Anchoring in Pelican Bay area

On February 1 - around 4:30 p.m. we finally pried ourselves away from our slip in Venice. Happy Hour and we're leaving????

But first before we could leave Mike had to do a little work on NautiNell – nothing big. SO while he worked I went to town and got a pedicure! I mean, what else has a girl to do? LOL!

When I got back we went to lunch with Jeff and Linda (Jeremiah) at a Tiki Bar on Spanish Point. What a neat place. Of course, it's right on the water and had a wonderful view. The food was great and so were the drinks. We had a great time visiting with them. They plan to head down toward Marathon Key in early March. We plan to hook up with them sometime, somehow.
We said our goodbyes. L We are really going to miss them.  They are a hoot!

Jeff and Mike
at Spanish Point

Linda and Twyla 
Saying our goodbyes!

Beautiful sunset at Pelican Bay

Another Sunset at Pelican Bay!

NautiNell standing proud in Pelican Bay

Cayo Costa State Park
Where's the beach?

Cabbage Key -
decorated by dollars
literally!



Cabbage Key



We made it!

 

I waited around but none of them ever fell off!

 

Mike chased the poor turtle tell he posed for the picture!

 

Coming in for dinner!



What a sunset on Pelican Bay!

 

Having a Cheeseburger in Paradise
with Gordon and Jeannie


As we passed under the Venice bridge, we realized that we were starting on our big adventure again. I might even have to be re-trained! LOL! Since we had such a late start, we only traveled about 15 miles. We dropped a hook near Englewood Beach. It turned out to be a very nice anchorage.

Thursday - It's Groundhog Day! On no, the groundhog saw his shadow! Six more weeks of winter! Gee, six more weeks of sunny skies and 70 degrees! How can we bear it?? Sorry to those at home in Joplin; but it's just not the same down here in sunny Florida. I've been told that here "Phillip the Groundhog" wears sunscreen and dark socks with sandals! He's a pretty happy guy!

This morning we finally talked to Jim and Dale (Sweet Pea). We haven't seen them since they left us in Venice to cross their wake in Stuart. I don't know if we succeeded, but we tried to talk them into meeting us in Marathon and crossing to the Abacos with us. Guys, if you are reading this – you have to meet us in the Keys!

We weighed anchor about 11:30 a.m. – at least a little earlier than yesterday. Glory Days met up with us. We traveled together until we spun off at Charlotte Harbour to go to Burnt Store Marina. We needed to get fuel – and they have the cheapest in the area. Also, the starboard engine was heating a little and Mike wanted to check it out. By the time we finished fueling it was getting close to Happy Hour. We weren't planning to miss another one! SO we decided to spend the evening. We sat out on the deck till it got a "little" cool. The bar up on the deck was having karaoke night. OMG! Someone named "Hollywood" just couldn't give it a rest! It was hilarious! At least from a distance!

Friday morning Mike worked on the engine. He thought it might be that the water flow was blocked. He must have been right; because once we got started we didn't have any more problems. Oh, and while he worked this time – I did a load of laundry. See it isn't all fun and games for me. HA! Every Friday there is a farmer's market here at Burnt Store. It was well worth the trip. Bought some tomatoes that made your mouth water! Yum!

There were no Loopers here at Burnt Store but we did meet some nice boaters on journeys of their own. One is an older sailboat (Crazy Lucy) – the couple is traveling with their 14 year old daughter whom they are homeschooling. Brave or Crazy? You be the judge! Another is a couple in a Mainship named Blue Heavens. I'm not sure where they are from. The boat is registered in Dallas; but they didn't sound like Texans!

We finally started the engines about 11:30 (again). We headed to Pelican Bay where we planned to spend the evening on anchor. It was only about 1 1/2 hours away. When we arrived we saw that Glory Days was still anchored here. We visited with them for a while and ended up having Happy Hour on their boat. They plan to leave in the morning to go to Punta Gorda. Since we hadn't had much time to check things out, we plan to stay a day or so more.

