Log 74; Day 192; Nov. 29,2008; Bradenton, FL.

Here's what I did on Saturday...wax the top of the boat

On Friday we went looking at BIG boats. We toured both these boats

Marlow Marine...these are awesome boats

Woody's...we went there by dinghy for lunch on Friday

One of the outdoor bars at Woody's...great spot

Woody's...you can see Deb waving in the backround

Deb, at Woody's...wonder what she's thinking about?

Log 74
Day 192
Saturday, November 29, 2008

3:30 PM EST
Location: Bradenton, FL...just south of Tampa, on the Manatee River
Weather: 76* and a little windy...forecasted to be 82; sunny; windy

Got up this morning and started cleaning and waxing the boat...something I started yesterday. Beautiful morning...bright sun...warm...a little windy.

Yesterday...after the departure of Andy and Mary I started waxing the boat. I wanted to at least get the front bonnet done, and ended up waxing the bonnet and the topside on the port as well. It’s not bad if you keep up with everything. Keeping the boat sealed with wax really helps, so I just kind of work my way around the boat over time. I keep a log of what I wax, and when, so I know what needs to be done next. For lunch Deb and I jumped in the dinghy and went about 5 miles up the Manatee River to a place called Woody’s Roo on the River. Awesome spot for boaters, and as you can see by the pictures a perfect spot for Deb and me. On our way back from Woody’s we decided to go further down river (where we came in) and go back in a bayou to a place we visited last January when we brought our Whaler done here. It’s the home of Marlow Marine, and they are a first class marina that has been around for a long time. At one time they were the worlds largest Grand Banks dealer, then they started selling Selene’s and finally designed their own boat; called a Marlow. Deb and I went aboard a 53 Selene. It was an awesome boat...you can see one of the 47 pictures Deb took, above. Then they talked us into going aboard a 61 foot Marlow. Words can’t describe how cool this boat was. If you are a boater...this is your kind of boat. Mr. Marlow (now 70) designed this boat, and it is near perfect in every way. Back at HQ by 3 we relaxed for the rest of the afternoon. Dinner was a stir fry from leftover pork chops, and the movie was pre-recorded episodes of Survivor and Mentalist.

Today...Saturday...went on top the hard top first thing this morning and wiped it down to get the dew off, and get it clean for waxing. While I was waiting for that to dry, I waxed the topsides on the starboard side, then went up top to wax the hard top. First time I have ever waxed the hard top...not my favorite thing to do. At 11:30 we ventured over to the bar/restaurant at the marina for lunch. We had received a $20 coupon when we signed up for a week, so we wanted to use it. The place is really first class. Good food, good atmosphere, and right on the water. After a great lunch we walked over to the Bradenton museum/aquarium/planetarium...all 3 in one place (50% off coupon to see this place). We watched them feed the manatee; listened to a guy tell us all about the stars and planets; and learned how big a mastodon elephant is. I’m feeling pretty smart right now.

3:30 now, and not sure what the balance of the day will bring. I already took a short nap (in the planetarium, while the stars and planet show was going on), so I think I have that covered. I’m thinking a beer on the back deck while I watch a little football.

Also...I know Uncle Bill (by the way Deb and I hope you’re feeling better) likes to know the statistics of the trip, so I decided to include an update of where we are at this point.

· Days since we left Michigan 193
· Number of miles traveled 3,064
· MPG 1.46
· Fuel used 2101.39 gallons
· Fuel bought 2121 gallons
· Fuel cost per mile $2.45
· Average fuel cost $3.54 @ gallon
· Avg. docking cost per day $43
· Avg. total cost per day $111

Based on the weather, it looks like we’ll be here until Tuesday, and then head to Sarasota...I’ll keep you posted

Bob

Log 73; Day 191; Nov. 28, 2008; Bradenton, FL.

Here we are at Council's...a local cheesburger place.

Her is a great walkway along the Manatee River...behind Deb is our marina

This is a shot of "F" dock...our home for a week

This is a shot of the marina Thanksgiving dinner...isn't this the way most folks spend their Thanksgiving, surrounded by palm trees.

The main table at the pot luck

Andy, Mary, Deb, and I at the pool

My second nap of the day...must have been the turkey

A shot from our boat...Christmas is alive and well in Bradenton

One more shot of Andy and Mary before they leave.

