Sunday December 26th
Windy and Cold this morning.
We took the “Loop Bus” to get an idea of the downtown area here in St. Petersburg. MSC – It costs only 25¢ (10¢ for us old farts). It was so cheap that I threw in a quarter for the two of us (big spender – eh!). At least I did when I had no dimes. This bus runs from the Pier in to the waterfront area and then around the St. Petersburg Bayfront commercial area. The Pier is a huge long pier that reaches out in to the bay and has an inverted pyramid building on it with restaurants, shops and an Aquarium.
We got off the bus at the Salvador Dali Museum. This is an excellent museum. The collection is really comprehensive, covering his art from the time he was 14 until he stopped painting. Besides the paintings there were many photographs taken while he was working. A docent gave free tours throughout the day.
Monday December 27th
Cool and cloudy
Carole went to the Museum of Fine Art which was a short walk from the Marina Dock, While I spent the afternoon trying to install the Radio/CD Player.
Tuesday, December 28th
A short walk took us to the Chihuly Exhibit.For those not familiar with his work, he is an amazing glass artist. It is blown glass, much of it in very large scale. We had seen him working at the Glass House in Tacoma, however this exhibit is only his glass and is much larger than the Tacoma Exhibit. We were really impressed and pleased that we got to see it. The exhibit is a permanent museum, designed and built specifically for this collection. We were not allowed to take pictures in the museum but could take pictures of the pieces for sale in the gift shop. The prices for these were from $4500 to $9000 each. These pieces are about salad bowl size. The work in the Museum was all 5 to 10 times larger and even more intricate
These are all blown Glass - no paint or enamel.
Wednesday, December 29th
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| One of the carriages for hire |
We went to visit the History Museum (another very short walk). It was a comprehensive exhibit of the history of St. Petersburg and featured a replica of the first airplane to fly a scheduled passenger service in the world.
On the way back to the boat there was a flock of White Ibis feeding on the lawn oblivious to the people, bicycles, and horse carriages going by.
Thursday, December 30th
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| How would you like to clean up after these guys |
Friday, December 31st
It has finally warmed up to Tee shirt weather again.
I worked some more on the Radio/CD Player and Carole did a Major Cleaning.
I had to take a bus out to town (a different 10¢ bus) to buy a part. At a traffic light I looked out of the bus door and on the ground near the curb was a cattle egret with a small lizard in its beak.
Jim and Roni (Le Bateau) came for dinner and to watch the 9:00 pm fireworks. The company was good, the fireworks only fair.
After they left we took Annie for a walk through the crowds and the celebration. Lot's of food and trinket vendors and lots of people trying to pet Annie. It was quite crowded. We watched an African Dance troupe perform for a while. Annie was a bit nervous around all of the crowds (and lots of other dogs) but she was quite well behaved and calmed down after a bit. We joined the dock party on our dock about 11:30 and at midnight we watched the fireworks. This show was first class. A really fine show.
Saturday, January 1st
Another warm day – yea!
We went to the local farm market this morning. Not much in the way of farm goods and little of it was local. Lot's of food, handicrafts, art, flower, and plant (orchid) vendors, and a band playing the two step with folks dancing. We bought the most expensive fish ever (except for the one Carole caught in Canada). It was a black Grouper with a fillet taken off one side. At 2 ½ lbs. It cost $46.00. It was good when we grilled it for dinner, but a tad pricey.
I finally got the Radio/CD player installed and working. A broken speaker wire stumped me for a while, but once that was solved it worked fine. I still need to finish the trim.
Last Thursday Carole had a cap fall off a tooth. We called around but it seems that all of the Dentists take the week between Christmas and New Years off. At first we thought we would move on and find someone further South. Today we decided to stay through Monday and get it taken care of here. So we are staying for a few more days.
Sunday, January 2
About 60º F, Cloudy, some light rain early.
Hung out on the boat, did a little cleaning (very little) and started the trim for the Radio/CD player. Mostly I watched Football. The Eagles Game was a late game and not being shown locally. Carole convinced me to find a bar that would be able to show the game. We walked in to town and found a bar that had the NFL Package and they agreed to show the game on one of the sets. The rest of the TV's were showing the Bears/Packers Game whose outcome was of concern to the local fans. Right next to our set was one of the speakers for the rest of the bar, so we were hearing one game and watching a different one. It was really weird to say the least. Watching a back run through the line while we hear over the speaker: “It's a long pass …...” or even worse we are watching the referee explaining a ruling and we hear: “ Are your hemorrhoids causing you to miss out on …....” as a commercial airs on the house channel. On the plus side we got to watch 3 games at once.
