First Day In Key West

 Great day yesterday... 3 firsts. 1) We saw a manatee as we were walking off the dock. Very cool! 2) We launched Aunt Bethany and the four of us took a long training ride. Got her safely back to the boat and stored again too! The locals couldn't tell for sure what these 4 obviously non-locals were doing riding in circles and doing figure eights and changing drivers and laughing. 3) Went to Smathers Beach and had a great time sitting in the sun and lounging at the beach. The water, as Regina put it, is like memorial weekend at Barkley Lake, "refreshing" but crystal clear, unlike most memorial weekends at the lake.

Smathers Beach

Customs House From The Water

Our Neighbors At The Dock

Key West

 The crew of "the Bles-sing!" enjoyed the best weather day yet during our cruise from Marathon to Key West. 72 degrees, mostly sunny skies, light winds and gentle waves made the 5 hour trip a pleasure. Even the crab pots gave us a break eventually. Our slip here in the City Marina is perfect and will allow us to easily launch Aunt Bethany  for the first time to do some exploring by dingy. The scenery and water is gorgeous.

Our route took us through seven-mile bridge as we departed Marathon and put us out into the Atlantic for the ride down. We went all the way around Key West, giving us a chance to see many of the island's famous spots from the water. The bridge onto the island, the most southern point marker, the most southern house, Margaritaville Resort and Marina, military bases, the lighthouse across from Hemingway's house, Mallory Square... we had a good time seeing them from a different perspective and reminiscing about previous visits to the area.

Our View At the Marina

Florida Keys At Last!

 Made it to Marathon yesterday so we are officially in the keys! We arrived around 2:00 in winds around 15 knots gusting to 20. We dodged crab pots for most of the way down from Little Shark River with no problems at all as the water transitioned to that stunning emerald green that makes the keys so special. The water is also extremely clear so we could see the bottom as we glided into our marina at Marlin Bay Resort. We planned to stay just one night here but once again mother nature had other plans so we've decided to tough it out here until Friday when the winds are supposed to die down.

Colors Of The Keys

No Fun Parking In This

Little Shark River

 The mechanical issue that kept us at Marco Island another day turned out to be an easy fix so we made it to an gorgeous anchorage at Little Shark River at the end of a 65 mile cruise on Monday.  It is located on the coast of the everglades and is very isolated. No cell service but plenty of scenery. All kinds of birds dotted the sky while dolphins did lazy loops on the surface around our boat. No sign of alligators or sharks but surely they were eyeing us from the surrounding mangroves. Spectacular and peaceful. Five other boats enjoyed the brilliant sunset around us before the no seeums chased  the crew into the boat around dark. The anchor held easily in the slight breeze and made for a quiet night and good sleeping. 

Failure To Launch

 Well, under the heading of "S%@! Happens"... we were ready to blast off for our anchorage near the everglades this morning and waa waa... nothing. The starboard transmission would not go into gear. So... stuck another day on Marco Island, darn it. Pretty much have figured it out and even have it kind of fixed. The crew wants professionals to check it out on Monday to be sure. Better safe than sorry. Especially when you are headed to a spot with no cell service in a remote part of Florida.

Stay tuned kids. Should be out of here by Tuesday.

Sunshine At Last!

 Our cruise on Thursday was wonderful! We are now far enough south to feel like we are really in Florida. The water is a beautiful shade of green and the sun popped out and made for a glorious ride to Marco Island. About half of the trip down from Cayo Costa was in the very last part of the intracoastal water way, ending at the north end of Pine Island and the Southern tip of Sanibel Island. The rest of the way we were in the Gulf on seas of about 1 foot. Very nice.

We pulled into Rose Marina on Marco about 3 pm on Thursday and ended up staying three days. Marco is spectacular and we got to see a lot of it thanks to Doug and Jane's neighbors in Washington, Frank and Linda, who now live full time on Marco Island. Their condo overlooks the marina where we stayed!

The beaches on Marco Island are beautiful white sand and huge. The area has many great restaurants and expensive homes on cool little canals and high rise condos all over the island.  High winds kept is in Marco an extra day which we really enjoyed even though we had to move to the Marco Island Yacht Club. I know, we are surprised they let us in too.

On to our anchorage at the mouth of Shark River off the everglade coast! Next day to Marathon and then on to Key West!

Frank and Linda Sicurezza were wonderful hosts during our stay on Marco Island. 

Thanks so much for the hospitality!

Marco Island offers some of the best beaches in the world.

