Surf

[wintersbk]

It appears from the webcams the surf is starting to pickup. Can anyone of you look out your window and confirm? What's the water like?

[kurt]

It was flat all day and night yesterday. It is starting to pick up but we still have offshore winds. Expect it to build during the day.

[CampCreekLou]

Kids are all out on Seacrest Beach surfing. Some nice breaks.

Looks safe. :eek:

[sunshine]

It looked great about 9 this morning - I came back from my bike ride ready to load up the surfboard, but then a neighbor told my boys that there are a bunch of jellyfish out this morning. Then my husband repported that the flies were awful. The boys lost their enthusiasm. Boo hoo.

[Miss Kitty]

The creatures know something is going on!!!

[wintersbk]

I thought those flies were gone by late Aug - Sept?? :confused:

[Cavallino]

Just ate lunch at DK's and the waves were breaking nicely....

Surf activity is picking up.

I really need to stop eating that Key Lime Pie....

Doug

P.S. - These freakin flies were the worst I have ever seen late yesterday

[Kimmifunn]

Yellow flies are back?

[SlowMovin]

Yellow flies are back?
Black flies. They've been bad for a couple of weeks now.

[Miss Kitty]

Black flies. They've been bad for a couple of weeks now.

And remember how awful they are in October?!!!!

[wintersbk]

Are the black ones the biters? I'm so confused. I thought the yellow ones were the biters!?! :idontno:

[Mermaid]

I hate the biting flies whatever color they are! They make the mosquitoes in New England (my standard for what hurts and itches) look like a bunch of pussycats. I can't tell you the number of times we've been down to the beach in the fall, covered from head to toe with our towels to keep those vicious little vampires off us!

What do the skies look like today?

[wintersbk]

Kurt will be happy! I finally found the search link! :clap_1:

All about the flies:

http://www.sowal.com/bb/showthread.php?t=471&highlight=black+flies

[bsullie]

Tip for those who are eaten alive by flies: Avon (I am not a rep nor do I play one on TV) has a fabulous product called Skin So Soft - consistency is like oil; smear it on your bod and it works like a charm. Was so desperate one year that I found a rep in the phone book, met her in Destin, and bought the biggest bottle she had. We swear by this stuff - makes life on the beach bearable when those buggers are feeding. ;-)

[Ocean Lover]

Kurt will be happy! I finally found the search link! :clap_1:

All about the flies:

http://www.sowal.com/bb/showthread.php?t=471&highlight=black+flies

I remember that thread...and I was afraid we would experience them in August but never did. The winds must have been on our side. We were attacked by mosquitos at dusk but that was at the state park. After that one night we put on our bug repellant after dinner everynight and was fine the rest of the week. I didn't get one bite in SoWal and returned to Ohio to get 4 mosquito bites the first night we were home while talking to the neighbors at dusk! :bang:

[Miss Kitty]

Kurt will be happy! I finally found the search link! :clap_1:

All about the flies:

http://www.sowal.com/bb/showthread.php?t=471&highlight=black+flies

Great work wintersbk!

[aquaticbiology]

Experience sez wind from the cattle areas to the north brings the biting flies and wind from the southern gulf brings rain. Hmmm.

[amylouky]

I don't know if it was flies or mosquitoes, but something was eating the h*ll out of us down there. I have about 50 (literally) bites on my legs.
Worst seemed to be out back at the Red Bar.. we were all smacking all over ourselves as soon as we walked out there. Maybe water got trapped under the deck in Dennis to breed skeeters? :idontno:

[Smiling JOe]

I thought those flies were gone by late Aug - Sept?? :confused:

You are thinking about the Deer (Yellow) Flies. These are the Dog (Black) flies.

[Smiling JOe]

Tip for those who are eaten alive by flies: Avon (I am not a rep nor do I play one on TV) has a fabulous product called Skin So Soft - consistency is like oil; smear it on your bod and it works like a charm. Was so desperate one year that I found a rep in the phone book, met her in Destin, and bought the biggest bottle she had. We swear by this stuff - makes life on the beach bearable when those buggers are feeding. ;-)

Bought Skin So Soft, tried it, did not work. This afternoon, I was spraying bug spray with deet on directly on the flies which were biting me. Only the hand slap makes them fly away, deet is no good.

Fortunately, the Dog Flies, unlike the Deer Flies, do not make you slap yourself so hard that you injure your Grandchildren. They are more like a gnat pestering the heck out of you.

[Donna]

Whatever you do, don't scratch those bites. The biting flies can leave scars. And do not wear black on the beach. :idontno: Sounds nuts, but I have years of experience with these devils. They love my bod. My husband could not believe it one year when we were down there. They literally drove me back into the house and didn't bite him at all. Yes, they are particularly bad behind The Red Bar in that brackish inlet between Western Lake and the Gulf. Don't wade in there when the flies are swarming. Yuck. When will evolution catch up with this curse?

[Smiling JOe]

I don't know if it was flies or mosquitoes, but something was eating the h*ll out of us down there. I have about 50 (literally) bites on my legs.
Worst seemed to be out back at the Red Bar.. we were all smacking all over ourselves as soon as we walked out there. Maybe water got trapped under the deck in Dennis to breed skeeters? :idontno:\


Definitely the Dog Flies.

[beachmouse]

It looked great about 9 this morning - I came back from my bike ride ready to load up the surfboard, but then a neighbor told my boys that there are a bunch of jellyfish out this morning. Then my husband repported that the flies were awful. The boys lost their enthusiasm. Boo hoo.

I did the triathlon at Sandestin this morning. Surf wasn't up yet during the swim (6:30 start time) but the jellies were out something fierce. Mr. Mouse said he saw a woman who had gotten a jelly stuck between her skin and her cycling-style race top. She then had to pull it out of her top when she got out of the water.

