Day 101: Friday, December 14, 2012

Port to Port: McPherson Bayou to Longboat Key

Underway: 9:58 am      Motor Off: 3:02 pm      Miles Traveled: 24      Stayed At: Dock

First Things First: Saw our first sea turtle – looked like a crab pot float until it ducked its head; first time staying at a restaurant dock.

Mile to Mile: Today was another welcome short day so we took our time getting going in the morning. Plus we wanted to wait for more favorable tidal conditions for our crossing of Tampa Bay. Again, the weather forecast was borderline okay but we decided to see how it would go. In protected waters travel was easy but as soon as we started across Tampa Bay in front of the Sunshine Bridge, the waves built quickly in the long fetch and made for an uncomfortable ride. Luckily, we were going with the waves but occasionally, a large set of deep rollers would pass under Aurora trying to swing us everywhere but where we wanted to go. The worst conditions lasted less than 2 hours (vs all night) and the sun finally broke through the low overcast to make for a nice day.

We are again in the land of the bridges. Some open on demand but the four bridges we had to pass through today only opened on the hour, at 20 minutes and 40 minutes after the hour. We were lucky with three but one we just missed and had to wait for 25 minutes for it to open. Not bad but makes planning your passage a little more difficult. Even with all the bridges, we made good time with a favorable tide and soon got to more protected water and tied up to the dock at Moores Stone Crab restaurant. We had planned to have crab but Cindy was still feeling a little queasy after our crossing so we settled for some appetizers. We also volunteered to help out at the boat parade tomorrow – they are having a boat decorating party before the parade tomorrow night. We’ve missed a couple other boat parades so maybe this time we will get to see one.

Our little Aurora is starting to feel a little festive – Cindy bought a simple little tree ornament and wrapped it with some LED lights from a toy necklace. She also made a wreath from some vines, Spanish moss and shells we found on one of our walks in Dunedin. Very cute and just the right size.

Its less than two weeks before Jess and Sarah fly in to visit for Christmas. We can’t wait. We will be staying at a marina in Fort Meyers and spending time sailing, sunning and snoozing. Life is good.

In Passing: Bimini Bay, Anna Maria Sound, Key Royale Bar, Grassy Point, Tidy Island, Buttonwood Harbor, Longboat Key