Day 111: Monday, December 24, 2012

Port to Port: Fort Myers, Florida

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First time finding fossil sharks teeth; first docktails with the girls.

Mile to Mile: We took the scenic route back to the boat by way of Venice Beach. Jess and Sarah wanted to hit as many beaches as possible on their vacation and Venice Beach is a good place to start. Not only does it offer the standard sand, shells and surf but, as a bonus, you can find fossil sharks teeth here (Thank you Candice for heads-up). Even though we didn’t know what we were doing, all of us were able to find some sharks teeth – mostly small (about the size of a fingernail) but still really cool – these are millions of years old and for some reason they end up on this stretch of beach – a pretty unique way to spend a few hours on a sunny, warm day at the beach.

In case you visit someday, our most successful technique was the snatch and grab – wait for each wave to roll back out and look for small specks of black of the right shape and size and grab them before the next wave washed them away. It’s hard work (standing in the ocean on a warm sunny day) but in 3 hours we found more than a dozen sharks teeth between us. Better yet, bring a long handled screened scoop to reach out into deeper water and filter the sand away before searching. A definite highlight of our trip to Florida.

After several beach stops and sightseeing, we returned to the boat to figure out how to fit two more people and their luggage on a tiny little boat and celebrate Christmas Eve (time for presents). Sarah had brought a large load of treats from home including cookies, lefse and treats from Grandma G. The girls wandered off to explore while Cindy and I rearranged things to make everything fit. The girls are a little bit bigger than they were when we camped on the boat all summer in 2002 but we were able to squeeze everyone in without sinking the boat. It’s only for two nights since the girls have rented a house for several days later this week but its fun to be together “camping” for a little while to share as much time as possible together.

We were lucky too to get back early enough to take the girls to their first docktails. We wandered the 50’ down to the end of the dock to meet some of our neighbors. Everyone was very welcoming and somewhat amazed we were able to fit four adults on our little boat. After months of sharing our docktail stories, the girls finally have their own stories to tell.

Day 110: Sunday, December 23, 2012

Port to Port: Tampa, Florida

Underway: 0:0 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Hotel

First Things First: First hotel stay of the trip; First time visiting relatives.

Mile to Mile: We got up early for our almost 3-hour drive to Tampa to pick up the girls at the Tampa airport (airfares are cheaper here plus we can do some Florida sightseeing and visiting on our way back to Fort Myers). Jess was exhausted after a long sleepless redeye flight from San Francisco by way of Dallas, Texas. Thankfully, both Jess and Sarah’s flights were on time and arrived close to noon so we only needed to make one trip by the airport. We wandered around a nearby mall to waste some time and grab a snack before checking into our hotel near the airport early to relax for a few minutes before heading to Brandon, Florida to visit relatives we haven’t seen for many years.

Elena, my cousin, organized the gathering and, even though it is only a couple days before Christmas, almost everyone was able to attend. Damen and Marissa hosted the gathering at their home and we enjoyed a wonderful pre-Christmas Greek feast of gyros, sandwiches, salad and dessert. (Damen is a manager at a Greek restaurant so he has connections). It was fun to catch up and share stories with 3 generations of our Florida family It was really nice that Jess and Sarah were with since we last saw everyone was about 10+ years ago (way too long but Florida is a little too far east when we tend to go west to Vegas, Phoenix or California on our vacations).. Time flies. Thank you everyone for a wonderful visit.

After leaving the party we stopped by Elena’s new apartment to get a Chi Chi fix (Chi Chi is a cute but very opinionated chiuhua).  Sarah is counting down the days till she can get a puppy so she bides her time by playing with other peoples’ dogs.

Thankfully we didn’t have to drive 3 hours back to the boat tonight (thank you Jess and Sarah for arranging this) – we got back to the hotel relatively early and some of us were asleep as soon as our heads hit the pillow.  (I stayed up to get my Storage Wars fix on cable – it’s a simple show but interesting to watch. It’s always amazing how much people spend to store junk – sometimes for many years). Tomorrow it’s time to hit the beach for some sand, surf and shells.

Day 109: Saturday, December 22, 2012

Port to Port: Fort Myers, Florida

Underway: 0:03 am      Motor Off: 00:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First palm tree farms – miles and miles of them on Pine Island; First giant flea market.

Mile to Mile: After a good nights’ sleep we were ready to get some work done first and then see where the day took us. We spent time (again) purging stuff we have decided we don’t need or haven’t used in the nearly 4 months we have been travelling. There always seems to be be too much stuff. We need to get rid of some weight before the girls visit and add several hundred more pounds for a couple of days. They are planning to stay on the boat for their first two days at the beach and then move to a house they rented nearby. We decluttered and are sending at least 200 pounds of stuff home. For now, we just stacked some bins and extra gas cans on the dock temporarily to make room for our overnight guests.

