Log 81; Day 209; Dec. 16, 2008; Fort Myers, FL.

Who takes a picture of West Marine? We talk about it so much, we thought we'd at least let you know what one looks like.

Deb loves these trees...and there are several of them in this area

Beautiful moon coming up over the marina

We took the dinghy to this lunch spot on Sunday. Great cheeseburger

This yacht is located just down from our marina. Seems the owner builds these vessels for dinner cruises, and has sold over 30 of them. He and his wife live on this one.

Log 81
Day 209
Tuesday, December 16, 2008

5:20 AM EST
Location: Legacy Harbor, Fort Myers, FL.
Weather: 65* and a little foggy...forecasted to be mostly sunny and 82 today

It got down to a low of 65 last night...this weather is really great. Mostly sunny with light east winds yesterday, and forecasted to be light winds and in the 80’s for the next several days. Much better than at home...where we are headed tomorrow. Chillicothe is forecasted to be a high of 20* when we land. Deb tells me the warmth of family and friends will make it seem like 80...she’s probably right.

We continue to really enjoy our time at Legacy Harbor in Fort Myers. The restaurants in down town, and the Public’s grocery are very close and convenient. We also have some cool spots to dinghy to for lunch...all of which we have used often. Over the weekend we rented a car, and made several trips to Lowes; Wal-Mart; and West Marine. We also went out to eat with Andy and Mary to a couple of cool spots. You don’t realize how much you miss a car for the little things...until you don’t have one.

Sunday...Andy and Mary left Legacy Harbor and headed for Naples...on their way to Marathon, in the Keys. As usual, we have really enjoyed spending time with them (they were right next to us for the last week) and hopefully we can hook up again when we stop in Marathon on our way to Key West. After they left, it was a beautiful day, so we jumped in the dinghy and went across the Caloosahatchee River to North Fort Myers and up a long channel to a Tiki Hut kind of place for a burger. We never get tired of those trips and are always looking for a new spot. In the afternoon, I watched football, while Deb took the car and did some Christmas shopping, and got a pizza for dinner. Our movie was watching the final episodes of Survivor.

Monday...had the oil changed again. Hard to believe we’ve put over 150 hours on these engines since we last changed it in Chattanooga. This time the oil change went much smoother. They were on board at 8:30, and we had a good mechanic (Joe) and his good helper (Kenny). In contrast to the last mechanic on board in Chattanooga, Joe had all the oil out and the filters changed in a little over 2 hours. Along the way he discovered there was algae in the starboard Racor filter, so it took a little extra time to get that cleaned and also install a new “kit” to be sure we would not have an issue later. I also bought some algae conditioner for the tanks to dissolve what is already in the tanks. While he was here he also changed all the zincs in the engines (these are “sacrificial” zincs in the engines to help with the issues that saltwater causes). It is a must to be current with things like these to keep from having bigger problems down the road. All in all the guys did a good job and were off the boat by 1:30. While all this was going on Deb took the car back to Enterprise, and did a few loads of laundry. Most of the rest of the day I spent cleaning up, and putting the engine room back to normal, after the oil change. Dinner was great Mexican food that Deb made with leftovers from our Mexican restaurant over the weekend...no movie...too tired.

Today...is our last day in Fort Myers for a couple of weeks, because we fly home tomorrow morning. At 10 this morning we plan to meet a sales person (Captain Pam) and look at a couple of new Mainship boats that are in the harbor. We don’t plan to buy anything...just looking at their newest models. The other thing we are doing (and the real reason for meeting with the sales person) is I want her to look at Headquarters to get an impression of our boat, because when it comes time to sell it, I believe she, and her brokerage operation, would be a good outlet for our boat. This won’t be for some time, but it’s never too early to plant seeds. The rest of the day will be spent preparing to leave the boat for 2 weeks. A good washing to get the salt off, and making sure everything inside is ready as well. The good news is it won’t take long to pack...we don’t have anything on board we can wear at home. Once we get home, we will have to go through our packed clothes and hopefully find something warm enough to wear.

