Thorn tree in a Ft. Myers yard, no tree huggers here

Thomas Edison's winter home

Henry Ford's winter home next door to Edison's

It was sunny all day today still cool and windy but a nice day just the same. We visited the Edison/Ford winter homes Museum which is about a five block walk from the marina. It is a very interesting visit the yards are full of tropical ornamental and fruit trees. There is a nice museum with artefacts from their business and social lives.

After the tour we stopped at the publix grocery store and had dinner on the boat.

We plan to leave for Sanibel Island tomorrow morning.

Saturday Ft Myers

It has been cold and wet for most of the day, with just a bit of sun in the aftrenoon. I did a few things on the boat and we had a late lunch at a seafood restaurant next to the marina. In the afternoon we joined the other boaters on our dock for sunset drinks, until the rain chased everyone back in to their boats.

Ft. Myers from the ICW Dolphins leading the way

Ft Myers Skyline It was clear, cold, 50 degrees, and windy when pulled out of Punta Gorda at 9AM for the 60 mile run to Ft. Myers. Charlotte Harbor Bay was pretty choppy from the 10-15 knot winds out of the north. The wind died down to about 5K by the time we got to the coast around noon After the trip down Charlotte Harbor we travelled along Pine Island sound to the end of the Gulf ICW near Sanibel Island where we turned up the Caloosahatchee River for the 14 mile run to Legacy Harbor Marina in Ft. Myers we saw lots of Dolphins along the way. There was quite a bit of traffic along the waterway, all pleasure boats there is almost no commercial movement on the water here. We arrived at the marina about 4:30 after getting situated there we went to a Sushi restaurant down town, about a 6 block walk, for dinner.

To see our location in Ft. Myers click on the link below or cut and paste it to your browser. By zooming it out you can see the places we cruised through today.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=26.64131,-81.87613&ll=26.64131,-81.87613&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Thursday a cold day at the marina

Last night it got very windy, the waves were rocking all the boats in the marina and the north wind made for dropping tides so the dock lines needed to be adjusted a couple of times during the night. The morning turned out clear, cool and windy.
Around noon the electronics tech came by to look at the GPS chartplotter he checked all the connections and settings but couldn't find any problem, so he called the Raymarine Tech support people who gave him some more things to check and fially diagnosed that the chart chip was bad and I would need a new one. I started calling the local West Marine stores and was told it would be 2 or 3 weeks to get one. I called the chip manufacturer, C-Map, their tech suggested cleaning/polishing the chip contacts with a pencil eraser I did and the plotter started working ok, maybe that solved the problem we'll see if it will do well tomorrow.
During the afternoon the marina held a BBQ for the people who have boats here, I was able to talk to several people who have made the trip to the Keys from here and get suggestions about the best way to go and things to see and do there.
As soon as the sun went down the temperature started dropping fast, it is forecast to get down to 35 degrees tonight!
Weather permitting we plan to leave for Ft Myers mid morning

Fisherman's Village Marina

Fishermans Village Condos

Mangroves

Peilcans on jetty It was another foggy day today, we spent most of the day looking around the marina. It is a big place with a series of buildings with Condos on the second floors and nice shops and restaurants on the ground floor . It was very crowded all day.

In the evening had drinks with the owners of a boat like ours then dinner on our boat.

This morning it was warm enought to wear shorts but about 5PM it got very windy and the temperature started dropping, it is supposed to get down to the mid fourties tonight and be cold again tomorrow.

Venice to Punta Gorda, FL

We had planned to leave Venice about 8AM today but woke up to a very thick fog which didn't clear out until 1015 so we left shortly after. It was a good time to leave as a tree cutting service showed up at the park earlier, about 5 guys with loud chain saws and a bunch feeding branches into even louder chippers. We traveled down the intracoastal, it was quite warm clear skies and light north wind. The good weather brought out lots of boaters they were all over the waterway.
I had some problems with the GPS chartplotter working intermittently so will try to get a repairman to have a look at it while we are here.
After about 28 miles we reached Charlotte Harbor and headed north to Punta Gorda. Charlotte Harbor is a large bay about 20 miles North and South and 6 miles wide. It is about 8 or more feet deep in most places so it is very popular with the sailboaters and there were a few out today. About 5PM we arrived at the Fisherman's Village Marina which is very nice, there are a couple of people with Monk 36 Trawlers like ours staying here so we will try to spend some time with them.

