The Zoo and the Freezer

      

       This morning we weighed anchor and moved our boat to near the outflow point of Homosassa Spring. The water runs relatively clear here. As I dropped anchor a smallish manatee came up and nibbled on the rope. He, or she, stayed there for some time as I ran about the boat setting an anchor front and rear. I assumed I'd be seeing him and his relatives all day so I did not get the camera. Too bad, I have not seen a manatee since.
       Homosassa Spring has been captured by the State Park Service and surrounded with fences and signs reading "unauthorized entry prohibited". Within these fences a pay-for-entry zoo surrounds the spring. Downstream of the fences the spring water still flows relatively clear. Here is where a zoo of another kind is in session all day. It began when a gaggle of 25 Kayakers came by at 9 AM, and it hasn't stopped yet. Boats come and go. Some with families wanting to swim, some with drunks wanting to drink, some with tourists in rental boats wanting to see something they have not seen before.
       One boat load of drunks in a rental pontoon boat tried to steal my rear anchor. I was sitting on the front porch and the boat started drifting toward the Zoo fence. Hmmm? I went to the back of the boat and two White Beach Manatees were hanging onto my rear anchor trip-line buoy. Seems they thought they had found a lost anchor and were trying to drag it into the boat. I pointed out to them that generally speaking if an anchor is attached to a boat it belongs to someone. They accepted this logic and I even heard one of the male Manatees tell his lady: "I told you it was someone's anchor". I might have lost my anchor were it not for its 33 pounds of weight and 30 pounds of chain. Someone would have to be pretty freaken stupid to not realize that this anchor was taken. A bright white anchor line attaching it to my boat is instantly visible through the clear water…. Somehow I believe they were not dishonest only dumb. Um, maybe not so dumb. Now I have a polite middle-class family with a nice new deck boat tying up to my rear anchor trip-line. They say they thought it was a mooring buoy. Like I said: this place is a Zoo.

       I remember the first time I saw Homosassa Spring. The water was so clear, the fish so plentiful and large, and the manatees so easy to spot swimming by slowly - it was almost magical. Now after seeing the isolated springs further into the wilderness we are spoiled and it is somewhat disappointing here in this suburban spring.
       The most disappointing part of it is the Zoo. The one with the four-legged animals in it. Zoos are full of animals. Animals produce waste. This waste finds its way into the water. After I swam in the spring I had to take a shower. Yuk. Even in the suburban "Three Sister's Spring" in Crystal river I felt clean and vibrant when I exited the water. Here? Grimy. While I was snorkeling visibility was maybe 20 feet? In other springs it is close to unlimited. I really wish they'd get rid of the out-of-place Zoo and let the spring be what it is – a natural wonder.
       The best place to eat in Homosassa is the Freezer. A former fish processing plant freezer turned into a bar and restaurant. They have a limited menu that changes daily based on what is fresh that day. What they serve is outstanding, and of course the beer is ice cold. Oh, and its cheap. Apparently this competition upset the other businesses in the area. The county mysteriously rezoned the area residential, in spite of the fact the fish processing plant had been there for decades, in order to force them to close. The Freezer is still open and fighting it out in the courts.
Note: We took on 38 gallons of fuel for houseboat and dinghy. 240 gallons so far.