Cedar Key to Yankeetown

Events of 21 September 2009

       We returned to shore about 11 AM to find our Golf Cart Missing. Dude where is my golf cart? Our memory of the previous night was imperfect to say the least. Um, maybe we left it somewhere else? The mystery was quickly solved by the rental guy who told us they collect wayward carts in the wake of the weekend. We were issued a new cart. Cedar Key is a little different. All they wanted when we rented the cart in the first place was $50 cash, no deposit, no credit card, no legal disclaimer, they merely wrote down our name and handed us the key. I really don't think they knew which cart we even had. When we got our second cart we found out that our old key still worked. All the carts are keyed alike. That is Cedar Key. People are pleasant, trusting, and everyone has wears a contented smile. Legal forms, deposits, and disclaimers just aren't part of the mindset.

       We toured the island including the museum and every road our golf cart would fit.

       After a nice lunch at a waterfront eatery we returned to the houseboat. We weighed anchor intending to drop anchor a quarter mile away where we would be better protected from the east wind and chop that had disturbed our sleep the previous night.
Once the two anchors were up we decided to just cruise on down the road to the Withlachcoochee River, only 15 miles away. The Withlachcoochee has three towns along its banks: Yankeetown, Inglis, and Crackertown.

       Dolphins continued their harassment; bullying us with their rowdy splashing, their sinister smiles masking a malevolent intelligence. Popping up only long enough to cast a glance at us with their unfeeling eyes. There was no getting rid of them, they were here to stay. Tamara continued to exhaust our camera's storage capacity attempting to take photos of their taunts. Digital cameras have a lag between when you push the button and when the shutter clicks. Our little Nikon is slow. This makes it almost impossible to get any evidence against the dolphins. If you press the button when you see a dolphin pop up out of the water the shutter will click after they are gone. It is pretty frustrating to have four dolphins jump completely clear of the water shoulder to shoulder on line five feet in front of the boat, snap the picture, and be rewarded with photo of the water completely devoid of any dolphins.
       With the exception of the dolphins, these long open ocean passages are a chance to relax. Once out of the channel I put the autopilot on and we can sit on the front porch and enjoy the warm breeze. Most boats don't have front porches, they should. There is no better place to sit and watch the world drift slowly by.
       We reached the Withlachcoochee channel and were rewarded with some gorgeous scenery as we transited up the river against a 2 mph tidal current. This little river is about the same width as the Santa Fe River was. The Santa Fe was a real flowing river, this is the tidal section of the river and it is this narrow. What the river gives up in width it more than makes up in beauty. It has more of a tropical feel than the Suwannee had; more palm trees, less cypress. The dark water mimics the Suwannee's reflective capacity. The channel is deep and well marked to the river mouth.
       We made it to our Marina, B's Marina and Campground, and docked up parallel to the river facing upstream.

The Crackertown Navy intercepted us on arrival and only let us pass when we showed them Tamara's Confenderate Bikini.

The Withlacoochee river runs deep. Large fishing boats were leaving for their nights work as we ran upriver.

The Withlacoochee is gorgeous. Here a Bald Eagle sits looking for his next meal. Photo opportunities such as this have convinced me to buy a BETTER camara.