December 30, 2013 Charlotte Harbor

Finally we made it to the Cape Coral/Ft Myers area.  We had hoped to be here by Thanksgiving!  That's life upon a boat!  It's been really hard to try to make future plans to meet with friends this winter.  All I can say is they better have alternate plans.

We traveled down the ICW again today.  There were some areas that the channel was pretty narrow and would get dangerously shallow if you didn't follow it closely.  (Seems like I have mentioned that before, but it was the worst today.)  We had to go  under a couple bascule bridges today.  I like that word-bascule.  It's a French term for balance scale.  The common term is drawbridge.  It uses a counterweight to balance the movable section.

We also went through another swing bridge.  I was riding out on the front deck during that one.  It was a beautiful sunny day.  At one point we had to slow down for a small car ferry to cross the channel in front of us.  There was one from each side.  It took us a few minutes to figure out what was blocking the channel in front of us.  We checked our great Garmin Bluechart Moblie app on our phone and sure enough, it was marked on the chart.

We had asked one of the bridge tenders where we could get the information about the correct name of the bridge and if they were on a schedule to open.  They couldn't tell us.  But Dave found this great app that has all the information, plus our Active Captain information.  We love it. 

Once we reached Charlotte Harbor, we crossed the bay to the east to Burnt Store Marina.  We have had friends use this marina before.  We drove into the marina early November to check it out.  The marina is part of a huge retirement community.  There is every kind of accommodation, golf courses, pools, restaurant, convenience store/snack shop.  Feels like we've been camping for a week and just arrived at a resort. 

After securing the boat in a slip, we headed for the bar!!  Dave even joined me in a few beers, which he rarely does anymore.  They had never heard of a cowboy martini-olives in your beer.  Our waiter even asked if we were from Canada because of our northern accents. 

We plan to stay in this marina for about a week.  Then we have SD friends coming to the area to charter a sailboat for a week.  We plan to follow them around the area and have some fun exploring.

Our boat is on the end of the dock on the left side of the photo.

December 29, 2013 Bridge tenders

Today was a rainy day.  Since it wasn't stormy, we decided to proceed down the ICW.  It was interesting to look at the homes and towns along the way.  Sarasota and Venice look like places we would like to explore.   It did rain off and on, but winds weren't bad. 

The most fun we had today was with the bridge tenders.  We followed another sailboat for quite a ways today.  We arrived at the bridge at Siesta Key in Sarasota right behind them.  The bridge opened every 20 minutes, so we both waited.  Well, a little power boat came up beside us and stopped to wait, too.  They were actually in our way, because both of us were trying to zig zag in front of the bridge while we were waiting.  We can't go off of the channel because of our depth.  When the bridge opened, the little boat started through, then the other sailboat told us to go, because they were stopping on the other side.  As we went through, I could hear the bridge tender on a loud speaker telling the little boat how they were blocking our way and should have gone through earlier.  Then he said "Luck of a Fool, you just witnessed an example of the name of your boat  with the boat just in front of you."  We decided to call  him Looks like a Fool.  He did let us pass and apologized to us.   

See the shallow strip of land along side the channel with birds standing on it?

 

Later at Stickney Point bridge, I saw two people jogging across the bridge.  Just as they reached the tenders tower, he blew the horn to stop traffic.  It must have been pretty loud to the joggers.  They jumped, then stopped to see if they did something to cause the horn blast.  Then I saw them point at us and laugh and take off jogging again.  It was pretty funny to witness and I can imagine how that horn made them jump.  It's pretty loud to us out on the water. 

At the Blackburn Bridge, we requested the bridge to be opened.  The bridge tender said he would have to flip a coin to see if he'd open it or not.  Then he came back over the radio and asked if we wanted heads or tails.  Dave called heads and luckily we won the toss :)  This one was a swing bridge.  So the bridge tender had to walk out to the middle of the bridge and switch something for the bridge to swing  open.  There have been times when we have had to wait in traffic for bridges that open.  It's pretty cool being the ones in the boat.  Everyone watches you go by and waves. 

  

The last section of the ICW was really narrow.  So we had to motor past sunset to get to a bay where we could anchor for the night.  The channel is maintained at about 12 feet between the markers, but the sides get pretty shallow.  We were listening to the Packers game starting at 4:30.  Dave found the game on his ipad with Tune in application.  Then we hooked it to the stereo system inside the boat so it would come out of the speakers in our cockpit.  The controls for the volume were then inside, too.

