A "soggy" hello to everyone: 9-15-00 We left the anchorage at Glover Bight around 0800 to head "up river" to the city owned and operated marina at Ft. Myers. When we stopped by briefly on our escape from a possible "close encounter" with Hurricane Debby we told the dock master we'd be back for a longer stay. This was our return. We planned to rent a car, and do some shopping for things less easy to obtain by walking. Since Enterprise Car Rental was advertising special weekend rates, we reserved a car beginning Friday with a return on Monday. At the time these plans were construed we hadn't factored in another hurricane, but Mother Nature did. Tropical depression 11 was headed into the Yucatan Peninsula, and by many reports was supposed to break up and weaken. It didn't. It began to build, and turn northwest. The projected storm tracks were pretty large, and "vague" at the beginning, but we didn't intend to take any chances. After talking with the dockmaster, they suggested doubling up on all dock lines, removing anything which might "blow away", and tying her securely in the middle of the slip. Down came the bimini top. Cushions and flags were stowed inside. Saturday morning was spent making all those preparations. One of the things we promised the kids was an attempt to see the movie "Space Cowboys", if possible. We found a theatre where it was playing as an early afternoon matinee, and enjoyed the film. Afterward, we bought groceries, and headed back to the boat. The wind and rain were starting, but everything seemed secure. Another promise we made was to buy some more clothes. There is a Nike factory outlet store between Ft. Myers and Naples, so off we went. (The crew is now much better dressed, even if our wallet is a little lighter). Saturday night the rains began in earnest. It rained, and rained, and... (well, you get the picture). Clover's bowl on the aft deck had overflowed during the night, and it's 4" deep. (It overflowed two more times after being emptied on Sunday. Our "non-scientific" rain gauge indicated at least twelve inches of rain in two days. One of the other boaters said she thought she saw Noah float by! Although there were several squalls, the wind wasn't real bad, and they tended to pass by fairly quickly. Gordon certainly could have been much worse, but it was nice to see him cruise on out of the area, nonetheless. Another one of our goals while here in Ft. Myers was to visit the Winter estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. Edison made Ft. Myers his winter home and generally spent January through April here, when the winter weather in his New Jersey home wasn't quite as pleasant. Edison was awarded over 1,000 patents in his life time. From the start he received at least one per year until age 65. To make this even more amazing, he has a total of only three months formal education, at age 8. His teacher felt he wasn't able to learn, and his Mother removed him from school to teach the basics of reading and arithmetic at home. Once he learned to read, he never looked back. Blessed with a photographic memory, he learned to "speed read" and could finish a normal book in 15-20 minutes. He then could recite the material, page numbers and details, with ease. The first invention he developed was a vote tally machine for Congress. He felt that it would make that institution more efficient if voting could be done more quickly. Congress, however, wasn't interested in speeding up the process, and it didn't sell. Subsequently, Edison said he would not develop anything for which there wasn't a need, or that people wouldn't buy. Just a few of the inventions of note were: Incandescent light bulb in 1879; wet cell storage battery in 1882; motion picture projector in 1891; phonograph in 1877; stock market "ticker" in 1869; and an electric pen in 1876 which paved the way for copy machines of today. One of the things Edison did well, too was to improve upon other's ideas. He took Portland Cement, and made it profitable to produce. He took Alexander Graham Bell's telephone, and significantly improved its' capability. Edison designed the house here in Ft. Myers, and had the lumber cut and pre- assembled in Maine, prior to shipping here by schooner. The first swimming pool in southwest Florida sits on the property, fed by an artesian well. Edison didn't believe in exercise (quoted as saying the "only need for the body is to hold up the brain") so he didn't use the pool, but designed it by reinforcing the cement with bamboo grown on the propterty. Henry Ford at one time worked at the Detroit Edison Company (a sort of franchise at the time) as an engineer. Edison became aware of his tinkering with the internal combustion engine in his garage, and encouraged the younger man to keep sight of his dream. Ford went on to introduce the assembly line ( he increased production of autos from 800 per year, to 1,000 per day!) He also was able to lower the cost of a car from $800 to the $300 range. Edison died a millionaire, and Ford died one of the country's first billionaires. The botanical garden, from which Edison did many of his experiments, is in great shape. Harvey Firestone, another friend of Edison, brought back a 2" diameter cutting of a Banyan tree from Madagascar, which was planted on the estate. Today, it measures over 400' across! It was very interesting, and educational to see what life was like for these folks, and how we are all enriched today by their work. How different life would be if Edison hadn't developed the products and ideas he did. School is going very well, so far. The program from Calvert School in Baltimore, is very detailed, and complete. The kids seem to be enjoying their studies, and are well on their way. Time to see if we can get this sent. Also time to head "up river". Fair seas to all, Bob