Our New "Backyard"

Since we arrived here, Scott has been exploring the local water. Our marina is located in the Manatee Pocket, just off of the St. Lucie River, and right around the corner from the St. Lucie Inlet, that leads out to the Atlantic. The boat traffic past our marina is constant. There are many, many fishing boats both commercial and pleasure, of all sizes. They start passing our pier in the early am, when it's still dark. And are still coming back in after then sun has set.

On weekends, it's just crazy. We're right near where the Intracoastal meets the inlet and the St. Lucie River, so the boat traffic is nuts. Scott has discovered that at lower tides, there is a large sand bar that we can hang out on. We take the dinghy out, and cross the "highway" of boat traffic to get there. Scott explores in the dinghy, or takes a swim, while I chill in a beach chair and watch the may lay that goes by.

We came upon a weird-looking thing on the sand, that we couldn't recognize. After asking around, we found out that it was a Portuguese Man-o-war, a jellyfish-like thing that is very poisonous. They are an invasive species here, and are more numerous as their natural predators, the sea turtles, are decreasing. Scott is NOT happy...he finally gets south enough to lose the jellyfish and finds THESE things! The only good news is that they float on the surface, rather than float under the water like jellyfish, so if you're paying attention you can see them coming.

Scott purchased a dive flag for his dinghy, so he can put it up while he snorkels. He's enjoyed the better visibility here, and has spent a lot of time face down. Here are some pictures of our new "backyard".