We departed Hudson after 10+ days of waiting for the small
craft advisory to be lifted. We spent the next night anchored out off Homosassa
before heading to Crystal River. There is a nice little sheltered cove just
inside the Crystal River mouth behind Shell Island where we spent the night.
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| Power Station at the mouth of the Crystal River |
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| Sunset off Shell Island, Crystal River |
Heading further up the river the next day to Kings Bay we
found a spot in 4’ of water with good holding. The surroundings are just too beautiful
with great wildlife. There are lots of birds such as ospreys, spoonbills, wood
storks, ibis, pelicans, bald eagles, sandhill cranes, pileated woodpeckers,
grebes, anhingas, and ducks. There are also hundreds of manatees in the bay and
several raccoons on nearby Buzzard Island.
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| Pelican |
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| Manatee coming over to eat some algae on our boat |
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| The gentle manatee still has barnacle from spending the summer at sea |
Two days later we set off for the Withlacoochee River which
is only 6 miles up the coast in a straight line but 17 miles by boat. Two long
canals dredged for the power station are in between the Crystal River and
Withlacoochee River and run several miles out to sea. They have substantial
spoil areas and the first safe gap is about 5 miles out. The Withlacoochee
River mouth is accessed via a narrow well marked channel. We anchored about a
half mile up the river in a small bay with good holding and nice surroundings.
Many shrimp boats came by just at dark and returned in the early morning.
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| Shrimp boats on the Withlacoochee |
At sunrise we departed for Cedar Key. We had a great sail,
arrived in the early afternoon and dropped anchor behind Dog Island. We tied up
at the dock the next day to stock up with food water and gas.
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| Dolphins playing near our boat off Dog Island, Cedar Key |
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| Sunset at Cedar Key |
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| Cedar Key |
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| Cedar Key from Atsena Otie Key |
Our plan was to
cross Appalachee Bay overnight to Alligator Point. Our engine decided it had
had enough and to make a long story short it was cheaper to buy a new one.
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| Waiting for our new engine |
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| Pelicans at Cedar Key |
A
few days later and $2000 poorer we were once again ready to go but now the
weather had turned bad. Day after day strong winds blew from the west with back
to back small craft advisories. The winter fronts were coming too frequently
and after many days of waiting we decided to take a break for the winter.
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| White pelicans heading south for the wnter |
We
headed back to Kings Bay in Crystal River to our previous spot. A local marina,
Pete’s Pier (really nice owners and staff), gave us a good deal on a place to
dock our dinghy and take showers.
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| The warm water of Kings Bay gives off steam on a cold morning |
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| Mom and baby manatee |
We have really enjoyed our time in Crystal River but it is
time to move on.
Next – Cedar Key, Appalachee Bay, and on to the
Panhandle.
