February, 25-28 Marathon, FL

We've been hearing rumors that up north its below zero.  Again!   Guess its cold all over.  The temperatures here have plummeted below 80!

Tuesday evening we shared a cab with 3 other couples and went to a place called Hideaway.  Tablecloths, white shirted waiters and really good food.  And of course we were the boisterous table in an otherwise rather demure formal place.  Oh well.

Dennis and I ... and a puzzled Mary

Bob and Carol were there as well even though they are sailors!

Sombrero reef

That afternoon before we headed to the restaurant we took the dinghy out to the reef and then over to a few islands where there are sandbars to beach the dinghy.  Thanks to Rob for the local knowledge about the places!  The mooring balls at the reef have a long line (tether) that we tied the boat to which eliminates the need to anchor in the 10-15 foot depths.



Leann and Brant pulled in to the marina around 7pm tonight for a 3 day visit.  Cool kids ... they were driving a Camero convertible.  Well, it is Florida I guess.  Maybe we should try out a hot car next time we need a rental.  

We woke up to cloudy skies and plenty of wind.  We did run over to Sombrero Beach for a few hours in the morning.  The water was near 80 and the beach was relatively deserted so a few of us swam a little.  The tide was running out and my timing was a little off so we ended up having to manhandle the dinghy across some sand flats into deeper water when we finally left

Brant, LeAnn and Mary at Lazy Days

Went back to the boat and then rode the dinghy to Lazy Days South, a restaurant in the marina where our friends Rob and Sue are docked.  But before we got there we stopped to see Brent and Susan.  Susan gave us a plate of cookies (yumm) to munch on the way.  We had a nice lunch and a few drinks.  We stopped to see Rob and Sue on the way back to our boat.



 Back aboard our boat the poor young ones napped while Mary read and I cleaned off the bow of the boat and finished cleaning up the dinghy.  We did momentarily make plans to go snorkeling but the weather wasn't cooperating so we abandon that idea for another day.

When everyone was finally awake we took the dinghy to search for Manatee which were reported to be about a mile away.  The search was for naught.  No manatees spotted.

We went back to the marina and took a ride to Sunset restaurant which has a pool on the outside deck.  We only ate a few appetizers and the rum drinks were rather sub-par.  We indulged LeAnn who wanted to stop at Porky's, a junky looking joint down the road that turned out to be rather good and really fun.

I'm going to have to take the boat off its moorings either tomorrow or the next day to make water since the water here in the harbor is just to dirty.  We were even thinking if the weather isn't too bad we'll leave the mooring ball tomorrow morning and take the boat out to the reef for a few hours so we can all snorkel.  I think the afternoon will be spent visiting the turtle clinic down the road and then checking out the piglet races at a local bar.

Exciting life here in Marathon.  But we do have great sunsets.

February 17-25, 2014 Marathon Key

It was a calm, warm morning when we pulled anchor in Russell Bay.  Although the distance to Cape Sable was around 40 miles, we wanted to get an early start to assure ourselves of anchoring in daylight since there were some shallows we had to traverse to access the anchorage.  Well, actually the anchorage is just in the bend formed by a point of land and its really open to the ocean except for the blissfully deserted white sand beach.

It was a uneventful journey except for areas of crab pots.  Crab pots are actually cages set on the sea floor with a long line attached to a small round ball that floats on the surface indicating where the trap is located.  Its not a good thing to snare one of those lines in a prop which means we weave and turn all around a base course towards our destination.

Anchored at Cape Sable.  Desolate place but scenic 

When we were in sight of Cape Sable the winds began roaring out of the southeast which was a mild concern because I wasn’t sure how much of a lee shore we’d have form what’s called Middle Point at Cape Sable.  As it turned it was quite calm as we approached the shore.  We anchored in about 8 feet of water and no one was real enthusiastic about launching a dinghy so no party again tonight.

After dark the stars were magnificent!  Clear skies and no light pollution.  Wonderful!