Based on our travels, I won’t be writing a log until we return (December 30th), and get ready to leave Legacy, and head for Key West.

It’s time to take a dock walk...Merry Christmas.

BK

Log 80; Day 205; Dec. 12, 2008; Deb's 2 cents from Legacy Harbor

Deb took this picture from the bow of our boat...this is where the daily coctail party takes place. The boat you see "Tranquillity" is an 84 year old man who lives aboard 6 months a year...his wife stays at home in New Hampshire. The boat to the right of him came here on the Loop 3 years ago, and never left.

Lunch in downtown Fort Myers on Wednesday...about 5 blocks from the boat

Deb decided it was a good idea to dry our boat towels in the front state room


Deb has not been successful at putting lights on the outside of the boat "yet", but she has managed to remind me this is the Christmas season

Don't tell Deb...but she had done her usual great job of decorating

Log 80
Day 205
Friday, December 12, 2008

5:40 AM EST
Location: Legacy Harbor, Fort Myers, FL.
Weather: 65* and partly cloudy...forecasted to be mostly sunny and 70

It really rained yesterday...we got almost 2 inches. It started about 9 am and finally quit about 2 pm. I know they talk about Florida drought...but Fort Myers has gotten about 60 inches of rain this year...about 6 inches more than normal. Overnight it cleared up, and there is a big full moon. It will be 80* by Monday.

And now, Deb’s 2 cents...

Hey Everybody!

We’ve been getting reports from family and friends that winter has descended upon the Midwest. We’ve seen pictures of the beautiful Michigan snow…and in Illinois, a pictures of our niece’s 2 yr old daughter making a snow angel and a video of their 4 yr old son on a snow board! Well, aside from a few cold days and a couple of rainy days (today being one of them) we’ve had beautiful weather, and it is weird how quickly we’ve forgotten about ice and snow and cold. I was talking to our daughter on the phone recently as she drove home from work and she said, “Rats! I’m stuck behind a snow plow.” It struck me funny because at the time I was sitting on the dock in the sunshine, sipping a Corona and reading a book. “Snow Plow?!” Oh yeah…I remember those.

We got here to Legacy Harbor Marina in Ft. Myers last Thursday and will be here at least through the 1st of Jan. It's a great marina, within walking distance to downtown Ft. Myers, 2 blocks to a Publix grocery store and lots of restaurants all over the place. There's a guy on dock who was also doing the Loop like we are. He stopped here for a few days and he liked it so much, he decided to stay. That was 3 years ago! Almost every night at 5 pm, boaters gather on the dock by the boat in front of us for cocktail hour. They always tell us to grab a drink and join them and finally last night we did. They are a bunch of fun people. One guy passed around hors d'oeuvres...a large container of cashews from Costco...our kind of people! They told us that every Thursday night there is a pot luck up at the tiki hut (which is inexplicably called the "Chickie Hut") and being Thursday, this is the night for it. Right now it's raining like the devil and so we’re not sure if it will still be held...we'll have to wait and see. We still have chicken noodle soup left for dinner if the pot luck falls through! Not sure what we'll bring if we go...potato chips and dip? :o)

It’s hard to get into the Christmas spirit when the weather is (usually) so nice and sunny and warm with palm trees forming a backdrop to our days. We will hear Christmas music on the radio and think, “Why are they playing Christmas music already?” We have put up a few Christmas decos on the boat (see pictures) but BK has blocked my every move to put them up on the outside of the boat. I was thinking we should string lights along the bow rail…maybe a lighted tree on the hard top strapped to the radar arch? Wouldn’t that be cool spinning around? (Is it just me?) Last night we shared a dinner with Mary & Andy and after an evening of laughs we left their boat at 8:45 pm (Mary has set a personal goal to keep Bob up till 9:00 pm…she’s getting closer!) So we went back to our boat and as BK was “locking up”, he spied Mary and Andy in the dark up on their fly bridge stringing lights! It was not a complicated event…they had one string…it was over in 2 ½ minutes. So now I’m lobbying for lights at the helm…not sure I’ll get the job done.

