After a week in Clearwater the winds died down and we were now able to move on. Since we had been in the Clearwater area for a while, we decided on a longer leg for our first day. This was actually a bit of a screw-up, as our initial plans had us breaking the trip into two hops, but some mis-communication during the planning stage had us on a longer first voyage. So, we untied the lines and set off for Sarasota. The trip was through the ICW, which meant lots of no-wake or reduced-wake areas, which added some time to our trip. Along the way, Louise managed some more dolphin videos.
This trip also involved us traversing some low bridges, but as we were travelling at low tide, we had sufficient air clearance to get under all the bridges without needing an opening. We arrived at Sarasota late in the afternoon and got tied up to a mooring ball. We have been on moorings before, but this was our first time on such a thing with this boat. We have a fairly high freeboard, and so had to plan for alternate methods of grabbing the ball when we got there. Arriving at the field, which was maintained by the city, we found that bridals were available, and so we we did not have to do anything special to attach the boat. Louise grabbed the float at the bow using a boat hook, and we looped our lines through to secure us to the mooring. Once we got secured up, we launched the dingy and went into the nearby marina for dinner. It was still pretty cold, so we had dressed in layers, including windbreakers for the trip. We got back to the boats around sunset and got the dingy tied up and we were set for the night.
Since we were on a mooring ball we were secure, but it was a rolley experience. It had been windy on our approach, and the winds did not die out until after midnight. This of course generated waves, which rolled the boat quite a bit. As well, there was lots of wave-slapping noise on the hull. Eevee did not like this at all, and she was very restless on the boat this night. She kept wanting to go outside, but it was pitch black, there was a tidal current running, and neither of us wanted to go swimming to rescue a cat, so we kept her inside. She took revenge on us though by meowing - loudly - at several intervals during the night.
The next morning the wind had died off, so we had a pretty smooth ride to Venice. However, we had to pass under three bridges to get there, all with low air clearance. As we approached the first bridge, we got on the VHF to ask about clearance. The bridge operator told us she was not allowed to tell us, but that we had to read the indicator at the bridge approach. When we got to the bridge, we found that we were able to clear it without an opening, so just went through at low speed.
We could not clear the second bridge, so had to wait for an opening (they open every 20 minutes). Luckily we did not have to wait long. The tidal currents were fairly strong at the approach, which made for a bit of a tricky time holding station. While we were hovering, Louise got to see some manatees feeding in the channel, a cow and calf.
The third bridge opened on demand, so we called ahead and he opened the bridge just as we got there. We cruised through the Venice area and got tied up at the Fisherman's Wharf marina. Booking here was kind of interesting. When Louise called to make a reservation, they asked us if we were liveaboards. We answered yes, but we were really loopers and were only staying one night. Many marinas here have no-liveabord policies, mostly aimed at keeping out the derelict boats. After consulting with her manager, she decided we were OK and booked us in.
Lots of wrecks in Florida. Some look recent, others have been here a looong time. The only other place we saw wrecks like this was in Indiana. Don't know why, but suspect that local laws allow owners to abandon the boat if it sinks. Boats are not registered as "tightly" as cars are, so maybe it is easier for owners to get away with abandoning their boats. This boat was a Nordic Tug, a fairly high-end brand. We figured it was grounded recently.
We went for a ride around Venice on our scooters, taking a bike path that followed the ICW. Really enjoyable ride, although we were a bit sore after. Although the scooters are electric, your legs get sore from balancing - especially if you are old like us. Not the first time something like this has happened on this trip. We have found that we are using lots of muscles that we have not used in a while. For example, when we started out, we were sore from climbing on and off the boat. However, after doing it a few times, we are in better shape. Well, this day we got to exercise our calf and ankle, back, thigh and buttocks muscles.
The next morning, Louise got some video of some dolphins feeding behind our boat early in the morning. If you watch close at the end, you can see the tail of a fish that the dolphin has in its mouth.
Louise also got a video of some manatees. These things are not much to see unless you are really close. They make only a small disturbance on the surface when they come up to breathe. We are hoping to get some better footage of these things at some point, but for now this was the closest she could get video of.
Lots of mansions here. The real-estate is spectacular. As we passed this house, we could see someone in the round room getting a haircut. I guess the rich and famous have their stylist come to them.
