Trip Diary for January, 2006

Sunday-Monday, Jan. 1-2:  We started 2006 at Dunedin FUMC and then just relaxed on the boat, reading and watching TV except for a brief dinghy exploration prior to grilling pork chops for dinner.  Monday was devoted to turning in the car, laundry, an aborted attempt at changing engine oil (couldn't find new filters that should have been aboard and everything was closed for the holiday).  Beam SW winds built to 15-25 in the afternoon, so we got permission to move to off the transient dock to an inside slip oriented in the direction of the wind.  This was a great improvement, but Larry badly damaged a starboard bowrail leaving the dock.

Tuesday-Tuesday, Jan. 3-10; Gulfport: We fueled, pumped out and departed Marker 1 Marina at 10:20 AM just after low tide.  This produced marginal water in the marina's channel and we actually brushed bottom for a short distance.  We traveled 31 miles, often at no wake speed along rather narrow channels lined with condos and boat slips.  Chris piloted us to the very well sheltered, excellent Gulfport Municipal Marina by 2:40 PM.  The city provides free wireless connectivity, so it's finally convenient to do web updates and some deferred large downloads.  We walked about a mile to Cahill's Beachside Bar & Grill to enjoy very good, inexpensive dinners.  Wednesday was a "down day": we relaxed, read, watched TV, took an afternoon dinghy ride to stroll the Gulfport beach, and watched two videos in the evening.  Thursday we rented a car, purchased oil change supplies at a local Cummins dealer along a drive to Clearwater for lunch at Frenchy's Saltwater because it had been so highly recommended by locals at Dunedin.  We had planned to stop on the way to Gulfport, but were unable to clear a bridge for their harbor dock (the she crab soup was great, but overall hardly worth the 25 mi. drive).  Returning via Treasure Island, we took an extended beach walk and scavenged sea shells.  Friday began with a 6:45 AM departure for the Tampa airport, 23 mi. from the marina.  Chris and Emily had to leave for Indy where their classes at IUPUI resume Monday.  Our 8:30 return allowed modest boatkeeping before Lola's hairdresser appointment and shopping before a French dinner at La Cote Basque in Gulfport.  Saturday was devoted to serious interior boat cleaning, changing engine oil, plus an unsuccessful effort to remove the damaged bowrail (Larry was heard muttering something about wishing the engineer who designed such difficult-to-maintain equipment had been in his design class so he could have flunked him/her!).  On Sunday we met Gloria Zink at the large Pasadena Community Church and then lunched with her at Leverock's in St. Pete Beach.  With much laundry and a car, we opted for a real laundromat since this marina has none and waiting for the next one's usually modest machines would only increase the size of the job.  By the time we stopped at Boater's World for a few items and grocery shopped it was 6 PM.  Monday AM was devoted to buying additional boating equipment and generator maintenance supplies from the numerous marine sources in the vicinity.  Despite abundant sources, traveling between them in this densely populated region is time consuming; unfortunately, no place we've seen beats the merchandise scope or prices of Wolf's Marine near our home port in Benton Harbor, MI.  The recent beautiful weather continued with a high of 74.  Lola devoted the afternoon to finishing interior cleaning while Larry scrubbed, rather than the usual rinse-down, the topside and flushed the holding tank with the superb dockside pumpout connection.  Despite the physical labor, not needing to navigate or find a new dockage for a few days has been a welcome respite.  Tuesday we had a local canvas shop come aboard to measure for and order a custom bicycle cover.  The replacement fender ordered in late December and drop shipped to Gloria Zink arrived so we drove to St. Pete Beach to pick it up and have dinner at Skidder's.