Not sure how long it was there, but I hope she was okay. That had to sting something really, really fierce.

[Smiling JOe]

http://sowal.com/bb/gallery/files/2/1/6/P8260014.JPG

More photos in my album (http://www.sowal.com/bb/gallery/browseimages.php?c=5&userid=216).:lol:

[Miss Kitty]

http://sowal.com/bb/gallery/files/2/1/6/P8260014.JPG

More photos in my album (http://www.sowal.com/bb/gallery/browseimages.php?c=5&userid=216).:lol:

Is that there HAY on the beach in GT?

[TooFarTampa]

Whatever you do, don't scratch those bites. The biting flies can leave scars. And do not wear black on the beach. :idontno: Sounds nuts, but I have years of experience with these devils. They love my bod. My husband could not believe it one year when we were down there. They literally drove me back into the house and didn't bite him at all. Yes, they are particularly bad behind The Red Bar in that brackish inlet between Western Lake and the Gulf. Don't wade in there when the flies are swarming. Yuck. When will evolution catch up with this curse?


So the dog flies -- are they the round, fat black flies that look like bees? Because those things were hunting me down every time I was at the beach in June.

Got bit by a couple of yellow flies too. I am very popular among the six-legged set. :roll:

[Miss Kitty]

So the dog flies -- are they the round, fat black flies that look like bees? Because those things were hunting me down every time I was at the beach in June.

Got bit by a couple of yellow flies too. I am very popular among the six-legged set. :roll:


You must be a real sweetie!!!!

[Smiling JOe]

Is that there HAY on the beach in GT?

Probably not, mostly sawgrass from the lakes. However, I have seen a few people placing square hay bails in front of their eroded property. One is on Grayton Beach.

The photo of Gulf Trace shows concrete piled onto the beach. I know that is against the rules. They should be fined immediately and have to clean up before Katrina pushes it down the beach for someone else to clean up.

[Smiling JOe]

So the dog flies -- are they the round, fat black flies that look like bees? Because those things were hunting me down every time I was at the beach in June.

Got bit by a couple of yellow flies too. I am very popular among the six-legged set. :roll:
I hope this does not get too confusing for everyone, but the really big, fat, black Flies are Horse Flies. They really hurt when they bite, but typically, you want have 8-15 on you at one time like the Dog Flies.

[Ocean Lover]

Come to think of it I must have been bit by a yellow fly or a dog fly. I was getting on a raft in the pool and thought I sat down on a bee. I got off the raft and it was still there. It had yellowish stripes so I thought it was a bee but who knows? I'm allergic so I went immediately to the restroom to wash the area and check to see if it was swelling. It was a little red and no swelling so I was glad. I can be miserable for days because of a bee sting. My whole family was laughing at me because it was on my booty. They said any minute it could swell up and I would look like JLo.

[Smiling JOe]

Come to think of it I must have been bit by a yellow fly or a dog fly. I was getting on a raft in the pool and thought I sat down on a bee. I got off the raft and it was still there. It had yellowish stripes so I thought it was a bee but who knows? I'm allergic so I went immediately to the restroom to wash the area and check to see if it was swelling. It was a little red and no swelling so I was glad. I can be miserable for days because of a bee sting. My whole family was laughing at me because it was on my booty. They said any minute it could swell up and I would look like JLo.

If yellow striped and a fly, it was a Deer Fly, to which some people have allergic reactions. I understand that the bites are cumulative in their effects, and I know several people who have had to go to the Emergency Room to treat multiple bites.

[Moondance]

Probably not, mostly sawgrass from the lakes. However, I have seen a few people placing square hay bails in front of their eroded property. One is on Grayton Beach.

The photo of Gulf Trace shows concrete piled onto the beach. I know that is against the rules. They should be fined immediately and have to clean up before Katrina pushes it down the beach for someone else to clean up.

Thanks for making a record of it before the fact...

[jdarg]

If yellow striped and a fly, it was a Deer Fly, to which some people have allergic reactions. I understand that the bites are cumulative in their effects, and I know several people who have had to go to the Emergency Room to treat multiple bites.


One of our friends was stung/bit twice (on each booty cheek no less) through her bathing suit-we never saw what it was. Both places swelled, turn red, became very hot and hard as a rock and she was pretty miserable. We had a nurse in our group thank goodness or she would have had to head to urgent treatment center. The poor gal had to stick icepacks in her pants and eat Benedryl until she fell asleep sitting straight up. Of course all the guys were offering their "assistance" in the diagnosis and cure.

[SlowMovin]

Forgive me for interjecting surf info on this biting fly thread but, if anyone is interested, the surf is getting pretty big. Waves in the 6 - 8 ft. range (based on me eyeballing...not official measurements). Most, if not all, of the sand that was scraped or otherwise brought into the Seacrest, Seagrove and Blue Mountain areas (I did not check Grayton or Rosemary) is gone. Some of the trucked in piles remain, but not much. The waves are lapping at the bottoms of the walkways but, so far, all of the ones I saw are still standing.

Oh, and I got bit twice by black flies. :lol:

[Landlocked]

One of our friends was stung/bit twice (on each booty cheek no less) through her bathing suit-we never saw what it was. Both places swelled, turn red, became very hot and hard as a rock and she was pretty miserable. We had a nurse in our group thank goodness or she would have had to head to urgent treatment center. The poor gal had to stick icepacks in her pants and eat Benedryl until she fell asleep sitting straight up. Of course all the guys were offering their "assistance" in the diagnosis and cure.


:lolabove: :floor:

[wintersbk]

So how's the surf looking today? :cool:

On Destincam, it appears to be much calmer today?!?

[kurt]

Haven't seen it but the flags are yellow.