"I didn't know whether to wake you or not but - there is a manatee swimming behind the boat and its huge!" She exclaimed.
I looked out back and saw nothing. Manatees rise up and then might be back underwater for a long time before they are again visible at the water's surface. Since we were about 200 yards from the entrance to Manatee Springs I figured it might be a good time to launch the Kayak and explore the spring. It has been my experience that the best time to see West Indian Manatees is early in the morning before bathers show up and disturb the environment.
The problem with this clear kayak is that it really isn't that seaworthy. It is easily overloaded and with my 240 pounds I had about 2 inches of freeboard remaining and absolutely no floatation if it became swamped.
We headed back to the main river. As we cleared the spring run back into the tannic brown water of the river Tamara directed that we take a route along the east side of the small island which we had anchored west of. The cypress swamp on the east side of the river was amazing and she wanted to get a better look. We turned north and paddled.
As we passed the first half of the island I saw a huge alligator up ahead making his way slowly across the water from the cypress swamp to the north end of the island. Now what is huge? Everyone tells fish tales in which the fish get bigger with each retelling. So how big was this gator? It is hard to say exactly, but his head, back, and tail were clearly visible as he swam along and my guesstimate would be 8 to 12 feet, probably about 10 feet, which would be about 300 pounds. The biggest gators are over 14 feet and 1000 pounds. Gators are territorial and this was prime territory out here at the mouth of this spring which was thick with fish. So this guy probably owned this piece of the Suwannee and he looked big enough to defend it.
Now I must digress. In psychological preparation for this trip I have had Tamara view nearly every scary gator movie in existence. And that is a lot. Almost all of these movies has a scene where the characters are in a small boat and become dinner. In our toy kayak we were infinitely more vulnerable than the typical gator movie Jon boat. Also, you have to wonder how we would appear to a hungry gator. What do two butts pressed against the water through the plexiglass look like to his almond-sized primeval brain?
The effect of all these movies was already apparent. About a month ago we went to Gatorland Zoo in Orlando. As we were viewing an 8 foot Cuban Crocodile beyond a concrete barrier and chainlink fence, the little monster suddenly turned his head toward us and snapped violently. Tamara jumped back 2 feet and screamed. Cuban crocs are the most aggressive of all crocodiles, good thing they are almost extinct and only grow to 9 feet. Anyway, it was obvious that she had developed a respectable fear of these prehistoric monsters.
I pointed out the gator ahead to my wife. She saw it as it disappeared below the murky water. I asked her if she wanted us to turn around or it was OK to proceed past where the beast had submerged?
Tamara told me that we could proceed. I don't think she really appreciated her conditioning. As we approached the exact spot she thought she had seen the monster disappear into - she began to panic, the details of which I will skip. All those killer croc movies were a big mistake and a little thoughtless on my part. We won't be going near any monsters in a kayak again.
We made it back to the mother ship and got underway. We had only a vague plan for the day. The one thing that was firm in my mind was resupplying. Fanning Springs was a mere 9 miles upriver. There the state park service maintains a sturdy boat dock. Just beyond the boat dock is Highway 19 and a gas station and some restaurants. We docked up with no problems. We then filled the empty tank with our 5 gal jugs. It took 28 gal to fill back up. Not bad for 35 plus miles of travel and 2 days of generator running.
Now the real resupply effort got underway. We unloaded the six empty five gallon jugs and the dolly. We walked about a quarter mile to the Sunoco and filled the cans. The dolly held four jugs and I had Tamara push it. I carried the two remaining jugs. Oh, my God! Try carrying two 40 pound jugs a quarter a mile in the Florida sun. After getting the gas jugs loaded up it was back to the station for ice. Our next load was 80 pounds of ice on the dolly and some miscellaneous supplies. Then we walked back up and had lunch at the Lighthouse Restaurant reputed for its seafood. The salad bar was awesome, the seafood not so much.
When I talked to Bill Miller, who runs the Marina in Suwannee, he had doubts that I could get my boat under the railroad bridge which is just upriver from Fanning Springs. If the bridge was too low our Suwannee exploration would be over. We decided to continue to the bridge and see. I cleared the top of the boat to minimize vertical clearance. When the bridge came into view it indeed looked extremely low. Driving from the upper station I slowly drove up to the bridge. We cleared it by about four feet. I really hope the river is not higher on the descent. We might have to extend our vacation if the river is a bit higher!
We had only vague plans as to where to stop for the night. So we continued. We drove until dark at which time we just made the mouth of the Santa Fe River. Ginnie Springs and many other famous and not so famous Florida Springs feed this river and we plan to explore it tomorrow.
Right now we sit at anchor about 100 feet up the Santa Fe River. Our stern is sitting 30 feet offshore from a gorgeous white sand beach.
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