Gigantic Nautical Flea Market

If you are going to be dumb, you have to be tough.

Friday night I was doing my usual Friday night thing. This involves hanging out at a boat club. There may or may not be beer drinking going on at the boat club.

I got asked a strange question. Usually I go up to the bar and obtain a pint of Sam Adams or Old Thumper or something. But I had a slight change-up. The bartender asked me if I wanted a free Presidente.

Now normally I do not drink Presidente beer. It is not awful, it is just not the style I prefer.

But when you throw in the word "free" things change. Of course I want a free Presidente! Hell yea. Free beer is the best of all beers after all. If its free its for me. Freedom Beer. And so on.

Now as usual I closed down the bar. The bar at the club closes early anyway. By midnight it is closed. Sometimes earlier, as it depends on when the members and/or guests all leave the joint.

But the night was not done! Oh no! I was invited to get on a boat and go somewhere. Who knows where. I thought we were going to another boat moored out somewhere to hang out for a bit then return to the docks, because the bar was closing and there was more booze elsewhere.

Of course I also knew that I was supposed to be up "early" to go to the marine flea market in the Keys. But then again, I was going to get to take a ride on a 37 foot Tiara with triple outboards. At least I think it was a Tiara. Who knows. I was not really paying much attention. I just knew it was a nice ass boat, it was going somewhere, and if I wanted on then it was all good. So I get on and off to destination unknown. I figured that where ever the boat was going, it was probably going to be more fun than going home. With no way of knowing when the boat would return to the docks, no clear picture on where the boat was going, and no way to know when or if I would even get home that night, I had to male a choice. But there were chicks on the boat, so the choice was not too terribly difficult to make.

As it turned out, the boat and everyone on it was going to some lounge on the beach. I had no idea that that I was going to be doing this, so I was not exactly dressed for a beach club. I was in jeans, a free Sea Tow shirt I got at the boat show, and Crocs. But they let me in anyway. This particular club is off the main club path, but still known. It was full to capacity and stuff.

I guess when you arrive on a very expensive boat you are viewed differently and you get into places even if you look like a bum.

Long story short, 4 pints of Guinness later I get home at 6 AM. Maybe it was 6:30 AM. Whatever.

I made it to the flea market anyway. I took a nap in the back of the vehicle on the way down there. It is good to not be the driver sometimes.

I did not get much stuff. Just a reel for a rod that was lacking one. The reel is an Okuma Magda Pro 45DX trolling reel with level wind and a built in line counter. The spool will hold 430 yards of 25 pound test monofilament. The thing was only $45 even which is only a little less than what they cost from online retailers. But there was no tax and no shipping and crap, so it was an OK deal. The question mark regarding this reel is how well it will hold up and function. The other two conventional reels I have are made by Penn. I have a Penn Senator 113H and a Penn Seaboy. Penn reels are good, and more than $45 new. And the reels I have do not have a built in line counter or a level wind system. So maybe it holds up and maybe it craps out. I do not do a lot of heavy duty fishing anyway, so I think the reel will be OK for my use. Now if I was running a charter boat and going out almost every day or I was a tournament guy then I would not expect this reel to last too long. But for me and the way I use stuff, I should be ok. I do not need top of the line stuff. I can not afford top of the line stuff. Some of these reels cost a grand or more. $50 is more in my price point range.

And then after the flea market I went someplace for lunch. I found this tourist trap dockside place. There was some guy selling fish prints done in the Japanese Gyotaku style, another guy selling trinkets and shit, and some other Keys Character selling hats made from palm leaves. The guy was asking $50 for a woven palm leaf top hat. He claims it takes him about an hour to make one. His materials are free as palm leaves are all over the place. I did not see anyone buying stuff, but when I left I did see some tourists talking to the dude about the palm bowls he had on display.

And finally, I saw this thing. How could you not notice it?

Take an old probably crappy center console boat, rip out the center console, dress the hull up with plywood, get some car parts from the junkyard, and some old wicker chairs / folding lawn chairs and this is what you come up with. A tour charter boat that tourists will pay to get into.