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.

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.

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

7.7.10

Another beautiful sunrise at Silver Glen Springs, FL

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

Later in the evening it made another pass.

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.

7.6.10

We spent yesterday traveling S. Another stop at Shrimp R Us for a late lunch/supper. It was too hot to stay at the dock so continued on to Silver Glen Springs.

We anchored closer to the entrance than we normally do. We saw a 9’ gator sunning in that area a month or so ago and I was hoping it would cruise by for a photo shoot…..we didn’t see the big one but this little 5-6 footer was nearby sunning itself.

We didn’t see many gators this trip, but the Painted Turtles are everywhere. This one swam up to our boat a couple of times.

This one is enjoying the sun…looks like it’s getting ready for take-off.

Even though the big gator didn’t come around…we were glad we anchored there. Jim spotted this Manatee by our dingy.

She swam around and under the dingy and then the boat…and headed back to the lake. The surfaced for air right by the dingy but I was heading for the camera at the time. They have cute little faces.

7.5.10

I am updating this from home…so now I can add a picture or two.

This is the sunset just before they got started on the fireworks…

Each time I looked away and then back…it became even more beautiful.

A great  beginning to the fireworks display. Unfortunately, my camera doesn’t do well after dark, so no fireworks pictures.

Once they were over…the barge was moved back to the city dock…for off loading…they must have found a couple of unexploded ones….because about midnight we had 3 more go off….very pretty…but a shock when you are sound asleep.

7.4.10

The weather was windy and threatening rain all day…by late afternoon the wind died down…a cool breeze replaced it…and the fireworks display from the barge was fantastic.  Several shots burst right over our heads. 

Once the show was over they moved the barge back to the city dock for unloading….about midnight…there was a terrific BANG and another bright show.  Guess they found a couple of unexploded shells and decided to shoot them off.  Unfortunately we were sound asleep when the first one went off…but not for long!

Hella fans and the cool air made the day complete.

7.3.10

Lazy day on the river.  It was overcast with a slight breeze so we dallied over our coffee and didn’t pull the anchor until after 10 am. As soon as I got back in the boat it started to sprinkle and we had rain off and on all the way to Palatka. It made for a very nice ride….still very muggy but the lack of sunshine and the breeze made it very enjoyable.

We decided to tie up  at Corkey Bell’s dock and take a quick hike to the store. On our way back we picked up an order of hot wings for our lunch….with a double order of the carrot and celery sticks. Great hot wings!!

The barge for the fireworks is tied up at the city dock for loading. We don’t need go ashore for anything so opted to anchor out…my preference. With a light breeze you get a nice rock n’ roll for sleeping.

Late afternoon a storm rolled in so I put up the vinyl side curtains…again leaving the rear and rear side screens in. Very comfortable for the afternoon and evening. Still very muggy.

We should be anchored in a good spot for the fireworks.

7.2.10

That nice gentle rain lasted all night. I got up around 1am…read for awhile and then just enjoyed sitting in the dark listening to the patter of the rain on the hardtop and the water. The hardtop is perfect for this kind of rain. I guess we got it the right size. The water sheets on the screen and runs straight down. Gusting wind is the only time it blows in. I had the bench cushions standing by the captains chair but the benches were dry this morning. Even the carpet was dry.

Around 10 am the rain quit…I bailed out the dingy and we took Raisin ashore.

We hauled up the anchors and headed to Welaka. Some very nice people (Carole & Ed of Southern Cross) gave us a gift certificate for Shrimp R Us…and we used part of it for a late lunch/early supper.

Looked like rain..but nothing falling. Took our umbrella with us just in case. The food was great..as always. Thanks guys!!

We visited with the Coast Guard Aux for a few minutes at the city dock…then headed up to the 7 Sisters Islands to anchor for the night. We have a nice breeze and a light rain has started to fall. I can hear thunder in the distance…all ports are closed except the ones in the sleeper with the rain shields. I don’t think we will need the vinyl side curtains, unless it gets really blustery.

Muggy..but not hot. We got lucky and had a couple of nice nights. It’s supposed to start warming up again. It’s a good thing Jim and I spend so much time outside when we are home….we’d never  be able to stand it without AC. We are some what acclimated… (or not all there)…most of the boats we see at the springs have AC.

