Everglades City Blessing of the Fleet rebounds after last year's hurricane woes

After Hurricane Irma devastated Everglades City last year, the blessing of the stone crab fleet was little more than a prayer and holy water — significant but not to normal scale for the small festival.

This year, the event — much like the community — bounced back.

Dozens of attendees milled about the screened-in porches and open lawns of the Rod and Gun Club on Saturday to witness the blessing and take part in the festivities.

The Rev. Timothy Navin provided the blessing this year, splashing the boats with holy water and wishing for a safe and bountiful stone crab harvest.

“I’m very blessed to be with such good, hard-working people,” he said.

Hurricane Irma put Everglades City underwater and left hundreds without water in their faucets and power. That meant places such as the Rod and Gun Club weren’t ready for any festivities to accompany the blessing of the fleet last year, noted Marya Repko, secretary for the  Everglades Society for Historic Preservation.

Recovery:Everglades City mayor: ‘We’re moving forward’ one year after Hurricane Irma

Everglades City Mayor Howie Grimm said things are still difficult but that the festival is a good opportunity for residents to reconnect.

“We all get caught up in our own little world. It’s nice to come out,” he said. “This is some of the most resilient people I’ve ever seen in my life.”

It might be years before the town recovers fully, but the blessing of the crab fleet helps mark a return to normalcy.

And in Everglades City, stone crabs are big business.

Repko said that during the season, the boats going through the water wake you up about 4 a.m., though you get used to it. When the season ends and they stop, you wake up because you notice they’re not there.

“The stone crabs, really, are the lifeblood of this community in the winter,” Repko said.

That’s why the community comes together for the festival and season.

“They work hard and it’s going to be a tough year with the red tide,” Navin said.  

Although few dead stone crabs have been found on local shores, hundreds of other crab species washed up dead or dying on beaches in Collier and Lee counties in the past week. Stone crabs move slower than other species and might be dying farther from shore due to low oxygen in the water.

Red tide:Just ahead of crab season, hundreds wash up dead on Collier, Lee beaches

Worries of the season aside, the festival featured more than the blessing of the fleet. It had face painting, a coconut guava cake contest, live music and a frog race.

Morris Demere caught the frogs for the race — about 40 or 50 of the slimy jumpers — with his grandchild.

“We want everything to be safe out there,” he said about the event.

It was Jessica Anshaw’s first time attending the event. Anshaw grew up in Everglades City, she said, but now lives in Naples.

“It’s all one big family,” she said.

The event was clearly about more than stone crabs as food in  Everglades City.

“It’s a proud and long tradition in Florida,” Navin said.

The stone crab season will start Oct. 15, though traps can be placed in the water 10 days earlier. The season will end May 15.