One of the true joys of cruising is finding the odd gem of an establishment.  In the case of Cocoa, Florida, this takes the form of an ancient and wonderful hardware store, perhaps the most wondrous we have visited. S.F. Travis dates back to 1885, when an itinerant merchant, who traded the Florida waters in a shoal draft ketch, established the land based store.

The family still runs it, without benefit of computers, but with shelves stacked with all manner of things you won’t find in your Ace or big box hardware stores

Take the items in the photo above, which we could not live without. On the right, a set of Allen wrenches with the keys on a trunion so they can be worked into tight places.

Then comes a set of offset screwdrivers with three sizes of Phillips and flat blades. On the left are some nice looking picks. And on the bottom two stainless steel cleaning brushes.

Finally, there is this 300 CFM compact squirrel cage blower (Stanley tools # 655792).  Having put it to the test today we can heartily endorse its effectiveness.

How the good folks here can possibly compete with the volume retailers id a mystery. Lets hope they continue to do so.