We all yanked up our anchor around 9am the next morning and began the more arduous journey to Marathon.  Arduous because the density of crab pots easily doubled which required us to be constantly looking into the sun and maneuvering to avoid the darn things.  And as we pulled out of the anchorage we noticed a sailboat that had come in during the night.  It was packed with people so we were speculating on whether it was a boat form Cuba.  They seem to be rather common occurrences if the radio chatter is any evidence.

7 mile bridge

We made contact with the mooring field people confirming the requirement that we show up in person to get on a waiting list for a mooring ball as we approached 7 mile bridge.  Field Trip and Reunion, the two other boats we were traveling with, elected to continue around Boot key to a marina.

Looking at the mooring field from the anchorage

We went under the high span of Seven Mile Bridge and turned into Boot Key Harbor.  Quite a sight when you first enter the channel.  The as you get into the actual harbor the vista of several hundred anchored and moored boats is a startling sight!  They were packed in all over.  Our dilemma was to find a spot to anchor.  So we took about an hour cruising beyond the normal anchorage area up, a little creek (Sister Creek) and decided to just return to the normal anchorage area.  We found a little spot near a beautiful and anchored in the sand bottom.  Anchor held perfectly.

After setting the snubber and doing the normal at anchor routine, we launched the dinghy and headed over to the city marina office where Ann, the delightful Marina office person presented us with a welcome bag and added us to the wait list for a mooring ball.  We (luckily) were able to remain within the 45 foot limit and be assigned the far more numerous mooring balls for 45 feet and under.  Larger boats are supposed to be on a certain set of mooring balls which can accommodate the larger swing diameter.  And there are only 16 or so of these.  

We headed back to the boat and after several unsuccessful attempts at connecting to various unsecured WiFi networks, just settled in for a peaceful night.

I should mention here in Boot Key Harbor the temperatures are usually in the 80’s and its rarely overcast.  And there is always a nice cool sea breeze blowing.  And, No Bugs!

The Marina maintains a large set of dinghy docks and that’s where we headed the next morning.  But not before we tuned into Channel 68 at 9am to hear what’s termed the cruisers net.  This is sort of a radio chat dispensing all manner of meaningful information from various participants in the harbor.  After the “net” we took the dinghy into the dinghy dock and walked over to the local Publix about a mile away.  Before we left I dug out an old cart we had used to lug Mary’s stain glass materials to her classes.  Luckily we hung on to it and turned out to be a marvelous grocery cart.

We stocked up for a small cache of necessary food items and got it back to the dinghy and ultimately stowed on the boat. 

Mary stayed back aboard while I took the dinghy over to one of the marinas where Rob and Sue, some friends we met in New York, keep their boat.  Had a nice time surprising them and made plans for the next night to stop over for a drink or tow.

The next day, Saturday, we headed back into shore to use the internet at the marina and discovered we were assigned a mooring ball!  D8.  We hopped in the dingy and rode out to see the ball and plan our method to secure a line to it.  Then ran a short distance to over to Bob and Carole’s sailboat to make plans for a dinner outing with some other friends Tuesday.  Busy social schedule here in the harbor.

There is a Boot Key Harbor Webcam if you want to see a live picture of the place.

At anchor, but not for long.

We quickly returned to the boat and hauled up the anchor and made our way over to the mooring ball and snagged the tether and were tied up in a few minutes.  I snugged up the tether to keep us from swinging around too much since were a little big for the ball. 

On our mooring ball.

After we were all set we took a ride out to the Sombrero beach.  Nice place but we couldn’t pull up to the beach directly so we had to beach the dinghy off on the channel of Sister Creek. 

Next day we did two loads of laundry.  $3 a load for the dryer and the washer.  Think I'm under duress to fix our washer and dryer?  And yes we had to haul it into shore and use the marina laundry facilities.

Our elderly laundry center aboard the boat isn’t working but I did find a potential solution.  But it requires dis-assembling the whole front panel to jumper two leads from a certain switch.  This may re-enable the spin and drain function of the washer.  If this fails it’s a new set of appliances for us.  I’ll let your imagination render the scene of me hoisting washer and dryer into the boat from a wobbly dinghy.

Dinghy and a bike.  Our only vehicles.

