Longboat Key To Englewood

  We had intentions of heading south on Friday morning but we noticed boaters congregating around a rather large low spot at the tip of Jewfish Key, and when the tide went out, a small island was visible which attracted more boaters. I figured that this spot would be a busy one on the weekend, so we decided to stay and see how it went.
  We took Holly out into the shallow water, four inches or so, and it was funny to see her try to walk/swim her way around, pawing at anything she would see crawling around on the sand bottom. We met some other boaters and they all confirmed that come the weekend, there would be lots of boats lining the small island.
  We had a good hook in on Friday night when we listened to the Cardinal baseball broadcast and heard the Cardinals beat the Washington Nationals to advance to the NLDS to play the Giants on Sunday.
  On Saturday I was going to just turn our stern into the beach, let out more bow line, and set a stern anchor, but we already had a lot of bow anchor line out and I didn't want to present a hazard to boat traffic near the island, but more importantly, our anchor line is our lifeline and we don't need anyone running over it. I pulled up the bow anchor, set it closer to the beach and then deployed the stern anchor in shallow water. With the tidal current pulling our bow out, and the northern wind pushing our stern away from the beach, we were strung up between both anchor lines tighter than a banjo string.
  With our anchor setup keeping the boat still, and the water being very clear, I decided to test out our Hookah Max snorkel system and address the barnacles growing on our running gear. The very small barnacles growing on the props brushed right off, and some others on the trim tab bodies scraped off with a little more effort. I used a wide plastic paint scraper and removed some very short algae growth from the rest of the bottom. I found some more bottom paint missing from the hull where some more barnacles had taken root, but they easily scraped off too. Again, more on the missing bottom paint later. (I'm working on it.)
  My underwater work didn't take long and I was happy with the snorkel system which is an on board compressor supplying air through two 100 foot hoses, utilizing a regulator that clips to a belt on your waist. The compressor will pump air through both hoses down to 30 feet. I can see where I'm going to need some weights for the belt, and maybe a buoyancy compensator, but I'll go to a dive shop and see what I can get within our budget.
  It was later that some neighboring boaters told me they had seen a bull shark swimming around, but it was small. If I can't see them, they aren't there, is how I'm approaching information like that.
  We were chatting it up with some other boaters that walked over to "listen to our music" when a mid-sized express cruiser came in and was making a feeble attempt at anchoring very close to us. They abandoned their mission and wound up anchoring out further on the other side of our boat where I couldn't really see them, but not long after, I noticed our stern slipping closer to the beach and went on deck to see if our bow anchor was still holding. It might have still been holding if the guy in the express cruiser hadn't hooked it and was trying to pull it up along with his own anchor, oblivious to what was happening.
  I hollered over to his girlfriend/wife/sister/whatever on the front of his boat that they were pulling our anchor up. She looked at me and said, "I can hear you", as if the volume of my voice was the only social infraction going on at the moment. Heck, I was still using my "friendly voice" and without any adjectives too!
  We didn't have time for me to use reasoning, as our rudders where already making comfy with the beach, so I told the guy that I would let out more line if he would just pull up his anchor by hand and kindly slip his anchor off of our line without damaging it. So I did, and he did, and the girl even thanked me, to which I replied, "No big deal". They sheepishly motored away and moved over by themselves and put their anchor down again, far enough away to avoid another mishap. We've all been there, some more than others.
  With our bow anchor pulled up, and the beach getting too crowded for us to comfortably set back into position, we hauled in the stern anchor and dropped our hook further away from the beach. We took the dinghy in later and visited some more folks until the sun started to set.
  Even though the forecast for Sunday was still a windy one, we decided to travel back up to Passage Key, about nine miles north, where we had spent the Sunday a week earlier. The tide was up and Passage Key was not showing, but we knew where it was, and we were the first ones there. We bobbed around like a cork wondering why we even made the trip before some other boats started showing up. By mid-afternoon the wind died down enough for us to drop the dinghy and go visiting. We met some people on the now-showing beach and it turned out to be a rewarding day after all.
  We had intentions of having dinner at a place in Cortez called the "Bridgetender Bar" but we found out it was out of business, so we went across the bay to the "Seafood Shack" and had dinner. I had baby back ribs (Isn't that what everyone orders at a seafood restaurant?) and Rosie had fried grouper. We started with some clam chowder was a good as I've ever had, and that includes Campbell's. We both really liked our dinners and were also going to stay and watch the Cardinals play the Giants, but once we ate, we were out of gas.
  We retired to Swing Set and tried to get the game on T.V. but there was no reception. We tuned into KMOX again on the internet and promptly fell asleep and almost missed the entire game, luckily waking up at the start of the exciting 8th inning. We stayed right there at the dock until sunrise, making off like bandits at the first sign of light. I say, "No harm, no foul" if we don't plug in and we spend a fair amount in the restaurant.
 

