Down River Thurs April 18 2013

This time I remembered the bait, not that it did us any good.  We launched the boat about  9, and headed to the locks.  You pull a rope to signal the tender to open the locks.  When the green light comes on, you can motor in.  The lock doors are closed at the opposite end.  Once you are moored to the side wall by holding on to one of the hanging ropes, the lock doors behind you close and the ones in front open.  Water pours out from the lock, and your vessel drops about 3 feet.  Once the right level is reached, you can continue on your way.  The process is reversed on your return trip, and this time,  water from the east rushes in and you rise up about 3 feet.  There were a lot of beautiful homes on this side of the river, but not as many or as spectacular as east of the locks.  There are more older homes and mobile homes, especially on the Rt 80 side.  We tried about 4 places to fish, but no luck at all.  We did see several tarpon rolling, which was exciting, but they were too quick for me to photograph.  Once again, around noon, we headed back to the park.  Tomorrow, we will pack up and head back home.

A view of the west end of the campground

 

 

 

This mansion extended past the yacht at the dock and had a mansard screen that ran the entire height and length of the rear of the home.

 

 

 

 

This is a 1.4 acre island that's up for sale.  Would be our luck  that after we bought it we would find out that the foliage was protected and couldn't be removed.  BTW, river front properties go for about $110K an acre.  Wonder what river islands run?

 

It might not look like one, but this is a donkey.  I was surprised to see how wooly he was.

And this is one of two Shetlands that was on the same property.

 

Back at the approach to the locks.  On the right is another section of the park that has a picnic area, playground and beach.  The entrance is off Rt 80.

 

These 3 boats sped past us, yet here we all are at the lock waiting for the water level to rise.