Cape Haze

Looking ahead at the weather forecast we could see that some unsettled stuff was in our future.  Knowing that we had to get back across Tampa Bay, and remembering how bumpy it was last time, we decided to take advantage of a lovely calm day and head back across the bay.

Much nicer day to cross Tampa Bay!

It took us about two days to mosey back down the intercoastal, anchoring one night just off the ICW at Jewfish Creek.  A "wind event" was headed our way and we needed to find a protected anchorage.  We settled on a little alcove in Cape Haze.  This little circle right off the ICW is surrounded by nice homes with a large basin in the middle.  There is enough room for about five or six boats with protection from the winds all around.  Perfect!

We settled in, knowing that we had to hunker down for several days.  We had read that there was a grocery store just a few blocks away, so off we went in the dinghy, down a local canal with homes on both sides.  Jeff dropped me off under a bridge and a drainage pipe made a nice step up for me to reach street level.  Two blocks away I found the grocery store and stocked up on fresh fruit, veggies and milk.  I texted Jeff and soon my knight in shining rubber dinghy showed up to collect the goods -- me and the food.

The next day we dinghied across the channel to explore Don Pedro State Park.  We spent the afternoon wandering the beach looking for treasures.

Here's an innovative use of an old boat trailer we saw while
dinghy 'sploring the neighbourhood canals.  We never did
see a boat on it.  It looks a little tipsy to me.

Here are the treasures we found on the beach.
 The little triangular ones are shark's teeth

Don Pedro State Park

Oh my!  Where do we begin?
There were large mounds of shells like this every fifty feet or so to poke around in.
We marvelled at how they formed, figuring the currents and tides were involved.

We see many non-functional boats with folks living aboard
It's kind of a different type of homelessness.
In this case we saw this demasted sailboat being towed to a new spot.
If you look closely you can see a guy sleeping on top of the boat.

Clearwater Beach

The next stop on our Florida West Coast tour was Clearwater Beach.  We had anchored there once back in 2014 on our way down the coast but didn't get off the boat. It was one of those pull over and sleep kind of stops.

This time we left the ICW and took a very shallow channel to access an anchorage friends had told us about.  We carefully made our way in and anchored between two densely populated islands in a no wake zone with about ten other boats.  There was a a public dock right there that we could dinghy in to and the glorious Clearwater Beach was just two short blocks away.  I was so excited when I heard that right there at the dock was the public pool.  Yay!  I love to swim for fitness and I make use of the public pools frequently.  It was disappointing to hear it was closed for the "off season".  Wha?!  It just seemed so odd to me that they would consider this the off season when the place was teaming with tourists.  It was hot out!

We spent our time in Clearwater Beach walking the beach and dinghy 'sploring.
Also, knowing that I had a cousin that I had never met and who wintered there in the area, I contacted him and we arranged to meet for lunch.  It was great fun to catch up and as he is quite a bit older than me he was able to share all sorts of old stories about my grandmother who we called "Big Mom", and who I have no memory of.  Priceless!

Gran Vida at Anchor in Clearwater Beach

Lunch with Cousin Augustus Smallwood and his friend Audrey

Gulfport

At anchor in Gulfport

The next stop on our bucket list tour was Gulfport.  We had heard that this was a funky little town, and as fans of funky little towns we wanted to check it out.

Walking the main
drag in Gulfport

We travelled the three hours or so to the large anchorage there and settled in.  I had great fun video-chatting with my daughter and granddaughter while driving the boat, flipping the phone around several times to show them the dolphins swimming alongside us.  They were delighted!  It was so much fun to share my day with them, even if it was virtual.

After ensuring the boat was secure, we dinghied in for a walk about.  They were right.  We walked the charming main street with it's brightly painted cottages and big trees draped in Spanish Moss.  We stopped at a local waterfront pub to wet our whistles, watch a little football (Jeff), chat to the locals at the bar and shoot a couple games of pool.

Back to the boat before dark we headed as we hadn't got our dinghy lights fastened on yet.  A meal of leftovers and quiet night aboard was enjoyed.

That was Gulfport.  They were right!  It's a nice funky little town!

