Dear Blog Readers,
Well, I see you are back for some more punishment.
Today, I’m going to talk about my latest ocean wonder. “The Manatee”. These animals are amazing to me. Like other mammals, manatees breathe air. Their very large lungs are also used for buoyancy control. (I guess I have very large lungs, I am very buoyant. He he)
Really this goes back to Georgetown when we met Rod and Evelyne from St. Petersburg, Florida. They are really a neat couple and they sail on a 36 ‘Goddard sailboat named Manatee. They were telling us the story about how they came across their boat and the story when they first met a Manatee. They both love to swim and they had gone swimming in Florida close by their home. People in the water were shouting that there were manatee’s in the water. Rod and Evelyne started looking around and sure enough there were some Manatee’s. The two of them watched them swim by and all of a sudden one of the manatee’s turned and came right up to Rod. It raised its head out of the water and looked Rod right in the eye. Rod said, “Hello” and then the manatee swam away. Don started teasing Rod about it and said that was what he said when he met his wife in France, “Hell-----oooo”.
So, I had my first encounter with a manatee just a few weeks ago. Don and I were in Salinas and he was working on the mast. I walked down to the dock where Don is working on the mast. I sat down on the dock and suddenly there were two manatee swimming and dancing everywhere. They put on a show for me. I jumped up and shouted for Don to come. He barely got there in time to see them. So neat! Since then I have seen them several times. They are a family and they love to show off. The little one is always close to her mom. I mean the calf is always close to the cow. Pardon me!
The manatees live in warmer water and are abundant in Florida and the Caribbean. But today the greatest threat to manatees comes from human beings. Being herbivores, manatees must stay in shallow coastal waters or rivers where vegetation is abundant. Of course, this is where we boaters like to hang out too. That is why in so many places the speed limit is 5mph to watch out for the manatees. (In shallow water) So the next time you come into a cove, around shallow water, please go slow, and watch out for manatees. If you take the time to get to know about manatees, you’ll come to realize that they aren’t sea monsters at all (as some people claim), but warm, social, lovable animals. See picture below of a manatee.
Monday, Don went to San Juan. I stayed in Puerto Real at the Hotel. I got to sleep in until the maid woke me up. She felt so bad. I got up and went to the pool. I was alone and it was so peaceful. I loved it! I read for 1 ½ hours and it was pure bliss. I got to watch my soap opera today for the first time in months. Of course, that is all you need to watch soap, you can catch up so fast.
Don went to SJ to pick up the pipe he had bent, get the extra sunbrella, buy lifelines and more lines AND hopefully our dinghy. The extra sunbrella is for our genoa. The trim around the sail was destroyed by the ship, so it is being replaced with new.
It hasn’t rained during the day this week. So they have been working on our boat. Thursday and Friday they will put our windows in and hopefully we go in the water on Saturday. Each day it changes and yes it is just about to drive me crazy. It has been 3 weeks in a hotel and I’m (we) are so ready to get back on the boat.
Hasta la vista, gente (see ya later, people)
Don and Janis s/v Plane to Sea
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