We'll leave the boat here on the 17th to fly back to Illinois for the last 2 weeks of December doing the Christmas celebration thing with all our family and friends. We will have our Christmas celebration with Bob’s family in Herscher, IL…one with my family in Ottawa, IL…and then another with our own little family…Jeff, Beccah and the grandkids, Zack & Sam in So. Elgin, IL …all about 60 miles apart. As usual, we'll be spending a lot of our Christmas holidays on the road. (Let’s hope the roads stay clear!) We have also made appointments for medical checkups, doctors, dentists, etc. It's a lot of stuff to pack into 13 days! It will be our usual whirlwind Christmas and I can't wait!!

We’ll be back to our boat in Ft. Myers on the 30th in time to celebrate New Year’s Eve (probably up at the Chickie Hut!) Then as weather permits, we will make our way down to the Keys where we have a reservation for one month in Key West! They say you can catch a bug while down here which causes a malady called "Key's Disease". The longer you're here, the less you think about anything except getting to the dock in time for the sunset celebration and where your next beer is coming from. I think we must have already been bitten because the symptoms have begun to show and I’m sure being in Key West for a month will only make matters worse! We’re looking forward to it!

Since it’s been raining all day, we’ve planned inside projects…back to mine…organizing and backing up our pictures onto CDs. (I have to become better friends with the ‘delete’ button!) I also want to clean out the fridge and maybe defrost the freezer…not sure it will get done…I might just go watch the sunset instead.

Hope you are all staying warm and getting into the Christmas spirit! Here’s to Holidays filled with fun, family & friends!

First Mate - Deb

Log 79; Day 204; Dec. 11, 2008; Legacy Harbor

Leaving the dock at Marker 34 restaurant

This is one of the boats decorations at the end of our dock

Down at the end of this narrow channel is Marker 34...a lunch stop for us



Our marina is in the distance...just under those condos

Another day...more cleaning

The inside of Marker 34

Sunset from our dock in Legacy Harbor

Log 79
Day 204
Thursday, December 11, 2008

7:30 AM EST
Location: Legacy Harbor, Fort Myers, FL.
Weather: 73* with rain on the way...forecasted to rain much of the day

Today (Thursday)...storms are in the forecast this morning, some are predicted to be heavy. Then rain most of this afternoon. Andy and Mary have decided to stay another day or two to wait out the weather. Both boats have saved inside boat chores because we knew this weather system was coming, so not sure how much we’ll get out today. After this system moves through today it is supposed to get nice again, with temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s starting on Saturday.

Here is an update on the last few days...

Sunday...in the morning, I worked on the holding tank issue. The problem was that it would not pump out properly when we hooked it up to the pump out on the dock. I changed the vent filter, and blew out both vent lines, so I know there are no restrictions in the vent line. Not really sure what the problem was (if there ever was one) but when I tried it again, and went very slow, it worked just fine. I am thinking that the dock pump has such suction that it was causing a problem. So, by slowing it down some, it seemed to work just fine. The afternoon we just we laid around the boat. Deb read her book, and I watched football. About 6 PM Andy and Mary came over to our boat for a cocktail, and then went back to their boat for dinner. We had homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner (awesome job by Deb) and our movie was Shooter.