Wednesday-Tuesday, Jan. 11-17; Sarasota: Returning the car and awaiting the arrival of the new bicycle cover resulted in a late 12:50 PM departure in calm, sunny, 74 degree weather.  Incredibly, the huge Tampa Bay was glassy flat, "Lola's kind of water!" We made the 35 mi. to the gorgeous Marina Operations/Jack in the heart of Sarasota by 5:40 PM (the Lola Marie is docked at the extreme right of the picture). Thursday we learned how to use city buses (the main terminal was only 5 blocks from dockside) and explored Sarasota.  This beautiful city is fully of parks and notable artwork, including a huge statue adjacent to the marina of a famous picture: a sailor returning to NY after WWII to kiss the first available woman. Our first objective was Kilwin's, a favorite ice cream and chocolate source at our home port, but unavailable since starting this adventure.  Next was Talbot's, along a different bus route, where Lola purchased slacks they had been holding for her.  We returned in time to watch the sunset while enjoying wine and crackers on the cockpit before grilling brats for dinner.  Friday required 4 hrs. walking to lunch at the downtown Mattison's City Grille and then another mile to a Publix grocery to acquire supplies for entertaining area Purdue alumni/ae Saturday evening (having neither wheels nor local knowledge greatly reduces one's efficiency for getting things).  With the weather deteriorating to rain with 10-20 mph winds, we splurged for an elegant dinner at our dock's Marina Jack's restaurant.  Overnight, NW winds picked up to 20-30 mph, making for a bumpy night's sleep, even in this well sheltered port.  Saturday winds continued with small craft and surf warnings and Gulf waves in the 11-14 ft. range with a 62 degree high!  Good conditions to stay aboard preparing an evening dinner and dessert for local Purdue alumni/ae Gordon ('49 BS ME) and Betty ('50 BS HE) Reed and Bob ('47 BS ECE) and Mary King.  By Sunday morning winds had subsided to 10-15, but temperatures remained relatively low despite the sunshine.  We attended the large Sarasota FUMC, only 4 blocks from our dock.  It was Youth Day with the entire service, including the sermon, presented by the church's youth; very impressive! We happened to sit next to Cletus and Janet Hirschy from Bradenton, a retired North IN Conference minister.  After the service we updated each other about numerous mutual ministerial acquaintances.  Monday started with laundry and a bus trip to have Lola's nails reworked, returning for a lunch of leftovers.  The afternoon was devoted to making plans to spend February in the FL Keys.  Most Keys' marinas were full, but we finally found one near Marathon and then made reservations along the SW FL coast for the future trip south.  Lola devoted Tuesday AM to finishing the laundry while Larry reinstalled a leaking oil filter.  We then took a bus to the upscale St. Armand's Circle (on the barrier island east of downtown) for lunch at the 100-year old Spanish Columbia Restaurant followed by dessert at Kilwin's. After a brief Gulf beach walk and shopping in the Circle, we took another bus for groceries and a PEFCU-affiliated credit union.

Wednesday-Saturday, Jan. 18-21; Punta Gorda: After a delightful, relaxing week in Sarasota, we departed at 8:25 with 10-15 mph NW winds and sun.  The ICW toward Ft. Meyers was generally well marked with numerous manatee no wake stretches and bridges, four of which needed to open for us.  Only one did not open on demand.  The Gasparilla Island bridge normally opens every hour and half-hour.  We arrived 6 min. late, but when we radioed the tender responded "it's quite a while before the next scheduled opening, but there's not much traffic so I'll open it for you now"; definitely more "boater empathetic" than St. Joseph, MI tenders.  Despite the overall good channel markings, we ran lightly aground when Larry failed to notice one dog leg; fortunately, we backed off and proceeded without damage or delay.  While we saw many dolphins along the way, we were disappointed at not seeing any manatees in this area that's known for having many.  We reached shallow Charlotte Harbor to find 2-4 ft. waves, so the last 9 miles before our 3:30 PM arrival at Burnt Store Marina 11 mi. south of Punta Gorda were a bit uncomfortable.  The early arrival allowed time for Larry to wash down the salt from all but the bridge area.  Warren and Judy Stevenson, retired Purdue colleagues now living in nearby Punta Gorda, arrived at 6 PM to join us for dinner at the excellent on-site Porto Bello Restaurant.  Thursday Stevenson's picked us up about 10 AM to tour around Punta Gorda.  To experience a bit of "old FL" atmosphere, we lunched on wonderful grouper sandwiches at the unique Nav*a*Gato Grille in Arcadia before returning to their home for dinner.  Friday began by washing dried saltwater from the bridge and cockpit curtains so Lola could wash them and other windows and then iron clothes.  Warren picked Larry up about 11 AM for a makeup attendance at the Punta Gorda Rotary Club; Judy picked Lola up for lunch about noon.  We all returned to Stevenson's to change and head for Boca Grande Beach on Gasparilla Island.  While not far from their home "as the crow flies," it was 40 min. by the highway.  Gasparilla Island is a long established, upscale area with beautiful homes and dense foliage including this street of Banyans. We enjoyed an extended beach walk/talk while shelling.  Returning, we spotted Sandhill Cranes that we normally only see in Jasper Co. during migration and then had excellent Italian dinners at Luici's in Port Charlotte.  Stevenson's loaned us their Odessy for returning to the marina and exploring on Saturday.  Saturday AM was a time to sleep in before planning the next leg of our trip.  Taking advantage of wheels, we spent the afternoon touring Ft. Myers.  Our kind of summer weather finally arrived: 83 degrees, water about 70 degrees, mostly sunny with light breezes.

