gardens.
•Contact your local parks department to inquire about providing pet waste stations in area parks, along trails and in public places where people frequently walk their dogs.

DRINK UP!

What do you, the trees, and a hamster have in common? Give up? You all need water. All living things must have water to survive, whether they get it from a water fountain, a rain cloud, or a little bottle attached to the side of a hamster cage.

Without water, your body would stop working properly. Water makes up more than half of your body weight and a person can't survive for more than a few days without it. Why? Your body has lots of important jobs and it needs water to do many of them. For instance, your blood, which contains a lot of water, carries oxygen to all the cells of your body. Without oxygen, those tiny cells would die and your body would stop working.

Water is also in lymph (say: limf), a fluid that is part of your immune system, which helps you fight off illness. You need water to digest your food and get rid of waste, too. Water is needed for digestive juices, urine (pee), and poop.

Your body can help you stay properly hydrated by regulating the amount of water in your system. The body can hold on to water when you don't have enough or get rid of it if you have too much. If your pee has ever been very light yellow, your body might have been getting rid of excess water. When your pee is very dark yellow, it's holding on to water, so it's probably time to drink up.

You can help your body by drinking when you're thirsty and drinking extra water when it's warm out. Your body will be able to do all of its wonderful, waterful jobs and you'll feel great!

YOU ARE INVITED!!!!!!!!

To our end of summer grill party!!!!

Saturday 08/20/2011 at the pool, from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.

Residents Only please.