To see our location in Punta Gorda please click on the site below or cut and paste to your browser
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=26.92928,-82.06399&ll=26.92928,-82.06399&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

From Sarasota to Venice, Fl.

Venice inlet to the Gulf of Mexico from the Intracoastal Waterway

Gumbo and Canadian Sailboat docked at Higle Park in Venice We finally left Marina Jack in Sarasota today at 9:30 We said goodbye to our dockmates and headed out to the Intracoastal Waterway Southbound. it was a nice day, sunny and warm, the wind did pick up to 10-15 miles but in the waterway that is not a problem. we transited 4 bridges, one high enough to pass under the rest opened with very little wait time. It was good to be out on the water again!

The trip went fine and we arrived in Venice around noon. The city of Venice has a free dock, which is available on a first come first served basis. It was empty when we arrived, boats can only stay for an 18 hour period every 10 days, which is kind of strange but we plan to leave tomorrow anyway about 8 am will put us a couple of hours over the limit but I don't think they'll bother about it. A couple from Canada is docked here too, they trailered the boat from Ontario to Labelle, FL which is on the Okeechobee Waterway and are heading north to the Tampa area. After lunch at nearby restaurant we walked to the beach for a while and later returned to the boat.

Since we are moving again I have posted a link to our new location below, click on it or copy and paste to your brouser to see our location at the green arrow. You can zoom in or out to get a good idea of where we are.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=27.10839,-82.46108&ll=27.10839,-82.46108&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Sunday Marina Jack

Coconut art, funny fish faces from shells and coconut parts

Art and crafts show downtown

Wedding pictures, at the holding tank pumpout station! It was a warm and sunny day today I finally was able to put another coat of varnish on the handrails. Downtown several blocks were closed to car traffic and many booths had been set up with art and crafts for sale. Some was very nice seems like all was expensive.

After lunch pumped out the holding (sewage) tank. A happy couple were having their wedding pictures taken right next to the pumpout station , the grey and white boxes to the left of the bride pictured above, not a very romantic spot.

Saturday in Sarasota

Sunset at Marina Jack Schoolmates from the late 1950s

A light rain this morning canceled my plans to finish varnishing the boats handrails so that will have to wait for now, from the weather reports it looks like conditions may be ok by midweek. It is still cool enough here to have to wear a jacket.

We were invited to the house of friends on Anna Maria Island for lunch. A group of us who grew up together at Aguirre Sugar Plantation in Puerto Rico in the 1950s and early 60s got together with our spouses for a Puerto Rican feast at one couples home. It was a wondeful get together lots of talk about the "old days" and other childhood friends. This was topped off with a delicious meal including; Tostones (fried green plantains), Pernil (roast pork) Arroz con Gandules (rice with pigeon peas) Marinated Octopus and other salads, Pinon (meat pie with ripe plantain crust) and two types of Flan custard for dessert. We all had a great time!

The waterways are very busy this weekend so we have decided to leave here Monday morning rather than Sunday.

Excitement at Marina Jack

Crime Scene and Forensics Units of the Sarasota police Department When I got back to the marina this morning from returning the rental car I found some excitement at the marina, a man's body was found floating in the bay not far from here, the police boat brought the body to the marina to load it into the ambulance, Police cars and other emergency vehicles were in and out of the marina all morning.
I had requested a Vessel Safety Check inspection from the Coast Guard Auxiliary, one of the members came by and did the check just before lunch, everything checked out fine.

After the VSC I sanded both sides of the handrails and varnished the port side. I'll do the Starboard side tomorrrow if the weather is ok.

A couple of my friends from grade school in Puerto Rico came by in the evening for a visit. One of them I hadn't seen since 1962.

Marina Jack

Spent the day doing jobs on the boat, It was clear cool and breezy all day, we had dinner with Berwick Duval at a nice Tapas restaurant in town, a short walk from the marina.

Apartment buildings near Marian Jack

Gumbo's new location

Marina restaurant and Sarasota skylineToday it is clear, a little breezy and the temperature in the mid 50's it is terrible to have to be wearing a jacket around in Florida this time of year .

This morning I walked up to the hardware store in town for a tap and drill bit I needed, it is a good store lots tools and supplies but in an odd location, it is right on the main street in the middle of about twenty restaurants and high end clothing and gift shops.

An interesting theing happened this morning, I was standing out on the dock by the boat when two Mennonite couples walked by they asked some questions about boating and we talked a while, I told them that in the mid 70s when I was working we had hired a group of Mennonites to do a land leveling project at a sugar plantation in Mozambique, Africa. They knew about the project and even had known some of the people we had hired for the job, amazing!