  This is a picture as we were leaving Cortez, but we were just getting to Sarasota as the sun peeked out and we had a scenic ride down to Venice. But south of Venice, the Intracoastal is not very pretty and we wished we had taken the outside route down to our planned anchorage in Englewood Beach.
  The sky was threatening when we got anchored with some mangroves protecting us from the north and the southwest. We were in front of some modest homes, but there is an anchorage in this area and I think homeowners are used to seeing transients here.
  We grilled some chicken wings and watched a whole lot of dolphins playing around the boat. One poked its head up two feet from the swim platform, apparently checking us out before going back to play. After dinner we watched the ballgame on FOX and had good reception. I really like Joe Buck as an announcer. Too bad the Cardinals didn't show up to play for game two.
  This morning we're waiting for the tide to come in to leave this spot as it was a little skinny making our way in here yesterday. By the way, we did see some evidence of the red tide we had heard about on the news, lots of dead fish floating around. A storm we had yesterday afternoon washed them away, but we are wondering if we will see anymore.
  We're keep getting closer and closer to Cape Coral, where our friends Gary and Judy have a winter condo and are arriving today. We should be able to meet with them by the weekend, or even sooner, but who knows what's going to happen between here and there?

Tampa Bay To Longboat Key

  Rosie met Lorraine at 7 A.M. on Tuesday morning for her trip to the clinic where Lorraine is the medical director. She couldn't resist a tear or two as she placed her in a travel crate marked "animal rescue". No telling what was going through Holly's mind. Lorraine said she barked for a couple of blocks and then she was quiet for the rest of the day.
  For my part, I mixed up the mold eliminator that I had bought at Home Depot and brushed it on the dinghy according to the directions. I let it set for the directed three hours and during this time I could tell that it was going to work. I rinsed it off with the hose at the required time and all the mold spots had disappeared!
  Rosie and I had lunch and then took a dinghy ride around the "neighborhood", a series of canals just east of the Apollo Beach Harbor. It was sad to see how many of the homes were in disrepair, but some of them were kept up and very nice. The layout of the neighborhood is basically a subdivision with a canal in back instead of alleys. I decided long ago that I was not "subdivision material", the type that would not take too well to a neighbor who lets their property go to ruin. It was since been determined over the years that I am also not "condo material". I guess this is why we live on a boat. If we don't like the neighborhood, we pull up anchor and git.
  The much anticipated call from Lorraine came and she said Holly was doing fine. She had three puppy teeth that had to be pulled, which is what we figured. At 7 P.M.  Lorraine returned with our buddy, a little out of sorts, but all in one piece. During her initial examination, Lorraine found out that Holly has "trick knees" on her hind legs. What that means is that they become "dislocated" very easily, but will pop back in place on their own. We suspected some issue with her legs, as twice she has yelped and then favored a hind leg. We figured she was just being a baby, but now we know. We'll have to keep an eye on her and see how much of a problem this is going to be. I suspect it won't be much of one due to the fact that we hardly let her on the ground anyway, carrying her wherever she goes.
  On Wednesday morning I removed the remainder of the hardware for our old Weaver Davit. The stand-off rods laid on top of the transom and we had stopped using them on our current setup because they weren't effective. I had eight 1/8" holes to patch, so I mixed up some gel-coat and applied it, after filling the holes with some pop rivets. I only put the rivets in half way and then cut the heads off with my Dremel Tool. Then I tapped them in so they were just below the surface, plus provided a good hold for the patch. The directions say that you can sand the repair within an hour, but I decided to let it set until the next day.
  On Wednesday night we were invited to a surprise birthday party at a local Japanese restaurant. We had met John and Mary Jane back in 1989 at a resort in Florida and they had introduced us to Doug and Jeanne, along with Ed and Peggy Wingo way back then. It was Mary Jane's birthday and the whole gang who moved down from Ohio over the years showed up. We knew most of them. Doug and Jeanne picked us up in their motor home, along with several others in the group, and we all arrived at the same time in style.