So while the laundry was agitating away we motored back to the boat and got my bike into the dinghy and brought it to shore.  We have little yellow wire ties signifying we are approved to park our bike in the bike parking area.  And believe me its crowded!

.  

Mary also spotted a Manatee in the dinghy harbor just hanging around the dock.  They are huge and very docile

We hosted a big party on board in the evening.  Brent and Susan and their friends came over in two dinghies, one towing the other.  It seems Gary’s engine died on the way over to Brent and Susan’s boat so Brent ended up towing him over to our boat.  A delightfully comical scene with two loaded dinghies in a towing procession.  Wish I had a picture of it.

The next day we hung around the boat.  I went into the dinghy dock and walked up to West Marine just because it’s a west Marine and I needed a walk.  In the afternoon we both took a little cart we had kept and walked the mile to Publix to start the re-stocking effort.  Once we returned I started dis-assembling the on board Laundry center and right away noticed the instructions I received depicted something quite different than what I was seeing.  I was instructed to remove four screws to remove the front panel.  After 15 screws, I still can’t get at the controls and wiring.  So I predict this is going to be a painfully long repair process.  Anyone with betting skills would be laying money on us procuring a new washer and dryer.

We spotted Brent and Susan rowing their dinghy over towards our boat as we were returning from shore after a short run around the harbor.  Looked rather romantic with Brent rowing and Susan sitting in the bow wearing a large floppy hat.  Of course it turned out that their outboard died and they were close to us and decided to just row over.  We fed them a few drinks and some snacks and they rowed back the ½ mile to their boat.

Rob and Sue called us Sunday and offered to take us out the Sombrero Reef for a morning of snorkeling.  Mary even got up in time for this.  We drove our dinghy over to their boat and they took us out in their Grady White 28 foot runabout.  The reef is about 4-5 miles off shore and has plenty of mooring balls.  Thankfully Rob and Sue had extra snorkeling gear so we spent a few hours exploring the reef and its myriad number of fish.  Saw barracuda, all kinds of parrot and yellow tail and I swam with a ghostly white jelly fish.  Square shaped jelly fish or man-o-wars are to be avoided!  These though are harmless.

They also took us over to a little set of islands with a sand bar where we can beach the dinghy.  I think this will be a little nicer than the Sombrero Beach we visited the day before.  Luckily our dinghy is more than capable of handling these journeys.  As much as I complain about the thing being so big and heavy, it does have some advantages.

In the afternoon we attended an AGLCA party over at the Marathon yacht club.  There were about 40 looper couples in attendance.  We saw old friends and re-met some acquaintances we initially met along the loop somewhere.  Very fun. 

I should mention that Curt and Marilyn spotted us walking along the road to the yacht club and asked their ride providers to cram us into their car too.  So we were saved walking the 4 extra blocks.  We got a ride back to the marina too!

I’m trying to organize a reef visit trip for about a dozen of us looper people after LeAnn and Brant leave next weekend.  Enthusiasm abounds but the selection of who’s boat to truck us all there is still under discussion.  Maybe we’ll resolve all this Tuesday night at a dinner party.  Well we didn't.  And now, i light of new information about Lou Reef which is reputably far better than Sombrero reef, we may just find ourselves heading there rather than Sombrero reef

Today, Tuesday we did some boat chores and I fixed a number little things.  Removed another dozen screws from the laundry machines and got no closer to being able to access any of the control mechanisms.

I’m still debating whether to call one of the repair places here to see if they can render the stove up to Mary’s specifications.  I fixed the aft A/C unit so all we have left to do is the smaller radar set, laundry center and ice maker.  But I did finally call someone to change the outboard oil etc. so I’ll be up early to run the dinghy over to launch ramp where they’ll haul it over to their shop and do all the work.  Hope to have it back by 3pm so we can make the 4:30 cocktail hour at the restaurant where we’ll be having this dinner party for all of us who have traveled together on and off over the last several months.

We did make another trek to Publix too.  But in the morning I first walked over to a nearby dive shop to get masks, fins and snorkels.   Guess we’re now fully equipped except for the dive suites.  And scuba equipment.