Log 73
Day 191
Friday, November 28, 2008

6:45 AM EST
Location: Bradenton, FL...just south of Tampa, on the Manatee River
Weather: 49* with calm winds...forecasted to be 77; sunny; North winds 5-10 mph

Still a little cool overnight, but the days are sunny and warm. It’s forecasted to be 77 today, and 80 tomorrow. Sunday and Monday do not look so good, with rain and very windy. Right now it’s just starting to get light out, and the skies are bright and a beautiful blue.

As some of you have read these logs you learn that Deb and I have done several things that normal folks do. Walks; visiting museums; group get togethers; etc. Those who know me, know that this is not my normal “things to do” list, but it seemes like the right thing to do at the time. One of my best friends (and brother in law) Terry, seems to have an opinion on this matter. He was so direct in his opinion, I felt obliged to include his words in this log.

Terry writes...”It all started innocently enough, just a note in the blog to say that you had put off boat washing chores to go sightseeing in Memphis or Nashville. I remember thinking that was strange for you, but, whatever. Then, a side trip to the world’s biggest ball of twine. (which you seemed to enjoy) OK, so maybe he’s getting’ the hang of retirement. Then comes a note saying you were enjoying following Moe around (I always think of you as a leader, not a follower) And again, I didn’t say anything. Then comes a non-stop string of meals in restaurants when everyone knows you like eating at home, followed by riding your bike to the West Marine store. I held my tongue even through the posed picture of “Sponge Bob” at Tarpon Springs. But now, the final straw. A POTLUCK? Have you gone mad? This ain’t the Bob Koerner I know. This retirement/boating thing is changing you, man. I don’t feel like I know you anymore! A freakin’ POTLUCK? Really? OK, you go, you have fun. You and your white haired friends have your potluck on the dock. But when you’re done and you need to be reminded of who you are and who your friends are, you come see me. I’ll take you back to the day when you checked your voice mails and emails 13 times a day. Back when you got up at 5 am, not to analyze weather forecasts but productivity or cash-flow forecasts. Back in the day when getting a contract signed was more important than “what’s for dinner tonight, Debbie? Or would you rather go out to Pirate Pete’s Treasure Island Seafood and House Pet Smorgasbord?” Oh, yes, I miss my old friend Bob. Whatever happened to the guy who had it all together with a great job, a beautiful home and all the rewards that came with it? Now, floating around like Captain Ron in sunny Florida with not a care in the world. Well, it’s irresponsible, I say. Get it together, man! This is your wake up call. Come back to reality and stop this foolishness. Grown men just don’t behave like this. You’re acting like a child!

Congratulations!”

The last couple of days have been sunny and very nice. On Wednesday Andy and Mary arrived. Both Deb and I have really enjoyed our time with them, and were looking forward to seeing them again. After they got settled, and washed the salt off their boat, we went for a walk down town Bradenton, in search of a great cheeseburger we had been told about. We found the spot we were told about (you can see from the picture it looks like something out of the 50’s), and did indeed have a great homemade cheeseburger. The only little ripple was the cockroach Deb found next to her chair, but it turns out it was dead, so no harm, no foul. It was funny though, that before we left Deb decided she wanted to tell the waitress about the cockroach, and did not want to make a big deal about it, so she went around the counter. She put her arm around the waitress to quietly tell her, and the waitress thought she wanted to hug her, and to thank her for her service, so the waitress gave her a big hug. Then Deb told her what she really wanted. You had to be there...but it was funny. For dinner, Andy and Mary came to our boat, and brought something to throw on the grill. We had a nice evening catching up, and discussing future cruising plans.

Yesterday...was a very sunny and nice morning. Deb and Mary took a long walk along the water front, and I took a long dock walk. The buzz at the marina was about the Thanksgiving pot luck that was planned for 3 pm at the pool. Even though my brother in law thinks I have gone nuts, it was very nice. The folks from G dock deep fried 5 turkeys, and everyone brought a dish to pass. I filled up on turkey with homemade mashed potatoes and homemade gravy. It was awesome. Back at the boat I had my second nap of the day, before heading over to Good News for a evening cocktail. Not a normal Thanksgiving...but a great one none the less.