  Here we are with Ed and Peggy, they are the couple we met back up in Tarpon Springs after they drove over from their home in Land O' Lakes. There were 14 of us at the restaurant meaning we had to set at two different tables, which we didn't like, but outside of sitting on the floor, we had no option.
  After dinner, we said our goodbyes after promising to meet Ed and Peggy later in Fort Meyers for Ed's birthday in December. This is doable. Doug and Jeanne visit Fort Meyers too, plus go to Key West occasionally, so we know we'll see them all down the road.
  Jeanne tried to entice us to stay for the weekend, but the weather report was predicting some wind coming in from the North which would increase the waves in Tampa Bay to an uncomfortable height, so we had already decided to leave Apollo Beach on Thursday morning.
  I wanted to leave at high tide because the entrance to Apollo Beach Harbor was a bit skinny at low tide, so I had time to sand and buff my gel-coat repair Thursday morning before we left. By 10 A.M. we were headed down the Bay.

 Here's the dinghy all trussed up for the ride, looking shiny and new. At the bottom of the photo you can see the top of the transom with the stand-off rods removed. My repair is going to need some touch up but it looks good in the photo. I have the rods if anyone needs them, free.

  We had the wind at our backs, and with the tide still coming in, we had some rollers to negotiate. I bumped up the throttles enough to stay ahead of the waves and it wasn't a bad ride. We did have to share the channel with some other vessels.
  We made a large turn at the mouth of Tampa Bay to check out Passage Key, but as we had expected, there were too many waves for anyone to be on the beach, so we made our turn to the East and endured some beam seas until we got into the shelter of the Intracoastal Waterway at Anna Maria Sound.
  We had no plan for an anchorage as usual, but we had cruised 36 miles and it was mid-afternoon. We checked our Waterway Guide and found an anchorage behind Jewfish Key, which is at the entrance to Longboat Pass, just North of Longboat Key.

  There were several boats pulled up to the low tide island and the water was finally what we have been waiting for, clear enough to see the bottom and check out our running gear. I donned my mask and checked our props for barnacle growth. The props were spotted with gnat sized bumps that will easily scrub off with a brush. Worse were the piston bodies for the trim tabs. For some reason, the barnacles attached themselves there first. They'll scrub off too, but I'll need to use the snorkel system for them. More disconcerting is the dime sized spots on the hull where our bottom paint is flaking off. I'll have more on that later.
  I intended to address some of the bottom work right then, but because we were so close to the pass, the tidal current was fairly swift. I'm used to dealing with fast currents but not when I'm underwater, trying to scrub with one hand and holding onto the boat with another. I'll find a calmer spot to clean the bottom; Rome wasn't built in a day.
  What concerned me more was the holding power of our anchor. I knew the current would shift several times, and the wind was forecasted to pick up during the night, so I deployed our new stern anchor for piece of mind. I just hope I can retrieve it when we go to leave. At least it's in shallow water clear enough to dive down to.

  For the rest of the afternoon Rosie and I enjoyed the view and listened to the broadcast of the baseball NLDS against the Cardinals and the Nationals. Since I can't get the game on the radio, I signed up on MLB.com and can listen to the local broadcast from St. Louis using our iPhone or iPad. It only costs $3.99 for the year. Mike Shannon was a neighbor back in St. Louis and we like listening to his broadcast, always did, especially when he was with Jack Buck.

  The game didn't have the outcome that we desired but that means we get to listen again tonight during game five. We had a great dinner of ribeye steaks and salad as the sun set over Longboat Pass. We had a fairly quiet night and the temperatures are dipping into the high 60's at night, making for wonderful sleeping.
  This would probably be an interesting place to spend the weekend, but we are just a little too exposed here for my liking; not only for the wind, but for the current. I have it in my mind to get our bottom scrubbed and our waterline cleaned and waxed, so we'll look for a calmer spot to spend the next day or two.
  Go Cardinals!

Tampa Bay Boating

  On Saturday morning we left Lands End Marina and Circles and used Google Maps to find the home of a "friend of a friend" where we were invited to dock our boat for a few days. Once we got the boat tied up and plugged in, Doug and Jeanne showed up on their Jet Ski and we headed out to Beer Can Island for the afternoon.

  There wasn't a whole lot of people out, I think the weather scared most of the boaters away. But we had fun and got way too much sun. We found our way back to the boat by late afternoon and had about four hours of rest and relaxation on the boat before Doug and Jeanne were due to pick us up by car to go watch the OSU and Nebraska game at a local bar.

