Christmasmin Fort Myers

Christmas in the South was a LOT harder than we thought it was going to be.  Don't get me wrong, we had a lovely time. Christmas eve was a warm and pleasant evening. We decorated up the boat and visited in the cockpit with other boaters. We even toqued an American! Christmas day we joined the crew of  The Chesapeke, a beautiful Kadey Krogen Manatee (my new favourite boat) for a wonderful mid-day traditional turkey dinner.  THANKS to Joe and Connie for the hospitality and to Russ and Elaine, from Twelve Stones, a beautiful Great Harbour (my other new favourite boat) for the wonderful company.  We sure did earn our naps after that amazing meal.

But being away from family at this time of year just feels weird.  Jeff received some terrible news on Christmas eve about the very tragic passing of one of his son's friends/teammates, a young man whom Jeff had coached and who's father was a co-coach and good friend of Jeff's. Very sad news. I had my youngest granddaughter, four years old, wailing during a facetime visit over the iPhone "I neeed my Nana.  N-n-nana!  Not THAT Nana (pointing at the iPhone). My REAL Nana".  She might as well have ripped 'me heart outta 'me chest. Both Jeff and I have eyed flights home longingly but we know, practically speaking, with inflated airfairs and health insurance consideration, it just doesn't make sense.  We'll arrange things differently next time.

For this year, here we are.  We've had over 13,700 page views on this blog so there must be folks out there reading my drivel.  We extend our warmest wishes for a very Merry Christmas season to all our readers.  May all of your dreams for 2015 come true.

Fort Myers

With the padlock removed from the laptop, I resume my job as chief blogger.  Actually, I always encourage Jeff to contribute to the blog and now that I've got him started, well, watch out folks.  I realized though that I have been remiss in giving due credit to Jeff, as he is the guy with the camera strapped on his back and most of the amazing shots you see are his. Thanks Jeff.

Very high on our list of "must dos" are visits to state parks, which are just excellent, and Saturday's visit to Cayo Costa State Park was no exception.  We very carefully inched our way through the shallow channel leading to the main anchorage and, in the company of about thirteen other boats, dropped hook in six feet of water.  We packed some snacks and refreshments and off we went to explore.

It's about a mile walk across the island to an amazing gulf coast beach.  We enjoyed a heavenly, long walk, hand-in-hand, toes in the gentle waves with endorphins pumping full blast.  We sauntered back along the dirt road quietly, hoping to see some of the wild hogs, armadillos or coyotes that we had heard about, to no avail.  So we thought we'd go manatee hunting. We dingied into a nearby lagoon quietly and looked around for where a manatee might be lurking.  Off in the corner we saw it, the tell-tail sign we've heard about: rings in the water with bubbles coming up. We dingied over, camera in hand, ready to snap our pic.  We turned off the outboard as we didn't want to disturb the poor thing, just snap our picture and leave.  There we sat and quietly waited for it to surface.  And waited.  Me leaning over the edge of the dingy singing "Here little manatee."  More bubbles.  Fish jumping all around us.

After a fairly long while we decided we must be mistaken and left.  Half way across the lagoon Jeff turned around and there, right where we had just been sitting in wait, was the biggest, scariest looking ol' alligator that we've ever seen. Yikes!!  He was probably thinking, Mmmm, tourists for lunch!  And I had to talk Jeff out of going back to get a better picture!!  And I had to insist!

The next day it clouded over which made for a good travel day to Fort Myers.  We hung a left onto the Caloosahatchee River (say THAT five times fast) and traveled upstream through very busy Sunday afternoon traffic.  Holy wakes!  We were getting bounced around good.

We are now in our slip in downtown Fort Myers.  I can't say much about that because I haven't been off the boat yet.  So on that note, here we go off to explore.

This little map of part of the West coast of Florida shows our travels for the past few days.
 The dots were our stops and the boat is our current location.

A little bit of travelling humour

Sorry people, Jeff here.  Susan has the day off. I have figured out how to offer my odd humour to the blog.

We spent a short day to get to Cayo Costa State Park. Beautiful spot. We are relaxing and Susan
does not know I am adding my first entry.

I  have taken a few pics and my twisted humour has got the best of me.
Please read this quickly as Susan will likely delete it!!

Hey Jimmy did you put the plug in the transom?

I know I over did the sunscreen but does this dress make
my legs look skinny?

I have patented this so Hallmark back off!!

That damn sailboat cut us off. On three give him the
WINGER!

This one is serious. We saw bubbles while Manatee hunting
and when we came back, well one ugly Manatee!
You need to click on the picture to see it clearly

A good friend of mine gave me this sticker for our
boat, well being a Leaf fan I could not find
a better spot. Thanks John. I find this works better
than bran or fruit.

Please note this will not interfere with your regularly scheduled blog postings.

                               I may have lost my computer privileges.

