Tuesday, January 30. After a run from Goodland back out into the Gulf, we passed an area called the Ten Thousand Islands. We saw that the shore was now outlined by mangroves rather than high-rise condos. This was the coastline of the Everglades National Park. Around a bend in the Little Shark River, we dropped anchor around 4 p.m. This area is primitive, remote, and uninhabited. Surprisingly, we were not totally alone in the wilderness, though. Entering the river, we passed a sailboat and up ahead we saw another trawler, which turned out to be Cloud Nine, owned by Loopers Pam and Tom Frech, We had met them briefly at the October Great Loop Rendezvous at Joe Wheeler State Park. Their dilemma was that all the wind had caused them to miss getting to the Keys, where a friend was to meet them. No cell phone coverage in the Everglades! The Coast Guard didn’t even answer their request to forward a message.
As soon as our anchor was secure, we lowered the dinghy and set out on a great “Everglades Explore” down coffee-colored creeks through lush, thick mangrove forests. “Awesome” is the only way to describe what we saw. There is just nothing like it, although the natural salty/fishy odor of the swamp reminded me very much of the salt marshes of the Carolinas. The biggest thrill was watching dolphins catch their dinner. At least two large dolphins worked the shoreline, trapping fish against the bank. Mullet were jumping four feet out of the water as the dolphin and other fish thrashed around in a melee. We were so close we could actually hear the dolphins breathing. What a rush! Finally as the sun started to go down, the pesky no-see-ums came out and made us pretty miserable. Darn it, we never saw a single alligator either! Back at the boat, we celebrated our adventure with the delicious chili that had been cooking all day on the crockpot. Yum! To end an amazing day, we saw a beautiful sunset.
# posted by Second Wind @ 9:01 PM
: 7:17 PM 
