Florida Bay

At Sea, N24 54 W81 08
January 11, 2006

It feels weird out here. We are in Florida Bay. That is the body of
water north of the Florida Keys and south of the Florida Peninsula. The
average depth out here is only 7 feet. Often the depth is only 5.5
feet. Since Tarwathie's keel is 5.5 feet deep you can understand how
antsy that makes us feel.

Nervousness notwithstanding, this place is like magic. The sky is blue
and the wind is NNE at 10 knots, the temperature about 75F (24C). Waves
are only 6 inches high. The water is green but transparent enough to
easily see the bottom passing underneath. However it's no so clear as
in the Virgin Islands where one can see hundreds of feet deep. We see
jumping fish and dolphins often and a few times the dolphins swim along
with us for a while. There are lobster and crab traps everyplace. It's
impossible to ignore them. There are so many so far from land that I
suspect that they are almost never checked by the fishermen. That
sounds wasteful and cruel to trap animals yet to not check the traps
often. Maybe I'm wrong.

The radar screen shows no targets and my visual scan to the horizons
shows no vessels. We are very alone out here. What a relief to not
worry about submarines surfacing underneath us. I suppose there's no
risk of being run over by a merchant ship either. We could both go
below and take a nap leaving nobody on watch. Don't worry, I really
wouldn't go that far.

The wind is against us and our sailing guide assures us of sufficient
depth only if we stick to a particular path. Therefore were using the
motor and staying within 30 feet left or right of the prescribed path.
We're chicken. Inv about three more hours we change course and I hope
that we can sail instead of motor.

Tarwathie's engine temperature is rock solid at 190 degrees. Thank
goodness for that.

I don't think we'll make it to our destination before dark. However the
forecast is for continued very light winds. We can just stop for the
day wherever we happen to be. It's hardly necessary to even drop the
anchor. What would the point be? Nevertheless I will drop it because
I can't stretch my mind enough not to. The idea of not having to look
for a safe anchorage is totally ailen to us.

Perhaps for lunch we'll do something I never did before in my entire
life. We can just stop and eat lunch while adrift. No anchor, no
control. Just the thought makes me feel wicked.

If the weather turned bad it would be a very different story. Waves of
5 feet or more in an area less than 10 feet deep would be very steep and
very dangerous. Just last weekend there were 7 foot waves out here.
If there was any threat of rough weather we wouldn't be here.

The Gulf Stream is visible to the east as indeed it has been south of
North Carolina. From a long distance away, one can see the Gulf Stream
by the bank of thick low clouds that lie over it. That's what we see
here. It is to our advantage to avoid the Gulf Stream while heading
south. Last June we entered the Gulf Stream while heading north toward
Norfolk and we got a boost. The night we got hammered near Cape Fear I
suspect that we also inadvertently got into the Gulf Stream or one of
it's eddies while heading South. In fact, that may have contributed
greatly to the discomfort we suffered that night.

Should we be fishing? I don't think so. We're going too fast, 5 knots,
and the water is too shallow for trolling. However if we see a big fish
we could stop the boat and jump in with a knife in our teeth. Anyhow,
I'm blogging up in the cockpit and Libby is down below baking cookies.
We're both listening to the confirmation hearing for judge Alito. I
guess that's evidence that we're over our nervousness.

Welcome To The Everglades
Little Snake River, N25 20 W81 08
January 11, 2006

I was sorely tempted to say that we left the Atlantic Ocean and entered
Gulf of Mexico. But that would be an overstatement and untrue. The
Gulf of Mexico is part of the North Atlantic Ocean. Anyhow, we're in
the Gulf. It's already evident from the different behavior of the
tides. Heretofore, we've had semi-diurnal tides with two nearly equal
high tides and two low tides per day. Here one of the two tides is
much less drastic than the other. By the time we get to Northwestern
Florida there will be only one high tide and one low tide per day
(diurnal).

On the way here we passed many miles of coast that are inside the
boundary of Everglades National Park. We saw mile after mile of white
sand beaches with no people and only two boats anchored in about 20
miles of beaches. What an idyllic place. It is preserved because it
is so far from any road or any town. Only long voyage travelers will
come here. It would be great fun to bring our grandkids here. I think
kids and honeymooners would be enchanted by totally private beaches.

At one point I could see a flock of pelicans frantically diving into the
water. They make a big splash when they hit. There must have been a
large school of fish for them to feed on. It reminded me of the time in
the Virgin Islands when Libby and I and John and Jenny were snorkeling
in a school of fish with pelicans diving in from above and a big shark
stalking the pelicans from below. We got out of there fast.

We're at anchor in the Little Shark River. We can follow this river
several more miles inland into some of the Everglade lagoons with enough
depth for Tarwathie. At the mouth of the river, the water is salty.
A dolphin jumped beside the boat near the river entrance. Upstream, the
water is fresh and we should see alligators, manatees and other fresh
water creatures.

The fishing is reputed good here. As soon as we anchored we tried to
fish. Alas, it was too close to dusk. The mosquitoes here are very
active at dawn and dusk, and they soon drove us inside the boat. We
have screens for the windows and hatches and citronella candles, so few
bugs get inside.

Tomorrow we'll see how far inland we dare to explore and we'll try
fishing. I might even go swimming if we don't see alligators nearby.

I doubt if we'll see any people on this river. We have the whole place
to ourselves. The banks of the river are lined with thick Mangroves.
At least I think they are Mangroves. Their roots extend into the water
and are definitely Mangrove like, but they have thick tree trunks and
grow up to 40 feet tall. That's not typical of what I consider to be
mangroves. Perhaps some readers more knowledgeable on the fauna can
correct me.

We just heard a loud scream from some kind of large critter close by.
We have no idea what. In any case, we're anchored 30 feet from shore
so we presume that hungry critters can't reach us here.

At the farthest inland extent of the river it coincides with the
wilderness route for canoes. People can rent canoes from the park and
paddle 100 miles from one end of the park to the other. I hope to meet
some of those people if we get in that far.

As much as we like blue water sailing, I must admit that many of the
most interesting and fun places we've been have been on rivers, creeks
and canals. It would be great to have a shallow draft boat in Louisiana
that can explore the bayous and the swamps. That is, unless it is near
dawn or dusk.