It’s Sunday evening and the rest of the world is watching the Super Bowl. Me, I am writing a blog post. Sorry, but I was brought up in a sports agnostic house. Whatever.
Anyway. It’s been three plus days since we arrived in Ft. Pierce and we have just about added all the provisions we can to Pandora so we are about ready to head out. So, Monday morning, tomorrow, we will cast off the lines and begin to head south to Ft Lauderdale to stage ourselves for the run to the Bahamas.
I am a bit uncertain about what will happen when I back Pandora out of the slip in the morning as I fear that the prop will be fouled with barnacles given the fact that she has sat in the marina for three months. I am also wondering how the slime etc on the hull will be. However, if we are really slow when we leave, I’ll just have to anchor, get out the hooka compressor and go for a swim to clean off the hull. I did call a diver this afternoon to see if perhaps he could come by to clean the hull today but I didn’t hear back. I am not surprised with the “big game” happening this evening.
Perhaps I’ll get lucky and he will call me early in the AM and stop by to scrub the hull. If not, I’ll just have to do it myself. Here’s a shot of me with all my gear from last year, about ready to clean things up. Pretty amusing look, if you ask me.
However, the water here in the marina isn’t nearly clean enough for me to risk a swim so if I have to do it myself, I’ll wait till we are out in more clear water. It’s pretty easy to clean the hull as I just use a scotchbrite pad on a plastic handle. It’s not that bad as long as the fouling isn’t too bad.
Here in the marina the water is pretty murky but there is lots of wildlife. This manatee swam right by Pandora twice today. Well, that’s how many times I saw her/him. Not too pretty looking. 
Supposedly, early explorers mistook these guys for mermaids. They must have been pretty lonely to have mistaken one of these “sea cows” for nautical beauties. This shot shows pretty clearly the whole deal. They are about 8′ long. This guy’s back was completely covered with algae too. Not the spic and span skin of a dolphin and plenty sluggish swimmers. No wonder they get struck by power boats so often. Amazing creatures. 
And, these guys aren’t the only wildlife in the area. There is a mangrove stand near the fuel dock that is the evening gathering place for hundreds of Ibis birds and a few pelicans. In the dark the white birds look more like litter sprinkled on trees. It’s amazing to watch them fly in from all over as the sun sets. 
And, this pelican was perched on a piling in the marina just outside of the bar area. I wonder if he was looking for some fish and chips. It’s funny, but to me pelicans look pissed off. “hey bud…who you lookin at? Yes, I’m talkin to you.”
Well, the plan is to head out early or, if we are lucky, to have the diver clean the bottom of Pandora to get off three months of slime before we head out. I guess I’ll have to see if the diver calls me back first thing.
One way or the other, we hope to be on our way Monday morning. Fingers crossed.
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