Cedar Key

The morning temps dropped into the 30s and there was little activity at the ramp in the morning. Cold clouds covered the horizon and the light was not good for shooting. I made a bunch of phone calls to line-up shooting opportunities and then drove to Gainesville for an oil change and tire rotation, deciding that the light would not be good again until 3:00 pm anyway.

Cedar Key

At first light I hung around the shell boat ramp, behind the new marina, talking with and photographing fishermen coming and going. I learned later that Heat Davis convinced the city commission to buy this land for $250,000, driving his point home with pictures of the new blue, metal marina, which many locals dislike, followed by pictures of the old “Cedar Key” way. He told them this was their chance to preserve water access for the fishermen who were otherwise being pushed off the island by land prices, they agreed and bought the land that makes up the natural boat ramp plus an adjacent area for parking vehicles.

It was there that I met Chris Topping and hitched an airboat ride with him, Mike Beckham, and their two cohorts out to a new clam lease they will be planting. It was an exhilarating ride though the wind cut through my jeans like they were mesh. Next time I will wear waders like the others on the boat. We met Jerry Beckham and his 320pound nephew out on the water and I rode back with them in their Carolina Skiff.

Cedar Key

This afternoon I was speaking with Jerry Beckham at Beckham Seafood. He has been an Oysterman all his life and easily made the transition to clamming. He spoke rather objectively about the Net Ban and seems to harbor less resentment than many of the other former net fishermen. He said he could see the day was coming when the nets would be taken away. Several times, he said how much things has changed. He said, “you couldn’t pay my daddy enough to put a crab trap on his boat.”

He explained that back then there were crabbing families, line fishing families, net fishing families, and oystering families, and that they didn’t cross over. His was an oystering family. Jerry also had some great comments about the moon, and how much his father talked about the moon. He talked about the power of the moon and its reflected light, saying that in the old days the fishermen went out at night would cover their mullet with palm fronds sand mangrove leaves to keep the moon from spoiling them. He said the moonlight would spoil fish faster than the sun, going on to say that a full moon would bleach the color out of your clothes faster than sunlight. He also talked about digging holes and the power of the moon. If you did a hole on a waxing moon you will have more than enough dirt to refill it, but if you dig a hole on a waning moon, you will not have enough dirt to refill it in the end. Something to do with the pull on the water in the earth, he added.

Earlier I photographed Mike and Beth Davis sorting and packing clams, Jeanine and Nancy Beckham shucking oysters, and Leslie Sturmer and others studying clam genetics.