Well, when we decided to anchor at 6:30, first of all, it is dark, which makes it hard for me to see Dave's hand signals.  Then we had the ball game on which made it hard for me to hear him.  It's a good thing there weren't other boats near us, because we had to shout back and forth to each other.  Hence the name "Luck of a Fool".   But we were successful.  We do have headsets to talk to each other, but they are in our "garage" (the aft cabin).

Dave made two awesome meals today with leftovers.  First, for brunch, he took leftover French toast and put slices of apples and a dollop of  cream cheese on each piece.  Then for dinner, we had a leftover steak cut up into pieces in the leftover mushroom gravy.  He made rice and added fresh coconut (thanks to Colleen Schneider) and the juice of a lime.  We put the steak over the rice and it was awesome.  I made us turkey sandwiches for lunch and feel pretty lame.  But I did invent a great way to eat Cheetos.  I filled an empty peanut jar and we would shake the Cheetos into our mouth, not having to get the cheese on your fingers.  Pretty clever!

The Packers won the NFC North championship game!!  Yeah!!

December 28, 2013 Boca Ceiga Bay

We left our anchorage at 9:45 am.  We were just on the north side of another draw bridge.  This one opened on a set schedule, and we had to wait until 10:00.  So we just motored in circles for a while. 

                     

We headed to Gulfport, Fl hoping to meet with Gordon from JSI to discuss replacing our canvas (bimini and dodger).  We hadn't heard from him all morning after leaving several messages.  So we tied up at a free city dock for day time only.  We had lunch at a little outside restaurant.  It was probably in the mid 70's. 

Since we still hadn't heard from him, we decided to head across Tampa Bay and reach the south side for an anchorage before dark.  Tomorrow is supposed to be rainy with thunderstorms (lightning is not good in a sailboat).  So we didn't want to worry about crossing the bay tomorrow. 

As we were following the ICW, we heard again the warning about the sunken airplane and to watch for markers to avoid it.  They gave the latitude and longitude quickly and I only caught one.  It sounded like it was near the same area as us.  A little later, I decided to google it on my phone.   Sure enough, we passed the area, but didn't see any markers.  We did see a few boats doing circles in an area and wondered what they were up to.  Sounds like the guy had been flying for 40 years.  His engine stopped, so he made a landing in a bay.  Then the airplane cart wheeled end over end.  He swam away from it before it sank with only a 6 inch gash in his head.  Amazing!

The water was very calm as we crossed the bay.  There is a huge ornate bridge across the bay,the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.  And there was a coast guard warning about an outbound cruise ship.  But we didn't see it.  
 

Once across the bay, we checked our Active Captain application on our phone and found a good place to anchor for the night.  We could a pasta dinner aboard the boat and had our first showers since Christmas Eve.   When you shower on a boat, you have to run a shower sump to drain the shower.  This was the first time we had showered at anchor.  We had to run our generator for awhile to charge our batteries when we realized how much power that sump used.   

Speaking of Active Captain, it reminded me of the night we met the people writing the application in Panama City.  When we introduced ourselves, they asked us where we were from.  I just got a blank look on my face and looked at Dave for an answer.  They laughed at me because I looked so confused.  I wasn't sure what to answer.  We live on our boat, and we just spent a year in Alabama, which is where we just came from.  But I still feel that I am from South Dakota.  So there it is, I am a South Dakotan at heart and always will be. 

December 27, 2013 Clearwater Beach

Today we slept in, then motored to the Clearwater Beach Marina to refuel.  We left our anchorage at 11:00 am.  By the time we made it to the marina, refueled, and pumped out our heads, it was 1:30.  When you pump out a head,  the marina has a big vacuum hose that you take to an opening on the deck of your boat.  These hoses are always nasty to handle.  You try to keep the nozzle pointed up so nothing dribbles out of them.  You put the nozzle into your tank opening and flip a lever to start the vacuum.  When Dave started the second one on our boat, the system "burped" and some poo spattered out onto the deck and onto his jeans.  He decided next time he will just wear his foul weather gear, then I can just hose him down afterwards.  The marina let us use a slip for an hour while we went ashore for lunch.  I was finally feeling like eating again. 

