Manatee River anchorage
Hello from the great waters of the Manatee River.
We arrived Monday afternoon after a nice ride across the Tampa Bay channel and headed south into the Manatee River. We have not been here before so it’s a new place for us. I got to use the new chart plotter to try and keep us in the marked channel, which was really nice. It’s a handy gadget.
The winds were kicked up so we motored here for several reasons. I want to burn out some of the old diesel fuel (purchased at $1.53 a gallon) which has been sitting in the tank for over a year. We just don’t burn lots of fuel on a sailboat. Besides, I want to replace it with some $ 4.50 a gallon fuel as it surely must be better diesel fuel due to the higher cost.
We ran into some old friends who were going on the hook here as well. Nat and Ellen onboard the Sanp1. It’s an older Morgan, big and roomy.
SNAP1 at anchor
We went to the shore and discovered Emerson State Park. It’s an archeological preserve. The place is full of old Indian mounds with loads of history. I towed Nat and Ellen to shore because of the high winds, which have not subsided since our arrival on Monday. (he is outboard-less pending repairs) It would be really nice for the winds to lay off a little bit. The wind generator has been screaming along since our arrival producing lots of free electrons. I’ve not had to run the generator in the past two days to recharge the house batteries. The wind is keeping up with the reefer’s demand for 12 volts just fine.
The beach walk was nice and the preserve had great trails. We found three geocaches in the preserve whilst on a walk about.
Sheree went fishing a couple of times, without success. Just a couple of small critters which were released back into the wild. Fortunately she brought some smoked mullet from Ted Peters fish company before we departed.
If the winds ever die down we are going across the bay. There is a rather large white cross over there. Its got something to do with Hernando DeSoto landing there in the 1500’s. I’ll know more after we pay our visit.
That’s it so far. Kind of windy and chilly this am so we are hiding below decks for now.
From the decks of the s/v AbbyGale
Filed Under: Travels
About the Author: I'm a retired deputy sheriff turned sailor and author. Please feel free to leave comments and suggestions for anything you might like to read about. Hopefully I'll see you out on the water!