Today...Andy and Mary will be leaving this morning as they continue to head south. They are heading for Marathon, where they have a slip rented for part of the winter, and then on to Key West where they will spend Christmas with their two boys who will fly in. All of us are a little “bumbed” that we do not have any plans to hook up anywhere at this point. I’m sure our paths will cross, but we don’t know when, and we’ll look forward to spending time with them somewhere along the line. Deb and I have some boat chores to do, but today looks like the best all around weather day, so we plan to jump in the dinghy and head out on the water to find Woody’s...a water front bar and restaurant that the locals say is a lot of fun. I’m sure we’ll get to sample another cheeseburger and continue on our quest to find the best one. I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 72; Day 189; Nov. 26, 2008; Bradenton, FL

Mary, Deb, and Andy...at our waterside table in Tapron Springs

This is a sponge diver, just getting ready to head out of the harbor

The next generation of boat captain who will go out and look for sponge

A very typical person who you meet on the street in Tarpon Springs.

Is this the perfect picture of a Greek fisherman...or what?

I'm not sure how Deb convinced me to take this picture...I have officially lost the battle.

Lots of draw bridges like this one on the intracoastal

This is an old wooden boat that had run aground, and has rotted away...just outside the channel we were in

The Sunshine Skyway bridge at the entrance to Tampa Bay

One of the wierdest clouds we have seen

Log 72
Day 189
Wednesday, November 26, 2008

6:20 AM EST
Location: Bradenton, FL...on the Manatee River
Weather: 50* with calm winds...forecasted to be 72; sunny; North winds 5-10 mph

A cold front came through last night, dropping the temperature down to 50 overnight, but the weather is forecasted to get warmer each day now. Thanksgiving (tomorrow) will be 75 and by Sunday it’s supposed to be 80...sounds good to me. No real chance of rain for several days.

We had a very nice cruise from Clearwater to Bradenton. We decided to stay inside, which means we had to wind our way along the intracoastal and pay close attention to stay in the channel, because it’s very shallow if you just get a little outside, but the scenery is worth it. There are also a lot of bridges along the way, but we only had to wait for them to lift one bridge, as most of them had at least 20 foot clearance and we need 18’ 6”. At this point the intracoastal is fairly wide open, meaning it’s a lot of rivers and small lakes tied together. It still has a very narrow channel, but in several places that channel goes through the middle of a lake. The channel depth runs between 6 and 9 feet, in the center. Go just a few feet outside, and it can go to 1 foot very quickly. There is also a lot of no wake zones we traveled through, aggravating to some...but we were in no hurry. About 2/3’s of the way here we were crossed the open waters of Tampa Bay, and ran a route parallel to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, a real cool sight to see from the water. From there it was about 5 miles across the bay and another 5 miles up the Manatee River to Bradenton (home of Tropicana...a former customer of mine).

We arrived in Bradenton about 1:30, and after a quick rinse of the boat, we headed up to check in at the marina office, and get our bearings of the area. This marina staff could not be friendlier, or do more for you. The harbor master, Charlie, knows everything, and everybody in this area. And, he is happy to give out information and advice. We had a lot of questions...and he had a lot of answers. So, following his instructions, we took a walk up “Old Main Street” to see the downtown. Hard to believe, but we ended up in a tavern...Kangaroo Bar I believe it was called. Just a local bar, with lots of friendly folks. They also had a big barrel of salted in the shell peanuts which you could help yourself to, and Stella beer on tap. My kind of place, but after 1 beer we were back to the boat. For dinner we had pork chops on the grill, and for our movie, we watched some old Andy Griffith reruns.

Yesterday...I got up and walked into town and had breakfast at Robbins. Charlie said it was a good spot, and he was right. It was a warm sunny morning, and the walk was excellent. After breakfast I came back to the boat and got ready for a air conditioner technician to get on the boat and fix our helm area A/C unit. I thought it was low on Freon, and it turns out I was right. He did a great job, and $217 later, the unit works just fine. While this was going on, Deb went to do laundry, a project that lasted about 3 hours. Just before she was coming back it started to rain, but it only lasted about an hour, and then the sun came out again...but not as humid or as warm as before because the front was coming through. The afternoon was spent giving the boat a good wash. I got up on the hard top and washed everything with good soapy water, and worked my way down, putting lots of soap on everything I could, to get the salt off. This is something I’ll have to do more of, in order to keep the rust to a minimum. The late afternoon was spent with another dock walk. For dinner we had rotisserie chicken that Deb picked up in Clearwater, and the movie was Shawshank Redemption...one of our favorites.

