We have seen so many dolphins on this trip that after the third day, we just stopped mentioning sightings. Can't see those dolphins? Ya must be blind.. they're everywhere. Yesterday, it was the same w/ manatees. The water was thick w/ manatee, rolling, lazing, frolicking manatee everywhere. We stopped mentioning, except for collision avoidance. You can't go 500 yards without seeing a sign to slow down for the manatee. Don't know what the national figures look like, but in this stretch of FL the manatee are thriving. So I don't quite get this manatee warning sign we kept seeing. SLOW SPEED 30 MPH day 25MPH night. That's a lot of mangled manatee in my opinion. I was having trouble dodging the guys at 5.5MPH. Must be the manatee's famous lightning quick speed and agile reflexes. And of course their reputed night vision is able to jet propel them out of the way in the dark. Of course, it could just be they need a stronger lobbyist.
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Comments [5]
11/16/2009, Ormand Beach, Fl
This afternoon: our most amazing sight on the trip to date. We watched as the shuttle Atlantis lifted into space, right ahead of us as we headed south. The red blaze of the rockets were extremely visible as well as the rockets themselves for a few minutes. We were able to see it well, right up until the stage separation took the flames away for a few seconds, and it was lost to our eyes. Here in Fl. we take our space launches very seriously, and with a shot of something to celebrate. Heck, we have been ushering the launches since the space race decade. Unfortunately, my sole bottle of Horses Ass wine is at the bottom of the food locker. Are they launching in January? We could even have it chilled then.
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We are 12 miles north of St. Augustine, and I have to tell ya, I'm all waved out. I've been waving for going on 4 states now, and frankly, it just isn't satisfying any more. The boater's wave is a long tradition, one which I normally wouldn't muck around with, but the last two days have been a weekend, and now I feel sorta wave-wrung out. We went through Jacksonville and all the weekend power boaters were out in force. Aunt Mildred, Uncle Jeb and 14 of the finest youngins you ever seen on a boat. Wave. Five old codgers out fishing in a jon-boat. Wave. Teenagers on jet-skis. Wave. Cruisers. Big wave. Some wave back, most weekenders do, fishermen, not so much. I feel disloyal if I don't wave, I'm in my home state now, these are my peeps in a sense. But I've decided. If the boat isn't known, (friend boat) or a cruiser, or looks like a big power boater on their way to the Bahamas ready to share their ice and water maker booty, I'll just wave if I get a notion.
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| bahamas Cruise 09/10 |
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Thursday is a down day at anchor for us. The remnants of IDA finally caught up with us in the form of HIGH winds around 4 yesterday. We put into Moon river, a small creek just off the ICW, and I backed down on the anchor until I heard someone in Beijing curse because of a stubbed toe. The boat sang all nite with the howl of the wind. We of course, got our usual good sleep. Anchor watch for us means when one of us wakes, we put into our foulies, don lifejacket, grab flash, and go forward along the deck to check the anchor rode for chafe. We were on anchor watch last nite. Looks like we are stuck here till tomorrow, when the winds are supposed to subside enough for us to not get pushed out of the channels by them. Yesterday we saw a fresh casualty in the middle of the channel. It was at a place called the skidaway narrows, and it was a sunk sail boat in the middle of the channel. Who knows what the story is with that, but everything was still intact on the rigging, and it looked like it had just happened. There are places here where one has to really stay on tip toes to navigate. I hear it gets even more "fun" as we head south through GA. Speaking of that, we are now in GA, south of the Savanna river, in a creek named Moon River. Could write a song about that.
| bahamas Cruise 09/10 |
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Well, I guess we're true cruisers now. We lost a day. Tuesday. We aren't sure where it went, and we aren't really looking for it, but last night we thought we went to bed on Monday, and surprise! It's Wednesday morning! We have come through Charleston and Beaufort and Hilton Head, SC still heading south. Rainy today, but a great day to be on the water. We saw our biggest barge ever in a narrow channel going northbound on Sunday. Full of dredging pipes, it had to be ΒΌ mile long. 5 great tugs were busy pushing and pulling her past us. I made Al drive. Scary big. Last nite, we anchored in a creek south of Beaufort, and our anchor line looped itself somehow around the rudder. We were pinned sideways against a 3.5 knot current for a couple of hours. I worried about snapping the rudder when the wind cranked up, but it finally dropped off and we were dug in so good by then that we almost couldn't get the anchor up this AM. Sorry I haven't gotten back to a few folks (CAM) we've been task loaded when in the large areas where I have internet, and I've found the laptop to be a bit of an energy pig. Will try to work on pics and such when I can recharge this battery. I really miss my electricity at home. I can't take the energy time to check all my sites and do much other than what you see before the battery craps out or I lose air card service. Such is life, I guess. Our best mile run was on Monday (the first Monday) we made a 60-mile day!
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