We're here for at least a month.  LeAnn and Brant are visiting us here for a few days.  And then we'll mull over what to do next.  We do have to be back in Wisconsin at the end of March but I'm loath to cram myself into an airliner knowing how comfy and well treated I'll be.  Rather drive or take a train.

February 10-16, 2014 on the way to Marathon

update  with pictures 2/24/2014

February 10-17th

It was a beautiful day as we headed the dinghy out of the anchorage towards to Bokeelia Island to visit with Joan and Dave.  Its about a 9 mile journey one way and we were armed with our portable mapping GPS (Garmin 76cx) with the map chip I purchased at West marine in Dunedin.  We had a few mis-steps trying to get into the little passage which leads into the area, but we made it without undue harm.  Shallow waters back in there but very nice. 

Meeting Dave and Joan at Bokeelia

Dave and Joan met us in their little skee-doo jet boat so we decided to tie up at the marina dock close bye and have lunch.  They had a really good restaurant.

We headed back to their house, a rented placed complete with heated pool and a dock.  Nifty place. 

They took us over to the local Winn Dixie where we lightly re-provisioned.  Took a little drive into Matlache Island too.

Dave and Joann's beautiful place at Bokeelia

When we returned to their place we loaded the dinghy and, noticing the heavy looking fog north of us, elected to leave right away.  As we got out into Pine Island sound we were literally socked in with fog.  Couldn’t see 10 feet in front of us.  Luckily the little gps had our track to island saved so I just followed that back to Cayo Costa and the Pelican Bay anchorage.  Whew!

 

Fog heading back to our anchorage.  It was 3pm

We had made plans to meet them at Cabbage Key the next day which fit our schedule perfectly because we basically didn’t have anything else to do and we could sleep late.  We hopped in the dinghy around 11 and headed out the backside of the anchorage.  It’s a little shallow in there but I had seen big boats anchored and sure enough, by picking the route carefully we had 7-8 foot depths all the way out to the ICW.

Beach where we beached the dinghy

It was a few miles to Cabbage Key and as we got in towards the marina we could see several boats jockeying for a placed to tie up.  The dock master, notorious for being rather “abrupt”, waved us over to a small beach where we beached the dinghy.  We had about an hour before Dave and Joan were arriving so we walked around the island on a convenient path.   There were many little signs imparting botanical information on the green plants and tree’s around.  It was really a pleasant walk

Walls of Dollar bills at the bar

When we returned to the restaurant Dave and Joan hadn’t arrived yet so we sat at the bar.  Yes, this is the place where there are several thousand, one dollar bills stapled to the ceiling and walls.  Pretty impressive! 

That's Floyd on the right stalking those with food

Mary left to go to the head (bathroom) and ran into Dave and Joan on the way back so they all sat down outside (first come first served) leaving me in the bar discussing my seltzer and Captain Morgan concoction with the nice bar tender until a waitress came in looking for some long-haired old guy in a yellow shirt.   I was summarily ejected from the bar and led out to a table where Dave, Joan and Mary were sitting.  And Floyd.  Well, Floyd wasn't sitting, he was lurking behind the puny little chain fence surrounding the outdoor eating area.  Floyd, is a rather large white Heron who patrols the periphery of the restaurants outdoor seating area.  He also doesn't care one wit about humans being so close.

We all had a drink talked for awhile until the food arrived.  Cheesburgers for the most part since that’s what this place is famous for.  Floyd shuffled closer noting that there was fresh food and possibly a sucker who might toss a morsel his way.

And yes, I was the sucker.  I tossed him a piece of my bun but he took a taste and flung off to the side staring at me with those beady little eyes.  Ok, I thought.  Maybe he’ll like lettuce.  So I offered some of the Cole Slaw.  He ignored that too but kept staring at me with those beady little eyes and that long spear of a beak.  

Ok, so the bird doesn't eat anything good I thought.   But in the back of my mind (which I tend to ignore) I was thinking why would he hang around tables if he didn't eat the offered food.