  Lots of folks were at "Bobby's Bistro" that had moved down from Ohio, some we haven't seen in 30 years. Ed and Peggy drove down from Lutz, Florida, but most of the others lived in Apollo Beach, some of them living in homes that Doug had built for them over the years.
  Ron and Lorraine Ellwood were there too, and Doug and Jeanne had invited them and us to go boating on Sunday in their Grady White walk around fishing boat. So early on Sunday morning we hooked up this gigantic 272 fishing boat to Doug and Jeanne's SuperCab and headed to a boat ramp near the entrance to Tampa Bay on the Manatee River.
  We had a great day of boating and we visited Passage Key, a fun little island out in the middle of nowhere. It was fun being a passenger in someone else's boat for a change. Lorraine is a veterinarian and we were discussing the fact that Holly still had some of her puppy teeth, so Lorraine offered to pick Holly up on Tuesday morning on her way to work, pull her puppy teeth, and return with her at the end of the day. It was an offer we couldn't pass up but it meant staying at the dock we were in for a couple more days than we had planned.
  We had a day to kill on Monday, so I decided to make the most of it. The rollers on our salon door have been needing to be replaced but I didn't know how to do it, even after seeing some instructional material on Google. Doug not only builds homes, he's the landlord and handyman on all the properties he owns, so he knew just how to take the door apart to replace the rollers.

  Once I learned that I had to take the bottom rail off of the door frame to access the rollers, it was a piece of cake. Doug came to pick me up and first we went to his door and window supplier to see if they had the rollers and to get a stainless steel cap to install over the aluminum rail that the door had been rolling on for over 16 years and had some "bumps" in it. I found out about the rail back when we were in Tellico Lake but had forgotten about it. I still would have wanted to replace the rollers at the same time I installed the rollers.
They had the rail but no rollers and I began to think I'd have to order them and have them sent somewhere, something that I didn't want to do since I had the door apart already. I had had to take it apart to see what the rollers looked like in the first place.
  We went to Home Depot and they had the rollers hanging on the rack! While Doug was getting some electrical supplies, I loaded up my arms with all the stuff I've had on my "hardware" list for months.
  The door was repaired and installed in just a few minutes of returning to the boat, one thing off my list of bigger projects that had been hanging over my head.
  Since we were staying until Wednesday morning anyway, we were invited to a birthday party on Wednesday night with the Ohio folks again. Why not? We squared it away with the fella that got the dock for us and he came by so we could give him some money to get to the owner of the dock for the electric we were using.
  Tonight we are staying in at the boat to rest up. Tomorrow we'll spend the day in a nervous wreck until Holly is safely returned to us, but we know Lorraine will take good care of her.
  We've been having a lot of fun around here for the last few days, and more than one person asked if we were going to set down roots here. We answer that it still gets too cold here in the winter and we never get any dispute about that, so heading south is still our plan. Our sights are set on Cape Coral where Gary and Judy from St. Louis will be arriving in about ten days. We'll have to let them get things in order once they get back to their condo, but then we'll meet up with them probably by the end of the month and see what kind of trouble we can get into down there.

Tampa Bay and Apollo Beach

  We pulled up anchor on a bright and sunny Friday morning and set a course for Apollo Beach. I took this picture of the famous Don Cesar Hotel in St. Petersburg as we cruised by. (It's the big pink building.) We heard its been renovated. We're happy when landmarks are kept up and not left to decay.
  Our route to Apollo Beach was only 23 miles, but we decided to take a detour and travel up the western side of Tampa Bay and check out the Vinoy Renaissance Hotel and Marina.

  As we were tooling along at our normal 8-9 miles per hour, the boat in the picture showed up right next to us with no courtesy call on the radio or honk on the horn. The captain waved, but I would have liked it better had he given us notice. The wake he was throwing was a huge one, but not a bell ringer. I told him on the radio that he should have signaled us before he passed, but we understand, being peons and all.

