We traveled 122 miles south on the St Johns River to see a manatee, and here he is! We were not skunked. Sorry that Beth didn't get to see him. More on this fellow farther along in this blog posting.
The morning after I posted my last blog, Rick and I went "gator hunting" in the dinghy for about two hours in Deep Creek. We saw about 15 of the beasts!! Most were sunning themselves on logs near the shore, but a few were swimming at the surface. Here is one of them that didn't hop in the water when it saw us getting near.
Once we continued on south, we saw about four more along the way. Pretty soon it became commonplace to see them, but each one was still a thrill. Oftentimes a turtle was sunning itself on the same log, so we got to see a lot of them too, some very big!
Not ALL the waterfront homes are mansions.
As we got farther south, the river changed from wide and lake-like, to narrow and winding, and swampy! This picture made me think of a true swamp. Look at all the moss on the trees, and how the trees are rooted in water.
That night (Tuesday) we anchored in another incredible creek all by ourselves in total serenity. The days have all been very windy, but that night and the one before were completely calm and peaceful (which means I sleep better too).
When we anchored up on Wednesday night, this gator was right next to us! We were surprised that he never fled the entire time we were anchoring, which is a loud process. When we were all done, he was still there and I got this photo. We then took the dinghy farther south about 4 miles to see if we could find a manatee at Blue Springs State Park, where they were said to be plentiful. Incidentally, by this time we were directly west about 20 miles from New Smyrna Beach, where we began our trip on March 1. We had come as far back south as we had gone north.
Here he is again. We actually did not think we'd see any manatees. We asked a boat full of sightseers about them and they said the manatees had gone a few weeks earlier. We considered turning around right then, but decided to call the park to ask. They said there had been five that morning, but they didn't know if any were left. We continued on in hope. When we finally arrived, two park guides said they had all left because the 72 degree spring water was now too warm for them compared to the temp in the St Johns River. Just then we saw this one!!!
He happened to be one with a GPS float attached to his tail so officials could track his travels (I had also seen one like this back in Crystal River). The park had boardwalks along the stream, which was crystal clear. Our manatee swam slowly along most of its length, so we had perfect views of him for about 20 minutes. We also saw many fish, so it was totally cool. Rick was ecstatic!
Here's yet another. He's getting a breath, which they must do about every five minutes. This guy is actually small. Some I saw at Crystal River were three times his size. They said that in January, they had about 200 of them here.
We returned back to the boat just in time before total darkness, and a wild and crazy thunderstorm. The wind gusts blew us all over the place, even turning us completely around so we faced the opposite direction from when we had anchored. Luckily, before I went to bed the wind died down so I was able to sleep okay. It allowed Janet to sleep peacefully as well. Right in the middle of the storm, she wondered whether I was okay because she had a second sense that something was amiss. I had to tell her what was going on and reassure her, even though at that point I was so sure myself.
The next morning (yesterday) we left early because we had to get clear back to Jacksonville in two days. I am flying tomorrow to California to attend Rich Hess' memorial service. It was rainy most of the morning, and windy, and we were almost the only boat to be seen. We got to see birds galore. The best sighting was when a bald eagle flew across in front of us and snatched a fish right out of the water in full flight. He then continued up and landed in a tree on the shore. Immediately a second eagle from the same spot had to chase away an osprey, and the two had a "dog fight" right in front of us! When the eagle returned to his mate, I snapped this photo. The one had already begun to eat the fish, which was particularly cool to see.
This is a lock on a canal that was never used. It was part of the Cross Florida Canal, which was to have connected the St Johns River with the Gulf of Mexico. It was one-third completed before being canceled in 1971. This perfectly new-looking lock has sat unused for 40 yrs. We traveled along the canal 1 1/2 miles to this lock and tried to land at the wall, but the wind prevented us.
I think I've mentioned this before, but almost every navigation post has an osprey nest. This time of year they are particularly active in them, so I took several pictures as we passed. Here's one of many I took. The shoreline is also replete with snowy white egrets, herons, birds, birds, and more birds. We also saw several more alligators sunning themselves, whenever there might be sun.
This is Rick and me with two other Loopers at a brewery next to their marina in Jacksonville tonight. As we arrived in Jacksonville, we heard a radio conversation between two boats, one of which was named Magoo. We knew Magoo! We had traveled a few days with them in early Sept back on the Illinois River. So I found their card they had given me (it's common for Loopers to have "business" cards to share with contact information, although I never did them), and called them. We decided to have Happy Hour together and catch up on our travels and adventures. Rick and I walked across the bridge to their marina, and we all had a great time. Art and Sandra have been together since 7th grade, which sounded familiar (when Janet and I first met). They will complete their Loop shortly, when they get to N. Carolina.
When Rick and I walked back across to our same dock where we were a week ago, the square with the free concerts was PACKED. We asked, and country singers would be performing. We could tell it was a major deal, but the person we asked didn't know who it would be. After dinner we returned and could barely move in the sea of humanity. There were two front groups before the headliner, Chuck Wicks. The crowd was wild for him. I did recognize one song from the radio, Pick Up Truck. The girls were going wild and tossing pieces of clothing on stage (he draped bras over his guitar). I've never seen any place so jammed tightly with admiring fans.
Interesting notes about our travels since Rick and Beth joined on March 1: We stayed in marinas only twice. Since 9 days ago we used electrical hook-up only once, and went that whole time before having to pump out the holding tank today. In other words, we've been anchoring out or tying up to free docks with no amenities, as we are here in Jacksonville. For a yacht, we're roughing it! We love it.
No comments:
Post a Comment