Back in the Keys - Sarasota to Boot Key Harbor

We really should spend time writing here more often.  Too much time goes by and we forget the details - maybe that is good - then you only get the highlights!

As we left St Pete on Monday February 27th, we enjoyed two peaceful nights at anchor, one in the Manatee River (think we mentioned this earlier) and another in the Sarasota Bay.  Such a delight!  We then headed back to Marina Jack's in Sarasota for another enjoyable week.  This time, they put us on the South dock amidst the giant and shiny new motor yachts.  Most had no one on board, but there were a few that parked their cars near the docks - two Rolls Royces, a McLaren and a Bentley.  Yeesh!  We tried to do our part.

We reconnected with our new friend Judith, from our stay in Sarasota on the way north a month ago, and enjoyed an evening of jazz at Burns Court Wine Bar.  Tommy, the 92 year old keyboard player, his bass and sax players entertained us with great jazz while enjoying good wine and a light dinner.  We bicycled all over Sarasota, Lido Key and Siesta Key, crossing the waterway bridges several times and enjoying the views of the Gulf.  Our new bikes rock!  We got lucky to connect with old friends Barbie and Paul who were vacationing on Anna Maria Island (up at the north end of Sarasota's barrier islands).  They joined us for a lovely lunch where we were able to catch up on each others lives.  On Saturday we took advantage of yet another spectacular Farmer's Market. We've come to look for these in each city and town we visit.  Florida's growing season is all year along.  So, Farmer's Markets happen all year, unlike our September and October Fall Harvest Season in New England.
So cool!

(Click on any photo to enlarge)

The Paella Guy!

After Sarasota, we had a delightful motorsail to Cayo Costa - an island just south of Boca Grande passage that is only accessible by boat.  It is a beautiful, protected anchorage and the weather remained spectacular.  We walked the width of the island to the Gulf and down the beach to find tremendous shells.  Unfortunately, we didn't have the camera with us, but there were so many shells that the beach itself was made of them. Sand was intertwined, but shells dominated the shore. Amazing.  Sharon wanted to take a truck load, but alas, had to control herself.  We did gather some lovelies that will be put to good use.

Greg enjoying the hammock

Scenes from the waterway -

The House we wish we could live in!

From Cayo Costa, we took the waterway south, entered the Gulf just off Fort Myers and motor sailed to Naples.  Naples has a three-mile long entry channel that we hit on a Saturday afternoon.  The motor boats whizzed past us as we made our way past the lavish and grand homes lining the shore.  Naples has amazing wealth concentrated within its downtown area.  Home after home, valued at three million and up delight and amaze.  Once again, we added good mileage to the bicycles and poked around all the neighborhoods.  We enjoyed wonderful meals at Bleu Provence, The French, Sea Salt and The Cafe'.

The highlight was Andra's visit for a weekend.  We had a great time exploring together.

Andra was looking for a new hat - whaddya think? (Ha)

And lest you think we never cook on board, last night we had fresh pan-fried grouper with bok choy, pan fried potatoes and onions.  The night before we had seared scallops with rice and broccoli slaw.  Last week we had baked honey-cilantro-lime salmon with rice.  Here is a photo of the seared sesame encrusted tuna with bok choy, water chestnuts and rice we had last week as well.  We do, in fact, know how to cook and enjoy doing so on board.

This was seared sesame encrusted tuna, bok choy,
water chestnuts and rice (Greg really likes rice)

While in St Pete and then again in Naples, we got lucky to be able to meander through a high end Art Festival.  The quality of art and artisan product was amazing.  The Naples outdoor art show was so large it took us two days to complete.  Too bad we have no walls on which to hang the art.  Saves us money.....but, we do have favorites!

Leaving Naples early on Monday, we motorsailed south and stopped again at the Little Shark River in the Everglades National Park.  This was another spectacular anchorage.  Quiet, remote (no cell coverage) and the stars were so plentiful and so bright that they reflected in the still water of the anchorage.  Amazing.  We wished we could stay for a couple days and explore the mangroves by dingy, but Greg has been so busy with work, that he couldn't live without connection for more than a day.  So, on we went to the Keys where we peacefully anchored, enjoying the setting sun, the breeze, the quiet evening and a cell tower across the water.  How fortunate are we!

The Gulf of Mexico

Our anchorage in the Little Shark River, Everglades -

We were so looking forward to more nights at anchor in the Keys.  However, the weather forecast was calling for high winds and storms.  So, rather than hope our anchorage was adequate, we looked for a more protected situation.  We were fortunate to grab a mooring in Boot Key Harbor for a few days.  This harbor is completely surrounded by land and has moorings for a lot of boats.  Tonight, Thursday, the skies opened up, lightning has been constant, and we are very happy we were able to get a spot in this 360 degree protected harbor.