We stumbled into the closest restaurant, Crabby Bill's.  We ordered a hamburger and a grilled grouped sandwich then split the orders between us.  It was a real touristy place and a photographer was walking from table to table offering to take photos for the people.  For some reason, she walked right by our table.  We must not have looked too photogenic with no shower and wearing the same clothes for the third day in a row. 

By the time we returned to our boat it was 3:00.  We decided to head down the ICW and find a place to anchor by the time the sun went down, about 5:45.  We had to go through 2 bascule bridges.  They were only 20 and 25 ft clearance and our mast is 54 feet.  So we had to call the bridge tender on the VHF radio and ask them to open the bridge.  They would stop traffic and lift the bridge for us.  Pretty cool.

 

Though out the afternoon, we were hearing the Coast Guard announce on the radio that there was a small aircraft that had crash landed in Tampa Bay.  They would announce the area, but we weren't familiar enough with the bay to know exactly where it was.    

We also contacted JSI, a company in St. Petersburg that could make us a new bimini and dodger.  They were recommended by Horace in Panama City.  We are going to meet with one of their employees in the morning to get an estimate from them. 

We anchored just off the ICW again by Madeira Beach.  It's close to St. Petersburg.  We just had a relaxing evening with soup and hot tea on the boat.  We both felt kind of like we had hangovers today, being sleep deprived and a little dehydrated.    

These boats were racing.  They look like outrigger canoes.

 

December 25-26, 2013 passage

Merry Christmas.  We really miss our son, Pete, and wish he were sailing with us.  We often say to each other "Pete would love this!"   

We left Panama City Marina at sunrise, 6:30 am CST.  It was a nippy 34 degrees.  Thank you for the well wishes over the radio from our new friends, Ron and Libbo.  (We did hear your radio call about 9:00, but you must not have been able to hear our response. May have been our cockpit mike.)

 

 Picture above has Panama Beach in the background.

It took us about an hour to get out of St Andrew Bay and into the Gulf where we turned east heading for Port St. Joe Bay.  We were escorted out the bay by dolphins.  The plan for today was to sail to Port St. Joe, then enter the ICW to Apalachicola, spend the night, then leave via Carabelle in the morning for Clearwater, Fl. 

When we were heading into Port St Joe Bay about noon, we were disappointed about leaving the open water.  We made the quick decision to head back out and angle over to Clearwater today.  The seas were fairly calm and we hated to waste a good day at sea.  We made a louie around a bouie or would that be a luoy around a buoy?  We figured it would be about 180 miles.  That would put us in to Clearwater about midnight on the 26th.  And it's not smart to enter a bay at night, but ignorance is bliss. 

About 2:00, we decided to start our 3 hour watches.  We would soon be entering EST and that would put our changes at 3, 6,  9, and 12.  Dave took the first watch and I took a nap.  Just before my 6:00pm watch, I made us grilled cheese sandwiches.  I decided to add some summer sausage meat-that was a mistake.  There was just enough fat or spice or something that didn't sit well with either of us.  I started my 6:00pm watch and had put on a couple Christmas CD's to sing along with.  As it got dark, the seas became more rough, which made the boat rock side to side.  Dave said he didn't sleep much.  At 9:00, Dave started his watch and I tried to sleep, but didn't much either.  When I got ready for my 12:00 midnight shift, we were really rocking and rolling.  By the time I made it outside and to the helm, I got sick (for the first time) over the starboard stern corner of the deck.  And it hit me 2 more times on that shift.  I also prayed the rosary during that shift.  Throughout the night, we would just sit behind the wheel and stare at the radar, nod off occasionally, and 3 hours went by OK.  We were both able to catch some sleep during our other off times.  

Below, I tried to take a picture of  my life jacket with the tether to tie me to the boat.  I'm wearing a yellow jacket.  Then the blue and yellow life jacket laid flat over that.  There is a tablet holding a lever open, if it dissolves in water, it will open a CO2 cartridge that will inflate the vest.  That way it is more comfortable to wear un-inflated.  When I was on watch at night, I would wear mine and even attach myself to the boat.  Dave just had it handy.  BUT, at anytime, day or night, if one of us goes forward on the boat while out to sea, you wear the jacket and tether into a jack line.  That is a webbing that runs the length of the boat on both sides.  There is a shackle to attach to the jacket and then a short and a long tether with carabiners.   Sounds like a great system if you go overboard, but Dave has read about people being drug under water, too.  So we also carry a knife.  (Don't faint Barb.)