After lunch we drove to visit Marsha's uncle and a cousin who are spending the winter in a condo at Siesta Key, not far from here, we dropped off some Gumbo and white beans so he could have some Cajun food.

The last time I anchored our I had some trouble with the anchor chain jamming in the chain locker so I did some work there to try to solve that problem, we'll find out if it was successful next time we anchor out.

We had dinner at the marina restaurant with Berwick Duval.

Mardi Gras Day

It is Christopher's birthday today so we called him early with best wishes.
The anchor light on the boat had burned out, it is at the top of the mast so I needed a ladder to change it. The marina didn't have one so I bought one at Lowes, after I changed the bulb which is about a 20 minute job, I called the manager at Lowes, explained I had only used the ladder to change a bulb and could I return the ladder paying a restocking charge. He told me to bring it by and they would do a complete refund, very nice of them I think. After the return of the ladder I went by West Marine to pick up a few things for the boat.
Marsha cooked a chicken and sausage gumbo and we had some friends, 2 couples, I grew up with in Puerto Rico come by for dinner on the boat we had a nice time eating gumbo, looking at old photos of us as kids and talking about those times in the 50's and early 60's. We had brought a Mardi Gras King cake from home so it made a nice dessert.

Back in Sarasota

We left home at 5:30 Sunday morning drove all day and arrived back at the Marina in Sarasota at 7PM. We unoaded all the stuff we had brought from home. All was well with the boat.
Monday morning we changed to a slip with a floating dock these are easier to tie up to and as they float up or down with the boat the lines don't need to be adjusted often as they are on fixed docks.
Our friends the Duvals from Houma are here on their boat also, we had very nice dinner with them and their granddaughter at a seafood restaurant in downtown Sarasota.
It was cool early this morning but it turned out to be a very nice day sunny with a light breeze and temps in the mid 60s

back in Thibodaux

We rented a car and drove to Thibodaux (13 hrs.) for a week to visit family and friends.
I'll resume posting to the Blog Monday Feb 15 (Lundi Gras) the day before Mardi Gras, when we should be back on the boat.

Sarasota, Marina Jack

This cormorant was perched on a piling just outside our window, a beautiful Sarasota building in the background.

This sailboat was pinned against the dock, the guys had to hold him off, no damage to the boat
We has an upholsterer come by this morning to see about having the inside seat cushions recovered. marsha selected the fabric and the guy took measurements, he will ccall back with a price.

I went to Enterprise to rent a car, we will drive home Sunday and stay a week to visit family. Then we will return here for a few days before heading South again.

It has been windy all day but after noon the wind really picked up and we had a lot of rain and lightning, so spent the afternoon on the boat I had to adjust the dock lines and fenders several times. It is supposed to be sunny and cool tomorrow after the front passes through.

Tierra Verde to Sarasota

A tow on the ICW

Sarasota skyline With Barnum and Bailey circus in foreground

Fish cleaning station

Fish dinner
We left the dock at the Sved's condo at 8:45 The weather was a bit breezy but warmed up during the day. On the ICW we saw a tiny boat towing a sailboat with a broken mast and i guess a broken engine they were moving slowly into the wind I am not sure where they were going but there were no places to stop for a while.

We arrived Sarasota Bay about noon it was choopy as the wind had picked up when we go close to the city I called Marina Jack on the radio for the number of our slip and to tell them we needed a holding tank pumpout. The marinas have a vacuum system which is connected to the boat and vacuums out the sewage holding tank, 45 gallons on our boat, it is one of the unpleasant jobs kind of messy and sometimes they malfunction. I had a smelly spraydown a couple of years ago when one squirted me, luckily a shower was close by. No problems today though, once we were pumped put we went to our slip and got secured and the electric cords connected. Marina Jack is a large and very nice marina it is very close to downtown Sarasota which is convenient for boaters.

A charter fishing boat was comming in so I walked over to see what they had caught. It was a "head boat" a big boat with maybe 30 fishermen. They had caught lots of fish but they were very small. They were being cleaned by the deckhands and the scraps were thrown to a flock of hungry pelicans who squabbled over every carcass and scrap.

