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Date: 18 June 2014. Shark Changes Plans.
© janice142
[Posted late because I am in transit.]
It is early -- just 1400 hours into the day however I am tired so have chosen to anchor here versus continuing onward. Though coastal hopping along the shore (albeit three miles from land) is not stress-free, it does take stamina. And after I hit the half-century mark my Stamina went to visit my Grand* permanently.
*Grand: short for grandchild. Mine is perfect. She is full of energy and stamina. Some of that must have been mine.
Today is a short day and I am at
anchor off of Keaton Beach, Florida.
Though three miles off shore I chose a location with just five feet of water on the chart. Sweet! Actually, Seaweed is at N29 47.978 and W83 38.782. On the chart picture below I drew in a dorky anchor -- that where my girl is tonight.
Sandy bottom and good holding. Note: with a 33-pound
Rocna, most places offer good holding.
If you look at the chart you will notice a jagged pencil mark (well, it looks like a pencil mark to me) that runs just off the coast. Actually, that is the three mile limit. Generally speaking (though not tonight!) there is cell phone coverage and wifi available if within that line.
That is what I was hoping for at least. Alas, this area is known by locals as The Forgotten Coast. It is not well populated. The are is charming, beautiful and has some of the friendliest folks I have ever met. I will be back.
Still, I miss being able to speak with my daughter. And email, plus Pinterest. I do want to get away from it all, but I want my goodies too, including the internet.
This is a picture of Son and Baby
in the 1980's on Daddy's tow boat.
In the days before TowBoatUS and SeaTow dominated the rescue
services, little guys towed boats too.
After anchor down and checking the bilges I decided it would be fun to go swimming. When I went into the cockpit I looked off the starboard side and saw a three foot long shark swimming along at the surface, parallel to my boat. I grabbed the camera and tried to get a picture.
See that BLOB?
That's a camera-shy shark diving down.
It suddenly seemed like a good idea to come inside and relax for a bit rather than taking a dip in the Gulf of Mexico. After another glass of tea I thought to myself, "surely that critter has gone by now" and went back to the cockpit to have a look-see.
Nope, nothing at the surface. However a look under the boat showed that shark merrily swimming back and forth near the bottom in the shade of my transom.
Although far too small to harm me, I decided that a nice shower would have to suffice for water activities today. So I did -- and feel much better, thank you.
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Addendum: When I related my tale of woe about the
shark to a friend
he told me I had approached the whole thing incorrectly. He
advised should that sort of thing ever come up again there is another
option:
I should practice filet and release. |
Have you ever practiced Filet and Release?
What kind of fish was it?
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Categories: Anchorages, Boat Talk, Characters, Locations, Memory Lane, Vignettes, Wild Things
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