Today...Andy and Mary (on Good News) will be arriving at the marina this morning. According to Mary’s blog, they anchored out just a mile or so down the Manatee River last night, so I’m sure they will be here by noon. No real plans today...I’ve got a long list of boat to do’s that I keep working on. The good news is...none of them are really major at this point, so there is no fire drill. I also want to go fishing at some point, and this is a good place to take a long dinghy ride, which I’m sure we’ll do as it warms up this week.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving...and we certainly have a lot to be thankful for. I get many emails from friends, and people we don’t even know, who have heard about the blog and now are following it, and they tell me how lucky we are. Well I don’t think luck had anything to do with our ability to make this trip, but we are certainly fortunate to have what we have...and do what we do. Not for one minute do we take it for granted. Each day is special in its own way...and I’m sure this one will be no different.

Bob

Log 71; Day 187; Nov. 24th, 2008; Clearwater, FL.

Andy, Mary, and me...after lunch heading for Islands

Lots of big boats in our harbor

Another shot of Clearwater harbor

This boat leaves the harbor twice a day with tours

Last nights sunset over the harbor...the weather has been awesome

Log 71
Day 187
Monday, November 24, 2008

6:00 AM EST
Location: Clearwater, FL...Mile Marker 135 on the ICW
Weather: 55* with light winds...forecasted to be 78; sunny; East winds 5-10 mph

It didn’t get as cold last night as it has been lately. We have had the heat in our bedroom set at 65* and I don’t think it kicked on once. It is supposed to get up to 78 today in Bradenton (where we’re headed) so it should be very nice. In fact the next 10 days are supposed to be in the 70’s with no real chance of rain until next Monday. Sorry for all those in the Midwest suffering through the cold.

We have really enjoyed the last few days in Clearwater. We went in with Mary and Andy on Good News, and rented a car so we have had transportation, and that changes everything. We used the car Friday to go shopping. Liquor; West Marine (by far the largest one I have ever seen); groceries; and a Wal-Mart...the 4 of us made the rounds. On Saturday we took a road trip to Dunedin, and Tarpon Springs, about 20 miles north of Clearwater. Tarpon Springs is famous for it’s sponge production, and for the huge concentration of Greeks. We toured the town, and ate lunch at a Greek restaurant (while we sat on the water front), which turned out to be very good. When you stroll the town much of the conversation among the locals is spoken in Greek, and old Greek fisherman are everywhere (Deb got a couple of great pictures...but I can’t find them this morning, so I’ll put them on another log). On the way back from Tarpon Springs we made another stop in West Marine...hey, who knows what they might have that the last one didn’t.

Sunday (yesterday) we (Andy; Mary; Deb and I) decided to take the dinghy and stop for lunch on our way to what they say is one of the top beaches in the US (Caladesi Island)...just about 5 miles north of our marina. We left at 11:30, and stopped at Frenchy’s for another good meal (that’s the 3rd time Andy and Mary have eaten there since they got to Clearwater). After lunch we headed toward the Island, but the waves would not cooperate. It was just windy and choppy enough that we could not go fast without getting wet, and going slow would take too long, so we turned around and explored the harbor instead of the island. Back at the boat, I watched a couple of football games while Deb and Mary went shopping again. For dinner we took rice and desert (candy bars) over to Good News and they cooked pork-ca-bobs on the grill...very good.

Today...after Mary and Deb take the car back this morning we will get some fuel ($2.34 a gallon...cheapest since we left) and then head to Twin Dolphin Marina on the Manatee River in downtown Bradenton, FL...where we plan to spend a week. Andy and Mary will be heading to St. Petersburg, to do some sightseeing there. They also plan to stop at Twin Dolphins for a couple of days, once they leave St. Petersburg, so we plan to be together for Thanksgiving. The dock master (at Twin Dolphins) told me that they plan to have a big pot luck meal on the dock Thursday with all the boaters...all we had to do was bring a dish to pass, and they were providing the rest (do candy bars count as a dish?). When I told Mary about this event she said “oh...that has me written all over it...I already know what dish I’ll be making”. While this is not something Deb and I would normally head for...it sounds like a good time.

For today’s navigation we actually have options. We can either follow the intracoastal about 45 miles as you wind through many coastal towns (interesting scenery, but hard to navigate), or go outside here at Clearwater, and come back inside at Tampa Bay. Not sure which way we’ll go yet...I’ll keep you posted.