St. Pete's

Tampa Bay

bouncy sunset off the ICW

A hitchhiker catching a ride
across Tampa Bay.
He better not poop on my fender covers!

The next day we continued up the coast heading towards St. Pete's where we had a reservation at Harborage Marina.  We bopped along all day and pulled off the ICW close to the entrance of Tampa bay to drop the hook for the night.  We had a bit of a bouncy night but it was okay.  The marine forecast for Tampa Bay looked a little rough so we were poised to get an early start.

We woke the next morning early and headed straight out.  And they were right.  It started okay but soon we
 were bouncing along and hanging on tightly over three foot waves on the beam with very short intervals.  Plenty safe enough, but not all that comfortable.

Gran Vida in her slip at
Harborage Marina

We made it into Harborage Marina in one piece and tied up, tired but glad to be off the bay.  We checked in and got our suits on to head to the pool and enjoy.  Unfortunately, we were disappointed to find it was not heated, but I enjoyed soaking my sore knees in the cool water.   We rested up for our big day tomorrow.

Birthday Celebration

view while breakfasting

Spectacular staircase at the museum

I had chosen a visit to the Dali Salvador Gallery in St Petersburg to celebrate my birthday.  We started the day by walking to the small airport next door for breakfast in their diner, overlooking the runway.  We sat outside on the balcony in the sunshine and watched the comings and going of the little planes and helicopters.

Graden at the Dali Museum

Then off to the gallery.  The first mention would be the amazing architecture of the actual building.  It was absolutely stunning with a glass solarium soaring over the the lobby and a fantastic spiral staircase.  We spent hours checking out the art and interacting with the electronic guide the gallery had supplied.

We spent the rest of the day driving around the town on the free trolley and seeing all St. Pete's had to offer, hopping off to enjoy a snack at a waterfront patio.  St Pete's is a much larger city than I realised!

We picked up some steaks and Jeff cooked me a fantastic birthday meal on the boat. A perfect day!

 

The next day, after laundry and a boat wash, we were gone.  B-bye St. Pete's.  It's been fun.

Englewood

Heading up the ICW

After a couple of days relaxing in Cayo Costa we weighed anchor and headed up the coast to Englewood.  Jeff needed a hardware store.

Our beautiful new bow pulpit that we just had built last season is showing some delamination, which was disappointing and concerning.  We will have it repaired back in Canada but in the meantime Jeff figured we needed a snubber line to take some pressure off the bow pulpit while at anchor.

Luckily, we found an anchorage a few hours up the coast which would provide good protection from the growing East winds AND had a public dock right there with a hardware store across the street.  Perfect!  Jeff was able to get everything he needed to set up a snubber line on the anchor chain.  It works well and lets us sleep much sounder at night while at anchor.

We dinghied in to the local park to explore the town and maybe pick up some milk.  We weren't five minutes in when Jeff saw it.  There, parked ahead was an older, restored Mustang convertible, AND was that a for sale sign in the window!?  I tried to distract him but it was useless.  He called the number and the owner came out to show the car.  I continued my walk while Jeff popped the hood and drooled.  It's nice for sure, but the timing is all wrong for yet another toy.  He's still talking about it though.

We walked the main street and chatted to a few locals then headed back to the boat and settled in for a blissfully quiet night at anchor in the lee of the land, safely out of the wind.  Gran Vida lay still and quiet, without the familiar slap slap of the water hitting the hull that we've gotten so used to.  Ahhhh.

We Be Cruising!

Leaving Fort Myers

January 6, 2020

We finally couldn't put it off any longer.  It was time to leave Fort Myers and get cruising.  Our plan:  head up the West coast of Florida to revisit some of our favourites spots and check out a few new ones. We skimmed past this area last time through.  We planned on cruising down the Caloosahatchee River with Renee and Pierre (M/V Shorline Traveller).  At the mouth of the river they were going to turn left and head South, and we were going to hang a right and head North.

Friends got up early to see off us (or shoved us off, we're not sure).  We fueled up, pumped out and filled our water tanks.  With all the tanks in shape, we cast off our lines and headed out!

