6:05 am
Thursday, December 30, 1999
Day 25
Longboat Key Moorings
Longboat Key, FL.
Sorry about duplicating chapters. I skipped # 24.
It would be very easy to sum up yesterday. Great!
Bright sunny morning, with very little winds, and the most beautiful blue sky.
We were up fairly early, and went to work on the boat. Carl washed the bridge, Steve cleaned the bow. Chris cleaned the windows, and Deb washed the dishes. Me? I hooked up the batteries, set up all the electronics, and made sure we were ready to go.
Left the marina at 9:20. It took about 20 minutes to get from the marina back to the Intracoastal at mile marker 115. Our route took us into the middle Tampa Bay, and we followed the big ship channel under the famous Bay Bridge. Carl got a picture of this. Actually Carl got a picture of everything that was in sight. He has a new digital camera, and you rarely see him without it.
The boat ran fine, but it is not performing as good as it has. It normally will top out at 2300 RPM, but yesterday I could only get 1850 RPM. I think it is a combination of critters on the bottom, which will increase drag tremendously (right Terry), full of fuel, full of water, and full of groceries, and liquid refreshments as we begin our trip. That coupled with old fuel, and engines that need to be run hard for a while to clean them out. As we went further it got better, so we'll see.
We only ended up going about 40 miles yesterday, ending up at Longboat Key Moorings Marina. If you have a map, were located at the southwest corner of Sarasota Bay, on Longboat Key. This is an awesome place, with about 150 slips, and every boat nicer than the next one. My boat looks pretty small as I gaze out right across from us at the 133 footer from the Cayman Islands.
(I'll bet they don't have any more fun than us)
Because we didn't go very far we were in here about 1 PM. After tying up, and Carl washing the boat, we had a lazy afternoon of shopping at the Marina, working on e-mails and the computers, and reading books. Deb, and Chris enjoyed a fair amount of the afternoon sitting in lawn chairs on the dock, and sipping Rolling Rocks. For dinner Steve made chicken on the grill, and Deb made a salad, and a couple of baked potatoes. After dinner Deb and I took a walk around the marina, then came back to the boat to find Carl, Steve, and Chris watching Titanic. After about 30 minutes of this, Deb and I called it a night at 9 PM.
Today we have about 90 miles to go to get to Ft. Myers. The plan is to leave at about 8, and stay in the Intracoastal all the way. As we leave the marina I'll head directly into Sarasota Bay, and catch the Intracoastal at mile marker 75. It will probably be a little cool for the first couple of hours, but the sun will be bright, and I'm sure it will be fine.
Well Carl, and Steve are up, and the skies are just beginning to lighten a little, so I'll close this chapter. Carl promises to start including a picture or two. We'll see.
BK.
Thursday, December 30, 1999
Day 25
Longboat Key Moorings
Longboat Key, FL.
Sorry about duplicating chapters. I skipped # 24.
It would be very easy to sum up yesterday. Great!
Bright sunny morning, with very little winds, and the most beautiful blue sky.
We were up fairly early, and went to work on the boat. Carl washed the bridge, Steve cleaned the bow. Chris cleaned the windows, and Deb washed the dishes. Me? I hooked up the batteries, set up all the electronics, and made sure we were ready to go.
Left the marina at 9:20. It took about 20 minutes to get from the marina back to the Intracoastal at mile marker 115. Our route took us into the middle Tampa Bay, and we followed the big ship channel under the famous Bay Bridge. Carl got a picture of this. Actually Carl got a picture of everything that was in sight. He has a new digital camera, and you rarely see him without it.
The boat ran fine, but it is not performing as good as it has. It normally will top out at 2300 RPM, but yesterday I could only get 1850 RPM. I think it is a combination of critters on the bottom, which will increase drag tremendously (right Terry), full of fuel, full of water, and full of groceries, and liquid refreshments as we begin our trip. That coupled with old fuel, and engines that need to be run hard for a while to clean them out. As we went further it got better, so we'll see.
We only ended up going about 40 miles yesterday, ending up at Longboat Key Moorings Marina. If you have a map, were located at the southwest corner of Sarasota Bay, on Longboat Key. This is an awesome place, with about 150 slips, and every boat nicer than the next one. My boat looks pretty small as I gaze out right across from us at the 133 footer from the Cayman Islands.
(I'll bet they don't have any more fun than us)
Because we didn't go very far we were in here about 1 PM. After tying up, and Carl washing the boat, we had a lazy afternoon of shopping at the Marina, working on e-mails and the computers, and reading books. Deb, and Chris enjoyed a fair amount of the afternoon sitting in lawn chairs on the dock, and sipping Rolling Rocks. For dinner Steve made chicken on the grill, and Deb made a salad, and a couple of baked potatoes. After dinner Deb and I took a walk around the marina, then came back to the boat to find Carl, Steve, and Chris watching Titanic. After about 30 minutes of this, Deb and I called it a night at 9 PM.
Today we have about 90 miles to go to get to Ft. Myers. The plan is to leave at about 8, and stay in the Intracoastal all the way. As we leave the marina I'll head directly into Sarasota Bay, and catch the Intracoastal at mile marker 75. It will probably be a little cool for the first couple of hours, but the sun will be bright, and I'm sure it will be fine.
Well Carl, and Steve are up, and the skies are just beginning to lighten a little, so I'll close this chapter. Carl promises to start including a picture or two. We'll see.
BK.
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