Jerry, Nancy, and Peekaboo

As I write from my tent, on the morning of 4/26, the last 36 hrs have been full of adventure, chance encounters, and interesting happenings. I wasn't tired the evening of the 24th, so I decided to continue kayaking into the night. Night Land navigation on the Gulf proved exceedingly difficult.  My energy and time are better spent kayaking during the daylight hours.  The Gulf side hosts a labrinthe of islands, being caught in between them without a GPS, and attemptint to terrain associate by night is not recommended.  Night kayaking is much easier on the Atlantic side.   Yesterday, I had the good fortune of meeting Jerry, Nancy, and their dog Peekaboo.  The trio is from New Jersey, winter on the island of Cudjoe, and will return to NJ next week.  Jerry and Nancy invited me to join me on their dock, I most enjoyed the chat.  Nancy re-filled my water jug (w/ ice), made me a delicious sandwhich, and I drank a beer with Jerry.  Good karma for these kind folks!
Jerry and Nancy have the honor of naming the two islands across the bay from them: the islands of "Out Key" and "venture Key", collectively known as the "venture out" keys". (Pictured below).    Jerry and Nancy went through the bureau of terrain features in D.C.  All said, it took about 1 1/2 yrs to get their islands named.  Jerry wrote the following poem about his islands: Venture Out Keys, Oh little Islands off shore, you never had a name before, to go through life is such a state, would surely be a big mistake, think of all the sunrises you have seen, and all the sunsets in between,of all the boats that have passed you by, and all the sunsets in the sky,all the birds that called you home, until they left the world to roam, Venture Key and Outkey too, are the names I chose for you, Let's hope that they will suit you fine, and be with you until the end of time.  ( written by Gerald Nixon)