                     

Clearwater to Sarasota

Today we cruised from Clearwater to Sarasota and grabbed a mooring ball.  Another first.  It's much more economical than a slip, more secure than anchoring and allows us to use all the facilities at the marina.  Long, hot showers!  First thing in the morning, here we come!!

We had a lovely cruise today under clear blue skies, twenty-two degrees with a light breeze.  The water was calm, even crossing Tampa Bay. Jeff put a lawn chair on the bow which is just an awesome place to sit.

The excitement today was the wildlife.  We had so much fun with the dolphins.  We would see them in the distance cresting and as soon as they'd hear our boat they'd head right for us.  Then as they came to the boat they'd flip around and play in our bow wake.  We got some great video but I borrowed this picture from the internet.

 We also saw a group (school?) of stingrays.  At first Jeff thought someone had thrown newspapers in the water but on closer inspection we saw what they were. We scrambled to grab the camera but couldn't get a picture.  We turned the boat around but we didn't find the group again, only one lone little stingray.  They are so cute and friendly with their perpetual smiley faces (but we know, look don't touch. Those barbs sting!).  He came right towards the boat to check us out.  I took a picture but, well, it looks like a sheet of newspaper in the water. 

Bits and bites from our day:

Recess!  School yard in Clearwater.
Yard duty in December looks more appealing here than in Ontario.

Our new heron on the sliding door

Boating life...  the pull-up dock at McDonalds

Clearwater Beach

Every once in awhile one of us will do something stupid.  Not too serious but stupid nevertheless. For example:  one of us may be about to take a marker on the wrong side, or maybe mix up common nautical terminology like port or starboard for instance. Almost always the other one will catch it and the offender will get to wear the Gilligan hat for awhile. No biggie.  But every once in awhile we need two Gilligan hats. That's what happened today.

On the short cruise from Marker 1 Marina to an anchorage at Clearwater Beach we decided to tow our dingy for the first time instead of pulling it out of the water and up on it's davits.  We were in very calm, sheltered water and anchoring out most nights so it was just more convenient.  We were anchoring in Clearwater and as per our usual routine, Jeff was on the bow doing the heavy work and I was at the helm.  He dropped the anchor and asked me to reverse to back down on the anchor to help it grab.  I did.  Unfortunately, neither of us thought about the dingy line that was about to be wound around and around our prop. I glanced around and there was our dingy, floating away.  The line had been severed. Ugh.

Securing the anchor back in place, plop, just like that, stupid thing number two.  In the drink the anchor pin plopped. Setting the anchor on the deck, flustered, we rescued the dingy and tied it securely close to the back of the boat, knowing the other half of the line was wrapped around our prop. Having an interest in diving, I volunteered to go down and check it out.  I whipped off my shorts (much to the amusement of the guy anchored across the way) and slipped in. Unfortunately, being, um, not quite as "muscular" as I used to be and in salt water, I was so ridiculously buoyant that I just popped up like a cork. After several tries I absolutely could not get down there without weights.  So, Jeffy got to go diving.


 Luckily, it wasn't too serious.  A quick dive and he could see the rope there around the prop.  A bit of fan-dangling under the boat, with one eye over his shoulder looking out for the imaginary JAWS, and the rope came undone.  One breath.  No harm done.  Just salty and "shrinkingly" cold!!!!  That piece of rope is now hanging from one of our hand holds on the salon ceiling.

Galley Reno

Our older boat has been safe and reliable.  They don't build 'em like they used to.  We have had no serious issues with it at all.  But with an older boat comes older finishing touches.  We're talking turquoise bathroom, shag carpet, dated nicked and cracked cupboards, circa 1979.  All functional, just worn and dated.  Jeff's already installed a hardwood floor, we ripped the shag off the walls.  This week's project: the countertops.

With the help of Jim and Mimi from Perfect Balance (AND their awesome tool cupboard) we installed new laminate and trim on the countertops.

Day one:  the boys had at'er, preparing the surface, measuring and cutting the laminate around every little nook and cranny.  Fussy work.

Day two:  the girls kicked the boys out and attacked the glueing and trimming.  On the advice on the Home Depot guy I had chosen a thicker wood trim which he assured me would bend around a corner. I was skeptical.  The guys were even more so.  But Mimi, bless her heart, with her know how, skill and perseverance, managed to make that stuff bend like the Tenn-Tom.  We spent a delightful afternoon in the cockpit girl-talking and reno-ing.

THANKS so much for all your help Jim and Mimi.  It is so much appreciated!

Finished project:  Note the new faucet.
It LIGHTS UP when you run water!
HOW COOL!!
I giggle every time I use it.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas?

Christmas carols in flip flops?  It just feels weird.  This will be our first Christmas in the South and it takes some getting used to. Poinsettias growing outdoors? An Christmas Barbeque on the patio? Christmas trees just seem out of place and I have to keep reminding myself that it is indeed December and not July.

