LIGHT KEEPER'S KID wrote:A true born Floridian
Not many left like us Florida Crackers...
Well I guess that makes me a cheesy import being that I moved here from Ohio. I've got a funny story about the word "cracker."
There are parts of Ohio in which calling a white guy "cracker" is as bad as using the "N" word on a black guy. I’m talking FIGHTING WORDS here! I relocated here to Florida on behalf of my job some years ago. One day, shortly after my relocation here, a couple fellas from the Aberdeen area of Ohio came to our office to fix our large format plotters. For those of you whom do not know, Aberdeen Ohio is the heartland of a strong population of people with deep Appalachian roots. These people, some might consider to be as red neck as they come. Well, while they were in our office someone mentioned to them that I was an Ohio boy too. Well that just tickled them profusely. The three of us struck up a conversation. Somehow the topic turned to fishing and hunting. I revealed that I was very familiar with the Aberdeen area and fished some of the very same areas that they fished. They believed that fact to be rather precarious. Aberdeen is not known to be “colored boy” friendly (I happen to be black). It was at that time that a fellow female co-worker of mine butted into the conversation and said, “ At this firm, me and one other girl are the only original Florida crackers!” As soon as she said “cracker” their eyes got huge, their mouths dropped open, and they both turned beat red with embarrassment. These fellas were trying to conduct a professional conversation and she goes dropping the “C” bomb! They looked around as if to make sure no one with corporate power heard that statement. It was at that time that I remembered acceptable southern Ohio terminology versus Florida. I piped up and said, “Ohhhh, yeah, Here in Florida that’s not a bad word that typically results in a bar room brawl! It’s actually and statement of cultural and regional pride. They broke out in hysterical laughter. That definition was brand new to them. For the two remaining days they were in our office they made it a point to call everyone a cracker. At the end of their last day in the office, the three of us road the elevator down to the lobby together. We chatted a little about fishing. As we arrived at the lobby we stepped out of the elevator, they both looked at me and said in unison, “See ya’ later CRACKA!” Ha ha ha, those fella’s were funny. I bet it would have been a good time fishing with them. Anyway, maybe you just had to be there to find it humorous.
jem wrote:I have the drawings for Rob White's sport boat. I often thought about a stitch and glue version of it.
Matt, I bet a S&G version would be REALLY nice!
I looked up this Rob White guy, he’s got some really NICE designs! I see his Sport boat plans are still available:
http://www.robbwhite.com/sportboat.html
Also, this was the other strip canoe that I looked into but found no builder/user info:
http://www.sandypointboatworks.com/mini ... canoe.html
Unfortunately, I think neither of these BEAUTIFUL vessels provided the stability needed for mounting a short poling platform. The sandypoint comes very close though.
Although I WILL NOT link to there site, ECC (local Orlando florida boat builders) makes a craft close to what I’ve got in mind. Except their hull is far too rounded in section. Maybe I’m just romanticizing about a strip built pole-able freight canoe! In my mind I can see it sooo clearly. 1:4 beam-to-length ratio, gentle stem curves, moderate deadrise, rounded bilges, and a 10 degree transom nearly as wide as the max width of the craft. Oh, and built to handle a 9.9hp tiller max!