April Fools Day!! Really??

April 1,2012

It seems like an eternity since our last posting about our adventure. Oh yeah, I should start by telling you this is not Elle but me, Dick. You read right. Surprised????? She will be doing the photography which she enjoys and I will try my hand at telling the tales.
We have spent the entire winter in Ft. Lauderdale which was not the original plan. Lots of things happened which I will tell you about but hopefully not bore you.
Got to our dock on the New River the end of December, 2011 and left today, April 1, 2012. Why,you ask???
I was having some problems with my left leg and after some X-Rays and an MRI they said I needed surgery to clean out my shredded Meniscus and drain a Baker's cyst which was initially causing my problem. The surgery went fine in Jan and after a few weeks started special PT to reduce the swelling. OK, let's make this short. Still having some problems but OK to continue traveling. Had a great nurse (Elle) taking care of me.
That took care of January, February and the better part of March. While doing all of this we started to do some house hunting. We have been talking about the possibility of having a land base. Well guess what, we found a lovely home and closed on it a couple of weeks ago.  Stayed there to kind of get acquainted for a couple of weeks and closed it up for the summer. We have a great house sitter, Thanks Jerry!

So this morning we started our journey north.We happily dropped the lines from the dock and headed down the New River. The boat was running perfectly and I love the new Garmin GPS chartplotter, it is amazing!
Our plans are to attend an MTOA Rendezvous in Fernandina Beach the middle of April,  then getting as far north as possible to attend 2 college graduations.

The New Garmin GPS Chartplotter

 Everything was running perfectly, we were making good time, and then the first mishap happened. All of a sudden heard a thump and felt the thump! Hit an underwater log right in the middle of the channel. Backtracked to the nearest marina and hopefully tomorrow we will be hauled out to check the prop and shaft.Have a shimmy at hull speed, so will continue when we know.Yes we know April Fools Day! Really?? Wish it was but ,alas, it is all true.......

The songs of birds

Have you ever just stopped looked and listened around at your surroundings? Since the beginning of 2012 the Summer Wind has been safely docked behind a private home in South Florida. Each morning we open the windows wide and listen to the various calls of the birds. Outside our sleeping quarters we could hear the wonderful songs of the Blue Jays. Can you see them? Click on the photo and zoom in.

 Hint Top Right hand corner there are two

One morning we woke up to a visit from a pair of Yellow Crowned Night Herons (pictures below). He was very curious and came over to check us out. Well she kind of stayed across the canal but never let him out of her sights. I assume 'he' came over because he was the biggest of the two.

There is a tree that attracts several species of birds. This little Kestrel Hawk enjoys sitting on the same branch each morning. He is approximately the size of a morning dove and he's the smallest of the hawk family.

Can you spot him in the picture below? Hint left side of the tree on the branch with no leaves.By the way after this photo was taken, A deluge of rain came down.

This tree has also seen a few romantic moments shared by parrots. Their call is rather squaky but they can sing pretty if they want to talk to one another.

But look who's watching! Our Blue Jay without his mate!

 

Some mornings this group of Ibis come to feed on bugs using their long beaks to dig into the grass.

There's always one in the group that has a mind of their own!

A Green Heron hunting across the canal

Each day, there is a new discovery of birdlife in the area. Some mornings we've spotted what looks like black chickens walking down the road. Will have to have take a walk in the morning to see if we're lucky.

Wakodahatchee and Green Cay Wetlands

We took a walk through Green Cay Wetlands and as we were leaving we had the privilege of catching sight of these young bobcats. The wildlife was amazing. Just a few feet from our path, Bobcats, alligators, and birds of various species. Amazing!