Fishing and Turtleing

After he quit school he started working with Genie Andrews.  Genie was more of a turtle-man than a fisherman.  It was really an art form with Genie.  I guess he could probably be called the turtle king, on the Gulf Coast of Florida back in those days.  He taught Chuck how to catch turtle, and how to read the sea and tell how the tide was running in any given area.

And he also taught him how to figure out the best place to set the nets to catch the turtle as well as how to run the nets and set them  All up and down the west coast of Florida, they even made a couple of trips to Key West during the time he turtled with Genie.  Genie really knew his trade! 

He had also done a little rum running every now and then during the WWII, just to supplement his income.  He taught Chuck how he could drop a load all at once by pulling one rope while running full bore ahead. 

Chuck never had an occasion to use that knowledge, but he knew how to if he’d ever decided to do anything illegal, and not get caught with the contraband aboard. 

He was approached several times over the years and offered opportunities, but he weighed the costs; and decided that the money he would make was not worth what the cost would be.

Chuck had a very close friendship with the Andrews Family. At that time they lived upstairs in one of the Andrews Buildings on the corner of Hwy. 24 and Second Street.

This building later became the famous Heron Restaurant which was owned and operated by Janice Coupe who served gourmet meals; her specialty was her awesome Crab Bisque!

The Heron Restaurant Building

Most all of the buildings on Second Street have an upstairs balcony, Chuck and Kenny would hold Mattie, the Andrews Mother, by the heels over the balcony as a tease.

I thought, this was so dangerous, but I knew her and she took it all in stride knowing they would not drop her, they were strong young men and it was humorous to her as well, and she told me the story several times and laughed heartily each time she told me. She adored Chuck, and his sense of humor. 

Before he quit school and started turtleing with Genie, he fished a lot at night with Kenny, and Joe, who were Genie & Mattie’s sons.  Sometimes on Friday and Saturday nights they would camp out on the barrier islands because it was adventurous.  

All young men love adventure!  They poled their skiff boats with a long pole oar; very few if any had power boats back in the 1940’s.  The launches had power if you were well off enough to have one.  Most launches were powered with an old car engine of some kind.

To be continued