Monday...Deb did laundry while I went in the engine room and did a few things. One of the things I did was to check the water in the batteries, which was a good thing because the house batteries we low...very low. It took all the distilled water I had to top them off. For lunch, we had planned to take the dinghy and go up river to Marker 34...a restaurant on the river that someone had recommended, but the wind picked up, so we just walked next door to the marina and ate at Joe’s Crab. After a good lunch, Deb came back to continue laundry, and I walked the other way toward town, and the Fort Myers City Marina. On the way back to our boat I also stopped at a large Mainship dealer to talk to them about their latest models, and possibly listing our boat when it comes time to sell. Andy and Mary had decided to keep their car one more day to run some errands, so I went with Andy to Home Depot to pick up a few things. For dinner, Mary had invited us over for her version of “sliders”...similar to the ones White Castle makes. Deb made a big batch of tater tots to go with the sliders and we had a great dinner. Not necessairly the best for you...but the best tasting.

Tuesday...did boat chores in the morning and at 11:30 we jumped in our dinghy with Andy and Mary and went up the river to Marker 34, a restaurant near the water. I say near the water, because you would assume it was on the river (because they say you can come by boat), but in fact you have to go back in the mangrove channels and try to find this place. I would not want to do it in any kind of a big boat, but in a dinghy it was fun. Very simple, but fun place...I’m sure we’ll go back before we leave Fort Myers. It reached 83* today, and was muggy. Nice day to be in Florida.

Wednesday...It got to 86 today (1 degree from the record of 87) and was muggy. It’s the first time we have had to run the A/C very much. First thing in the morning I jumped in the dinghy and went to a near-by ramp to meet a service guy with a trailer. We put the dinghy on the trailer and went 6 bocks to a small boat dealer where I had the engine serviced. I changed the oil, and all filters. I also had the lower end grease changed and installed a new impellor. As particular as I am about keeping everything just so on our boat, I have really neglected the dinghy motor, and it was long overdo for service. I’m glad to get that done. The guys at the dealership did a great job and had me back in the water by 11:15. Back at the boat we asked Andy and Mary if they wanted to walk into town and have some lunch, and we walked about 6 blocks and found a popular spot in downtown Fort Myers. Back at the boat at 1, Deb continued to clean and do laundry, and I (after a short nap) continued to polish the isinglass. I have been doing a 3 part process. Heavy scratch polish; light scratch polish; and then a coat of clear wax/polish. It looks great. At about 5 each day the dock in front of our boat becomes the gathering area for cocktails. They continue to ask us to join them...and today we did. Very nice folks...each with a different story of how they got here. For dinner we took a salad over to Good News, and joined them for dinner (they had salad for dinner as well). More stories; more philosophy; more things we learned about each other...and about ourselves.

I’ll keep you posted.


Bob

Log 78; Day 200; Dec. 7, 2008; Legacy Harbor in Fort Myers

This fellow was pulling his boat just off the channel in the ICW near Cabbage Key, so you tell how shallow it is.

One view from our boat in Legacy Harbor

Another view

This is looking out at the Caloosahatchee River from our boat

The road outside our marina

Mary...on the back of Good News

Deb thinks it's Christmas so she is decorating the boat...I dont' think she has a tree planned

When Deb and Mary went to the street sale she met this man who makes things with palm strips

Log 78
Day 200
Sunday, December 07, 2008

6:30 AM EST
Location: Legacy Harbor, Fort Myers, FL.
Weather: 65* and light winds...forecasted to be 73 & sunny today

We’re at Legacy Harbor in Fort Myers. About a year ago I started planning this trip and made a decision to stay in Legacy Harbor, and made a reservation several months ago. I remember thinking at the time, all the things we would have to do, and accomplish, in order to make it to Fort Myers. That’s behind us now, and we are in Florida for the winter. Even saying it makes me feel good.

The run from Punta Gorda to Fort Myers is pretty straight forward, and easy to navigate. It is very shallow and you must pay close attention to always stay in the center of the channel, but not near as bad as the run from Sarasota to Punta Gorda. When we left Burnt Store Marina we had an 11 mile run across Charlotte Harbor to rejoin the intracoastal water at MM 25...which means we were 25 miles from where the Western Florida ICW ends. (From this point cruisers either follow the Caloosahatchee River east and then across Lake Okeechobee and come out at Stuart on the east coast, or go south in open water and head for the Keys...we’re taking the latter route in early January). From where the ICW ends we joined the Caloosahatchee River and went another 11 miles up the river to Legacy Harbor (very close to downtown Fort Myers). Once we got here, we again joined up with Andy and Mary on Good News. Through several ports, Andy and Mary have become good friends, and we were looking forward to spending more time with them.

