Hey ScurvyDog... thanks mate. I appreciate your encouragement and positive outlook.
I don't mind certain rules as far as keeping OUR beaches safe and clean. I do have a problem when the rules become so restrictive that it comes to the point when you might as well just stay home and watch "Blue Planet" on tv and try to remember how nice it was to go to the beach back when it wasn't regulated to death!
I can't accept the fact that I am prevented from getting on the beach "before" or "after" hours... can't even watch the sunrise over the ocean anymore because the county parks guys don't unlock the gates early enough and there is no place to park otherwise! And for all the surfers, fishermen, and treasure hunters who would like to use the beach at "off" hours, good luck... we have to find ways to be sneaky just to get out there... ridiculous.
And of course the rich who live on the beach would love nothing more than to keep "the public" completely off "their" beaches as evident in many areas along our coast. Well, I say, if the rich want to keep the public off "their" beaches, then the public will not fund the filling in of "their" beaches when the storms come in and take the dunes away!! Let the rich pay the millions of dollars yearly to pump in "new" sand... watch how quickly they will change their attitude!! Oh yeah, and if they own the beach, then let the government raise their property taxes to account for the "added beachfront property" they are claiming!! More money out of their pockets... they won't like that either!!
I can't wait for Mother Nature to come along and make A1A like it was in the days prior to 1980... nothing but beautiful, undisturbed, & uninhabited beaches!! Bring it on!!! I wish I was here along the Treasure Coast or in the Keys back in the heyday of treasure hunting... 1950's, 60's, etc. Back when you still needed a dune buggy to get to the beach and there were no roads, just dirt trails!! Oh well... one can dream...
Anyway, this thread has become a "good ol' rant" so I will sign off. For those that had something positive say here... thanks! And I encourage everyone who uses OUR beaches and oceans to be safe, clean up after yourselves (and your pets), fill in your holes, and fight the good fight against the oppression of the government and the rich when they try to keep us from what we have been Blessed with!!! Sounds corny but i'm gonna' say it anyway... stand strong fellow Brethren of the Coast!!! Ta....
Just thought i'd throw in my latest pic of me as ol' Captain Jack... hope you all like it! All the best mates... Phips