If you look closely you can see another Island Packet 40 moored nearby. The couple aboard stopped by to say hi before the storm hit. By days' end we were surrounded by three Island Packets! 

The twinkling lights are masthead anchor lights of other sailboats. This is the only marina we've been in that asks everyone to light an anchor light at night. The normal prctice is to light one if anchored, not when on a mooring ball. 

We will spend the rest of the week in the Keys and then head north, when the wind clocks East and South, to Miami, where we plan to stay for the month of April.  Then, we begin our trek back north for the summer.

'Til next time -

St Petersburg, Florida - a great place to visit

Last night we dropped the hook after an delightful, albeit short, sail down Tampa Bay, beginning our move back south down the West coast of Florida.  This was our first sail in over a month and it is always great to be back on the water.  We anchored in the Manatee River, just north of Bradenton, Florida.  For those of you who keep track of us on SPOT (by clicking on the photo above), when you can't find us on SPOT, that typically means that we have been stationary for awhile and you can expect that we are enjoying the last location shown by SPOT.  Another fun way to find us is to sign up for Marine Traffic, which has the positions of every AIS (Automatic Identification System) equipped ship and boat on its world maps.  After you sign up, you then create a "fleet", which would include us, and then you can see us anywhere in the world in real time!  You will also receive emails whenever we leave or enter a port.  Similar to SPOT, but a little more to it.  Kind of fun!

We have spent the last four weeks in St Petersburg.  The St Pete Marina is right downtown, easy walking distance to the weekly Farmer's Market, the Dali Museum, the private collection of Chihuly glass and the neighboring Morean Gallery where you can watch a glass-blowing demonstration, in addition to all the shops, restaurants and more!  We did all of the above, as well as a private tour of the historic Vinoy hotel, hit the Gulf beaches, shared time with family and friends and generally enjoyed being on land.

Scenes from the weekly Farmer's Market,
a block from the marina.  This is February!!! :)

This and the next few are from the Chihuly
private collection - amazing work!

Click on any photo to enlarge

This filled an entire room - glass landscape eight feet tall.

These three are from the glass blowing demonstration

The Vinoy Ballroom with Chihuly Chandelier

1200 pounds of art glass!
Click on any photo to enlarge

Loved the old elevator dial

Our free dessert at a local restaurant, Sea Salt - cotton candy!

St Petersburg is a very bicycle-friendly area with trails that take you from city to beach, and a bike lane on almost every major roadway.  We had been using our little 16" wheel Citizen folding bikes, but you can't really make many miles on them.  They were great for grocery runs or other short trips, but we got tired of peddling so much and not making much headway.  There is a cool shop in St Petersburg that sells only folding bicycles.  Michael at Two Fold Bicycle Shop set us up with some cool new Tern bicycles - 20" wheels, easy shifting through nine gears, lighter weight - an all around great new ride!  It has been fun putting on the miles!

Our new rides!

Greg's Mom and sister visited for about a week and we took in the Florida Botanical Garden.  

Greg's sister and Mom

Greg and Mom

St Petersburg is setting up for the Grand Prix the second weekend in March.  Greg was lucky enough to see them unload the promo car and they insisted on taking a photo.  Pretty cool!

So, as mentioned, we headed away from the dock yesterday and enjoyed a night at anchor after a very spirited sail and a day of work for Greg.  We were enjoying the sunset once again and looking forward to waking up on the water, hearing the birds, feeling the breeze and listening to the water lap against the hull.

Wait - our first bite of dinner and here comes a Coast Guard work boat pushing a barge.  They settled about 150 feet off our port side.  See those tall poles on the barge with the crane?  Instead of using an anchor, they drive a piling down into the seabed to secure the boat, and there they sat all night.  Fortunately, the boys quieted down about 9pm.  The second photo is the view from the starboard side.  Not bad.

Greg took this great photo of the moon

This morning, though we woke up to fog and overcast skies, it only took a couple hours before the sun was shining brightly again.  No sailing today, just a motor down the West Coast of Florida's waterway, under a couple bridges and around the bend to another sweet anchorage.  No one to bother us this evening.

We passed our Coastie friends along the way.  Based on radio conversations, they seem to be repairing day marks (the posts with the red triangles and green squares that guide us along the way) and then going into maneuvers with a helicopter a few miles offshore.  They headed out that bridge that you see on the left there.

Tomorrow, we head back to Marina Jack in Sarasota to spend a week before moving on again.  We'll let you know what adventure we find along the way.  'Til next time -