Somewhere in the middle of our passage, I panicked thinking we wouldn't have enough fuel to make it if we motored all the way.  After thinking through how many hours we motored before we last refueled, Dave reassured me that we would have plenty of fuel.  We are carrying 10 gallons of diesel in cans that we can use (and we did). 

During the day on Thursday, Dave put out the sails.  We were able to lower our engine rpm's and actually increase our speed.  We had been motoring at 6 knots but were often in the 7 range with sails and even into the 8 knot range occasionally.  He also saw dolphins several times on his watches.  When I got up for my 6pm watch on Thursday, Dave let me sleep a little longer.  He was feeling great and wanted me to be rested when we came into the harbor.  So I got up about 8:00, and we brought the boat into Clearwater together.  Seeing the lights on the shore was pretty and we were so thankful to see land.

There are red and green channel markers.  Some are lit and others aren't.  So I would have a flashlight looking for the unlit markers.  They reflect great with a flashlight once you spot them.  We checked our Active Captain app on our phones for a good anchorage and went directly to a great spot.  We were anchored by 11:00 pm and had a very calm night.  From the time we left Panama Beach and anchored in Clearwater Bay it was about 40 hours of nonstop motor/sailing.
Here's the little island we anchored by and found in the dark.  This was the next morning.

 

Even though I was sick, we felt like this was a great accomplishment.  We don't foresee that long of a passage offshore for quite some time.  And it feels great to be on the west coast of Florida.  The area we came into is exactly where I would stay to work with a dental consultant.  I made about 4 trips here.  It was strange seeing these familiar landmarks from the water. 

I'd like to quote part of one more Jimmy Buffett Christmas song.  It's titled Merry Christmas Alabama, but I am going to use SD.

Merry Christmas, South Dakota
Though far from you all I have roamed
'Tis the season to remember
All the faces,
And the places that were home

'Tis the season to remember
And to count up all the ports of call I've known
And to thank his mercies tender
For I'm never far from home

 Merry Christmas to my saints and guardian angels
Who protect me as I roam
'Tis the season to remember
All the faces
And the places that were home

Guess my life's moved at near light speed
Since I started this wild and crazy run
Such a long way from that first birthday
Merry Christmas, everyone

(trivia-Jimmy Buffet was born on Christmas Day) 

December 24, 2013 Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

We spent the first half of the day getting the boat ready to set sail.  Then we cleaned ourselves up to head to Christmas Eve mass.  I attended a church on Saturday, so I figured out the bus schedule to return today.  They had a 4:00, 7:30 and midnight mass.  But the bus stopped at 8:00, so I chose to go to the 4:00 mass.  The best Christmas present ever was the surprise of Dave going to church with me.  He knew I was missing family and offered to go with me.  It made mass even more special for me.   

I noticed Saturday at mass that the music director looked like one that we had in my Daphne, Alabama church.  He had left my church about 6 months ago.  So after mass tonight, I asked the deacon if the music director was new.  And he said "yes, he moved here about 6 months ago from Mobile."  Small world. 

Dave received a phone call while we were in church from Leon in Daphne, Alabama.  He returned his call and we found out our suburban was sold today!  Remember, Leon is the car dealer that prayed for a safe journey for us.  And then he calls while we are in church.  Another small world.  

After church, we took some pumpkin dessert to another couple in the marina.  I meant to mention them earlier.  Ron and Libbo (short for Elizabeth) used to have a Beneteau similar to ours.  They sailed for 30 years, but now own a trawler.  They stopped by our boat a couple days ago just to tell us they admired our boat.  It was very fun to visit with them.  When we were in  Pensacola, we anchored on the bay where they live.  They stopped by again this morning and we told them about my blog.  Then on our way to the bus for church, they were just returning from the bus and gave us their all day bus passes.  So the least we could do was share our pumpkin bars.  Again, we sat and easily visited with them for about an hour.  They had read all of my blog since this afternoon.  They were going to go the same path as us, but now are returning to Pensacola for a repair.  We hope to cross paths again in the future.  Thanks for your hospitality Ron and Libbo.

