Little Shark River in the Everglades Day 136

Anchorage in Little Shark River -


Mangrove tree roots






Shore all around our anchorage

We woke this morning to light NE winds, clear skies from our anchorage at Goodland. Of course the first order of the day is hot coffee shared together at daybreak. We listened to the weather forecast on VHF and Tom reviewed our favorite online forecasters NOAA underground and Ikitesurfer. Since we will not have internet connection at Little Shark River we reviewed projections for 2-3 days out. Pulled anchor and were underway by 8:00 A.M. and out in the Gulf by 8:30. Weather was as predicted; NE winds 10-15 MPH with 1’-2’ seas. This was a nice comfortable ride to our anchorage at Little Shark River other than dodging quite a few crab pot floats. The dolphin sightings were also a treat of the day. We just never tire of observing the playful dolphins.

Noah Genda dropped anchor at 2:30 PM about a mile into the extremely beautiful Little Shark River. What a tranquil, quite, remote area of wilderness. There are numerous flocks of wilds bird hanging out in the mangrove trees looking for an easy pick of fresh fish. It is absolutely so quite that we thought we heard a boat approaching from behind us, however it wasn’t an outboard motor, it was the wind noise off the wings of a large flock of egrets about 20’ above the water line just off our starboard side. Simply awesome. Diann saw an alligator in the water, however we seemed to have spooked it away with the voice of the weather channel on the marine radio. We sat around the remaining daylight hours with binoculars and whispering to each other so we wouldn’t spook any more wildlife. The number of dolphins working the waterway for fish was an additional pleasure to view. They were swimming in groups of 5-6 dolphins working together to herd the fish in a tight circle and then close in. Pretty amazing. We had this anchorage to ourselves until about dusk. Four additional loopers dropped anchor before dark. However everyone is separated adequately to allow the solitude of the area.

About dusk we realized we did not have much to eat today while underway. Diann prepared the most delicious chicken fajitas’ that was just a perfect way to cap an absolutely beautiful day and evening. This is one spectacular anchorage. The moon is bright and the stars are incredibly beautiful. I think there is still some ice cream in the refrigerator for a little desert before the evening is over.
After dark Diann was out on the aft deck with the spotlight looking on shore for those red alligator eyes but no luck!

We listened to the NOAA weather forecast on VHF and it appears favorable for venturing on to Marathon tomorrow (Wed 1/27). We will double check in the morning.