Rockhouse Creek – At anchor – We see manatees!



I was dewatering the dinghy and up comes a manatee!

On Monday we had continuous rain, all day and most of the night. In the morning I had to dewater the dinghy with the hand pump I carry there. After a few minutes of pumping the water overboard, I see this shape rise out of the water! It was a manatee, he was huge! They are evidently attracted to the water spray on the surface. I guess because they expect it to be fresh water from washing the boats in the marina (we were still at the Titusville City Marina). A couple that keeps their boat here full time said the manatees had just returned to the marina from their southern sojourn and that they often gather where there water spraying.
Armed with that information, I placed a hose with the water running over the side of the dock and, sure enough, crowds of manatees began to gather, five in all that we counted. This was after not seeing a single manatee the previous six months! They are not pretty creatures but are they big!

A manatee water party!

The forecast was for scattered showers and possibly a thunderstorm but we saw neither. We’re now in the Rockhouse Creek anchorage which is perfect for us. We are totally protected from all sides and only a couple hundred of feet from a sandy beach for Hoolie relief – what more to ask? Plus, it has pretty views and the islands around us are uninhabited, great for exploring. Even though it’s prime time for boats going north, there’s only one other boat in the anchorage although I expect it would be more crowded on the weekends since it’s a popular spot for the locals. There’s ocean access if you want to land your dinghy and cross over to the ocean beach but there’re plenty of protected sandy beaches along the way to spend an afternoon. If the forecast is good we’ll head north again on Wednesday.