We had invited Jim’s brother, Carl, to spend the night of the 4th on the boat with us to watch the fireworks in Sanford, on Lake Monroe…It was so hot the first night out, we felt we should give him a heads up on the heat problem. Also the manager at Monroe Park said parking could be a problem unless he came a day early…So there’s been a change of plans.  Since we won’t have company we decided to go to Palatka and see their display.  It is so much fun to watch them from the water. Should be there tomorrow.

Sorry there are no pictures…unless I find that cord tucked away someplace there won’t be any. We saw 2 deer standing in the  lake about 50’ from shore in knee deep water..feeding. I took several pictures and was anxious to see how they came out and to post them.

7.1.10

We had a big thunderstorm last evening. It was raining and blowing pretty hard so we put in the vinyl side curtains and left the screens in the rear. We were very comfortable. The rain cooled it down quite a bit. The rain shields on the sleeper ports made it possible to leave them open. We only needed the fans for a few minutes.

I bailed about 5” of water out of the dingy this morning before we took Raisin ashore.

I will have to post the few pictures that I took, at a later date….forgot the connection cable for the camera to download them to the computer. You are right Carl!!!  We need to make a list.

Spent the day reading and swimming…tough job but someone has to do it.

More rain this afternoon…but it was a straight down nice and easy rain. We set up the water catching system and filled up the fresh water tank. Didn’t bother with the vinyl side curtains….just left the screens in. No wind so most of the rain stays out.

It was still raining when we went to bed.

6.30.10

Those Hella fans were worth every penny!!   I don’t think it cooled down a bit after the sun went down. We hauled the anchor up early….with Jim’s hand in bandages ..I am now on anchor duty…

The dock was fairly busy but we managed to get nosed up to it enough for me to step off and head to Ace Hardware. Jim circled in the river until I got back..

There were 5 boats with the Sheriff’s dept launching. I think I heard them count 21 people  complete with dive gear going out on training exercises. I commented on their fun job….one told me it was great but for the logistics.  5 boats and 21 men all trying to launch and load at the same time…and (with a laugh) no woman to tell them what to do.  I volunteered!!  The didn’t take me up on it though. Nice bunch of guys.

By the time I picked up the flag..and a mop (forgot that too) and got back to the ramp…the 5 boats were tied to it waiting for the rest of the crew…when they saw me standing there with a big stick (mop handle)..one spoke up and asked if I was ready to give orders.  Once they realized I was waiting to be picked up by a boat they took off and Jim was able to nose in and pick me up.

We had a good day’s run up to Silver Glen Springs. It was pretty warm and I couldn’t wait to get in the water for a cool down. I set a stern anchor to keep us from swinging into the channel. It will be busy with all the boats coming in for the holiday.

The lake is down ..we normally show over 3 ft on the depth gauge going into the springs...it blinked at 2 several times. We need 3 ft. of water under us and the depth gauge sits 1 ft below the waterline, so we only cleared the bar by inches.  Several large cruisers made it in and a couple of big houseboats.

It will be a wild place this weekend!!! There are several boats in here already. Some have canopies set up in the water..along with their satellite dishes.

Tuesday 6.29.10

It is HOT!!! and MUGGY!!! but we are launching anyways. (gotta see if those Hella fans are worth the money). At least, that’s my excuse to Jim…

The day didn’t start too well….Jim wanted to limb one last tree in the driveway…got the limber stuck…pulled,…yanked…got on a step ladder and tried to reach it…no luck…a final twist and yank busted the durn thing….Shoot!! Jim was hot and sweaty..and not a bit happy…and when he slid the extension pole to shorten it…he caught the web of skin between thumb and forefinger in it and split it wide open…

Once that was cleaned up and a couple of butterfly bandages applied..along with some neosporin…I cut several pieces of my Aloe plant to take with us also……

We headed to the lake…

Now it was even hotter!!! Once the dingy was inflated and stowed on the swim platform we headed N.

Would you believe..we forgot our new flag!!! On the 4th of July weekend…

We decided to go straight to G3, Lungun Island. It’s a short distance to the launch ramp in Astor ..an Ace hardware is within walking distance…we’ll get a flag tomorrow…

We dropped the hook a bit before dark…

The Hella fans will get a workout tonight!!