Sunday-Thursday, Jan. 22-26; Sanibel: We joined Stevenson's for the 9:15 AM contemporary service at Punta Gorda FUMC.  Needing to make 37 mi. to Sanibel Island Marina, they brought us back to the boat immediately thereafter.  After fueling and pumping out, we departed Burnt Store Marina at noon. Given our late departure, we ran the first hour and then continued on both engines at 9.5 mph in order to make the marina by 3:35.  The weather was again idyllic with 10-15 east winds, producing 1-2 ft. following seas in Charlotte Harbor; however, boat traffic in the ICW was incredible, our heaviest since Memorial weekend on the Illinois River.  As usual, only a few captains on the dozens of boats we saw were inconsiderate and overtook/passed us at high speeds with vicious wakes.  After securing and washing down the Lola Marie, we enjoyed an excellent grouper dinner at the dockside, award winning Grandma Dot's restaurant.  Monday morning began with a free newspaper and warm blueberry muffins delivered to the boat by the marina, a first!  Larry readied our bicycles (charged batteries and aired tires) and we rode off to explore Sanibel Island, about 12 mi. long and 5 mi. wide.  Never have we seen a place with so much bicycle traffic!  However, Sanibel has excellent bike paths, so we managed despite the congestion.  Our first destination was Gulfside City Beach, along the southern shore about 1/3 of the way from the east end where we're docked.  After an hour beach walking, we returned via the Lazy Flamingo with a sign that said it all, "Paradise Ain't Cheap", and then Dairy Queen for a very late lunch.  We had ridden 12 mi. upon reaching the boat; where are the ergonomic engineers who should be designing bike seats instead of the "uncomfortable narrow stubs" they put on today's machines?  Tuesday, after conducting a bit of electronic business, we rode 1.4 mi. the opposite direction from yesterday to the Sanibel Lighthouse and Beach for some shelling and just sitting in the shade watching/listening to the modest waves. Like yesterday, we had a 3 PM lunch, this time superb grouper sandwiches at Grandma Dot's.  The weather continued to be ideal, as evidenced by the response of Lola's Hibiscus. "Dinner" was a 7 PM half-mile walk to Pinnochio's Ice Cream before showers and bed.  The wind came up overnight and Wednesday's high was about 10 degrees cooler than yesterday, but still a beautiful sunny day.  Enterprise picked us up at noon and we spent the afternoon in Ft. Myers and Ft. Myers Beach (where there just happens to be a Kilwin's) returning some unusable boat equipment, getting Lola's periodic nail repair and shopping.  We returned to Sanibel in time for the tail end of today's sunset at Bowman's Beach and a driving tour of Captiva Island that connects to Sanibel.  Thursday: after enjoying our daily breakfast of warm blueberry muffins delivered to the boat, we headed to Ft. Myers to re-provision for the trip toward the Keys (plus the irresistible stops at two malls).  Since Kilwin's was only 2 mi. from the Enterprise office, we made one last stop for a light "lunch" before turning in the car.  After a late full lunch at Grandma Dot's for more exceptional grouper, we devoted the remaining afternoon and evening to making Purdue travel arrangements and returning the boat to traveling status.  Winds were still 10-15 mph, but slowly decreasing.