  This is the entrance to the Vinoy. It's right in downtown Tampa, right next to a small airport. The harbor is home to several large yachts and is very nice. We were interested in seeing it because a friend of ours had his 65 footer there for about two years and we were hoping to meet up with him when we moved down to Florida, but he has since moved his boat back up to the Alton area. When he was down here, John Travolta kept his boat in the slip next to him. Nice neighborhood. My old boss has a boat in there too. A beer is named after his family. If we were going to stay in this area I would look into getting a slip at the Vinoy. They are negotiable on their pricing and are unbelievably reasonable as far as costs go.
  We had a mission, and that was to meet friends on Friday night at Circles, a bar/restaurant at the Lands End Marina in Apollo Beach, ten miles straight across the bay. I set a route in a straight line and we just putted along and watched lots of dolphins and manta rays as we went. The bay was calm and we were in no hurry. With a half tank of water and about the same on fuel, I cranked up the Cats and let Swing Set run for a few miles, I'm happy to report nothing broke.
  We got to the first light into the Apollo Beach Harbor and I followed the advice on Active Captain and hugged the starboard side of the entrance. We were at low tide and we soon were in four feet of water, nervous territory for me. I turned around, checked the chart, and made another approach favoring the port side. Big mistake, we were soon in 3.4 feet of water and I saw sand kicking up at our stern.
  At this point we turned back out again and I went to drop a hook outside of the entrance and wait for the rising tide to help us get in. It was only three o'clock and we weren't due to meet our friends until 6 or 7. Meanwhile I called the marina and got some local knowledge about the depth going into the harbor. I also called our friend Doug who navigates this channel quite a bit and I found that I should have just cut the channel right down the middle, like I normally would in the first place. (Unless we're in a river and heading into a slough.)
  While Rosie got her shower I sat in the cockpit and observed how other boats were navigating the channel and when a couple of the larger boats plowed right through with no problem, I knew we would be OK.
  Sure enough, we sailed right in there and pulled into a courtesy slip right in front of the restaurant. A patron at the bar came out and gave us a helpful hand getting our lines secure.

  Doug and Jeanne are here in the picture with Rosie. We met them back in the 80's at a resort down here in Florida. They lived in Ohio and moved down here in 1991, left their jobs and sold their home. Doug set to remodeling homes in Apollo Beach and now owns more than twenty properties and keeps very busy. Many of their friends followed them down from Ohio and they have a big social circle. We hadn't seen them since we bought our boat eight years ago and it was good to catch up.

  Another rain storm was developing while we were in the bar so we were glad we pulled into the marina and didn't leave Swing Set out on the hook.

  The worst of the weather spared us but we did get the salt rinsed off the boat with the cooling rain. We stayed in our slip until early morning and then moved out into the harbor to have our coffee and breakfast.
  We have an invitation to take our boat to the home of one of Doug and Jeanne's friends where we'll leave it for the day and take the dinghy out to "Beer Can Island" and meet up with Doug and Jeanne. We'll also be able to keep it there this evening when we all go watch some college football at a local hangout. Holly will have to miss out.

A Few Minutes In St. Petersburg

  I sure got a lot of response from my last less than optimistic blog! Not to worry, no one is giving up. I just was in the mood to provide a balance to our mostly positive experiences, and as I have been reminded, mentioning "balance" and "us" is usually not done in the same sentence.
  It rained all day while we were in our anchorage near Madeira Beach. The water was cloudy and not very inviting. There were lots of abandoned boats sprinkled around in the harbor and the dismal surroundings could get to nearly anyone.
  The rain kept us from visiting our neighbors in the dinghy, and we had wanted to. My one reservation was that most of them kept their boats in a deplorable condition, and it may be unfair to characterize, but a boats condition tells a lot about the owners, I think. Rosie was less inclined to go visit the one younger couple nearest to us with the boat in the worse condition, but then I don't think she saw this girl in her bikini. Motivation comes in many forms.
  We did venture out in the rain to visit the Publix in order to stock up on things we needed (wink wink) and to dump two bags of trash. We got soaked with rain that became worse as soon as we got a few yards from the boat. There was a nice courtesy dock right at the McDonald's next to the Publix. We may have not been burger customers on that day, but we feel like our overall consumption of Big Macs over the years should account for something.
 There was a huge American Legion Post right on the waterway that we had noticed coming in on our first day that was doing a booming business. When we returned to the boat I called Post 272 and asked if they were open on a Wednesday, check...Did they have a varied menu, check...Did we need to be a member, No?, check.
  The rain let up enough late in the afternoon and we decided to get cleaned up and go out to spend some dollars on the local economy. When I had earlier called a nearby marina to check on diesel prices, the person there had only one comment about my inquiry about going to the Legion Post for dinner. "Well, it's affordable", was his reply. There wasn't really anywhere else to go but McDonald's where we could dock the dinghy, so we headed for the American Legion Post anyway.
  Naturally as soon as we reached the causeway the skies let loose, drenching us. We tied up to the dock and made our way into the Legion Post and the first thing I noticed was tables lined up similar to the ones at a high school cafeteria, or a soup kitchen, or a medium security lockup. (Don't ask how I know this last bit of information.) But secondly, I spied a bar with nice comfy stools gathered around it and lots of veterans engaged in an early happy
hour. We claimed a couple of seats and a waitress brought us a menu. Soon after, a bartender came over and asked for our membership cards. I explained as to how we had called earlier and asked if we needed a membership and was told that we didn't, and that we had traveled via dinghy in the rain, and that we just wanted a couple of beers with dinner.
  The bartender says, "Well, I don't know who would have told you that you don't need a membership card, but even though you don't need one to eat, you need one to drink."
  I've been to enough Legion Posts for drinks and dinners over the years to at least know to ask the question, so I figured I did my due diligence by phoning ahead. So I said, "I don't know who told me that either, but I'm not making it up."
  Rules are rules, so she asked if we wanted to just eat. I looked over at the institutional type seating in the eating area and respectfully declined her offer. Rosie could see all of this coming a mile away and was already putting her rain gear back on as I stepped away from the bar. I wonder what the person who answered my phone call thought I meant when I asked about the membership? A person just can't ask enough questions anymore.
  In pouring rain we made our way back to the boat, just pulling over to a nearby pier to see if there may be a restaurant within walking distance, but the bugs and small crabs skittering about on the dock was enough to convince Rosie that eating back on the boat was the best course to take.
  Once we got back and hauled the dinghy back onto the davits, the rain stopped. I began to associate dropping the dinghy with rain, similar to those who associated rain with washing the car. I realize that this type of notion is self centered in its logic, just like those that pray to win the lottery. It's not like everyone washes their cars at once.
  It was over a delicious dinner of pork tenderloin and mashed potatoes with mushroom gravy that we decided to get out of Dodge on Thursday morning. We stayed up late to watch the first of the Presidential debates and spent our last night in Madeira Beach.