The marina here hosted a Christmas boat parade.  Several boats got all decked out for Christmas, some quite extravagantly, and put on a show for us and the local townsfolk.  They paraded through the local marinas and the town set up a grandstand for the crowd.

Tradewinds Resort:

 At the boat show we won a free night at a local resort in St. Pete's Beach, the Tradewinds.  All we had to do was sit through a two hour presentation on "time share vacations".  We were a little skeptical at first, we know some of those high pressure sales presentations can be pretty uncomfortable, but this one was actually pretty good.  If we didn't live on the boat it is something that might be worth consideration.  

As promised, we got our free stay at the resort and it was actually a lot of fun.  They had several heated pools and hot tubs, a gorgeous beach and we had an awesome view of the Gulf of Mexico from our room.  It was a nice treat!

We ate out at a restaurant owned by a local artist named Guy Harvey.  We didn't know who he was but he's quite well-known in the area.  At the restaurant there is large aquarium that takes up a whole wall.  We had heard that you can buy tickets to swim in the aquarium and at first we were wondering if there would be people swimming by looking at us as we ate dinner, but no, thank God, the swimming in the tank takes place in the morning before the restaurant opens.  

Marker 1 Marina

Life at Marker 1 Marina progresses at it's delightfully slow speed.


We have settled in nicely here for our month long stay.  Days are slow, filled with long morning coffees in the sun, followed by maybe a boat chore or two.  In the afternoons we might golf, explore on the bikes, dingy over to the beach or take in a local event.  The other day we went to the boat show in St. Pete's.  The guys sometime take off early for breakfast and a boys shopping trip to a marine supply or hardware outlet.  They all pile into my old powder blue Prius, burp, scratch, expel gas and tell crude jokes, which they all think are very, very funny.  In the late afternoon we gather with other boaters for "docktails" at 5:30, followed by dinner.  Some evenings we stay up late and play cards on the patio, others, we call it an early night and hang out on the boat.  Occasionally we'll look at each other and think:  Really?  This is our life??  If we're dreaming, please, nobody wake us.


We have another week and a bit to go here at Marker 1, then we'll move on.  We're not sure where.  We had a reservation in Bradenton but we've since heard about a few marinas further south that are cheaper, so we're investigating those as possibilities.  Like typical cruisers, we never know for sure what we're going to do until we're doing it.  Except for right now. I know exactly what I'm about to do.  I've been doing laundry and boat cleaning all morning.  I'm off to the pool!!

Brucie the Prius

It shooore is handy having Brucie the Prius here.  Today we tooted around in the car taking a leisurely drive through the area to check out some marinas south of here for our next month-long stay.

And I'm glad we did.  We had a tentative reservation at a marina we'd found on Active Captain (an online interactive cruising guide, https://activecaptain.com).  After driving down there for a visit, we were both disappointed with what we saw.  The pool was shut down for three months, there was tons of construction going on and it was far away from everything.  Three strikes.

We've been here at Marker One Marina in Dunedin for two weeks. During that time there has not been another weather window for those waiting to cross the Gulf of Mexico and Loopers have been piling up in Carrabelle, waiting to cross.  Well, it looks like tonight's the night.  A bunch of them will make the overnight crossing tonight and join us here on the other side.  Best of luck to those of you out there.  Stick together.  Our thoughts will be with you!

On another note, for those readers in the planning stages, we did some tallying up of a few stats that we thought you might find interesting.  We've been gone for 105 days and spent just over $3000 in fuel (and our tanks are still half full).  We've stayed thirty-three nights at marinas and most of those have been special rates or deals.  The rest of the time has been at anchor or at free docks/walls. Not too bad. Very economical living. And, we've had well over 11,000 page reads on this blog.  Thanks for reading!  We're glad to have you aboard.

Note the picture of the bird eating a fish on top of a pole, we were enthralled to watch as the poor little fish was still flopping as the bird was picking at it.  Ewe.

Back to my floating home.

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

With grandbabies all cuddled, read to and played with, I set my sights South.  It was time for a misty-eyed Nana to pry herself away (NOT easily) and get herself back to the boat.

Did you know that the day before the American Thanksgiving is the busiest travel day of the year in the States?  Me neither.  I do now!  I had watched the weather carefully and planned my drive back to the boat in the hopes of avoiding any nasties.  Somehow that "American Thanksgiving" dot remained unconnected (Canadian Thanksgiving is in October, I just didn't think of it).  That made for a much slower drive than I had hoped for.  Holy traffic jams!  Brucie, my trusty old Prius (Jeff named him Bruce, ask him) valiantly carried us and despite the occasional traffic jam, all went well.  In two days Brucie and I covered the territory it took us three months to cover in Gran Vida.  It was interesting to see all the place names and look down on familiar rivers from an interstate highway bridge as I made my way South.  I love a good road trip.

As for Jeff's activities while I was away, among long bike rides, puttering and keeping in the Looper loop.....  He's gone to the birds:

Soo friendly....