From Venice to Indian Rock Beach - beaches galore!

The sign is back!

Indian Rocks Beach - beautiful!

Some of the Banyon trees in Venice

View of the Venice Inlet

Venice beach

Going through Sarasota

View at Marina Jacks - Sarasota

Checking out the Indian Rocks beach

We made it!

Pirates!

Skyway bridge over Tampa Bay

Saying goodbye to Nokomis beach

Happy Father's Day!

We really enjoyed our time hanging with Jeff (Jeremiah) - meeting his friends and neighbors in Nokomis.  But it came time we needed to move on.  Well at least we had planned to leave on Friday (June 17) but the weather changed on us and became rather stormy.  SO we decided to stay another weekend. Why not!  The surf was pretty wild during this time.  There were 4-6 footers out there.  We would go to the beach and just watch the waves. 

Jeff left to go to on his road trip to Pennsylvania to his class reunion so we were on our own again. We spent a little time sightseeing – Historic Downtown Venice and Venice Beach.  We took a nice dinghy ride one afternoon. Oh, and we found a great Mexican Restaurant – Mi Pueblo.   On Father’s Day we had breakfast at the Jetty.  It’s just a small little place but the view is fantastic!  Poor Mike didn’t get to do much to celebrate his day.  We spent it mostly getting the boat ready to leave – loading the scooters, etc.  We did manage to take one last dinghy ride to Snake Island though. 

Monday (June 20) Finally after loading the dinghy, etc. we left around 10:30.  We had a vibration and a few other issues that needed to be checked out so we met Diver Danny at Marina Jacks around noon.  He had cleaned our boat just a few days ago.  Danny went over it again and took care of the problem.  Ezy Peezy.  So we got to enjoy lunch at the marina while we were there – a nice break.  We headed back out again around 2:30.  No more vibration.  At 5:30 we made it to our anchorage at Snead Island (Bradenton) in front of the Yacht Club.   What a nice anchorage – we were the only boat there!  We watched the full moon come up and cooked burgers on the grill.  A special full moon tonight – (the Strawberry Moon) - the first time since 1967 that the full moon and the summer solstice coincided.  And it won’t happen again until 2062.  That’s pretty cool!  It turned out to be an uneventful night – the way we like it.  We hardly moved at all.

Tuesday (June 21) We left our anchorage about 8:30 a.m.  Once we left that anchorage we were in an area that we had only been in once.  Five years ago while on the Loop heading south – we spent a very short time in the St Pete Beach, Madeira Beach area.  We never expected that five years later we’d still be doing what we’re doing!  So after a couple of wrong turns “Which way Nell” was back on track (long story).  We finally made it to our destination only to have our perfect day of travel do a 180 degree turn.  There was no harm done but the stress level was high!  To start with – 1.  We had no help getting into the slip – Dock master’s day off and no one to cover for him.  2.  It was very windy.  3.  The slip was very small and not a good fit for our size boat.  4.  Fingers are very short.  5.  Because of the wind, we had to bow in – so since the fingers were short we couldn’t get off the boat – we couldn’t even get our lines to the dock.  6.  We had to take the dinghy down and use it to get to the dock where we could tie our lines and plug in the electric.  7.  After wind died down and a couple hours of fretting, we decided that we’d turn the boat around.  At least then we could back up close enough that we could get off the back.  (Without the dinghy on the back - now what do we do with the dinghy?)   8.  Charles, our neighbor, was there at least then to help us out.  We thought it was a done deal and we were secure.  Nope!  9.  The low tide (remember that full moon?)  put us on the bottom in the mud!  This is not going to work!  Fretted some more but there was nothing we could do till morning.  We decided that we’d check out Clearwater Beach Marina in the morning and see what they had to offer.  Not a very good night for sleep.

The next morning we took the Silver Bullet to Clearwater, only about six miles!  They had a slip for us and we headed back planning to move up there.  When we got back to the marina, Mike called the Dock master (who still was on his days off) to explain everything.  We found that there was another slip that was a bit bigger and had more water.  SO we ended up moving to that slip.  This time we had a lot of help from neighboring boaters.  The rest of the day went better.  We even saw a mama manatee and her baby swimming around our boat.  We met several of the boaters here.  All is good.  Except the dinghy has to stay in the water.  Still dealing with short fingers so we’re stuck getting off the back.

Oops!  Not yet!  10. Low tide came in about 10:30 that night and we were on the bottom again!  What a mess!  So the next morning, Mike decided to blow out the silt by using our props – putting it in gear while tied to the dock.  No that wasn’t fun!  After about an hour, he declared it done and that it had worked and we’d have enough water now.  I wasn’t convinced but he’s the Captain!  The only casualty was our coax cable for our cable tv.  He accidentally pulled the fitting off the end – but it was fixable!  We could only hope that it was all good.  We now had 6 feet of water at the dock.  That should take care of things. 

