Little Shark River to Russell Pass again

2/13/13

The upcoming forecast period is starting to get a little nasty. Winds are out of the SW today, and we decided to head back up into Ten Thousand Islands, where the anchorages are good, and we would have internet and phone and the ability to make Marco to take Casey and Mary back when they were ready.

We went up the coast in a pretty uneventful cruise with the winds on our quarter, to the Indian Key inlet, and up into Russell Pass.

It is funny that all three of us were on phone and internet as soon as we were in range. My how the internet has changed the world, even mine!

I listened to the sounds of shrimp crackling thru the hull on the outgoing tide when the wind has swung from the NE. The last couple weeks of warm weather must have put a bunch in the Chokoloskee Bay, and the cool down was chasing them out. I get hungry just thinking about it!

We played National Park Service Monopoly that Casey had brought. I'd never seen Park Service Monopoly before, and that is a neat idea. I hadn't played Monopoly, I don't think, since I was a kid, and we kept having to look up rules. Towards the middle of the game we realized you couldn't put tents and ranger stations (houses and hotels) on property unless you owned all the color... It might have changed our game a lot!

Birds in the Everglades

I don't keep a bird list, and may not be the best on some bird identification, BUT, for those of you who are, in this past week, with some bona fide birders with me (thanks Scott, Stratton, Lila, and Rudy, we verified these birds. (Scott email some of the ones I missed! and I'll add them)

First, however, I had to post these shots I took of an osprey eating a large, still flopping fish, as I idled out Tarpon Creek while returning to the boat from Flamingo after dropping off Rudy and Lila.

I shut the boat down, and drifted, and came to rest in the roots immediately under him. He kind of glared at me, but decided I wasn't much of threat to steal his fish.

We weren't even trying to get small birds, though saw lots of warblers, and other small birds we didn't try to identify.  We also saw several duckie-type waterfowl we couldn't identify.  And a few raptor types we never identified.  I refuse to mark sea gulls!

Here's some of our list.Pied-billed Grebe, American White Pelican, Brown Pelican, Doouble-crested Cormorant, Anhinga, Great Blue Heron, Great Egret, Snowy Egret, Little Blue Heron, Tricolored Heron, Green Heron, Black-crowned night Heron, Yellow-crowned night heron, Cattle Egret, White ibis, Glossy Ibis, Roseate Spoonbill, Wood Stork, Blue-winged Teal, Green-winged Teal, Turkey Vulture, Osprey, Red shoulder hawk, Short-tailed Hawk, Purple Gallinule, American Coot, Greater Yellowlegs, Royal Tern, Belted Kingfishers, American Crow, Northern Mockingbird, Red-winged Blackbird, Common Grackle.

I also heard several types of owls and heard woodpeckers, though I saw neither this year.




 

 

Rose Marina, Marco Island to Dismal Key Pass

2/9/13

In the morning, I returned to scrubbing down the boat, and cleaning the windows, trying to get the volumes of smashed bugs off the insides of the glass. I wondered how many people vacuum bug corpses out from under their windows.

Casey and Mary arrived, and we loaded their gear aboard, and headed out the inside passage back past Goodland and Coon Island. It is really a beautiful ride through there, and it seemed half the boaters in the area were cruising that waterway as well. When we got past Goodland, the cruisers turned into anchored, and drifting fishermen, and running the deeper water was a jagged course dodging boats!

We decided to go into Dismal Key Pass to a gorgeous anchorage. Unfortunately, and bugs found us as we entered from the bay. They weren't bad at the anchorage, but we still had a bunch hanging on the boat. We went up the pass about amile and a half to anchor N25 52.623' W081 33.981

We puttered around in the Whaler for a little bit, walked the beach, and returned to the Mercy and sat on the roof, where, with the slight breeze, there weren't bugs. Well, the bugs were at least tolerable. For a little bit. Then we went inside, ate, and called it an early night.

The one positive thing that I can say about these biting gnats is that they die quickly. Shortly after dark, all we had left were little black corpse-dots sprinkling the decks.

Inside passage to Marco from Russell Pass

2/8/13

I timed my morning to go from Coon Pass to Marco through the inland passage past Goodland with high tide.

I love the passage through there, and the abundant osprey nests on about half of the channel daymarkers. I am comfortable making the passage with my draft if I have at least a partial tide. It is shorter than running offshore, and a lot more scenic!

I called Rose Marina in Marco, and made a reservation for the night, and pulled in for fuel, gasoline, and a night's dockage. The folks there are very nice, and give discounts for volumes of fuel, for Boat US, for their marina guests, at their store, etc.

I washed dead gnats off the boat, scrubbed the salt off, and washed the dog, before taking a shower, and dashing off to dinner with my kayaking friends Craig and Donna, who were aboard with me in Ten Thousand Islands last year.

We ate at the Old Marco Lodge in Goodland, which was packed on Friday night. As we talked and visited, we realized about 8:00 that we were the only customers left. The band was gone, and the staff appeared to be closing up. Craig said something about not having shut a bar down in a long time...

It was so good to see Craig and Donna again!