After the game we went across the street and had a good sushi dinner.
Monday, January 3rd
Carole was able to get an afternoon appointment at a dentist four blocks away. Everything turned out well. The dentist was able to cement the crown back on and we are good to go tomorrow.
Tuesday, January 4th 2011
Cool (60º F), overcast, calm
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| St. Petersburg Harbor |
We are on the move again! We were enjoying St. Pete so much that we were afraid we might plant roots there! Well not really, It was a nice layover however.
An easy trip to Sarasota. We anchored off a park and took the dinghy to shore with Annie. O'Leary's Bar at the beach is dog friendly so we stopped for beer and wings. Report: Crispy – 2, Taste – 4, Hot -3, Meaty – 4, total -13
When we got back to the boat there was an egret on the swim platform. Of course Annie did her job and chased it away. No, she did not try to jump off the dinghy only barked at it.
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| The front goes by. |
Clear and warm, Light wind. We went to the Ringling Art and Circus Museum this afternoon. It is on the Ringling Estate which was given to the state of Florida before he died. It is now part of Florida State University. The estate consisted of the art museum, circus museum and their winter mansion. A second circus museum has been added. The art museum housed their extensive art collection in 21 galleries arranged by era and all of them surrounding a huge courtyard filled with sculpture.
The mansion built about 1924 has all of their furnishings including 17th Tapestries and a player pipe organ. We did not have enough time to take the tour so only saw the first floor.The miniature circus museum was outstanding. It cover 3800 sq. ft. and at 1/2” to 1' scale it depicts a full tented 3 ring circus from the railyard where the cars are unloaded to all of the tents for preparation, dressing, stabling, eating, and performing. It was created over a 50 year period by one man – on his own. He donated it and installed it here in 2005. Explanations and photographs detail all of the various sections of the circus, from feeding 1500 people a day, putting on a show or two, and moving to another city for a show the next day.
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| The circus arrives |
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| Overlook from the second floor |
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| The mess tent. Each person had an assigned seat and they were Served on china. |
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| Even the Men's room. (There was also a Ladies.) |
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| Dining room in the Ringling's Railroad Car |
It was a really fascinating afternoon.
Thursday, January 6th 2011
Overcast and pouring rain in the morning. It was raining so hard that Annie decided she didn't need to pee this morning and turned around went back to the boat before we got off the dock. I, on the other hand, walked four blocks to the barbershop. Naturally the rain stopped when I arrived.
We started out about 11:00 after it cleared up a bit. It was cloudy, windy and cold all day.
We anchored near Englewood Beach off Lemon Bay. Wind was blowing 10-15 knots and I had to run the dinghy about ¾ mile to find a place to get Annie to shore. The surrounding islands are all mangrove swamps with no landing place. The town side is all private houses. I found a small marina and the first person I asked about tying up the dinghy said: “Sure”. Turns out he is a looper that stopped there to visit his mother.
It was pretty windy (15-20 mph.), but we had a comfortable night.
This dolphin was drafting us for a while
Friday, January 7th 2011It was calm, cold and clear this morning. Not as cold as I expected. It was comfortable taking Annie to shore although when we got to the dock it was low tide, so that I had to lift Annie up to the dock. We walked in to town and passed two parks with “No Animals Allowed” signs so we had to walk along the streets. One of the parks was along the dunes and I understand the need to keep dogs away from nesting birds, but the other park had concrete facing the water and really there was no need to keep dogs out.
The waterway was very calm. Dolphins continued to adopt us as we traveled. We also saw many pairs of Osprey building nests – tis the season. Carole saw a flock of pink birds fly by yesterday. Probably Roseate Spoonbills.
It was an easy trip up Charlotte Harbor and we docked at Burnt Store Marina by 1:30. I met up with the marina manager who was really surprised when she saw our home address. Not only was it in Mullica Hill but that we also live on Ferrell Rd. - actually right across the street from her sister-in-law. I knew that before we stopped here. We had learned that a while back. She and her husband had a boat at Greg's Neck Boatyard about 20 years ago and we had briefly met back then. While talking with our neighbor we learned about their relation. We learned that she was the marina manager from another looper that kept a boat at Greg's Neck back then also. It was great talking with her.