SO we finally were able to leave the boat and check out the area.  We walked the beautiful beach and stopped in Crabby Bill’s for Happy Hour.  We order the Loaded Pork Nachos for a snack.  They were huge!  They ended up being our dinner!  Crabby Bill’s is a fun place!  I know we’ll be back there a few times before we leave.  We were back to the boat in plenty of time to check out low tide.  In fact, between the both of us, I think we checked it out over a dozen times.  At low tide (10:30 p.m.) we were still floating!  Yea!  It looks like we’ll get to enjoy our stay here after all!

Friday (June 24) We decided to get off this boat!  We took a drive to Madeira Beach and John’s Pass.  We had lunch at Scully’s where we spent some time five years ago.  Now we’re ready to check out what else is here!  So……

Sunday we went to J D’s Restaurant and found it’s a great little place.  There was a band, great lunch specials and Happy Hour all day till 6:00!  Later we took a dinghy ride to finally check out the area. 

We’re still having a time getting off the boat. Mike wants to put the dinghy on the back out of the water and that will make it even harder.  He’s trying to figure out something he can do.  I’m sure he’ll figure out something.  He always does!

Stay tuned!

Admiral "C"

 

Our last few days in FMB and now in Nokomis (Venice)

NautiNell coming in to Venice

Beautiful sky in FMB

The Pirate ship daily cruise

Beautiful sky just about every night!

Sunset at the beach

Capt Chappy enjoying the
dinghy ride

Ding Darling Refuge

Sunset while at anchor in Pelican Bay

Out neighborhood in Pelican Bay

The Coast Guard maintaining
out waterways

Our first visitor in Nokomis

Weird oddities at Linger Lodge

Can they get any weirder?

This guy greets you at the door!

Okay, these guys aren't
so weird.......

Beautiful night on
Nokomis beach

Sunset on the beach during drum circle

Almost gone!

As the sun set -
the full moon appeared

nice calm beach day

Dinghy ride - exploring the rivers

Love the Spanish moss

what a beautiful sight

A great day!

Blues fest - Myakka River

This guy was enjoying the music!

Day after TS Colin = angry surf

Did a little shelling on the beach

Compare to the "nice"
day earlier on the beach

Glad we're on shore!

Drum circle on Nokomis beach

Everyone joins in

Crowd keeps growing - very cool!

End to a wonderful day

Can't you just hear the drums!

No they weren't opening for us!

Snake island hangout

Enjoying the sunshine at Snake island

View out to the Gulf

I'm glad that's cleared up!?

Crowd at Venice Beach growing
Memorial weekend

Few more boats at Snake island this weekend!

Maybe more than just a few!

Glad we took a dinghy ride

We had a great leader! 

So nice and calm

Back at the blues fest

Bing Futch - really enjoyed him

Gator Nate

Packrat Thompson and Smokehouse

Duffy Bishop

See why we avoided Snake island this weekend!

The last few days in FMB were busy.  We had to make sure we hit all the fun places before we left.  We didn’t want to miss any!  We also had to get in more beach time including sunset on the beach.  It was gorgeous as usual.  We took a dingy ride and ended up at Bonita Bills and the Dixie Fish Company one afternoon. We met a really fun couple, Tom and Susan.  They had just moved down here to Cape Coral and had sold their house and bought a boat.  They are wanting to live on it, at least Tom is – Susan isn’t sold yet.  We told them about a lot of our adventures.  I think we sold them on the idea!  HA!

On one day, we took a scooter ride into town and missed all the excitement at the marina.  A trawler tried to come in the marina and misjudged the current and tide.  He slammed into a sailboat on the outside and then panicked and couldn’t get off away from him.  It took one of the dock hands in a smaller boat pushing him off before he could finally get loose.  It did damage to both boats but nothing too extensive.  I’m glad it wasn’t NautiNell he slammed into!  The tide and current run through this area something fierce.  That’s why if you’re of any size at all, you really need to wait until slack tide.

Finally - Monday, May 16 -  we were ready to leave.  Since we had to wait until slack tide and we also had to go over to the fuel dock to load our scooters, it was about 10:45 before we finally headed out.  That was okay because we were only going 30 miles for the day.  We headed to Pelican Bay which is just a short way from Cabbage Key and is at Cayo Costa State Park.  It’s a beautiful anchorage.  We made it there and picked out our spot by about 2:00 p.m.  We had planned to take the dinghy over to Cabbage Key and to do some exploring but we were happy just to sit on the sundeck and relax. 

Tuesday, May 17 – After a very nice and uneventful night, we took an easy morning.  We only had 35 miles to go to our next stop – Nokomis.  We made it to “A Place to Be” about 2:00.  Jeff (our buddy on Jeremiah) had found this spot for us and it worked out just fine.  It’s tucked away just off the GIWW and safe and secure.  Jeff lives here in Nokomis so we’re going to get to spend some time with him!   It was Tuesday night and just happened to be Wing Night at Norma Jeans so off we all went.  Of course!