  Happy to have the sun back, we headed past John's Pass and down the Intracoastal. We had about a 30 mile trip to Apollo Beach where we were meeting friends on Friday night and we wanted to break up the trip into two segments.

  Just under the Treasure Island Causeway was where we were going to find our present anchorage, in the Boca Ciega Bay at St. Petersburg Beach. It was only a 7 mile trip, but we barely idled the whole way, enjoying the morning and the view of the homes along the waterway.
  We anchored in a very wide area with only one other boat in the area, an unoccupied sailboat that looked to be in very nice condition. The water was clearer here and once we got settled, I decided to ignore the possibility of being eaten by any sea creatures and lounged around on my raft for the whole afternoon. Rosie was less adventurous, but she did dip herself a couple of times off of the swim ladder.
  I forgot to mention earlier, but our dinghy tie up system has been modified once again. The dinghy sits as high up against the davits as I can get it, and the lines I have tying it up do not interfere with using the swim platform much, so we find it easier to get in and out of the water now. The only downside is that our dinghy is wrapped up better than a kidnap victim, if you consider that a downside.

  By late afternoon, the wind started whipping up and the clouds started rolling in. This is a sure indication to get out on deck and confirm that the anchor is well set and batten down the hatches. This was an ominous looking front coming our way, but the NOAA radio broadcast didn't mention anything about it being "severe", and the radar showed a narrow band, so we didn't get too worried, but those clouds just dumped rain on us, albeit for a short time.

  The storm soon quit and boats came back out. I had started watching the news after dinner and checked myself. I mentioned to Rosie how dumb it was to be watching more of the same 'ole same 'ole, and that we should be out in the cockpit admiring the sunset. She agreed and soon enough we were out setting in our deck chairs with an after dinner cocktail in the cool air, supplied by the passing weather front.
  I would have included a beautiful sunset picture but the promise of a spectacular sunset didn't materialize as we had anticipated. Life is like that. The best things just happen without a lot of planning, but if you over analyze and expect to plan a good outcome, more often than not it leads to disappointment. I think we'll pull up anchor soon and head south, and just see what happens.