Friends braved the early morning chill to see us off.

Then...We Be Cruising...

The first stop was Cape Coral,  just a couple of hours down river.  We stopped for lunch with Jeff's cousin Kirk and his wife Kryssy.

Kirk and Kryssy were visiting her nieces home in Cape Coral.
We were able to get a visit in at the house and swim in their pool
and also meet for lunch at the Tiki Bar another day.
So nice to squeeze in a little family time while we're South.

Cayo Costa

After our busy time in Fort Myers, the first stop was Cayo Costa, a quiet ancorage outside a state park.  We were hankering some quiet, decompression time.  Our first night was spent quietly swinging on the hook while barbecuing on the porch (otherwise known as the cockpit).

After a good nights sleep we were ready to explore.  Jeff got the dinghy ready and we went in to visit.  We have been here many times before and it is one of our favourites.  We walked the mile or so across the island to the West coast beach, then a mile or so down the beach, then back to the dinghy.  My poor injured knees were screaming, but it was so pleasant I couldn't resist.

Hobbling across Cayo Costa

Jets streams seem out of place criss-crossing the sky over unpopulated Cayo Costa

We wandered the beach, looking for weird stuff.  Not sure what this is.

Just a beautiful, natural beach.

A shell tree!  We always wondered where all the shells come from

The shell phone.  I'll let Jeff explain that!
Jeff:  "Well I had a flip phone for years and many people made fun of me for being so far behind on current phones. I met a guy on the beach that sold me the latest shell phone. So new the towers are not up yet but he assured me they are coming soon. Ground floor $60 US to have the first shell phone!! Priceless!!"

Great!  Now people will stop making fun of him! (insert eye-roll)

Fort Myers 2019/20

Getting Work Done

Brian.  Our miracle genious.
mechanic.  He just turned 20.
and runs his own business.

Our goal at Fort Myers, other than enjoying the weather and time with friends, was to get some upgrades done on Gran Vida.  We have a great mechanic that we've gotten to know and trust in Fort Myers.  Brian, just turned twenty while he was working on our boat.  He's the youngest of a long line of diesel mechanics and at fifteen could take a diesel engine apart and put it back together blindfolded with one hand tied behind his back.  In my opinion, he a bit of a rare genius.  You can mention any engine and he can rattle off the specifics, issues, idiosyncrasies  ...and all with the most charming Alabama accent ever.  I love it when I start talking to him and he smiles and drawls,  "I just love y'all's accent."  MY accent!?!

Our canvas folks were recommended by boat neighbours.  It took a bit of fiddling, but they got the job done on time and at about two-thirds the price we were quoted in Canada.  Although, if you count all the beer Jeff fed them while they were on our boat, our savings were probably less.

 Here's the list:

-  New canvas enclosure for the flybridge
-  Engine upgrades including new raw water pump, fuel injector lines, flush the heat exchanger, new lines and hoses, clamps and throw on some paint........
- install new anchor chain and rode,
-  Two new batteries
-  Dinghy repair

Here's Gran Vida tucked in between two larger looper boats.
Thanks for the shade, Valentine!

Brand spanking new fuel injector lines had to be made. 
They don't look as pricey as they were.

Pearl the Perkins looks sooo perty after her make-over

Jeff worked away and got our dinghy leak repaired.
It's keeps the water on the outside now very nicely.

Lots of fun too

New Year's Eve downtown Fort Myers.  Note the hoodies.  Much colder than last year.

John (S/V Last Mango) got out his notorious blender.
This is a blender powered by a two stroke engine that starts with a pull rope.
It sounds like a chain saw!
Way back in our trip, in 2014, we had lots of Margarita dock parties with that blender.
So it feels a little full circle that out it comes again, in 2020, during the last year of our loop.

Seafood Festival

We were treated to a Fleetwood Mac tribute band (one of Jeff's favs)

Jeff and Karen (S/V Last Mango)
Another cold front during the monthly marina
barbecue cut the crowd size down.

Out for my morning walk and came across this...
Yes.  A man walking his goats in the park.
You see it all!