Many Moons is on the move again. Sort of. We’re headed back toward The Great Loop (the designated route is 100+ miles away), after a three-month pause for me and a six-week pause for Jeff…but went only 31 miles and stopped for three nights. Why? Crystal-clear waters at a consistent 72 degrees, that’s why. Pretty hard to find!
We’re spending our third night at anchor at Silver Glen Springs just off Lake George in Central Florida. Getting in here was a little dicey, as the water levels have dropped a foot or more in the past month, and we hit bottom at least twice. Oops! But, no problem. The worst damage was a loss of bottom paint, as an underwater examination revealed. That’s just one great thing about these clear, warm waters; it’s easy to get under the boat. Since we’re anchored in only four feet of water (just a foot deeper than our draft), it’s even easier.
How fabulous to get into the water and actually swim, which I haven’t been able to do since Lake Michigan. (With mask and snorkel, the better to watch the plentiful turtles skipping along the seafloor, and the occasional big crab doing that sideways scoot.) And what a great location for the paddle board and dinghy! It’s also a peculiar place in some ways. A handful of rough boats have “set up camp” here, one or two tied to the shore – against regulations, but nobody seems to be monitoring – and on warm days, the place swarms with watercraft of all types, including air boats. Ar-r-gh. But mornings and evenings have been gloriously quiet. Photos tell the story better. (The actual spring is a wide tapered hole about 30 feet deep. I swam down perhaps 10 feet and felt the water coming up, but not dramatically. And yes, there are alligators here too, but not close to the spring. And they’re small.)
The afternoon of our arrival was chilly and overcast.
On the sunny next morning, we were both in the water – wearing thermal gear because the air temp was in the 60s. Here, Jeff scrubs crud off the sides of the boat. He’s standing on the bottom; it’s that shallow.
I dove under the boat to investigate the damage (minimal) from our bottom-scraping while coming in. (Notice that when I stand on the bottom, the water reaches my chin. Even on tippie-toe.)
The clear water made it easy to see…everything. Like this fish. (Photo taken from paddle board.)
I saw two small gators here. They showed no interest in us.
This one is rather cute! (Sorry it’s a fuzzy photo. One doesn’t want to get too close!)
Just two manatee sightings here – because they leave when the water warms up elsewhere.
Hello again, DeDe! We said good-bye to Henry and Diane at Hontoon days ago. What a pleasant surprise to see them again here. Jeff took our little dinghy over to say “hi.”
My paddle board got a lot of use here.
It looks like we’re rafted together with DeDe, but no…we’re anchored near each other, and the current pushed us even closer.
I visited this little island at sunset several times. You can see why.
The view of the seafloor from our boat, lit by the green light Jeff puts down to attract fish. No fish showed up for this pic. Looks like Mars, maybe, doesn’t it? The water is about 4 feet deep here and looks like 4 inches.
Jeff has spent nine nights here, with his son and then brother before than with me. We would come back!
Meanwhile, back in Michigan ….! That’s the Siberian Husky Roscoe on the right, who you’ve seen in my previous posts about Camp Many Moons. I’m his main playmate when I’m up north. He’s living with Jeff’s son, Josh, while we’re under way. That’s Josh on snowshoes, carrying his young son on his back. What a great way to introduce Jaxton to the great outdoors!
For Many Moons 
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The beard on Jeff is quite an addition!
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Isn’t it though!
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Another great post! So nice to hear Roscoe is doing well! 🙂 Safe travels. I look forward to the next update.
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