When Randy and Nancy Freer returned to their favorite beach a decade ago, the Canadians were greeted by a sign on the door of their rental condo.
“Ten years ago, someone put on the door of the condo, ‘Welcome back, Turtle Man.' So. the name just stuck,” said Nancy with a grin.
Her husband still answers to Randy, but is better known as ‘Turtle Man.'
He earned the nickname because of his passion for saving sea turtles and his ability to build them out of the sand. Every other morning, Randy gets up before the sun and walks the shoreline for five miles, all the way to Clearwater.
He sits and watches the sunrise from a pier before returning home. On the walk back, he gathers items washed up by the sea to decorate his elaborate sand sculptures.
“I made a rule for myself not to bring nothing down here but my water and my music,” said Randy, who uses shells to manipulate the sand. “I’m not an environment person. I’m just a farm boy who loves the ocean.”
The couple met in 1981 while on vacation. They married two years later. Now, they return to Indian Rocks Beach each spring to spend time in the sand and the sun.
Randy is the only one down in the sand.
“I’m not a sculptor, a drawer, nothing,” said Nancy. “He’s creative. A little bit crazy, but mostly creative.”
Randy starts his giant displays by digging a turtle head shape out of the sand. The sand he removes from the hole forms what will become the body of an alligator.
Recently, he added a mermaid design behind the turtle. It was inspired by his granddaughter. The sculptures catch the attention of the passersby.
“Every day,” said Nancy. “Someone might have a story for us, actually.”
Peggy Henline lives in Denver but just bought property across the street from the Freer’s rental condo. She and her friends stumbled upon Randy during one of his latest sculpting sessions. He explained his passion to them and showed off some of the items he picked up along his walks the day before.
“Amazing!” said Henline, after holding a few dried-up whelk shell babies in her hand. “This is the first I’ve seen Randy the Turtle Guy. And he shared with us his knowledge of the beach. These turtles are just beautiful.”
Children with shovels will come by and stare at Randy’s turtle design. Others will stop and take photos. Randy smiles for all of them.
He’ll return to Canada at the end of April and return next spring. Maybe, another sign will await him at the condo door.
“A lot of people come from the north down here and they don’t understand that the sea is alive.”
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