[Tourneo]

Surprised to see the old tail fin Caddies at corner of 6th St & 23rd on Ford Transit Forum.

Glad to see your clever adaptation of Transit body structure for forced fresh air duct. And that beach pic out the door looks like Matanzas?

Have tried my best to find my dream Transit Wagon in stock while in New England's Megapolis. Searched 500 mile range ME-MI-DC. Came close out of the year end inventory & will give it 1 last shot. Considering a loaded cargo Transit & building a Steel Tent interior. Thanks for the inspiration.

Expect l'll have to wait to order from Santa Fe or Ocala Ford when I get back home. Parks has been incredibly discouraging.

 

[Tourneo]

Used to fish out of Ponce Inlet regularly. Old friend inherited a condo near Harbor Inn dock/restaurant & had childhood friend who was diver & charter boat capt. When he had cancellation or no clients & weather was good we went out.

Used to launch next to St. A light house, but decided I like the ramp by Usina Bridge much better. Fish Matanzas mostly on foot.

Can still drive on parts of Crescent Bch. & Porpoise Pt. Had 2 huge sun roofs in 1st Econoline. Could stand up, rest elbow on roof & drive on beach w/enough room for passenger too. Was great for girl watching & locating schools of fish. Back in the day you could get away with parking out on the beach all night.

 

[Tourneo]

Had heard that retention pond next to 206 Crescent Bch bridge could be loaded with Flounder, looked at shimmying under chain link, but never tried it. Have escaped the heat & thunderstorms on catwalk under the drawbridge. Also caught many Sheepshead, Trout, Ladyfish & Tarpon by utilizing the structure & lights.

May have seen that blue Dodge 40 years ago?

Ford dropped the ball on Transit's flip out windows, but the anchor points on the roof should be useful for many purposes. Was thinking of one of those African safari 2nd roof skins might be just the ticket in FL sun?

ProMaster fan covered his roof w/solar panels.

 

[Tourneo]

In that case I may have seen that VW MicroBus 40 years ago?

Had a girlfriend who owned a MicroBus that we traveled quite a bit in. Then worked at a sculpture studio & rebuilt an older MicroBus for the owner.

However was a SAAB & Citroen fan & FWD advocate. Wanted a Citroen C35 or Fiat 242 badly 35 years ago. Hence my interest in Ram ProMaster, Citroen Jumper, Fiat Ducato.

If Ford USA hadn't abandoned Transit's popular FWD platform I'd already be driving one.

Many Americans still don't know European Transits offered choice of FWD, RWD, or AWD & only came w/6 speed manual tranny.

 

[Tourneo]

Just sold my F150 4X4 in May. Thought I'd learn to love it, but almost as soon as I got it they closed the beach South to Matanzas Inlet to vehicles. Had planned to fish & gig there, was extremely disappointed that a few 4WD freaks ruined it for all by churning through the Off Limits bird nesting area.

A pickup is miserable for cross country trips for somebody accustomed to a Steel Tent.

Normal fisherman seldom bothered any birds & rarely left more than tire tracks that got erased during high tides twice each day.

Was also getting interested in Diesel. But almost as soon as I began to seriously consider it, I started reading the horror stories about Diesel Exhaust Fluid & the big delays caused by its mandate. Even though I now know much of the harshest criticism of urea was overblown, the rants about "piss" put me off the hunt.

PS: What kind of boat? Almost see the lines of a McKee.

 

[Tourneo]

Boston Whaler Nauset? Is that a precursor to Montauk?

Am on my 3rd McKee boat. Have older blue interior 17' Offshoreman.

They even closed the beach access to Matanzas Inlet at SE corner of bridge. Remember the runway next to MiCasa at end of parking area?

Then Mother Nature breached the barrier beach & filled in most of the Summerhaven River. This after they threw everybody out between 2nd & 3rd bridges. Used to gig down one side wade across & gig back the other side. Couldn't believe FDOT rebuild that bridge over dry sand. Even the park on Rattlesnake is almost useless to fish now. Vanishing access.