The last couple of days...have really been without any agenda. Friday morning Andy and Mary rented a car, and we tagged along with them to West Marine and Costco. For lunch we walked a couple of blocks from the boat to a local restaurant that boasted to have “the best cheeseburger in town”. Not sure if we would all agree with their claim, but it was good. Back at the boat we worked on boat lists, and just relaxed. Dinner consisted of Deb making some awesome chicken tacos, and the movie was stripes, which I had recorded earlier. On Saturday Andy asked me if I wanted to go with him to the race track in Sebring, FL (about 80 miles away). He had planned to meet up with a college roommate and some other guys who were attending the fall classic races at Sebring. We had a great time. Hard to explain about the races...so I’ll just say it was a lot of passionate race car owners and drivers (of every size, shape, and financial status) who raced together on a 3.7 mile road coarse. I really enjoyed it. Deb and Mary walked to the grocery store, and then into town to a local sidewalk sale. Back at the boat about 4 PM, and then for dinner the 4 of us got together on Good News. We both brought our own meat, and Mary made a dish to pass. We swapped more stories, and learned more about each other, and our families. We also learned that their son (Ryan) had proposed to his girl friend that day, so they were really excited.

The next 10 days will be spent working on odd jobs, and doing a lot of preventive maintenance on the boat. Before we leave Fort Myers and heading to the keys I plan to have the oil and filters changed in the dinghy (someone will pick that up on Wednesday). I also will have the oil changed in HQ...that will be done next Monday. Finally I will have the hull waxed by someone else, and I will continue to wax the rest of the boat myself. I have also got a problem with the forward holding tank (won’t pump out correctly) that I need to fix. Deb plans to do a very through cleaning of the inside of the boat. In between all of that, I’m sure there will be the usual dinghy rides, and quest for the perfect cheeseburger.

For Christmas, we plan to fly home on December 17th, and return on the 30th. While we are both looking forward to seeing family and friends...neither of us are looking forward to the drastic weather change we know will come. Oh well...we’ll be back in the keys before you know it.

I’ll keep you posted.


Bob

Log 77 Day 197; Dec. 4, 2008; Burnt Store Marina, Punta Gorda, FL.

We met lots of these fisherman yesterday as they were out checking their crab traps

Here is a swing bridge we had to wait 25 minutes to open and why the intracoastal can be slow going at times

A typical example of the kind of narrow channels along the water way

And an example of the very shallow water just off the channel...it takes total concentration to stay out of trouble

Just one picture of the dolphin show...we have video of 6 of them playing alongside our boat

This is Charlotte Harbor, looking back at the Gulf as we came towards Burnt Store Marina

The bar at Burnt Store Marina

This is the view out the back of our boat today

Log 77
Day 197
Thursday, December 04, 2008

4:30 AM EST
Location: Burnt Store Marina, Punta Gorda, FL (click here to see our exact location)
Weather: 55* and light winds...forecasted to be 79 & sunny today

One of those very early mornings on HQ for me today. Woke up a little after 3 and finally got up a little before 4. I’ve been watching the weather channel and feeling bad for our friends in Michigan and Illinois. They are talking about a Canadian clipper the next couple of days...with 2 more clippers behind it. We, on the other hand, have sunny skies, and the forecast is for 79 the next 4 days and then 75 after that. This retirement thing seems to be working out so far.

