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Sept. 27 – Jacksonville Beach, FL

Beach Marine

We woke to a cloudy misty very windy day, but here in Florida it doesn't seem to last long. One minute it's cloudy and the next there's blue sky. We had a relaxing slow morning since we were only going about eight miles down the coast to Jacksonville Beach. We met our friends David and Barbara there to enjoy a party that Beach Marine puts on the last Saturday of the month. They offer free dockage and a Tiki party...lots of good food, free drinks, door prices and music. We even won a door prize...a wash down hose and nozzle we'll use on the Hatteras. The marina is very nice and the staff was extremely helpful and friendly. We enjoyed our stay very much.

The last two nights we’ve noticed the popping sound under our hull. It’s been years since we’ve heard this noise and I remember the first time years ago wondering what it was. It’s the sound of Snapping Shrimp. They are very small shrimp that snap one of their claws at such a speed in the water that it sets up a “sonic boom” so to speak and a resulting large snap that travels a long distance. In fact they are probably not under our hull at all. They do this to stun their prey with the sound and then catch them. The sound goes on constantly and sounds a little like rain hitting the deck. It’s amazing that something so small can make so much noise.

Our morning view
The evening's entertainment
A Snapping Shrimp

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