New adventures of Dave and Ronna: Cayo Costa.....

Last Wednesday we decided to take a cruise to Cayo Costa Island and do some shelling. So we drove to Bokeelia at the north end of Pine Island and boarded the Tropic Star at Jug Creek Marina.

Tropic Star

As we passed the islands of Gasparilla, Sanibel, Captiva and Useppa, all part of stories surrounding the pirate Jose Gaspar, our captain entertained us by relating the legend of the “Last of the Buccaneers”.

One story claims Jose Gaspar worked his way into a high position in the court of King Charles III. Other members of the court became jealous of his success and plotted against him, convincing the king that Jose was guilty of treason. Orders were given for his immediate arrest upon his return to Spain. However he never returned to his homeland.

Some say he began life as a troubled youth who kidnapped a young girl for ransom. He was captured, and given the choice between prison and joining the navy. Gaspar went to sea, where he served with distinction for several years before leading a mutiny against a tyrannical captain and fleeing to Florida.

Others claim Gaspar was a Spanish nobleman who reached a high rank in the Spanish navy and became a councilor to King Charles III. When a jilted lover brought false charges against him, he stole a ship and vowed to exact revenge on his country.

No matter who tells the tale, Gaspar fled to the virtually uninhabited west coast of Florida about 1783 and turned to piracy. He established his base on Gasparilla Island and was soon the scourge of the Gulf of Mexico, where he plundered dozens of ships and amassed a huge cache of treasure.

But according to the legend, Gaspar was not victorious in his last battle. An American pirate-hunting vessel, the USS Enterprise, disguised itself as a British merchant ship and took Gaspar by surprise in Tampa Bay in 1821. When it was clear that the American forces would win the battle, Gaspar vowed he would not be taken alive to face the hangman's noose. So he wound the anchor chain about himself and threw himself and the anchor into the sea, crying, "Gasparilla dies by his own hand, not the enemy's!" And to this day, it is said that you should not stand alone on them deck of a ship in Tampa Bay. For if no one is with you and no one is watching, the ghost of Jose Gaspar will rise up from the depths, still wrapped in the anchor chain and drag you down

Every year Tampa's Gasparilla Festival celebrates the battle between Gaspar and American forces that supposedly occurred in Tampa Bay. There is a huge "invasion" during which large numbers of boats enter the harbor and unload their pirate crews. These marauders then "kidnap" the mayor and hold him until he turns over the key to the city. What follows is two days of revelry, including parades.

The legend claims that Gasparilla Island gets its name from the pirate captain, Captiva Island is so named because it’s the place where Gaspar held female captives until they could be ransomed by their families, Useppa Island in named after a Spanish Princess who was murdered and buried on the Island by Gaspar after she refused Gaspar’s advances, and Sanibel Island is said to have been named by Gaspar's first mate after his lover whom he had left back in Spain.

Drawing of Jose Gaspar in 1900 brochure

Seems much this legend is the result of promotion by a local hotel and railroad line. The folklore account does not appear in writing until about 1900, when it was included in an advertising brochure for the Charlotte Harbor and Northern Railway Company. This brochure was given to the guests of the Boca Grande Hotel and mentions that Gaspar's massive treasure was hidden somewhere on Gasparilla Island. The Gasparilla story told in the pamphlet likely influenced all later accounts.

There is no evidence prior to 1900 that Jose Gaspar ever existed. Research in Spanish and American archives have turned up no mention of his early life, naval or courtly career, or piratical exploits, and no physical evidence of his presence has ever been found on Gasparilla Island or anywhere else in southwest Florida. While the USS Enterprise was assigned to the West Indies Squadron tasked with suppressing piracy in the Caribbean, it had been converted into a brig by the time of its supposed battle with Gaspar, and was documented to have been in Cuba in December 1821, not in Tampa Harbor, where Gaspar's last battle is said to have taken place. There is no mention of the name "Gaspar" or "Gasparilla" in contemporary newspaper accounts, US Navy ships' logs, or the trial records and testimonies of the hundreds of prisoners tried for piracy during the era. In fact, there was little documented piracy on Florida's west coast during Gaspar's supposed heyday because there were no established settlements in the area and thus few merchant ships carrying the easily liquidated cargo favored by pirates.

The name "Gasparilla Island" appears on maps dating to well before the time of the buccaneer; anthropologist Andre-Marcel d'Ans suggests it was actually named for a Spanish missionary named Gaspar or Gasparillo.

Sanabel Island was named “Santa Isybella” after Queen Isabella by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1513. In 1527 the name was noted on Spanish maps as “San Ybel” or “S. Nivel”. About 250 years later, a British man who was commissioned to map out the Florida coast wrote the name as “Sanybel” on the map he created. From there, the name quickly evolved into “Sanibel” as it remains today.

Useppa Island’s name is noted as “Josefa Island” in 1832. Useppa Island first appeared on a hydrological chart of the area in 1855.

By the way, in 1960 Useppa Island briefly served as a CIA training base for Cuban exiles in preparation for the Bay of Pigs Invasion.

Before we knew it we had arrived at the docks on Cayo Costa Island (Spanish for 'small coastal island'). It is approximately nine miles long and about 1 mile wide, consisting of beautiful beaches, pine forests, oak-palm hammocks and mangrove swamps. About half of the island is a state park and the other half occupied by 25 or so private homes.

Cayo Costa is a bridgeless island, with no paved roads, or cars. There is a tram that takes visitors the one mile from the docks to the beaches on the other side of the island.

Sailboats anchored off Cayo Costa

Tram on island

The state park does have a campground as well as several cabins for rent. There is potable water but no electricity on the island. Although there is a small camp store with necessities, campers, must bring in all supplies and gear by boat.