July 10, 2010

7.9.10

Not many clouds in the sky today….very warm…not a bit of breeze.  We arrived at G109 around 2pm…couldn’t find a spot to anchor that would give us early shade…so decided to head on down to Lake Monroe Park …. load the boat and head home. We were planning to haul out in the morning, early, anyways.

We were lucky…there was a bit of shade at the dock and we grabbed it. Took our time getting the screens down, the dingy deflated and everything stowed for road travel.

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Once the boat is out of the water and away from the ramp…..I  secure the forward window, and lock the hatches so they wont blow open on the road. This is the easy part….now I have to unload everything when we get home. But it’s all worth it.  Can’t wait till the trip.

7.8.10

The frogs sang us to sleep last night. Nice breeze..somewhat cooler than we have had. Actually covered with a sheet and turned off the fans.

We took our time at coffee. No big rush today, but then we haven't really been in a rush since we launched.

We didn’t see many gators this trip. The two that kept us company last night, were a nice treat. We did spot one good sized one…he’s not growling at us…just cooling down.274cs

Many boats….of all sizes….enjoying the river and beautiful weather.

7.7.10

Another beautiful sunrise at Silver Glen Springs, FL

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I was up early and had my coffee in hand and was able to enjoy it on the deck. I had my camera with me hoping the big gator would swim by. …but it didn’t.

Once the sun, the dog, and Jim were up …I decided to take a dip. We don’t really swim in this area, but I wanted to check the prop for grass and weeds before we headed out today, so I put my snorkel on..got the prop taken care of…and had the dickens scared out of me. The Manatee returned and looked right up at me. 247cs

She wasn’t there when I did the prop…but I wasn’t looking for her. Jim saw her coming and grabbed the camera, but I was under the boat at the time so he couldn’t warn me. I didn’t find her scary….but if she could sneak up on me in this clear water…so could the gator. Good lesson learned. I got out of the water…she did her tour of the boat and dingy then headed back to the lake.

We took Raisin ashore and these Buzzards were making good use of a houseboat top.232cs

After coffee…the dingy stowed on the swim platform…we headed out into the lake. These 3 deer were enjoying the water plants.063cs

We were almost to the lower “gates”..the entrance to Lake George on the S end, when we spotted this rain cloud. It was the only dark spot in the sky…everywhere else it was white puffy clouds and blue skies.256cs

We met several boats at the gates…they were most likely headed to the springs.

We are anchoring in a new spot tonight. I can hear Sand Hill Cranes in the distance…lots of frogs…and this little 6 footer swam right up to our boat and touched it with his nose.263cs

That’s the first one we’ve had do that.

Later in the evening it made another pass. 269cs

It was very interested in us….as we were with it. They seem to move through the water with so little effort.

It was a great day …full of exciting moments.