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 Snake 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.