We then set off for another nice cruise down the ICW. Conditions were amazing and there was zero wind, and not a cloud in the sky. As we got close to our destination in Boca Grande, we called the marina on VHF. The dockmaster told us that we were too early, that check-in was normally around 14:00 (this was at 11:30), but he would check and see if it was OK. After a few minutes he got back on the radio to say it was OK to come in. Many marinas post check-out times and check-in times, but this is the first time we have ever seen these enforced.
When we got to the marina, we found a place that catered to the rich-and-famous. It was REALLY nice and in a really expensive area. The docks were completely empty - we were the only two boats there, so don't know why they were worried about an early check-in. Rich later figured that the whole check-in thing on the VHF was some kind of ploy to get a better tip, since this was that kind of high-roller place - tip to get a better table etc.
Jewel on the dock at Boca Grande.
Louise got some laundry done while I hosed the salt off the boat. Being in salt water, we develop a coating of salt every time we move the boat. This coating is sticky, and gets all over our clothes - like road salt on your coat. So, we have gotten into the habit of hosing off the boat with fresh water at marinas. The outside of the boat is now nice and clean. One bonus of being in salt water is that the spiders have disappeared. We still have a couple inside the boat - we are never completely spider free - but we no longer have them outside. Without their poop, or webs to trap dirt, the boat is much cleaner and also much easier to clean. No scrubbing, we just hose it off!
Once we were set in place, we then we took our scooters out to ride around the area. We saw lots of construction going on. Some of it was hurricane damage, but most seemed to be new construction. This is a high-end area, lots of McMansions and gated communities. We thought that the gated thing was a bit over-the-top, since the island was isolated, and about as far from the unwashed masses as you could get, but I guess rich people like gated stuff.
The beach was actually not that bad, and would be totally fine by Ontario standards, but in Boca Grande everything must be immaculate or it is not good enough!
Finally some truth in advertising.
We passed this gopher tortoise munching grass on the side of the road on our way to the beach. We passed him on the way back, he had only moved about 10 feet.
Back on the boats, we launched our dinghies and went for a ride around the canals. WOW! Every house was big, new, and modern. Every house had a private dock, each with a high-end speedboat (think 4 outboards each with 400 horsepower). Money money money. We saw some dolphins and some manatees at water level.
Florida 'snow' drift. Sand piled up after hurricane Milton.
One thing that was not nice here were the no-see-ums. These things were really small and had a really nasty bite. Within pretty short order of arriving, we were brushing these things off. Louise and I both took some Claritin to reduce the welts - our legs and arms were covered!
Dingy ride with Jewel. We saw lots of amazing houses, and even some manatees.
Boca Grande golf course right on the ocean.
Back on the boat, I rigged some tie-downs in the engine room so we can store things here for long-term storage.
We only had a short run the next morning, so took our time having coffee to let the tide come up before leaving. Again, the ocean was like glass, and we had a really smooth ride. While we were underway, Louise decided to do dishes. She got a bit of a shock when some dolphins jumped beside the boat and splashed us.
This was Louise's view outside the window. Both of us could hear the splashing (I was on the flybridge during this) but Louise got a front-row seat (and even some splash on the window). The dolphins have a speed they like, and when you are going that speed they will ride in your wake for a long while. We saw them following other boats and it looks like a torpedo behind the boat. This group seemed to be having fun jumping and twisting in the wake.
Louise went outside and got this from the stern - she even got splashed!
Sanibel was another high-end destination. The channel was partly silted-in, but we made it through OK and got tied up, then set off on another scooter ride around the island. The houses were all high-end places, and everything seemed to be under construction. There was a traffic jam of contractor trucks down the main street. Mix of renovation/repair and new construction, with emphasis on new. Later we spoke with some locals, who told us that these uber-rich areas get hammered when hurricanes come through - they are all on low islands on the ocean. But that these areas are the first to get rebuilt after a storm comes through, kind of like a remodelling plan. Money talks.
Louise shows off our land-transport. These things have been really great for getting around and have really expanded our in-harbour activity list.
Louise getting a selfie with her ice cream.
Our view in Sanibel.
Lots of no-see-um bites. The welts take a looong time to go away, although they stop itching if you take some Claritin (Benadryl is also good but makes you sleepy).
For a Christmas festival, they lit up the road that runs the entire length of the island with these lights-in-a-bag. During the day, they went down the road putting out these little bags filled with sand, then they came back and put an LED candle in each one.
These lights stretched the entire island.
View of the ocean. The beaches here were all under renovation after the hurricanes, but still really nice in our opinion. This pier is called Stonehenge pier in Gasparilla State park.
