Second Wind on the Great Loop and Beyond

Saturday, March 03, 2007. The other night when we looked up, our salon ceiling was covered with little winged black bugs. Ewwwwwww! We hadn’t even noticed them since they didn’t bite, but they were obviously attracted to our lights and were coming through a screen opening. Turns out they are Aquatic Midges, or “blind mosquitoes” in layman’s terms. They don’t bite, suck blood, or carry disease, but they are a nuisance in this area. We now button up the boat tightly at night and wash them off the hull every morning.

After spending three nights at our bird-friendly anchorage near Welaka, we headed further south across long, wide Lake George this morning. We’ve had plenty of rain but no major storms, so we joined the dedicated (perhaps crazy?) fishermen as they slogged down (actually up) the river on this cold and rainy day. We stopped for a delicious fresh seafood lunch at the highly recommended Blackwater Inn restaurant, where we’ll certainly return on our way back north. For the last three hours of our journey, we ran down narrow, twisty unpopulated channels, and we are now anchored in a wild area recommended by Claiborne Young and Skipper Bob. It is north of Lake Monroe. Alligators and turtles are our company for the evening. The sun is going to shine again tomorrow, and we look forward to seeing the wildlife in this part of the river.