Not All Blue Skies

  We are on our second day here in our Madeira Beach anchorage. I can't tell you a whole lot about it because we haven't left the boat yet, and we haven't met our neighbors in here yet either. The three boats in the picture are abandoned. The one in the middle is washed up in the mangroves, and the other two sailboats are now home to a great number of sea gulls and pelicans, having been vessels holding a better future for their owners at some point in the past.
  We are currently socked in by rain, with no let up in sight for this day, at any rate. Not a big deal because the temperatures are cooler, and even though it's raining, there is no associated winds to contend with. Our first night here was a restless one. The winds had us bucking around and the noise of the waves smacking our bow made for a sleepless night. Yesterday the sun peeked out once in a while but we just didn't feel like dropping the dinghy to go explore. We did do some minor chores on the boat; one using the rain to help wash the decks, the other to check the oil on the engines.
  Our intentions this morning was to go get some breakfast at a restaurant nearby but the rain has been steady all morning. We'll read our books today, like we did yesterday, and try to get out and about later this afternoon. We're glad to have our Kindles and our contacts via computer to keep us busy.
  We have T.V. reception, but honestly are already tired of the political commercials. The media has, or has been, replacing religion as a means to control members of society; necessary given the inability or refusal for humans to think for themselves, in my opinion.
  One thing that I must convey to our blog readers is that "living the dream" is not for everyone, and we are still in the process of determining if it's even for us. I think the process will be a long term ongoing one, but will have ups and downs like anything else.
  There is a downside to everything, naturally. Right now I am skeptical about having our boat full time in the saltwater; not so much for the effect it has on our boat, but I'm not sure about myself being in salt water. There is many more critters lurking about that can do me harm than I'm used to, and we're in water that I cannot see what's around me more often than not.
  For instance, keeping the boat looking nice is a priority for us, and getting into the water to scrub the sides is a necessity occasionally. This requires me getting in the water and walking around the boat. Not only do I have to contend with tides to avoid us going aground if I anchor in shallow enough water to do this chore, I don't know enough about the local inhabitants yet. In Crystal River where the water is fresh, I had less concern about harmful wildlife than I had about the tall plant life, abundant on that river, tickling my gizzards as I walked around the boat on the river bottom as I washed or waxed the water line. Not that I did it, because I wouldn't, but it's something that needs to be done and I'm putting it off.
  Bathing in the salt water is another thing. Rosie doesn't want to do it and I don't blame her. The water in most areas is brackish, caused by the tannin from plant life in the protected areas, and we both doubt about getting very clean in it. I do have optimism about being in clearer salt water where we can bath and just rinse off with our fresh water, especially when the water gets clear enough to start making our water with our water maker. We are not to that place yet.
  Another factor in our comfort is the heat and humidity. We won't run our generator 24/7 for air conditioning as it's not practical and never was part of our plan. Our 12 volt electric fans are what we rely on, and for the most part can suffice at night, but we need to be able to feel comfortable getting in the local water during the day to cool off and I don't think we are at that point yet either, at least where we would lounge around on our rafts like we did in the rivers.
  Accessing services is a constant consideration too. We've been managing, but we can't just jump in the car and get to the license office or hardware store, two things that we need to do soon. But we'll remedy these issues when it comes to the nitty gritty as they say.
  Don't get the impression that we're getting discouraged, but also don't get the impression that we think this way of life is for everyone, or that we are even convinced it's for us, yet. I do know this; still weighing on our minds is the inability to get our condo back in St. Louis sold for a fair price. If we get tired of this boating life, we really don't want to go back there and reside, so we need to get a value for it to be able to afford life in another location, but we cannot even consider any alternatives until we have our condo sold and the proceeds tucked away in the bank.
  Outside of that issue, we can advise anyone that if they cannot get used to life without a bunch of stuff, this isn't for you. Here's an example: How many purses do you own? More than one? How big is the one you have? Is it chock full of crap you forgot you had? Then there is the issue of shoes. How many pairs do you own? If there are two of you, multiply it. We have one or two pair each. More than that and you won't find room for them on a boat of any realistic size. I think this topic is bumming me out.

  On a brighter note...Rosie hates this picture that I took last night with our new iPhone while she was looking at the iPad before dinner, but I think it reflects what is great about our life here on Swing Set. Rosie for the most part is happy and enjoying herself, obvious here in the picture. (Makeup or not, I think she is beautiful.) My problem is that I think too much. Another problem is that I mention drinking beer too much, so I'll quit mentioning it, but I doubt that I'll quit thinking about things or drinking beer.
  We sat on our bow last night, during a respite of the rain, had a cool breeze blowing and watched numerous dolphin and manatees splashing around. I saw a sting ray fly out of the water about four feet in the air for the first time. I didn't know they did that. There's a lot of things about sea life we don't know but we figure we'll learn eventually, and Rosie and I will both have our doubts about our lifestyle choices and work our way through them, that too, eventually.

