April 28, Day 307 – Sanford to Fruitland Cove

This morning we woke early. We had a long trip ahead of us plus much to do before we left. Linda did a couple of loads of laundry while Gerry topped off the batteries with water and then fixed a leak in the water filter system. Then we both replaced the anchor light bulb with an LED light. I know, I know, there must be a joke here somewhere. How many Great Loopers does it take to replace a light bulb?? In truth it does take both of us as Linda has to hold the collection of stuff that Gerry stands on to reach the light. We don’t have any one thing on board that is high enough to do the job, so we combine the big ice chest, doggy ramp, boat steps and another small ice chest. Linda acts as the “stabilizer” and Gerry climbs up and replaces the bulb. Since it is quite an undertaking, this time we used an LED bulb hoping it will last longer.

Once Michael got back from returning the rental car, we all headed out around 10:00. We traveled together for an hour or so, but then said our final goodbyes as they pulled into an anchorage and we continued on. We parted with promises of keeping in touch and plans for continuing our cruising in the fall to the Bahamas.

We had an enjoyable day on the water – the weather was great, maybe even on the cool side, and we saw lots of gators; even managed to get a couple of fair pictures (see below). Our anchorage was not quite as picturesque as others have been, but it was quiet and the sunset was beautiful. After dinner we realized how tired we were and soon headed off to bed.

When Linda returned from doing laundry she noticed a couple of turtles hanging round the boat. We think they'd noticed how dirty the bottom was and figured they could find something to eat.

Gerry threw out some crackers and soon we had a food fight going on

Second Star pulling away from the dock as we left this morning

We crossed under the bridge and could see the railroad bridge ahead. It was open, but this was the bridge that almost closed on us a few days ago as we were passing through.

One last shot of Second Star as we continued down the river. We will miss traveling with them.

At the Whitehair bridge we had to wait awhile as there were men working on the bridge. However, within about 10 minutes they opened it for us.

We saw 3 gators sunning themselves on logs today. This was the first -- it's a little far away, but if you double click to enlarge the picture, you'll see it in the middle of the picture.

You can see this one a little better. We circled around and came back so we could get a picture.

This was the biggest gator we saw today. This picture was taken just before the wake from our boat reached him (you can see the wake in the lower part of the picture) and he dove into the water. Michael was keeping track of the number of gators we saw and last we checked it was around 50.

It was a beautiful sunny day on the water

... and the scenery was, as usual, very nice. Lots of folliage, water plants, water and blue sky.

I snapped a picture of the sun just as it was setting. You can see it through the trees and reflected in the water.

Here's a picture after the sun had set and cast a pinkish glow everywhere. What a treat for the eyes!!!