Sanford

February 4, 2021

On Thursday morning, we woke to pea soup fog. It cleared and came back several times, giving us beautiful views of the area with the rising sun. Having learned our lesson, we waited for the fog to clear completely before embarking, which gave us a chance to get in another walk in the unique, island park.

• 

• 

• 

• 

We had a great talk with a Park Ranger about the birds in the area. One of them, the Limpkin, which he pointed out across the water, was interesting in that an invasive species, the Island Apple Snail, have somewhat benefited the bird. More snails equal more birds. The birds have become more pleurific and have moved a bit further north.

• 

We noticed a lot more birds on this last leg of our river journey. Flocks of Ibis were especially pretty. A lot of Black Vultures which are different from our Turkey Vultures back home. The Blue Herons scream like a pterodactyl – we learned that on our first trip on Bob. Not that I’m old enough to know what a pterodactyl sounds like, but you can picture it! We have even seen mallards.

We hit the water about 9:30, zigzagging around the curves of the river. Just before Blue Springs State Park, we noticed a landing area where loads of kayakers and stand up paddle borders were getting in the water. I think I would love to kayak here, but the idea of alligators and snakes in the water might hold me back. We passed by Blue Springs, a famous Manatee area, without spotting even one. We will be anchoring near blue Springs on our return out of the St. Johns River.

We noticed erosion on the shore, which made it appear like the water had once been higher. I learned later that during the rainy season, the water is indeed higher here and on Monroe lake. It looks like it fluctuates about 2 feet. At this point, we also began noting signs of civilization: a TV tower, a jet plane and large homes and yachts. Interestingly, coming down the river at one point a float plane was coming towards us. We wondered if he would have landed where we were cruising if we had not been there. Sure glad he spotted us!

• 

Thankfully, there was no wind and Lake Monroe was flat. Our Port, Sanford is situated on the southern shore of Lake Monroe, and Debary and Deltona are located along the northern shore. Two major Central Florida railways run near the lake. Lake Monroe is approximately 5 miles across and has a “dense” alligator population! We did need to stop at the railroad bridge on the approach to the Lake for the commuter train running between Debary and Orlando. We hailed the bridge operator who was kind enough to fit us in and lift the bridge in between the trains’ runs. She said she had eight minutes and she would get us through. Excellent service.

• 

Crossing Lake Monroe was uneventful. We hailed the marina operator via VHF radio and she directed us to the slip. Two things: there was no one to greet us and help us into the slip (we’ve gotten used to this service) and secondly the place was a dump. Wow, this looks nothing like the pictures online. We got off the boat walked around a bit and saw some empty slips in a bit nicer area just across the dock from us. We seemed to be surrounded by unloved boats. We planned on staying a week! It was unsightly.

We walked up to the office and talked to the marina operator about our disappointment. She was a little surprised and said she normally didn’t put boats where she had put us but that there wasn’t a lot of spaces for boats our size. She began looking around and miraculously came up with another slip in an area of the marina across the parking lot. This is what they show on the website. Nice boats, well maintained. The only issue was we would be in a slip that was under a cover— we have a roof over us! We are on the end so we do get the afternoon sun, which we are coveting at this time. We moved the boat and were welcomed to the community by several live-a-boards and others on the docks. This is what we expected. Unsure of the reasoning of the marina operator but now we are happy and best of all, for the first time in a long while, great WiFi. We have determined we are both horribly addicted to our electronic devices. If we were robbed, they could snatch two laptops, three iPads and two phones. 😬

• 

• 

A quick dinner of the leftover pizza from Renegades (still fabulous—heated in oven) and a few episodes of Longmire and we were ready for bed. We woke to beautiful sun and 55°. Happily, we seem to be out of the cold weather now. Back home, it looks like a week of brutal cold. I guess we were lucky to have missed this event. It had been a mild winter so far.

I stopped and talked to a local fishermen on my walk with coconut this morning. We had been warned the night before about the potential of alligators on the dock! Some people carry their small dogs. The fisherman told me that yes indeed there are alligators in our marina. Apparently a high-rise building on the waterfront used to be a hotel and people from it would come over here and feed the alligators in the marina. The hotel is now assisted living. Nice spot on the lake. Anyway, he said one alligator got enormous and was such a problem that they ended up relocating him and several others. They would actually come up onto the docks! Our dock mate said she has been here for four months and only seen an alligator once but be assured we will be on the lookout.

Tomorrow, we have rented a car and will return to Saint Mary’s to get our truck and the reconfigured boat cover. It’s about 150 miles away but mostly freeway. Shouldn’t be too bad. On Sunday, my brother Terry and his wife Wendy, and my uncle Jim and cousin Sandy are coming over from New Smyrna Beach and Orlando respectively. Looking forward to seeing family.

We really appreciate everyone’s kind words, emails and comments about our blog. It’s fun to do and the bonus is it gives us a diary of our travels. Stay safe!