Friday-Saturday, Jan. 27-28; Marco Island/Goodland: By the time we had completed needed electronic business, it was 9:50 before we departed.  The 15-20 mph NE winds were stronger than forecast, but Gulf depths are deeper than usual from Sanibel to Marco Island (Condo Island??). Thus, we traveled within 3/4 mi. of shore so the beam waves were generally only 1-2 ft.  We expected many dolphins in the open Gulf, but only saw two.  Despite arriving near high tide, the Marco River offered major low-water challenges.  We ran aground twice.  The first was due to confusing marker colors on the Marco River (which has two openings to the Gulf) while the second was near our destination, the excellent Calusa Island Marina in Goodland.  Fortunately, we managed to back out of both situations.  Upon our 3:50 PM arrival at the fuel dock we were surprised to see Dennis and Judy Ewing, Warren and Judy's friends whom we met at church in Punta Gorda, on their 28 Albin named Island Hopper.  We joined them for an outstanding dinner with live country music at Stan's Idle Hour about 5 blocks from our dock. As the picture shows, this small fishing village has a laid back ambience in sharp contrast to nearby Marco Island.  Saturday was a day for total relaxation; we slept the clock around!  By noon and throughout the afternoon, we enjoyed watching a dolphin pod play just behind our docked boat; 2 adults and 3 young ones.  We ate an excellent late lunch/early dinner at the second of Goodland's renowned restaurants, Little Bar.

Sunday, Jan. 29: Timing of the five foot tide at Calusa Island required us to delay departure until noon for the 58 mi. open Gulf run to Little Shark River.  To have daylight for anchoring, we had to run for 1.5 hr. and still use both engines to make 10 mph.  You still see numerous remains of hurricane damage that occurred 18 mo. ago. Lola barbequed chicken breasts in the crock pot as we traveled about 3 mi. off the sparsely inhabited SW FL coastline and Everglades National Park.  Winds shifted from SE to SSE at 15-20, so Gulf waves built to 2-4 ft. as we progressed, but taking them head-on yielded a reasonable ride.  Clouds increased as we moved south and a light rain started as we entered the Little Shark to anchor just beyond the first river bend below the SW tip of Shark River Island at 5:15 PM.  Four boats, including Island Hopper, were already anchored nearby.

Monday-Tuesday, Jan. 30-31: The Keys: Despite a 2 AM flow reversal in the river due to the 6 ft. tide, the anchor held; probably only because Larry was up every hour checking it.  Low tide still provided 5 ft. so we could leave whenever we desired; we weighed and washed down the anchor at 7:45 AM for the 60 mi. trip.  Crab pot density in the vicinity of this river and south to the Keys was incredible. We saw 500-800 today, often randomly positioned in dense sets rather than the more easily spotted straight line pattern typical further north; constant vigilance was mandatory.  Winds were lower than forecast, S at only 5-10, so the Gulf was virtually flat; we enjoyed a leisurely 8 mph on a single engine.  Our destination, Key Colony Beach Marina, is on the ocean side of the Keys adjacent NE to Marathon.  We crossed into the Atlantic under Seven Mile Bridge W of Marathon into beam waves/swells of 2-4 ft.  Still 12 mi. from the marine, Larry cranked both engines to cruise speed to reduce discomfort time and make a 2:30 PM arrival.  This was 2 days earlier than our reservation, but we took advantage of the weather window and the laid-back "time doesn't matter" philosophy in the Keys.  It was exciting to arrive somewhere for a month's stay!  Tuesday was a morning for relaxing followed by an afternoon and evening devoted to 2005 tax forms; not consistent with the image of time in the Keys, but such business can't be ignored just because one is on extended travel.  Happy Hour at our dock's Smuggler's Landings restaurant provided a brief break from organizing tax records. 

Water miles traveled this month: 381 (total 3769).

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