Wednesday, May 18  Jeff took us to get out car in FMB.  It was nice that is was only 1 ½ hours away this time!  We had lunch at the Cottage in FMB and was back to NautiNell early afternoon.  Then Mike headed to Snake Island in the dinghy to meet Jeff and the rest of his friends.  Mike is in heaven.  He loves to hang out on the Island! 

The next couple of days were pretty much just cleaning the boat and hanging out at Snake.  I managed to get to Bealls!  And of course, I’m going back again soon – gotta spend those Bealls Bucks I “earned”!

Jeff went to Vero to spend some time with his family so we were on our own.  So one afternoon Mike and I went exploring on the scooters and ended up at Casey Key Fish House for lunch.  It is such a beautiful ride down Casey Key Road.  The homes are huge and the view of the Gulf is spectacular!

On Saturday, May 21  We headed to the Bradenton area to meet Candy and Phred who are headed home back to New Hampshire in their motor home.  They had left Marathon and were in Ruskin so we decided to meet halfway.  We met at the Linger Lodge just south of Bradenton.  We had been there a few times before when we were staying at Bradenton in 2013.  It is always a fun and interesting place!  Good food – good friends  - good times!  It was really good to see them!

 When we got back from lunch we went exploring in the dinghy.  Then we remembered the drum circle was on the beach tonight so we quickly got back to the boat and made it over to the beach in plenty of time.  The Drum Circle is so very cool.  Every Wednesday and Saturday evening several people get together and beat the drums – some dance – but a lot just sit and watch.  It’s a great gathering and then at sunset everyone watches the sun sink slowly in the Gulf.  It can be quite moving.  We’ll definitely go next time.  And Mike will take his drums this time.  Of course!

Mike has done a little fishing but no real catching.  We have been spending time at Snake Island soaking up the sun and the evenings at the beach watching it set.  It’s a great life!  We really have enjoyed hanging with Jeff too.

It will be busy here this weekend since it is Memorial Weekend. There is a Bluesfest at a place called Snook Haven on the Myakka River on Monday.  We’ve already bought our tickets!  Stay tuned!

I’m back!

Yes, it was a busy Memorial Day weekend!  We hit a couple of Happy Hours – no surprise!  On Sunday after enjoying breakfast at the Jetty and watching the crowds build, we took an all-day but a fantastic dinghy trip exploring the rivers around here. This way we could stay out of the way of the crazies out on the water!  Jeff was a great tour guide.  You should have seen Snake Island where we normally hang out!  There must have been 100 boats there this afternoon!  On Monday, we made it to the Blues Fest at Snook Haven.  How fun!  The music was great – beer was cold – and it was just crowded enough to be enjoyable!  We could definitely spend our time people watching (and Mike even danced this time)!  When it was over, we headed to Pops Grill for dinner.  Tuesday we all spent time recuperating……  J

Then on Thursday the air conditioning decided it was tired of working.  I had had a dentist appointment and when I came back Mike was in the “hole” trying to determine what was wrong.  Jeff was here giving support.  Jeff saved the day by inviting us to spend the night with him where the air conditioning was working great!  He even grilled up some tuna for dinner!  What a guy!   Mike went back over to the boat Friday morning and determined it was the pump.  The closest place to get a pump was in Clearwater – about an hour and a half away.  Road trip!  We drove to Clearwater and bought the motor and pump to be safe.  While we were in the area we checked out Indian Rocks Beach where we hope to be in another couple of weeks or so.  We liked what we saw so that’s currently our plan….  First A/C needs to be fixed.  By the time we got back from Clearwater, it was too late to work on anything then.  So it was another night at the Brinker estate.  Saturday, Mike spent the day installing the pump and replacing hoses etc.  After three days we have air conditioning!  It now seems to be working better than ever but that’s all I’m going to say – don’t want to jinx anything.

So now that everything seems to be going our way…….  Here comes Tropical Storm Colin!   That kept us in the boat for another few days.  It rained and it blew for hours!  We had put on extra lines and we are in a pretty safe area, but it still blew.  However, we didn’t get the worst of it.  That mostly happened north of us.  Still it was pretty unnerving…. 

And it messed up our plans to go home.  With three days spent working on the a/c and another three days hunkered down in the boat – we didn’t get things ready to head home.  Oh yeah, also the “Silver Bullet” is having some issues too.  Not sure we want to drive it back right now without having it checked out.  SO between the air conditioning, the TS Colin and the trouble with Bullet, our trip back to Joplin has been put off for a few weeks anyway.  Makes me a little sad – missing my family!

So now the plan is to head out of here in a week or so and take NautiNell to Indian Rocks Beach.  After we’re there for a while we will plan our trip home.  Of course, there is also the weather to think about.  Right now we’re getting the end of Colin and I haven’t heard of anything else brewing out there but you never know!

So stay tuned!

Till next time!

Admiral “C