Long Days and Manatees

         On Thursday we left Alligator Harbor before dawn to get to Steinhatchee.  We cruised twelve hours - pre-dawn to dusk - and both of us were beat when we got there.  Dan thought it best not to go up the river several miles to Steinhatchee.  Since the weather forecast was favorable, we went bypassed that river and went down the coast to anchor near the mouth of the Suwannee river.  Gorgeous sunset over the Gulf! Both of us went to bed early.  

Friday we were up and out at dawn.  The waters were choppy, like they had been the day before, but they calmed down by noon and the rest of the day was fairly pleasant.  We made it to the Crystal River by 2:30 pm, and went up to the town to anchor.  Crystal River is famous for its warm springs, which draw the manatee when the winter waters grow too cold.  This is the only place in Florida where you are allowed to get in the water and swim with manatee.  We didn’t do that - it just didn’t seem like a nice idea, but we did lower the dinghy and go up the creek into Three Sisters Bay where most of the manatees were hanging out.  People were paddle boarding, snorkeling, and sightseeing galore, and the manatees were a tolerant but captive show.  Many of them have scars on their backs from propellor blades.  The odd thing about Florida’s waterways is that there are signs all over letting you know you are in manatee habitats, and to be watchful, but those same signs give a speed limit of 25 mph, which is nearly 22 knots.  That is way too fast - most cruisers do not even go that fast (our top speed is 8 knots, eg) - and it is impossible to avoid hitting manatees or other wildlife at that speed.  We didn’t even put our motor on the dinghy - Dan rowed up into the springs.  We got some nice pictures of the manatees and anhingas before we went back to the Willie Dawes.  

We raised anchor and left Crystal River to the other sightseers and anchored in the mouth of the river for the night, in preparation for Saturday’s travel to Clearwater.

This was another long day of cruising, from dawn til an hour before dusk.  As we neared the inland waterway to leads along the southwestern coast of Florida, we could tell it was Saturday.  Everyone with a boat was out zipping around.  It’s only going to get crazier the farther south we go, so we just smiled and waved as they buzzed by us.  The hotel near our Clearwater Beach anchorage rents jetskis that look like little racing cars and they were ‘drag racing’ in circles as we came in to anchor.  

We have some severe weather heading our way, so we may be here in Clearwater for a couple of days.