We also got in touch with another looper that now lives down here. We will go out to dinner with them tomorrow.
Meanwhile Carole has found an art class that she might want to take.
MSC- We got a weekend car rental from Enterprise for $9.95 a day.
Saturday, January 8th 2011 – Beautiful, clear, mild morning.
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| The heron on the bow. |
We went to Punta Gorda (the marina is nearly 10 miles out of town) to check out the class Carole was interested in. She signed up for the class. It is once a week for 6 weeks, so we will be staying in the area until February 15th.
We will probably visit several anchorages this week and will take a slip for a month starting next week. I can use the time to do some cleaning and minor repairs I have been putting off. Maybe I will do some fishing also.
We had dinner with Pam and Bob from Mint Julep. They have moved here from Kentucky after finishing the loop. A great evening with friends.
Tomorrow there is a large juried art show in Cape Coral.
Sunday, January 9th
A really good art festival. There were about 300 artists showing and they did a good job. There were some very innovative artists.
Tomorrow we will work on a plan for the next month.
Monday, January 10th 2011 – Warm and Breezy
I saw several Manatees on the walk this morning. Annie barked at them. They could have cared less.
Carole is getting ready for her class tomorrow and we went to town to pick up some art supplies.
Planning will wait for another day.
Tuesday, January 11th 2011 – It's a ONE-der-Full Day 1/11/11
Carole started class this morning. I went out to investigate possible marinas for the next month. I wound up talking to a number of loopers that we had met much earlier in the trip. I did find out that Ft. Myers seemed to be the place to go. We will need a car no matter where we stay so that will add to the cost. We can use the car to visit the area while we are here.
We will be staying at Burnt Store for a few more days as it is getting cold again. We'll probably get underway again on Friday.
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| Snowy Egret |
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| Great Egret |
In the evening when the small fishing boats go by there is almost always an egret sitting on it and two Pelicans swimming behind. At the launch ramp there was another Snowy Egret, a Small Blue Heron, and a Great Egret waiting for the leftover bait handout.
Wednesday, January12th 2011 – Cold (46º F) and Windy
I don't know where the day went. I sat around and watched the day go by. I must finally be on Island time.
We were invited to the Yacht Club for a pot luck Happy Hour. It has apparently gotten out of hand and turned in to an almost Pot Luck Dinner. There were wings, Pulled Pork, Hot dips, cold dips, mini hot dogs, and more. The people we met were really nice. With property value so depressed in price it would be a good place to buy if it were not 10 miles from the nearest store.
Thursday, January 13th 2011 – Very Cold (37º F) and windy
There is something wrong with this picture -walking in a winter jacket, gloves and a knit cap with Palm Trees swaying in the wind. I suppose I shouldn't complain. Florida is the only state in the union with no snow today.
Spent the day messing about the boat and getting ready to get underway tomorrow.
Friday, January 14th 2011 – Cold (41ºF) and calm
We waited until it warmed a bit before getting underway. It is almost what we expected Florida to be like. We had a very short travel day – about 2 hours to Pelican Bay.
It warmed up a bit and after feeling our way in to Pelican Bay we dropped anchor in 6' of water off of a State Park Dock.
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| Looking north to the inlet |
Fantastic Sunset and a really pleasant night.
One thing that has made it really enjoyable that I had not given much thought is that there have been no bugs. I mean none! No flies, no mosquitoes, no bees, no butterflies, no spiders – nothing. This is both in the wilderness areas as well as the populated places. Very strange and very welcome.
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| Sunset on Pelican Bay |
Saturday, January 15th
Still cold this morning, but 50º F is easier to take than 35 or 40º F. When I took Annie in for her morning constitutional I inadvertently made the first of two poor decisions. I tied the dinghy up inside the main dock instead of the dinghy dock. Coming back from the walk I was about to get into the dinghy when a large (~50') trawler was coming in to the inside of the dock.. I thought I would give them a hand – poor decision #2.
Some days it just doesn't pay to be a good Samaritan. They were struggling to get the boat close to the dock as the wind was blowing them away from the dock. I was finally able to get their bow line and was told to tie it off. I did and the line promptly fell off the boat. It had not been tied properly. I coiled the line and threw the end with the loop back to the boat and tied my end to the cleat on the dock again.