We are just a short dinghy ride to Caya Costa State Park. There is a tram there that will take you to the beach on the Gulf side. Or it's just about a mile walk. (Think I'll ride) Also, there is a ferry that will take you to Cabbage Key for lunch. We are not very far from there. For those of you who may not know – legend has it that Jimmy Buffett was inspired to write "Cheeseburger in Paradise" after a visit to Cabbage Key and consuming one of their cheeseburgers in this paradise-like setting. We've been there once about 15 years ago. It was a pretty neat place.

Blue Heavens pulled in later this evening. They are going to go on the ferry ride to Cabbage Key for lunch and invited us to go. Why not! It only costs $5.00 a person for the ride. We couldn't probably take NautiNell there for that! We meet the ferry at 10:30 a.m. and it will bring us back at 1:00. Pretty neat deal! To be continued……..

Also, when we got here earlier we saw a Gold Looper boat – Sootus At Sea. They are from Grove Oklahoma! Just about 45 minutes from our home in Joplin. In fact, long before we bought NautiNell when were still in the early planning stages, Bob and Kathy had us over to their home for dinner. They filled us in on their Great Loop adventure. What a small world! We visited with them for a while. They are headed back to Ft Myers and will be there till Tuesday. Hope we get to see them again along the waterways.

Saturday Mike was up early and went fishing. Seems to be having a hard time "catching" these past few days! Not giving up though!! Nope, not one bit!!

Right on time, we saw the ferry heading our way so we jumped in the dinghy and headed to the pier. Blue Heavens dinghy had a problem so we shuttled them over to the pier. We all made it just in time. We found out that it's only about a couple of miles away. In fact you can see Useppa Island from where we are anchored and Cabbage Key is just across from that. We could have easily ridden the dinghy ourselves! Oh well, we had a great time! We got to visit with Gordon and Jeannie. Gordon is from Toronto (I knew he didn't sound Texan!) and Jeannie is from Dallas. After having their boat on the hard for over a year here near Burnt Store, they are just setting out. They aren't doing the Loop but are heading south and on to the Dry Tortugas. They were a really nice couple. We plan to travel with them some of the way south. Anyway, we had a great lunch at Cabbage Key and a fun Ferry ride – and I, of course, had to have a piece of their Key Lime Pie! Yum!!

When we got back, Mike and I took a ride in the dinghy to check out the waters. There is a little bowl or lagoon that was really cool. It has a narrow entrance but opens up to a nice little pool. There were a lot of fish jumping all around us. The best thing though was the manatee! There were several all around. They would come up to the surface and just roll over like a big ol' dog. We were told that they would let you pet them, but we were never able to get close enough. There was an old dock where we could tie up the dinghy and Mike was just sure that the path would lead us to the beach on the other side of the island. WRONG! We walked the path alright - but did we ever get close to the beach area? I don't think so! HA! After walking miles and miles (maybe a slight exaggeration) he finally decided that maybe we should turn around and get back to the dinghy. I could just see the headlines now  - - Loopers Lost in Paradise Jungle!

On Sunday we took another dinghy ride around to the beach. Mike wanted to fish and I wanted to look for shells. It was sort of a cloudy day, but the water in the Gulf was like glass. Hard to believe! We spent time along the beach and watched the dolphins. They seem to know that they are entertaining us! How cool is that!

When we got back we sat on the sundeck and just admired the scenery. It's at these times – we sit and say to each other – CAN YOU BELIEVE WE'RE DOING THIS?! We know we are very lucky and we have learned to appreciate every minute we're on this trip.

We spent this evening watching the SuperBowl and then chasing this crazy noise that we haven't yet figured out. We would hear it in both the front and rear of the boat. A clicking sound of some type. We tore poor ol' NautiNell apart looking for it. We figured out that it wasn't electrical and it wasn't water running or LEAKING! Finally it stopped. Hopefully we will figure it out in the morning. That's life on a boat!!


Till next time!

Admiral "C"

P.S.  At time of this posting we still are in a quandry as to what was making the noise last night.  We finally decided (since we couldn't come up with anything else) that it was huge school of sheephead fish nibbling on the barnacles on NautiNell.  That's our story and we're sticking to it!   Haven't heard the noise since it quit last night.........  Any other ideas???