As I was contemplating this I heard Dave grunt something and as I turned towards him, Floyd’s beak shot past my arm, grabbed half my cheeseburger and backed away from the table trying to get the thing down his gullet.  He was having a hard time. Calculating his chances of consuming the whole thing before loosing it to converging sea gulls, he took off down the hill.  Meanwhile, stunned, we all just looked after him wondering how such a gawky looking animal could be that brazen and quick!

Dave apologized for not grunting a warning earlier as the waitress came over to offer a stern warning about feeding that “vexing” bird.  Wonder why she was only looking at me?

So Floyd won this round but we will be returning so I can sit right in front of the beady eyed creature and eat a whole burger right in front of him.

We parted with Dave and Joan planning to dinghy of to Captiva Island and meet them the next day.  As it turned out it was foggy most of the day which nixed that idea. 

Curt and Marilyn along with Field Trip arrived later in the day so we had a little cocktail party aboard that night.

The next day was cool so we just hung around the boat and made ready to leave for Ft. Meyers the next day.

Leaving the anchorage

We headed out of the anchorage on a rising tide with Castaway (Curt and Marilyn) and Field Trip.  The entrance is a little tricky since it shallows up pretty much unless you stay about 50 yards off the beach.  We made it fine though and headed down Pine Island sound. 

We turned into the Caloosahatchee River and turned up the 8 miles towards Fort Meyers.  Castaway ducked into Cape Coral to see some friends while we continued on up the river to the Yacht Basin Marina where we fueled up and tied up alongside the inside wall.  I took the dinghy over and fueled it up as well.

Heading up river on a weekend ... crowded!

Next day we rented a car and did the Walmart to West Marine to Publix replenishment tour.  Had two full carts to lug back to the boat but at least now we have food, booze and other stuff.

The next day I polished up the dinghy fiberglass, cleaned up some wiring and re-installed the wash down pump which fails to work at the moment.  So we took the dinghy over to Legacy  Marina, a high priced resort place, to view the multi-million dollar yachts from our wretchedly dirty dinghy with the sparkling fiberglass.   People waved though so either they’re friendly folks or they thought we were their hired boat cleaners.

Approaching the Ft. Meyers Yacht Basin marina

We stayed aboard that night while Field Trip who we traveled with, were with friends.

Next day we hauled the dinghy aboard and got it covered while I fiddled with the darn wash down pump to no avail.  Also put the cover on and strapped it down.  We took a walk into the historic district where we ate at Morgan House.  Really good food but their seltzer and rum drinks were lousy.

We are located along the wall 4th in from the right

Next day Bad Bob and Diane, who we traveled with down the rivers, stopped over to see us.  They are staying at a marina a few miles up river from us.  A short time later Dave and Dana showed up with their friend Tony and Sue.  We all had a few drinks aboard before Bob and Diane left and the rest of us piled into Tony’s car for the short ride over to Joe’s Crab house.  I’d probably not go back there again.  It was grease personified.   As we were leaving it started pouring, so Tony gave us a ride back to the boat.

At least the rain storm washed all the salt off the boat.  But the next day the wind was howling and blew the cover off the dinghy again.  I took it completely off and stowed it away.  Gotta find a better method for securing the darn thing.

Don and Carole drove up from Venice the next day.  They have a house there but we missed them when we stayed there a week ago.  We had a few drinks and caught up on everything and then had lunch at Morgan House again.  They left in the afternoon and I, gracious soul that I am (right Don?), took care of his parking ticket.  I’m a Florida resident now and know how to handle these things.  Just have to know the right people.

We did some planning during the day.  We are getting a little anxious to be in Marathon before LeAnn and Brant meet us there for a visit during their Twins Baseball trek to spring training in Fort Meyers.  To that end we decided to leave Friday without Field Trip. 

Best laid plans … the weather was looking pretty ify so we decided to stay until the weather patterns calmed down.  So we were stuck in Fort Meyers for two more days, but Curt and Marilyn came puttering in during the day,  but then promptly disappeared somewhere.  We didn’t catch up with them until the next day when Marilyn saw me walking back to the boat during the big Edison lights evening parade they were holding over the weekend. 