We have listened to Jimmy Buffett's Christmas CD for about 15 years.  Today, when I heard A Sailor's Christmas, I started bawling.  (I've been kind emotional all day.)  I looked at Dave and said "we're really doing it".   Here are the words.

A Sailor's Christmas
(Jimmy Buffett, Roger Guth)

A sail on the horizon's got a land fall rendezvous
The captain steers a well known course he steers her straight and true
As he trims the sheets he sings a song he learned on boats and bars
"A sailor spends his Christmas in a harbour 'neath the stars"

He's traveled through the doldrums, typhoons and hurricanes
He's logged a million soggy miles, with water on his brain
But Christmas is the season better suited for dry land
He'll tell some lies, meet some spies and dance barefoot in the sand

Chorus:
A sailor spends his Christmas in a harbour on the hook
Cali, Calais no work today, let's shelve the old log book
The waterfront is reveling, the season has begun
A sailor spends his Christmas in a harbour having fun.

There's a party down at Le Select all music, rhum and cheers
Faces in the shadows, I haven't seen for years
The masts and shrouds are filled with lights 'neath the waning of the moon
There's an air of celebration in the realm of King Neptune.

Chorus:

Jesus was a fisherman who walked upon the sea
The North Pole is the ocean's remote frozen balcony
The continents keep drifting but the children sing and play
Cause nothing really matters after all it's Christmas day

Self photos are so strange.  But we did have some Christmas decorations.

 We arrived about 45 minutes early for church so we walked to the bay.  The church was about 2.5 miles from our marina.

December 23, 2013 waiting

We are waiting for our weather window to make the leap to the west coast of Florida.  In the meantime, the wind has been howling through the rigging on our boat.  Sure glad we're sitting here and not out on the water. 

Yesterday was another boring boat day at the dock.  I took our laundry to the marina office building.  Their machines were expensive.  But I did get to sit outside while I waited and looked out at the water in St Andrew Bay.  Dave did some more repairs and clean up of the boat.  When you pull up an anchor that has been in mud, you get a lot of mud on the deck of the boat.  Dave plans to install a wash down pump.  He could use fresh or sea water.  Sure would help clean up the mess right away.  (notice how I said HE?) 

He is continuing to sort though all the tools, etc in our "garage" (the aft berth).  We also listened to the sad Packers game. 

This morning, Joe Bob came by to take us to his favorite place for breakfast.  We wanted to pay him back for giving us a couple rides on Saturday.  We went to Big Momma's on the Bayou.  It was a great local family restaurant.  Reminded me of the Colonial House in Rapid City.  Dave ordered the sausage with his eggs.  He had 2 patties that were 1/4 pound each.  Just huge. 

Today, I walked about 10 blocks to a grocery store but called a taxi to get the groceries back to the boat.  We only needed to replenish milk, eggs, fruit, vegetables and some meat.  But that was more than I wanted to carry.  Besides, it was raining. 

When you bring groceries to the boat, there is some work involved with storing things.  For example, I have a hard container that holds a dozen eggs.  So I transfer the fresh ones to that container.  If I have a partial container left, or hard boiled eggs, I will cut the carton to the smallest size I can to make more room in our little refrigerator.  And I will continue to cut it smaller as I use the eggs. 

I take any kind of mixes out of their box, put them in a ziploc bag along with a cut out of any instructions.  Most mix bags aren't air tight.  And if the inside container is only paper, you don't want it to possibly get wet.  We even store toilet paper and paper towels in large ziploc bags.  Everything has the potential of getting wet.  Some groceries are stored in spaces under cushions, so you have to rearrange things just to put everything away.   

We try to get rid of as much garbage as we can before we leave the dock.  We haven't had to worry about it yet, but we plan to store extra garbage, when we are out to sea, in our shower stall.  We even are required by the US Coast Guard to have a written Trash Management Plan.  Reminds me of our OSHA requirements at the dental office.    

THEN, I enjoyed an early Christmas present from Dave (that I requested).  I spent about 4 hours at a spa with a massage, facial, manicure and pedicure.  There is no more room for "things" on this boat.  But this I really enjoyed.  Thanks Dave!!  (He says he's happy with getting a new anchor.)

Here was my view while doing laundry