Our Trip Up the West Coast!

On our way from Sarasota to Bradenton
Whaler in tow

Local kitty at Bonita Bills

Enjoying the fireworks!

What a cool night!

Happy Fourth of July!

Like old times - hanging with our buddies!

Sunset in Sarasota

NautiNell on mooring ball
See where Mike put my scooter!

Fast boats - hard to catch!

Love the sound!

One of the many storms that headed our way

Yeah, we got passed by a sailboat!

 (Sorry, computer caught a virus and messed up my hard drive.  Had to get a new computer.  So I'm a little late in my postings.  Should be getting caught up pretty soon.)

After eight months of being in Marathon we find ourselves heading on another adventure back up the west coast of Florida.  The last time we were on the west coast was when we were still on the Great Loop in February 2012.  The following is a day by day log of our trip north which was long overdue…..

Day One  - We left Sombrero Marina on Monday, July 2 about 9:00 a.m.  It was a beautiful day – Florida Bay at a light to moderate chop and a following sea.  We were out of sight of land for most of the day and also out of phone reach or Wi-Fi.  We had great weather until we were about an hour from our destination – Little Shark River - a good spot to stop for the night – very well protected.  A storm blew in but it turned out not to be too bad.  It looked a lot worse coming in!  We anchored about 4:00 just before the rain hit.  Little known to us - this would become a pattern as we ventured up north.  Little Shark River is known for its bugs – however a light rain continued throughout the evening and kept them away.  We sat out on the deck with cocktail in hand and listened to the distant thunder.  We think we saw an alligator – never got a really good look at him.  If it was one – it was the first one we’ve seen on this whole adventure!  We did see a couple of huge turtles and three nurse sharks.  We also saw four Roseate Spoonbill who came to roost in the trees.  We thought they were pink flamingos at first until we got a good look at them and got out our trusty guide book.   Not bad for day one.  Until the generator quit again.....  Luckily we had the inverter. 

Day Two – Mike’s birthday and he got to work on the generator this morning.  His birthday present was that it was only an impeller this time.  We left about 9:00 a.m. finally.  We had really wanted to get an earlier start but we don’t always have control of that….  It wasn’t the best day either.  It started out okay then the seas began to build – 4-6 foot waves and some rollers that were maybe bigger.  Luckily the wind was still at our backs so most of them were following.  We dodged storms all day – didn’t really get into a lot of rain – it was just a really long day.  We made it to Marco Island and dropped a hook about 5:30.  Again we spent the evening enjoying cocktails on the sundeck and watched the storms roll by.  Finally have phone service again.  Nice evening overall. 

Day Three – Happy Fourth of July!  We left our anchorage about 8:30 a.m.  It was a beautiful day with calm seas.  We still had to run outside and would until we reach Ft Myers Beach area.  That’s close to where the GIWW starts and we can move inside away from the Gulf.   The closer we got to Ft Myers Beach the more the clouds began to build.  We made it just in time.  Of course, it’s a holiday so the beaches were packed and there were boaters everywhere.  We finally got into where the mooring balls are about 1:30.  Mike decided we should try staying at Bonita Bills again rather than a mooring ball.  What a great idea!  We were able to tie up there and have electricity.  It was perfect!  We’d stayed there before when we were headed south – only this time they charged us.  Oh well, the last time it was free – new manager this time.  We got all tied up and plugged in AND turned on the a/c.  No a/c…….! This is turning into more of a shakedown run than a pleasure cruise!  That’s what you get when you own a boat….  At least we had fans and a good breeze for a while.  After the engine room cooled down Mike checked the filter.  It had a few barnacles – we cleaned it out and all is well.  Good thing too because it really started raining so we had to close all the windows.  Like I said earlier – this was the pattern – get tied up or anchored and within 30 minutes or so it would rain cats and dogs.  At least it always waited until we were secure first!  Good karma, I suppose. 

We had dinner at the restaurant – a great blues band was playing and we watched the fireworks from our boat.  Very cool!  Couldn’t have planned it any better!  This was our third Fourth of July away from home.  Time does fly!

Day Four – After getting fuel at Ballard’s Oil here in Ft Myers Beach we were on our way about 9:30.  It was a long day but a good one.  We were able to go inside so no more open water!  Of course, there were more storms.  It was really hard to see when we were crossing Charlotte Harbor – the rain was coming down in sheets.  We finally made it to Marker 4 Marina in Venice about 6:00 p.m.  Of course just before the rain hit again!  We went to dinner with our friends Jeff and Linda (Jeremiah) who live here. Went to Bogeys and had so much fun with them!  We all are going to head to Sarasota tomorrow sometime for the Offshore Boat Races.  Can’t wait!

Day Five – Short trip to Sarasota from Venice so we were in no hurry.  We left Venice along with Jeremiah about 1:00 p.m.  Like old times again with our traveling buddies from the Loop.  It was only a two hour trip.  Picked up a mooring ball at Marina Jacks – yep, just before it rained.  Afterwards we took a dinghy ride and saw a lot of the race boats on trailers.  We had dinner at O’Leary’s Tiki Bar and a nice little sunset cruise.  Excited about the boat races tomorrow!

Day Six – We took the whaler to see the races.  They were being held out in the Gulf in front of Lido Key. It was a little rough getting out there because of all the traffic but we were able to get up close to Lido Beach and drop our anchor.  It was calm and we could see the races really well.  Believe me; Mike’s testosterone level was high today!  HA!  What a wild ride back to the boat!  After watching the races, everyone must have thought they were driving a race boat.  I was really happy to see NautiNell in the harbor!

Later that day we were visited by a young couple – Dave and Victoria.  They are doing the same thing we’re doing only on a sailboat – AND they are in their late twenties.  They’ve been on their boat for about three months and came from Houston.  Wish we had their energy! 

We also were able to get the boat bottom cleaned.  There was a guy on a mooring ball that had cleaned Jeff’s boat before in Venice.  Glad to have that done.  Now we can go fast!  LOL!

Day Seven – After saying our goodbyes to Jeff and Linda we left our mooring ball about 11:30 heading to Twin Dolphin Marina in Bradenton.  Jeff and Linda headed back home to Venice.  We only had about a three hour trip so we towed the whaler.  Pretty easy day up the GIWW.  The marina is back up the Manatee River about 10 miles from Anna Maria Island.  We made it there about 3:00 p.m. and then it rained.  Really, it did! 

We plan to stay here at Twin Dolphin Marina for a couple of months.  Seems like a really nice marina.  Looking forward to seeing Mike’s son Todd and his wife Lisa in about a week.  They’re coming with her family to a condo on Anna Maria Island.  Can’t wait to see the grandbabies!  And hopefully my son Mike will be here with his little one in another week or so!  Yea! 

Till next time!

Admiral “C”