The weather was forecast to be nasty the next day (the coast guard put out a small craft warning that night), so we had another day to enjoy the area. We rode our scooters to the end of the island to visit the drug store, then had supper at Doc Ford's Rum Bar & Grille. This restaurant is supposedly famous because it is a setting for a bunch of novels written by Randy Wayne. We decided we would see if any of his books are available on kindle and to check them out.
Along the coast for about 40 km it was wall-to-wall hotels and resorts. The development of the coast here is something else!
A really nice resort along the way to Naples. Naples itself has no really tall buildings, the billionaires don't want them I guess, but all the other towns we passed were very vertical.
We set off for Naples the following morning at daybreak. It was now high-tide, so we had an easier time getting out of the harbour. Conditions got a little sporty for a bit, but nothing like lake Michigan. We pulled into the Naples city dock around lunch time and got set up. Franca and Neil stopped by to visit us. Louise worked with Franca for a long time at the school, and the two of them spent time catching up. They then took us to get some groceries with Melanie, and later we all went out for dinner at a local Italian place.
One of the McMansions in Naples. The guest house on the left was bigger than our regular house.
Our initial plan in coming to Naples, besides visiting with Neil and Franca, and Louise's cousins, Jocelyn, Darlene and Dave, was to then head down to the Florida Keys for a while. However, the weather did not cooperate. We had good conditions around Naples for the next day or so, but the weather window was not wide enough to allow us to make it all the way to the keys. A cold front was coming in bringing high winds to the entire area. Our initial plan was to go in three hops, which would involve two stops in the everglades at anchor. We were looking forward to this, as we would get to see the glades, and also looking forward to some nice protected anchorages. This kind of travelling is also more pleasant since we are underway fewer hours, and have more time to enjoy each location when we get there. But, each hop would be in the open ocean, so we needed to have conditions we could handle. The weather window was now closing, and we would not get the three days of good weather we needed to make it. We could go part way, but then would be stuck in the swamp for quite a while. One alternative was to do the trip in one shot. But, the distance was over 100 nautical miles, which would require night driving at the start, something we did not want to do since there were crab pots all over the place. As well, the weather window did not allow for a "buffer" at the end, we would have a cold front following us, which meant we could get nailed in the open ocean if the forecast was a little off. So, we made the decision to backtrack north and cut through the Caloosahatchee canal to the east coast of Florida. This would allow us to go to the keys using the ICW for protection.
With our plans now changed, we moved to a mooring ball the next day. Dockage in Naples was really expensive, but the marina had several mooring balls that were much cheaper. We got to practice a new skill catching our mooring ball - stern catch. The mooring balls here have a ring on the top that you loop your boat's lines through. Our boat has high freeboard, and so the only place we could reach this ring from our boat was from the swim platform. We rigged up two lines to get ready, then Louise went out on the platform to catch the mooring. She got it first try, then we "walked" the ropes to the front of the boat and got secured.
Melanie grabbing a mooring ball in Naples. They had this gadget that attached to a boat hook that had a spring-loaded carabiner on the end. Once she hooked the ball, the carabiner detached from the ball and they were tied up.
We had some planning to do for our next leg. This involves weather apps, marina apps, nautical charts and lots of phone calls.
This is the kind of winds we have been looking at. On this map, purple shows good conditions, blue is acceptable, any other colour means windy conditions (no-go), red and orange are really dangerous. As you can see, there is no purple on the map, and the blue areas are all over land. Movement is difficult by boat right now and for the next couple of weeks.
Louise was meeting Jocelyn, Darlene and Dave, her cousins, so I took her in by dingy, then returned to the boat to get some things fixed. After a few hours, Rich and I dinghied in and took our scooters to meet everyone for linner (lunch-dinner).
Linner with Rich, Melanie, Jocelyn, Darlene and Dave at Pincers.
When we have been sleeping here, we can hear a kind of scratching-clicking sound from under the boat. This noise is actually shrimp, that are eating the various things that are growing on our boat's bottom. The sound is pretty constant, every time I go into the bilge I can hear it. In bed at night it is particularly noticeable, as we are close to the hull and because it is very quiet. We have heard this sound off and on ever since we got to salt water, but for some reason the shrimp were especially loud in Naples. Kind of like ASMR for boaters.
Tomorrow we go to plan B and backtrack north to Fort Meyers and the Caloosahatchee canal.
Boat name of the day: Sweet EmOcean
