Day 128, Year 10: All Night Rock ‘n Roll
Date: Sunday, February 15, 2015
Weather: Beautiful and Sunny, High Temp in the 70’s F, Winds NNW 10-12
Latitude: 25 19.664 N
Longitude: 081 08.804 W
Location: Anchored in Little Shark River in the Everglades, FL
Last night was all about rock ‘n roll in the anchorage and it didn’t improve as the night wore on. It is the first time ever that I couldn’t sleep in the bed while at anchor. I sleep on the outside and the pitching and rolling had me convinced that I would be catapulted onto the floor at some time during the night. So I slept on the starboard settee. Well, at least I tried to sleep. Finally morning came and I was more than happy to get up and get going. Once again we motorsailed all day as the NNW winds were directly behind us. We just can’t seem to get a good sailing day. But we made good time and headed into the shallow waters leading into Little Shark River in the Everglades just before 4 pm. I feel like we are at the end of never, but we aren’t the only ones. There are three other sailboats in addition to Windbird and Sea Turtle and three power boats.
The contrast between Fort Myers Beach and Little Shark River in the Everglades is almost as stark as it gets. Fort Myers is lit up like a Christmas tree at night and loud music drifts out of the many bars and restaurants into the streets crowded with tourists. Tonight we are miles south of Everglades City, deep into the Everglades where no one lives except birds, fish, dolphins, manatees, sharks, and, yes, alligators. Here it is the night sky that is lit up like a Christmas tree. As soon as we got the anchor down, we put down the dinghy so we could go out and explore. We invited Lee and Lynda, but only Lee could go with us. Lynda had invited us over to dinner and she stayed on the boat to fix the food. As we motored slowly down the waterways, we saw lots of birds and dolphins and at the end of our trek we had a manatee surface right beside the dinghy. This is the first time we have actually seen a manatee in the wild and we were very excited. We saw no sharks or alligators and we were happy about that! We could spend days here exploring in the dinghy among the maze of waterways that seem endless and so peaceful. But the threat of bad weather is pushing us onward tomorrow morning. It is really too bad as I can see that exploring here in a small boat is the only way to see this country. I wouldn’t want to even get near the shore, let alone walk in the swamp among the mangroves, but drifting by in the dinghy seems safe enough, making it the perfect way to explore here.
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| 150215 Day 128 Florida, USA–Little Shark River in the Everglades |