Dinner at the marina Restaurant

To view our location in Sarasota click on this link

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=27.33411,-82.54728&ll=27.33411,-82.54728&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Clearwater to Tierra verde

One of the many spoil Islands along the ICW

High and dry, maybe since the last hurricane
Marsha with Dot and Ed Sved Fort DeSoto Park

Gumbo in slip, taken from Sved's balcony Today dawned a beautiful day, cool but soon warmed up, sunny, and a light breeze. It got pretty windy last night so the anchor well buried and tooks some pulling to get it out, but that is just what you want an anchor to do. We started out of Mandalay Channel at 9:50 everything was going fine till 10:20 when we went aground heading to the ICW, no excuses, the Captain was daydreaming and tried to take a marker on the wrong side! Fortunately it was a sand bottom and after about 5 minutes of maneovering we were free and back on our way to Tierra Verde. We did go under about 6 bridges all were higher than our 20' mast so we had no delays waiting for bridge openings.

Our friends and fellow Monk 36 trawler owners Dot and Ed Sved owners of MV Almada were able go organize a slip for us at the docks in front of their condo in Tierra Verde, a beautiful area east of St Petersburg. We arrived their dock around 2PM they were there to show us the slip and help us get tied up. Then they brought us to the Fort DeSoto Park near the mouth of Tampa Bay it is a beautiful area with lots of birds and shells on the beach. After the visit to the park we spent some time checking the boats and modifications both have done to them. Then had a wonderfull meal at their condo. A very nice visit, Thanks Dot and Ed!

Tomorrow morning we will head out for Sarasota.

To see our location in Tierra Verde click on the link below or cut and paste it

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=27.68447,-82.72508&ll=27.68447,-82.72508&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Tuesday, Mandalay Channel Clearwater

Gumbo at Frenchy's Saltwater Cafe dock in Clearwater

An Egret waiting for lunch to swim by, check out his yellow feet.

Mandalay Channel condos at sunset
Tuesday started out as another cold overcast rainy day, about noon it started clearing and warmed up a bit. We decided to bring the boat over to the dock at Frenchy's Saltwater cafe. The dock is free for several hours, but not overnight, if you have a meal there. We had conch fritters and cheeseburgers it was quite good. then we walked around town and the marina for a while. After a couple of hours we brought the boat out to a spot we could anchor in. The wind is supposed to pick up and shift during the night so we'll keep an eye on it.

Our location today is the same as the last post.

We plan to travel to see friends in Tierra Verde near St. Petersburg tomorrow.

Monday, Tarpon Springs to Clearwater

Don't worry about the winds we're tied up to some really
strong pilings here. The Anclote Key Lighthouse

Cold ride in a cat on the ICW

Mandalay Channel Anchorage in Clearwater, FL

Empty Clearwater condos with boat hoists We gathered up our gear and left Tarpon Springs at 9:30 Monday morning, it was overcast,

52 degrees, and winds 10-15. Not a nice day but most of the route is between the barrier islands and the mainland so was choppy but not rough.

There weren't many boats out we met a couple of yachts and a large but open sail catamaran motoring North, the guys onboard were really bundled up for the cold.

Just before the Clearwarter bridge we turned off the ICW down a cut to the Mandalay Channel where we are anchored. It is a good spot the tall buildings block most the wind and there is a dock nearby where you can tie up for a while provided you eat at Frenchy's, the restaurant that owns it. There are lots of condos in the area but it seems the occupancy rate must be low, lots of dark spaces at night. We are anchored in front of a nice new building it look to have about 20 units with a boat hoist for each one only one unit is lit and that light is on night and day so it be a display unit.

We plan to leave here for Tierra Verde Wednesday morning.

Click on the link below to see our location, under the green arrow at Mandalay Channel in Clearwater.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=27.98197,-82.82114&ll=27.98197,-82.82114&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Sunday in Tarpon Springs

The internet connection was bad for some reason Sunday night so couldn't post, not much going on anyway. One of the two small ceramic space heaters went on the blink so I took the long walk to Ace hardware to buy a replacement. It has been cold so we can't be without a heater even if we are in "sunny" Florida.
We went out for our last Greek dinner for this stay, we have been to three different restaurants this trip.
"Mr. Souvlakis" great Flaming cheese, Gyros, or Souvlakis (shishkebab on Pita with greek condiments)
"Hellas" good food and for dessert you go into the bakery and pick out what you want the waiter brings it to the table with coffee.
Sunday night we tried a new one a block or so from the marina. "Santorinis" very good grilled seafood, I had the chabroiled octopus which was excellent! Marsha had the mediterranean seafood pasta with scallops, shrimp, and mussels
The food in Tarpon Springs is really good!
Monday morning on the road again!