In the morning I biked to Publix for a few things and both times witnessed elderly people tripping on a sidewalk that had lifted up.  I’d say it was frost heave but ….…  The second time a poor lady went down face first and I had to help her sit up before grabbing a police officer who summoned an ambulance. 

Edison's home

Mary and I walked to the Edison Home/Museum in the afternoon but elected not to take the tour.  We had been there before and were pretty sure there wasn't much we hadn't seen.  Returning to the boat, we went through old Ft Meyers downtown in the midst  parade preparations.  I guess this thing is a real big deal.  They have a flea market in the park along with a band stage and food of course (Mary had the giant beef hot dog while I went in for more ethnic fare, a gyro.

Edison Light Parade and festival preperations

Back on the boat I stopped over to see Bob and Martha about leaving in the morning while we had a few drinks.  We had pumped out both boats earlier in the day and were all set.  I also talked with a couple on a power catamaran who was also heading to Smoke House Bay in Macro Island and he verified pretty much what I had been thinking, basically it was an easy run and nice anchorage.

I did receive a call from Reunion, owned by a Denise and Carol from Racine Wisconsin.  They were staying at Sanibel marina and expressed a desire to travel with us down to Marathon Key.  So we agreed to contact them once out in the Gulf.

Approaching the Sanibel bridge while Mary sings to the dolphins

We were up at 7:30 and underway by 8am down the river.  As we emerged out into under the Sanibel bridge I heard from Reunion about 7 miles away so we proceeded to stay in touch with them during the 45 mile trip. 

Arriving at Marco Island we navigated the mildly confusing cluster of buoys as we headed into the narrow channel leading to Smokehouse Bay.  After tootling along for several miles gawking at the gargantuan homes we popped into the bay and anchored in about 12 feet of water.  Very placid place which contributed to a restful night.

We did forgo to usually cocktails because everyone was too lazy to launch their dingy but establish that we would leave around 8am the next morning to Russell Bay which is a little area along the channel leading to Everglades city.

And we were up at 8am.  And the batteries were still almost fully charged! 

It was another 40 miles or so and the Gulf was a little bumpy but as we got in closer it became calm.  Crystal clear blue green water that was a little over 70 degree’s.  We ran along with several more pods of dolphins (really porpoises).  They tended to stay alongside awhile even though Mary sings to them.

Russell Bay.  Placid place to anchor

We pulled into Indian Pass where Russell Bay is located and dropped our anchor.  Field Trip wanted to raft off with us so they came alongside but unfortunately that prevented us from using the dinghy so we just relaxed on the boat.  Reunion meanwhile took their dinghy the 4 miles into Everglades city. 

Soon, as dusk approaches, we will be hunted by multitudes of tiny little blood sucking 
insects, or so goes the stories.  To that end, we have the screens all ready.  And I dug out 
bug spray from my golf bag.  No insect is going to befoul my rum!


Tonight the stars are beyond description.  Incredible!

We’re planning on leaving tomorrow for Cape Sable where we’ll anchor off the beach.  Then Marathon which is only about 30 miles from there.

February 5, 2014 Pelican Bay anchorage

Siesta Key Beach

We left the Sarasota mooring field around 10:30 am which was perfect because the fog began lifting around 10.  The day before we took the dinghy out the inlet to Siesta Beach.  Lots of people and perfect weather.  Water was around 73 degrees.  And I wonder sometimes why we left WI?

Sunset at the Sarasota Mooring Field

We had a few sunsets worthy of tropical sunsets too!

 I toyed with the idea of going on the outside (out to the Gulf versus traveling on the protected waters of the ICW) to Venice but Field Trip was not comfortable doing that so we traversed the ICW the 18 miles to Venice.

We had several bridges that operate on a 3 opening per hour schedule so we tried to time our arrivals with that in mind.  We had 4 bridges on the route to Venice, 2 of which opened on demand.

I had called the Castaway marine early that at morning to reserve two spots for us for two days but they mis-understood and had us reserved for only a single night.  Jeff and Judy from "Just Fakin It" were at Castaway and we were anxious to spend sometime with them since we had cruised with them for several months down the river system.  Don and Carole, other friends of ours, live in Venice  but they were off on a cruise until the 9th so we missed them.

