4.24.13

Great night at anchor. Frogs sang for hours.

After another dingy ride this morning we spotted this guy. It can be a bit intimidating when they slide in the water and you are in an inflated boat.

We hauled up the anchor and headed N. Here’s some nice gator tail.

It turned out to be a day of Ospreys. They are nesting now and in some of the pictures you can see babies.

Now this one has the perfect spot….protection from the sun and rain….

Most of the markers have nests. Every now and then you’ll see the crews out with pitch forks pulling them down. Have to keep the solar panels clear.

Might be 2 chicks in this nest.

I see a little head peeking out.

Makes you wonder what is holding this one up. These nests can weigh a lot.

She’s got chicks and was warning us off…

Another handsome fella.

and then there is “Bubba”. This must be Bubba’s Island…he was here the last time and is a tourist attraction. One pontoon boat nosed up to shore and he didn’t move. I was able to get this picture after they left. This is one to judge others by.

It was pretty warm and no breeze so we headed back to G3, Lungun Island. We stopped there on the way past and dropped off a couple of Christine Kling’s books to Captain Jim of Sailbad the Sinner, who was anchored there. He told us some friends, Ron and Karen, were stopping by later this afternoon. We decided to go back after visiting Bubba, and anchor there for the night. We had a great time sitting on their pontoon boat and visiting, we hadn’t seen them for quite awhile.

Another great night on the water with a chorus of frogs singing us to sleep.

Meander on the river 4.23.13

After loading the last of the supplies and doing a check on the bee hive that we installed a package of Honey Bees in about 40 days ago ( www.wildlifearoundus.blogspot.com ), we headed for the launch ramp at Lake Monroe Park.

Beautiful weather. Warm and sunny with a nice breeze. It isn’t often we get to come out when it isn’t cold, rainy or so hot you can’t stand it. Even the humidity is low.

This is a MacGregor 26X…we had one several years ago, and took a cruise around the tip of FL. Larry our boat buddy was aboard his sailboat with a couple of friends. It was a great trip.

It is a water ballasted boat with a larger motor than most sailboats would have. The thing we liked about it was the mast raising system. It could be raised and lowered on the water to get under bridges. When we first bought it we had a 22’ Catalina sailboat on a lake in Missouri. The lake had 2 bridges that limited sailboats to about 1/3 of the lake. With the MacGregor we could go under both bridges by partially lowering the mast and raising it once thru.

It is also a good boat for a family with kids. The big motor lets you pull them on water toys and then when you’ve worn them out…they nap and you raise the sails and enjoy the peace and quiet. Jim’s favorite line: “It sails great for a power boat and powers great for a sailboat”.

We don’t see this one very often.

He thinks he can’t be seen.

This is a nice sized one…but not huge.

Our first night at anchor is just N of Blue Springs where the Manatees spend the winter.

We decided to do a bit of dinkin’ around.  Jim’s wearing his new sun hat. We bought these at a flea market to wear on the little fishing boat but they are good for the dingy too. I’ve got mine on but was smart enough to stay on the other side of the camera.

We put the screens up as soon as we anchored…the bugs were already flying. The bats came out later. Spent a few hours on the rear deck listening to the frogs and gators. Beautiful night.