4-5 April 2012 Fort Myers Yacht Basin

We had a good day, if not a long one - 9hrs and 45 minutes from Sarasota to Fort Myers.  Tampa Bay was an interesting crossing. The Sunshine Skyway Bridge is beautiful.  Will add picture later when I can get pictures off of my camera.  You might know that I left the connector between my computer and the camera home.
The Fort Myers Yacht Basin hasn't changed since we were there when we brought the boat from Stuart, FL to Rockport.  it is an easy walk to  old town where we had lunch on the 5th at Morgan House.  The Girls could be with us in the upper patio. We ate at this restaurant with Liz and Greg on the 2009 trip
We decided to have a rest day on the 5th.  Took advantage of the land day to do laundry.
Had dinner on board.

As you can see, this is a really nice setting.  There is a neat park about a block from the marina that has a variety of palm trees from many locations.

4 April 2012 Sarasota to Fort Myers

Had a long day today - 9 hours and 45 minutes.  We are really pooped. We got to shop at a Whole Foods yesterday so provisions are in good shape.  After our long day, we were too tired to eat out so had a pasta dish onboard.

It really was a nice day just long.  Will take the day off tomorrow and rest up and get the boat back in order!

 Marina Jack's in Sarasota. 

Osprey nest...we saw so many of these.  Moms and Dads feeding the young ones...

3 April 2012 Clearwater Beach City Marina

We had a good stay other than no water but had cable TV.  What more could you ask for? From here we headed to Sarasota.
The highlight of this portion of the trip and possibly the entire trip was our dolphin escorts. They were with us for a long time and I finally have successful dolphin photos.

Our wake up call!

Good Morning, Clearwater!

That is a baby in the water.  They followed us for quite awhile.

High jumper!!!

Big boy!!

Low jumper!!!

2 April 2012 Repairs done - underway!

Repairs completed before noon so decided to head to Clearwater.  Calibrated instruments outside the river and were underway.  It was a short haul to Clearwater but sets us up to make Sarasota on the 3rd.

We had dinner here at the Bait Shop Restuarant.. good food!!

31 March 2012 Tarpon Springs

We left the dock for the F&Y fuel dock, fueled up and headed down river to the Intracoastal and then on to Bradenton Beach with Miss 'N Texas. We made it 9.5 mi when the engine overheat alarm went off - immediately pulled to side of IWW and dropped anchor -> alternator belt off -> put back on -> stared engine, hoisted anchor and went about 5 min -> alarm sounding again.  Checked out water intake etc. but could not locate the problem so we called the trusted Tow Boat US.  They were there in less than 1/2 hr and towed us back to Turtle Cove.  There is always a bright side - if you have to spend time for repairs, there is no better place than Tarpon Springs and especially at Turtle Cove Marina.. We got to enjoy more of the Greek food, wine and beer!

We told Miss 'N Texas to go on since there was nothing that they could do and they were to meet friends and stay with friends for a few days.  We plan to catch up with them down the way.

The owner of Turtle Cove Marina was coming up the IWW in his boat and came over to offer assistance

Peter contacted Pittman Marine which he said had the best mechanics and since we were going to be delayed, contacted Sigma Marine Electronics to take a look at our GPS since we were having difficulties there also.  The good news was that they would take care of us  - the bad, it would be Monday.  Oh well - we'll try some more Restaurants.

28 - 29 MARCH 2012 DOG ISLAND AND ACROSS THE GULF

From Apalachicola we we anchored at Dog  Island off Carabelle, FL We took the Girls ashore for obvious reasons. The Island is not very wide so we could easily get to the Gulf side.  Nissa absolutely loved the surf just as her Mom, Freya, did! It was fun to watch.  As usual, Osita didn't show any interest other than being happy to be on shore.

We had planned to spend the night at anchor and get underway at first light for Cedar Key which would be a 10 hr fetch across the gulf and then on to Tarpon Springs the next day. When we contacted the Cedar Key City Marina which is listed in the 2012 Water Way Guide, we were told that there was no place to tie up.  The new pier is for fishing only and is too tall for tie up - another city person called us to confirm that the info that we had been given was accurate. We found out that the person that was the Community Planning Person mentioned in the guide was no longer with the City........SO.....at 1900hrs we hoisted the anchor and headed directly across the Gulf to Tarpon Springs.  The seas were 2-3ft but at short interval so it was quite uncomfortable. (still better than the last time we crossed in 4-5ft with wind and rain) They started to flatten after midnight.  It was a really dark night as well.  We are thankful for the Chart Plotter, Capt. Program and good Nav equipment. We entered the Anclote River at 1045hrs and arrived at Turtle Cove Marina, Tarpon Springs at 1130hrs.

We were greeted by the Dock Master, Peter Dawood, who helped us with lines and then drove us to the Office via golf cart to register  He then proceeded to tour the premises showing us the available facilities.  This is a great location!  We can walk to Restaurants, mainly Greek which we love, and to the main street in the old town.  Lots of tourists on the weekends but more quiet on weekdays.

               These are the large storage barns off our stern.  We are thankful for the handy grassy area.

The pool looked inviting but we are a little early in the season.  It was sooooo cold.  The pool is located at the Club House. There are showers, a free laundry area and a bar which was open on the weekend.  There is also a bar on the docks - Thought of RYC - it is the Tiki Bar!

The only negative here is the long distances to the facilities. The Dock Master said that he plans to have bicycles available in the near future..

27 March 2012 - Panama City -> Apalachicola, FL

We had an interesting thing happen en-route to Apalachicola along the Intracoastal Water Way.  Between mm315 and mm320, we came upon several randomly placed fires in the woodlands along the water way. Although the fires seemed to be a controlled burn, we didn't see a single person at the sites.  We called 911. They transferred us to the Parks and Wildlife Department.  You will not believe what followed.  The person that answered did not know about the Intracoastal. She kept asking what City, County and even what State we were calling from. We informed her that our charts did not have that information (we did know what State we in, incase you might think that we were entirely out of it) We informed her that we had left Panama City and were going to Apalachicola - eastbound between mm315 and mm320. At that point it was clear that she still didn't have a clue so we graciously gave up. Very curious- wondering if anyone ever checked the fires.  I was worrying because the woods were full of Lob Lolly (sp?) pines!

We saw eagles and ospreys along the Jackson River as we approached Apalachicola.  Was neat to see the baby ospreys in the nests on top of the day markers. Even saw some being fed!

Once settled in Scipio Creek Marina next to Papa Joe's Oyster Bar.  Kathy, Miss 'N Texas, and I walked to the grocery store.   It turned out to be more of an endurance walk than a stroll but we made it and back!!!!