At this point I could see that it was going to take a while so I let Annie get out of the dinghy and on to the dock which proved to be a good decision. The captain was going back and forth trying to get closer to the dock. His wife was trying to get the stern line over to me but could not throw it far enough. They were having trouble communicating because all of the side curtains were closed. The captain walked away from the helm to say something to his wife and left the throttles in forward. The boat hit a dock piling and tore up his teak toe rail along with the hull to deck joint. He also rammed our dinghy under the dock – good thing Annie was not on board. It put a hole in the dinghy also. It was fairly small – he gave me a repair kit he thought was new (it wasn't) and wound up giving me cash instead. I pumped up the dinghy and made it back to the boat before it deflated.
Some days it just doesn't pay to be a good Samaritan. They were struggling to get the boat close to the dock as the wind was blowing them away from the dock. I was finally able to get their bow line and was told to tie it off. I did and the line promptly fell off the boat. It had not been tied properly. I coiled the line and threw the end with the loop back to the boat and tied my end to the cleat on the dock again.
At this point I could see that it was going to take a while so I let Annie get out of the dinghy and on to the dock which proved to be a good decision. The captain was going back and forth trying to get closer to the dock. His wife was trying to get the stern line over to me but could not throw it far enough. They were having trouble communicating because all of the side curtains were closed. The captain walked away from the helm to say something to his wife and left the throttles in forward. The boat hit a dock piling and tore up his teak toe rail along with the hull to deck joint. He also rammed our dinghy under the dock – good thing Annie was not on board. It put a hole in the dinghy also. It was fairly small – he gave me a repair kit he thought was new (it wasn't) and wound up giving me cash instead. I pumped up the dinghy and made it back to the boat before it deflated.
We were underway only 10 minutes after our hoped for departure time.
I started the dinghy repair underway. I did have repair parts on board. It was only a short day to Tarpon Bay and the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. By 4:00 the dinghy was ready to go again.
Today should be called “Adventures with Annie”. To get her ashore I had to take the dinghy across a shoal by rowing and then motored it ½ mile across Tarpon Bay. When I got to the dock and beach I was told it was a private commercial dock and beach and I could not land there. The ramp attendant was very sympathetic and was calling the manager for permission when Annie took things in to her own hand and jumped ashore. I then heard over the loudspeakers: “Get that dog on a leash and clean up after it!” while she was peeing on the beach. At that point we were allowed ashore. I talked to the people on shore and they showed me where I could bring Annie ashore in the morning.
As I was leaving he beach I proceeded to break the shearpin on the outboard. After watching me struggle with the replacement the ramp attendant invited me back in and loaned me some tools. Fifteen minutes later we were on our way again.
It has been a very dinghy dinghy day.
It seems that when it rains it pours. Especially when a waterline fitting fails while the generator is running. I heard a strange sound when I went to fill my wine glass. The line going to the faucet in the forward head pulled loose and the pump was spraying water all over the forward head and emptying our water tank into the bilge. I refastened it, but it needs a permanent repair.
Meanwhile it was lucky, that I was doing my usual and putting ice in my wine when I noticed that the propane to the refrigerator was off and the alarm had shut it off. I think we are out of Propane also.
No water, No propane, I know we are headed to Ft. Myers a day early.
To put the icing on the day's cake, the forward bilge pump switch had stopped working, so the water tank contents were now in the bilge. The bilge filled with water, wet the propane detector and the propane alarm kept going off – we are not out of propane after all. After hand pumping about 50 gallons of water into a bucket and dumping it over the side, I finally got the bilge pump running and emptied the last hundred gallons out of the bilge. I could not get the sensor working so I shut off the propane, disconnected the sensor and sat down at 11:30 with a glass of rum.
Tomorrow is another day.
Sunday, January 16th 2011 - cool and overcast
Walking Annie this morning was going to be tough. It was low tide and the shoal I rowed over yesterday was going to be so shallow that I would have to get out and drag the dinghy across. I would then have to motor 1 ¼ miles to the nearest beach I was allowed to use. So, combined with no water, and the propane system down we decided to head straight for Ft. Myers. Annie was going to have to hold it for about 4 more hours.
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| Part of our Dolphin Escort |
We are now here for a month. I really do not expect to write much as this is now a sightseeing tour of the West Coast of Florida from a rental car. If there is anything worth writing about I will.
I think we will enjoy the warm air and Sunshine for awhile.
TTFN
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