Tarpon Springs To Madiera Beach

  We made the best of our last day in Crystal River by taking Holly in the dinghy to the beach and then over to the Three Sisters Spring for one last time.
  I also decided, after a good tip from our friend Don at Lake of the Ozarks, to get a new phone instead of a new camera. My old iPhone 3 was acting up, and there is no flash on the camera on that old model, plus the auxiliary jack quit working months ago.
  Don knew we were headed for Tarpon Springs and located an AT&T store there so I called them and after considering the options, had them get an iPhone 4S into the store for me to check out. The 4S is a nice phone and can be gotten at a good discount right now. The camera has a flash and the best thing about it was that the same connection cords for the 3G can be used for the 4S phone.
  We left Crystal River bright and early on Saturday morning after getting fuel at Pete's Pier. We only took on 30.4 gallons and the total was a whopping $140. Like some other places in Florida, the $4.25 price at the pump did not include tax. I am getting tired of having to ask whether or not the price at the pump includes tax or not. Live and learn though.

  Our cruise to Tarpon Springs was about 60 miles of open water and the weather was perfect. The Gulf was flat and we were running in shallow aquamarine blue water. We saw lots of dolphins and turtles along the way. I stopped the boat three times to take a swim and I wanted to get out my snorkeling gear.
  We found one of the very few anchorages in the Tarpon Springs area just east of Anclote Key, and as much as we wanted to join the other boaters lining a nearby white sand beach, we settled in for the night in a very unprotected anchorage which meant a noisy night for us because of the wave action, not the beach goers.
  On Sunday morning we called some friends about 15 miles away and they just happened to be looking for something to do, so we invited them to join us for the day and decided to meet up the river in Tarpon Springs at a marina.

 Tarpon Springs is an old Greek settlement and there are lots of shrimp boats and the sponge docks along the waterway are reminiscent of days gone by.

  This was our view as we waited at the Tarpon Landing Marina for our friends Ed and Peggy Wingo to drive over from Lutz. We hadn't seen Ed and Peggy for nearly 13 years but had no problem recognizing either one of them when they walked onto the dock.
  We went up to the restaurant there called Capt'n Jacks and had a late lunch while we caught up. After lunch we took a cruise and didn't drop them off until nearly dark. By the time we made our way out to the anchorage, it was dark and the wind was whipping up.

  On Monday morning we were treated to a rainbow on the horizon. The white boat in the photo is a very large wooden sailboat keeled over up near the bank in water about a foot deep. Their luck ran out at some point, rainbow or not.
  Once I confirmed that the AT&T store had the phone delivered to their location over the weekend, I dropped the dinghy and left Rosie in charge while I traveled to Spring Bayou, about 5 miles away, and tied up the dinghy at a public dock near the old section of Tarpon Springs. I then walked to the AT&T store over a mile away.
  I made my purchase and called Rosie to tell her I'd be heading back which would take about 90 minutes. When I left the river and headed across the bay to the boat, the wind had really picked up and the ride back to Swing Set was about the roughest I'd ever want to do. I couldn't wait to get the dinghy back on the davits and get out of there because we had some open water to negotiate on the way down to Dunedin.
  Once we got behind some protection from the surrounding keys, the waves let up but a stiff wind was blowing up from the south. I couldn't find an anchorage I liked with any wind protection.
  In Clearwater harbor there was some pretty water but all too shallow for us. I saw promising areas down in Boca Ciera so even though it was getting late, the weather was good and the wind had died down to a pleasant breeze, so we kept on going.
  We passed under the bridge to Madiera Beach and found our anchorage. There are several other boats in here too, some occupied, and some not. We are in about 6 feet of water which will get us only 4 feet when the tide goes out, but there isn't much else in the way of places to drop the hook until we get to Tampa Bay.

   Here's us playing with the new phone. Thanks for the tip, Don!
  Rosie got a good dinner ready in just a few minutes; we were having salad with chicken strips. T.V. reception is good and so is the Internet service. There is a Publix within view and it appears that there is a few people here in the anchorage that we can meet tomorrow. We have some business to attend to at the license office, if we can find one, so we may stay here a couple of nights at least, but not too long because we're meeting Ed and Peggy again this weekend, along with some other friends down here in Florida that we haven't seen for about eight years, over in Apollo Beach on Friday night. We think we'll like it here for a bit, we've already had several dolphins swimming by the boat.
  It's been a long, long day and we're glad to be at anchor in better protected waters than we had for the last two nights. We're both due for some better rest.