Necessity is in Matanza River

Necessity
Eva and Jan Fr. Mack
Sun 7 Apr 2013 22:03
Our position is 29:43:04N 81:14:47W
Going up the Intracoastal Waterways (seems to be the correct spelling) has become routine. All day long I pass by bridges, some under, some by calling to make them open up for me. All day long I pass by endless rows of nice canal side properties, by know they are more like normal homes with a nice setting. All day long I have to watch out for shallows. The canal is not always well defined so the depth sounder becomes the center of attention. Even so I did hit bottom today. Or "hit" was maybe too strong. It was simply something soft slowing Necessity down. Necessity went straight through into deeper water. A bit lucky perhaps. I have taken an insurance which gives free assistance if I get stuck, but it would have been a bit of a wait. "Up here" there are also some park land with nice bush, trees and beaches. The entire canal is well kept and quite beautiful. The authorities also make a big effort looking after the wildlife. If you go too fast through special manatee zones and get caught it will cost you a few hundred dollars. Apparently there are quite a few manatees, and today one went "tail up" right next to Necessity. The tail is very distinct looking, like a broad shovel or a mermaid's tail. I have not yet been out long enough to think it was a mermaid.
jfm 07.04.13

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