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How cool was that...

Just finished helping my neighbor with his boat. He had it tied up in front of the house. We live on a canal here on Fort Myers Beach. I noticed that it was taking on water and wanted to help. His boat is only 15 ft or so but you know how heavy it can get when anything is half full of water. He winched it up part way and one of his " davits " gave way ! Dang ! What else can go wriong ? I put a small sump pump into the boat to start emptying it of water. As we are working on it a movement out of the corner of my eye caught my attention and really startled me. MY first thought was that a human body was coming up out of the canal ! Yikes, it was a manatee. They live in the canals of Southwest Florida. The water running from the sump pump was what attracted them ( actually 2-3 ) . They milled around and took turns drinking the water from the hose as it poured into the canal. The fiasco with the boat was bad but getting to see the beautiful, slow moving manatees was a real treat. LOL Take a deep breath, I am in paradise. This too shall pass.
Posted Thursday Aug 16
( 08/16/07 09:13PM ) — Judi Barrett

It's called an adventure and hope all turns out well.

( 08/16/07 09:25PM ) — Robert N "Bob" Marsh, CRS, GRI, RECS, The Sunland Kid

What is a manatee? We don't have those here in Scottsdale, but my company owner has an office in Ft Myers.  Maybe he can bring one out when he comes to visit us next week.

( 08/16/07 10:11PM ) — Pam Hofmann - Your Crossville, Lake Tansi & Fairfield Glade Specialist

You should have pitched some lettuce to the Sea Cows. They really are some amazing animals. Gentle Giants.

( 08/17/07 09:44AM ) — Kevin J. May Naples, FL Southwest Florida Real Estate

I see them on the Loxahatchee River and that vicinity on the East Coast.  Yes, they are the gentle giants.  Sometimes, at night when they're grabbing a breath of air it sounds like you're surrounded by them.  During the day when you pass by them it'll look like a small mud flat.  A few months ago on the St. John River (Lake George) there were quite a few to see, ah, spring was in the air.

( 08/17/07 12:44PM ) — Bill Gillhespy Fort Myers Beach Realtor

Judi - Adventure it is - look for the update.  Hint ( 2 nd boat sinks ).

Bob- A manatee, sometimes called a "Sea Cow " is a slow moving, gentle giant somewhat like a Walrus minus the tusks.  Very laid back plant eating " pets".  Maybe you should come take a tour soon.

Pam - Seems funny now but when it happened I really thought it was a corpse and almost ended up in the canal !

Kevin - When my neighbor was about to go in the canal to work on the boat I jokingly reminded him that    " Don't bend over, this is the height of Manatee mating season."

( 08/20/07 09:58AM ) — Cynthia Tilghman, Realtor® Onslow County NC Home Specialist

Hi Bill,
Wished you had gotten a photo of the manatees. Bet your neighbor really appreciated the remark about the mating season!  LOL.

( 08/20/07 12:09PM ) — Bill Gillhespy Fort Myers Beach Realtor

Hi Cynthia,  Camera was not working during part of this fiasco.  BTW, don't know if you caught the update or not.  Neighbor left the drain plug out of the larger boat.  Next morning it was resting on the bottom of the canal !  Cost approx $4000 to ree-float it, etc.

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