Visit to see Rabble

We decided to go to Astor, FL and look at another Albin 27, named Rabble. It is for sale on EBay. The owner sent me these. Isn’t it gorgeous?!!

It’s a beautiful boat and full of all the things I’d like to have: windlass, bow-thruster, 8 house batteries and even AC/heat. I don’t really like the idea of being closed up for AC but it would make boating here in FL much nicer during the summer.

From there we stopped in Sanford, FL for the car show at the Riverwalk. It right across the road from the marina, so it’s one of my favorites.

This cloud seemed to be sitting right over our little spot in the jungle.

I thought we might be in for some funny weather but didn't get any rain until the middle of the night. Sure was pretty.

Side screens

I spent the day making side screens for the enclosure.

I salvaged the zippers from the old side curtains and bought some fiberglass window screen.

Paul, from A&B Custom Products, in Orlando, gave me the scrapes left over from the side enclosures he made for us. I was able to use them on the top and bottom of the screens for the snaps.

They definitely are not the quality of the one Paul made…but they should work for awhile.

An Anhinga with trash around it’s beak

 

Our friends, Debbie and George, have a beautiful pond. Many ducks call it home. Many more wild ones come in daily to feed. Blue Herons and Anhingas also frequent it.

This Anhinga showed up and has stayed a few days. They realized there was a problem. I took some pictures this afternoon, so we could get a look at what is on it’s beak.

It almost looks like rags or something with knots in it.

The bird was quite a distance away and the pictures aren't very good.

They contacted someone who knows how to handle a situation like this. They will try to net it when it gets a bit weaker. They don’t want to chase it away, it might not get any help then.

For some reason it cant get it off it’s beak and that means it can’t eat. I will let you know how they make out getting it free.

This is one of the reasons we carry nippers and bags for trash when we are out in our dingy. We once saw an Anhinga with fishing line trailing behind, as it flew past, and decided  we’d  start gathering all the fishing line that is left in the bushes etc. We have to take our dog ashore each evening and morning…while out..we cruise the waters edge looking for “stuff”.

Check out the “Pick it up” button on the right….just click on it.  This is why you’ll find it on all my blogs.

Sunday, heading home

As with most things…plans change. We left the springs early yesterday afternoon, crossed Lake George to the S end. We were not in a hurry so  took the slow way up Blue Creek. This Anhinga was drying its wings as we entered the creek.

After we rounded a few more bends….I spotted this group of turtles sunning themselves. With their feet spread to capture all the warmth they can…they look like they are expecting to fly.

Once back in the St Johns River, we spotted another beautiful Bald Eagle.

I never get tired of the wildlife the river offers. It wasn’t a good week for gator watching. We saw only a few. This one hadn’t fared very well. A big dinner for a flock of buzzards. “Natures cleanup crew”.

We spent the night behind the island at G3. Beautiful sunset.

We hauled out early afternoon….no problems…just a trip that was too short.  We love the hardtop and new side curtains. It makes the boat seem bigger..guess it’s the heard room and shoulder room. Now I need to make screens for the sides and work up a way to fasten the white screen material (sun blocker) to the handrails for shade while at anchor. It worked very well. A bit more work and plan the next trip. It’s getting to be good boating weather.

A day at Silver Glen Springs, FL

We are anchored in the foreground. This is early in the morning and none of the weekend boaters have arrived yet, so it is quiet. I was up early and took Raisin ashore. While out…I spotted this bird sitting on the neighboring houseboat’s dingy.

I believe it is an immature Yellow-Crowned Night Heron, or an immature Black-Crowned Night Heron. I have never seen this bird before. Still haven't seen the adult.

At the top of a beautiful tree..sat a Bald Eagle.

It’s just starting to take off. I was a bit quick with the camera. Isn’t that a beautiful tree. It was sharing it with a buzzard. There were 2 Bald Eagles along the “run”.

This was all before coffee!  Jim stayed aboard and had hot coffee ready for me when I got back.

After a nice cool swim we took the dingy for a ride to the entrance of the Springs.

The sign is a favorite perch for the Cormorants. They have webbed feet like the Anhinga, and swim submerged as they do.

The breeze remained with us all day. It was comfortably cool. We plan to spend another night here and then head S.

Astor, FL to Silver Glen Springs

We cruised up to the Astor boat ramp and picked up our friends, Tony, Karen & Mike and took them for another boat ride. We were headed to Silver Glen Springs and took Blue Creek for a nice side trip on the way. It is beautiful through there.

Once at the springs we put our suits on and got out the snorkels and fins.

Water was cool, clear and very refreshing. We spent a few hours there and headed back to the boat ramp. They had to be in GA that evening. It was a short day but a fun one. Tony drove part of the way back.

Once we’d dropped them off, we headed back to the glen for the night. Jim did a bit of  snorkeling,  While I tried to get a picture of a turtle sunning itself.   With a nice cool breeze it was time for some reading. My sister had given me a large roll of white mesh material and I hung a piece from the rear handrails to help block the sun. We have enough for both sides. It really helps keep the boat cool..even keeps some of the bugs out. We have a screen for the rear..but no side screens yet. Another great day on the water. Air temp and breeze made it one of the best.

Great day on the water

We spent the night at G109 on the St Johns River. Normally we see several gators cruising the area but not this morning.

I took Raisin ashore and sat in the dingy while Jim  cruised the boat past for photos.

We normally don’t have any pictures of the boat in motion unless Larry and Diane, aboard River Nomad, are cruising with us.

We were surprised that we could hardly hear the engine over the noise of the water as he passed.

One we had finished our photo session we headed N. Once we got to marker G3, we anchored for the night. Had a nice cross breeze and got a good nights sleep.