Yesterday...we untied the lines at Marina Jacks at about 8:30, and shortly after joined the intracoastal again at about mile 74. For the next 44 miles we wound our way through small lakes, rivers, and man made canals, and finally came out in Charlotte Harbor. All the way, we fought narrow channels and very shallow water. I have two depth alarms set...one at 7 feet, and another at 5 feet. I finally turned off the 7 foot alarm, because it was going off constantly. I kept the 5 foot alarm on...but was going off all the time. It was “puckering”. Finally at mile 30 we joined Charlotte Harbor and turned due east for 10 miles to Burnt Store Marina. As bad as I make the trip sound, it was really a great day. The weather was great, and we were constantly entertained by dolphins. At one point we were going along with 2 dolphins on our starboard side giving us a show. I looked up to see another group of 3 or 4 playing ahead of us, and then they all got together, and at least 6 of them were traveling along our starboard side for a long time. (Deb has 2 or 3 great video’s of these dolphins...if you are interested in seeing them, send Deb an email at deb.koerner@gmail.com and she will send it to you). At about 3:30 we pulled into Burnt Store Marina...it’s been several years since we have been here, and although it is a nice marina, it is 10 miles off the ICW, and I wish we would have just gone 10 miles further and stayed somewhere else.

Today...we will travel 10 miles back to the ICW and follow it another 30 miles to join Caloosahatchee River near Cape Coral, FL. Then another 10 miles up the Caloosahatchee to Legacy Harbor Marina in Fort Myers, where we plan to stay for 30 days. It should be a great day with light winds, warm weather, and sunny skies.

Well, while I have written this log, I have made breakfast (biscuits, gravy and tater tots), and drank 1/2 pot of coffee. I want to take a dock walk, but it’s still dark out, so I’ll have to wait a while. Man...this cruising life is tough.

I’ll keep you posted.


Bob

Log 76; Day 196; Dec. 3, 2008; Sarasota, FL.

We ate lunch at Patrick's and they had several wooden statues...this is one of one of the owners, and Deb got him to pose next to his statue

We are in the land of palm trees

For lunch we went to Patrick's...where they have several of these full size statues carved out of wood...Deb took pictures of all of them

This is Patrick's at lunch...the owners are sitting at the corner

Downtown Sarasota...what a great "feeling" downntown

Deb was playing with the camera, trying to get this shot...and did

Another great sunset in Sarasota

This large statue is just outside our marina...notice Deb by the nurse's shoe?

Log 76
Day 196
Wednesday, December 03, 2008

6:30 AM EST
Location: Marina Jack’s...near downtown Sarasota, FL
Weather: 42* and light winds...forecasted to be 73 & sunny

I have been getting emails and phone calls from folks up North, so when I tell you it got cold last night (down to 41), I’m sure you don’t feel bad for us. And, when I tell you it will be 82 in Fort Myers (where we’ll be) on Friday you may actually be upset. But such is the case. The strong North winds did bring clear and cold to the area, but it will be out of here today, and the next week will be just gorgeous.

Yesterday...was kind of a lazy, catch up, day. Deb did laundry here at the marina, and I took a walk to the Sarasota downtown area. What a great downtown. As they say...”this is where the rich and famous hang out”. It was probably about 6 blocks on both sides, with every kind of food and every kind of store you can imagine. Each one nicer than the other. So...when Deb got done with the laundry we walked into town (about 2 blocks from the marina) and walked around. As usual, we were looking for the perfect cheeseburger, so we stopped at Patrick’s, a fairly large local bar on the corner. It would remind you of a “Cheers” kind of bar. Lots of locals, and also the occasional tourist...us. Deb, being Deb, didn’t take long to meet folks, and ended up meeting the owners, and hearing all their stories. As you can see from the pictures, she took several of wooden statues (there were 7, but I only included a couple) and even had one of the owners come over and pose next to a statue of him. When we left, they were offering her to sit down and have a martini with them (mainly because she said it looked really good). I’m glad I was with her, or she might still be there.