We tied up to the lay along wall which is almost an extension of the breakwater at the Venice Inlet.

Met some great folks Bob and Carole.  They are sailors though but we like them anyway.  Also met Dennis and Carole who are on and MT 40 from Racine.  Wisconsin people abound!



I took a walk along the Venice beach before we organized ourselves to leave.  Left at 10:30 again.  Must be a magical departing time for us.  Southern Cross (Bob and Carole) headed out before us but ReUnion (Dennis and Carole from Racine) left about the same time we did.

It was an uneventful journey, warm and tranquil.  But again it seemed we were traveling a well defined ditch.    Once we entered Lemon Sound the channel was bordered by broad stretches of water.

Lemon Bay

We arrived at the anchorage and since we were in the lead at that time we cut in after Red Marker
26 and anchored in 6-7 feet of water.  Perfect.

We took the dinghy down and eventually took it out and ran over to Stump Pass beach near Englewood Beach  We beached the dinghy on the banks of the little sound and we walked Englewood Beach for a little while before heading back and collecting our anchor mates for some cocktails aboard our boat.  We took them back to their boats after a few hours, ate dinner and then off to bed.




February 5, 2014

Our boat viewed between the posts at Pelican Bay

Woke up to a cloudy sky..  We were planning on anchoring in Pelican Cove so left Lemon Bay around 10:30 and after a few hours of mundane travel through the ICW arrived at Peilcan Bay.  The entry directions were rather precise and we did find some shallow areas, but managed to drop the anchor in a perfect spot.  What a great place.  Its well protected and wildlife abounds.  Cayo Costa State Park is right across the way with access to the Gulf

Rays gliding along the beach

We took the dinghy into the park docks and walked about 3/.4 of a mile to the Gulf where we found rays, leaping into the air and trolling the shore in groups.  Mary tried to swim but wasn't comfortable with several rays eerily gliding by her legs.

We walked back to the dinghy after a while and lo and behold Dave and Joanna were there!  They had taken their runabout over from Pine Island to see if we were here!  What a great surprise.  Wonderful friends!

They came aboard for as drink and then left to head back to their rental on Pine Island.  We’ll be heading over their tomorrow.

I dropped by ReUnion anchored next to us for a drink and he showed me some strip 12DV LED lighting which is something we've been looking for lately.

Hope the rain materializes tonight but right now its really dense fog with all the anchor lights glowing in the dark like ghostly orbs.  Very quite and peaceful here.

February 1, 2014 Sarasota

Retrieving the anchor at the Gulfport anchorage

We left the Gulfport anchorage around 10am joining Field Trip in the Bay.  We were told we could take a channel skirting the island but it didn't appear all that deep to me and without local knowledge I kept to our original charted path which was through the sun Bridge Channel. 

Pods of dolphins (really porpoises) in Tamapa Bay

To Mary's delight we had multitudes of dolphins (actually porpoises) through the Tampa Bay and into the ICW on the eastern end.

The bridges here have switched to 20 or 30 minute opening schedules and we were caught a few times waiting for an opening forcing us to idle around in circles.  Did I mention there were usually 5 or more boats doing the same thing.
 



We came across Sarasota Bay accompanied by these racing boats blowing by us at god knows what speed.  This happened four or 5 times.  Sort of accentuated how slow were really travel.

View from our mooring back towards the marina

The Sarasota bay mooring field at Marina Jacks is easy to fine but rather rolly since its pretty exposed.  Down here big powerful boats dont seem to understand the relationship to large wakes on moored or anchored boats.  Still though, its a great place and the marina seems to be a social hub with a pretty good food.

Our boat is in the center to the left of the big palms

We're planning on heading over to Siesta Key later to walk the beach this afternoon but this morning we have to head into the marina to pay for another night on the mooring. 

Superbowl parties abound around here but we have a pretty good TV and reception so may opt for just staying on board.  Sunsets here are spectacular so we'll have our deck chairs (thanks LeAnn and Brant) on the bow and have a few drinks as the sun goes down.