Florida Fauna

Sunning alligator at Blue Spring State Park, FL

GEARBOXES UPDATE

At the end of my last update, our mechanic, "Mack," had just removed the gearboxes from the port and starboard engines. (1)  We opted to get two new gears instead of rebuilding them.  The manufacturer updated the design with better alloys and we thought waiting for new ones was the right decision.

The gearboxes were shipped from California to Florida and arrived last Thursday and will likely be installed tomorrow, February 20. 

Since we had planned on spending time in Florida to get through the cold winter months, we’re so lucky to be at this marina.  It’s less than the marinas closer to Ft. Lauderdale and has an active, friendly live-aboard community.

Enough about gearboxes! 

TOYS

Our son, AJ, arrived for a 3-week visit. AJ loves to fly fish, so he convinced us to split the cost of a used kayak and rent a truck to transport it to good fishing grounds. (2) 

AJ found a great fishing spot at Spruce Creek—a car drive away from us. 

Other Looper friends (IRL and on FB) highly recommended bikes. We noted that e-bikes were the trend, but we decided if we had to use an e-bike for a long-distance ride, we'd rather take a bus or Lyft. We want them just for the joy of bicycling and to be more convenient for going a bit farther than walking. Our extra time enabled us to receive via mail new folding bikes.(3)

FLORIDA FAUNA

I saw my first manatee! 

“What is that?” I asked myself while walking to the marina office. “My first manatee!”

We are starting to get to know more of the retired characters at our dock. We have enjoyed petting their cute dogs and hearing their stories. 

One welcoming couple, born in Daytona (4) taught us Rummikub. They also suggested we spend a day inland at Blue Spring State Park. The attraction is breeding manatees. AJ looked into the park and hurray, it's a fly fishing spot. 

We rented a truck, pushed our kayak in the back, and drove 45 minutes to the park. It was a perfect 68-degree day, slightly overcast with moderate humidity. 

All hands on deck to load the kayak on field trip day.

We arrived to discover that the parking lot was packed. However, we quickly noticed that nearly all visitors left after seeing the manatees.

The grey blobs are adult and baby manatees. The park had a wood wharf pier along this spring-fed creek. It enabled this up close and personal view.  It is a major swimming spot with crystal clear water.

Grey, oblong-shaped manatees were slothing(?)-- in droves! We easily spotted the docile manatees, and all kinds of sparkling fish, in spring-fed clear, blueish-green water. 

We knew so little about manatees that we listened to the ranger talk. Their closest relatives are elephants! They still have elephant-type nails at the end of their fins. Alligators stay away from manatees. They have no predators. Only accidental boat strikes and loss of habitat threaten manatees. 

After we had our fill with the observation decks, we made our way to the kayak rental and launch area along the larger, slow-moving river. AJ launched his kayak and Mike and I rented a tandem. 

We saw more manatees in breeding mode from the kayak.

Here’s one of the many fish he caught. A Horse-Eyed Jack.

…and a baby Snook.

Here’s a good clip of the scene:

Here’s our lovely view of the mangroves and Western Yellow Pond Lilies:

We saw many more animals, such as these birds:

An osprey

White Ibis

And among the trees we saw a feral pig like this:

Feral pig pic I copied from the Internet. We saw it clearly but couldn’t whip out the camera fast enough.

We highly recommend seeing one of the many Florida springs. The combination of the flora and the fauna, enjoying the outdoors together, and getting a better feel for a state we haven't spent much time in, is what this trip is all about.

WHATS NEXT? 

We plan to continue South along Florida via the ICW for the rest of February. At the beginning of March, we'll flip an U-ee and officially start The Great Loop by heading North. I've created a spreadsheet here (5) that shows the areas we will hit by month.  

Send good thoughts that we will be ready to kick the tires and light the fires at the end of this week. 

FOOTNOTES FOR FUN FACT FANS

(1)  We were fortunate that we had Mack find two new gearboxes for us. He has extensive contacts that he has cultivated from his past position working for Yanmar.  We may have gotten the last two new ones (a matching set) on the planet for our exact configuration that have the updated alloys!

(2) Sacagawea came with a kayak holder just begging for a kayak. We had one kayak on our Nordic Tug on the Glacier Bay trip and greatly appreciated it. Our lengthy time in Daytona enabled us to shop the used equipment sites, meet with an owner, and ask them to transport it to us. 

(3) In addition to walking and taking a bus for necessities like groceries, I've also used Instacart, where drivers drop our groceries at the dock gate. Other folks on the dock drive us to stores too. The closest good supermarkets are about 2.5 miles away. I understand the term "food desert" now. 

(4) They recalled their bucolic youth when Daytona had sand roads. They snuck into the Daytona Races as teens when races were held on the beach and the early days of the speedway.  They go back more than five generations of Floridians.

(5) We are subject to weather and waves. While we have high-level plans-of-record, weather forecasts only give us visibility about one week out. Also, as you know, we can’t predict mechanical issues.