Sarasota to Pelican Bay

 On Wednesday 1/13 we cruised from our mooring ball in Sarasota Bay to a beautiful anchorage in Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa State Park. The cruise took us through very narrow and shallow parts of the intracoastal waterway. We concentrated on staying in the channel but we still hit bottom at one point. No damage done.  This is the last part of the intracoastal waterway that passes through some of the most scenic towns we have seen yet. We went through Siesta Key, Venice (very cool!), Manasota Key, Lemon Bay, Don Pedro Island, Gasparilla Sound off of Gasparilla Island and Boca Grande. All of these areas would be great stops along the way... not enough time!

The waterways in and around Cayo Costa and Pelican Bay are lined with mangroves... a shrub or small tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The park is a favored stop for a lot of loopers and a great place to hike and explore by dingy. It rained most of the time we were at anchor and the gloomy weather made us decide to just spend one night and move on in search of warm weather and sunshine.

Latest Addition To The Crew

 Yesterday Suncoast Inflatables in Clearwater installed Aunt Bethany. Just like in the movie... she's a little dingy. She can hold up to 5 people comfortably and will enable us to explore some wonderful beaches and waterways.

Another First!

Made it to the Marina Jack mooring field in Sarasota Bay today in 7 hours and hooked our first mooring ball. The wind made it a little more difficult than we expected but Tom and Jane got it done on the first try!

Today's cruise took us from Clearwater Beach Marina across Tampa Bay to Sarasota Bay. It was a mostly cloudy day and cool with 1 - 2 footers at our stern. We went through 9 bridges total, about half of them had to raise to let us through.

Tarpon Springs to Clearwater Beach

 We all really enjoyed Tarpon, the shops, people and the restaurants made for a great visit. Strong winds helped pursued us to stay an extra day which we were glad to do. Another day to take in a bit more great food.

We travelled 20 miles through the intracoastal waterway from Tarpon Springs to Clearwater yesterday dropping anchor about 2:45 in Clearwater Harbor. Winds and waves were strong and noisy all night but are expected to drop today. One of the most surprising things we've learned is how shallow the intracoastal is, 6 or 7 feet most of the way.

Today we will pull into Clearwater Beach Marina where we will spend two nights. We are looking forward to having our dingy, Aunt Bethany, installed by Suncoast Inflatables.  

 "the Bles-sing!" On Peaceful Waters in the Gulf

Thanks to Meredith Randall aboard Thunderbolt for this beautiful picture!

Made It To The Other Side!

 (The blooger apologizes for the length of this post... lots to report) 

We cast off our lines at Carrabelle Marina right on time and were underway by 3 pm Monday with our buddy boats Ten-Seven (42' Sea Ray) and Thunderbolt (40' trawler) . Going out for a cruise at the time we normally come in was very different as we experienced everything in reverse order. We saw a beautiful sunset as we launched, cruised in near complete darkness instead of daylight, neared the end of the journey at sunrise and docked in brilliant morning sunshine. 

The trip took 21 hours dock to dock, about 14 hours of it on the Gulf. As predicted, the wind and waves were nice and made for a smooth ride on gentle 1 foot rollers (no one got sea sick). The boat hummed throughout the night as we took turns staring at the chart plotter and gauges  The crew didn't sleep much but got a few winks here and there. We entered the Anclote River in pre-dawn darkness and soon heard a warning from the lead boat that they just saw a crab pot. Crab pots are a boating hazard. The cages rest on the bottom and are attached by line to small floating balls. If you hit one, the lines can get wrapped around your boat's shafts and props and can be a terrible mess. Once we spotted the first one we slowed to idle speed and spent the next 6 hours picking our way between row after row of pots. Slow going was even more challenging looking into bright sunshine for the sneaky little balls.

The Tarpon Springs City Marina is a real treat. It is located 3 miles up the Anclote River in a picturesque village that has a strong Greek heritage. Tarpon has a history of sponge production and fishing. Now it offers a ton charm with great Greek food and cute shops. This morning the crew is enjoying wonderful baklava and other pastries for breakfast from a local bakery.

We will spend 3 nights in the marina and then on to the next adventure!

"If it's going to happen... it's going to happen out there."

                                    - Captain Ron

The Crossing

 We plan to cast off lines at 3 PM today for our crossing from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs. Our route will take us 172 miles to the Tarpon Springs Municipal Marina which features easy access to many local shops and restaurants. We will be going with 2 other boats and cruising around 9 mph . The weather forecast is pretty good; winds on our stern from the northwest and seas around 1 foot pushing toward the east. Should be a great little 20 hour cruise to warmer weather. The crew of "the Bles-sing!" is excited and ready!

THE ROUTE