After lunch we took a long walk around town, and then back to the boat by 1:30. After a short nap, I washed the boat, and did some more waxing. Deb did some bookwork, and finished the laundry. Everyone told us there was a great Mexican restaurant in town, and we thought about going there for dinner, but decided we’d eaten out enough, and Deb made some awesome chicken and gravy, and we watched the latest episode of Worlds Toughest Fixes.

Today...we will wait for the sun to warm things up a bit, and then head 45 miles to Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda, FL. If you want to see our location on Google Maps (click here). This is about 1/2 way to our destination for December in Fort Myers. We will stay in the intracoastal waterway today, because the Gulf is still rough. It is pretty shallow, and is slow going, but should be a great day.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob

Log 75; Day 195; Dec, 2, 2008; Sarasota, FL.

Deb took this picture just to prove I did visit another museum

Feeding time with the manatee

This is the actual size of the jaws of a Megalodon shark

A look at our marina from the Sarasota bay

Standing on our dock this morning this is what we see

Last nights sunset

I am putting these shots in for all our friends who are fighting snow back home

A great sunset...a great day

Ok...one more

Log 75
Day 195
Tuesday, December 02, 2008

7:50 AM EST
Location: Marina Jack’s...near downtown Sarasota, FL
Weather: 56* and windy...forecasted to be 74; sunny; windy

This is a great morning. Slept in till a little after six, and after making a fresh pot of coffee, and checking email and world status (futures market is up today after a terrible market day yesterday) I took a dock walk in our new marina...Marina Jacks. The sun came up while I was walking, and it’s a beautiful day. Back at the boat Deb said if I could wait a few minutes for breakfast, she’d make me some sausage gravy and biscuits...no problem...I’m waiting. So with a little time on my hands I decided to write this log...man, the boat smells good right now.

Yesterday...based on the winds and forecast we had decided to stay at Bradenton a couple more days, so I walked into town and had breakfast at Robin’s again. On my way back to the boat I took a leisurely stroll along the docks, and talked to Charlie, the dock master, to tell him we were going to stay, and I’d be back later to settle up. Back at the boat (about 8:30) Deb was having a relaxing morning, and we were discussing about leaving, when a big gust of wind came up, and confirmed our smart decision to stay put. I decided to wipe down the boat, and take time to clean the power cords. As I was cleaning the power cords on the dock, I was watching the flags, and the wind kept getting lower and lower...not what they had forecast. After about an hour of watching this, and getting frustrated I walked back to the boat and said “Deb...get ready, were leaving”...and she said lets go. So at 11AM we untied the lines and headed out. As it turned out, the trip was no problem. They had forecast the winds to be strong out of the NW and Tampa Bay to be rough, but when we hit the open waters of Tampa Bay it was a little “rock and rolly”, but not bad at all. Once we made the turn south to join the Intracoastal again it was smooth sailing. We arrived at Marina Jacks in Sarasota about 2:15 PM...it was sunny, warm, and wonderful. After settling in, we took a walk to the office and marina bar where we met a couple from Voyager II, someone we had not seen since October 27th when we were with them on the Tenn-Tom. Back at the boat Deb made sausage pasta, and we watched Andy Griffith reruns for our movie.

Today...we plan to stay one more day here in Sarasota. Deb is going to do some laundry, and I need to clean more of the boat, and I’m going to install new vent filters on our holding tank. (side note: normal holding tanks (for toilet waste) have vents on them to make sure plenty of air gets in which helps break down the waste. The problem is sometimes the holding tank smells and when you flush the toilet it can really stink up the area. On HQ we have filters that are in these vent lines to prevent the smell from getting outside). We also plan to walk into downtown Sarasota, which everyone says is really nice.

Tomorrow...we continue our trek south...toward Fort Myers. The winds are still forecasted to be a little strong, so we’ll probably stay inside on the Intracoastal, instead of going outside to make some time. It’s a lot more hassle, because you have to deal with shallow water and bridges, but much more comfortable because your are totally protected from any waves.

Well I just finished my biscuits and gravy, so it’s time to get started. It’s going to be a great day.

Bob