We have a car so we have to drive somewhere right? Our first stop was a big new West Marine store on the way to downtown Fort Myers. We need a few things to fix our anchor light and improve our living conditions. We were lucky to get out of there for a little over $100 – one boat buck by our definition. Powerboaters down here define a boat buck as $1,000 so we count ourselves lucky. The next stop was a giant fleamarket in Fort Myers – about 15 miles away. We don’t “need” anything but you never know what you might find that solves a problem on the boat. After passing by more than 900 individual booths, Cindy did find some individual silicone muffin cups she has been looking for since we left Minnesota (we are trying to perfect our baking technique and these may help) and we bought some fresh grapefruit and strawberries to add to our fresh food stores. We could have bought a kitchen sink if we had needed one but decided to save that for some other time.

Our next stop was an impromptu visit with Bob and Marilyn in Bokeelia, Florida at the northern tip of Pine Island. They are the parents of one of our neighbors – Paul – a couple houses down from us in Minnesota. Bob and his brother did the Loop on a powerboat named Fuddy Duddy in 3-4 weeks segments over a period of years. We were hoping to get a chance to visit while in the Fort Myers area and luckily we were able to connect. We had a wonderful afternoon visiting with them and talking about some of our mutual adventures. They live in a nice town house with water on boat sides and wonderful natural views over the channel areas – I can see why they like it here so much. Marilyn is an amazing artist and the walls of their home are covered with her paintings and those of other local artists. We didn’t want leave and may come back by boat to visit again.

After a long drive home, we spent a few minutes packing and putting up some Christmas lights to surprise the girls and crashed after another busy day on the Loop.

Day 108: Friday, December 21, 2012

Port to Port: Fort Myers, Florida

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 0      Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: The predicted winds welcomed us to Fort Myers Beach last night – 20+ mph straight from the south aiming right at our stern. Sleep was a challenge – the rocky motion was manageable but the new noises kept us awake for big chunks of the night. Whenever you anchor out or tie up to a dock, the first night or two is a learning experience. There are always new noises and new worries to figure out. Did I tie up the boat correctly? What will happen at high/low tide? Are we too close in the front? What was that squeak? What is that banging? Is the dinghy rubbing? You’re just waiting in the dark for a new bang, creek and woosh to show up. You have to become comfortable with all of these uncertainties before you can sleep comfortably. The first night is always a challenge and heavy winds and waves only add to the cacophony of sound. Everything was still in the same place in the morning but we were a little sleep deprived after our first night at Fort Myers Beach.

We started the day by wandering around the Farmers Market right across the street from the marina – fresh cinnamon rolls, grapefruit and veggies helped make our long night fade. I slapped a little more sealant on the bottom stern seam of the dinghy to try to keep water from leaking in – the good news is the tubes are still holding air for more than half a day at a time so we are making progress. We wasted time reading in the laundry room/library and explored a little bit of the touristy section of Fort Myers Beach – lots of restaurants and shops only a few blocks from the marina. We tried a couple of times to move the boat to the other side of the dock where we would be better protected from the wind but decided it was too rough and risky until the wind and waves settled down.

In the afternoon we walked a couple of miles to the Enterprise Car Rental office to pick up a car – we are driving to Tampa on Sunday to pick up the girls for their Christmas visit. We used the opportunity to do some errands and make a Target run before returning to the marina to get ready for our road trip tomorrow.

Thankfully, the winds died down and Aurora settled into a nice gentle motion making sleep a lot more comfortable – we also added a couple of extra spring lines just to make sure we were secure no matter what the winds and currents did overnight. We’ll be here for about a month so we should get this all figured out just about the time we are leaving.

Day 107: Thursday, December 20, 2012

Port to Port: Shell Island to Fort Myers, Florida

Underway: 9:03 am      Motor Off: 11:30 pm      Miles Traveled: 7.5      Stayed At: Marina

First Things First: First boat-made scratch pancakes with strawberries, syrup and whipped cream.

Mile to Mile: It’s finally time to say goodbye to serenity and say hello to civilization. We need to move on before the next cold front moves through on Thursday afternoon with 25-30 knot winds and cold temps. We had a favorable wind and were in no rush so we motorsailed most of the way into Matanza’s Marina at Fort Myers Beach. A nice way to help us mentally prepare for “The Beach”.

Matanza’s Marina only has a handful of slips – most of their business is focused on their Inn customers and the dozens of boats in the municipal mooring field. Some of these people have stayed here for years. Everytime they need to come to shore they have to get in their dingy and motor or oar over to the dingy dock. A very unique lifestye. We decided to stay in a slip because its easier to explore and meet people rather than being tied to a mooring buoy.

We got secured to the stationary dock – always a challenge to adjust the lines just right so the boat doesn’t hit the dock and yet there is enough slack to allow for 3+ foot tidal range.

One of our “rules” is that we try to get our projects done before we have fun so we scrubbed the decks and cockpit (grungy after a couple weeks of travel), reorganized our storage, flushed the motor, did laundry and straightened up the cabin. We took much needed hot showers, put on clean (and still warm) clothes and checked out the onsite restaurant for happy hour and a snack. We wandered around the main shopping area for a little while – an interesting mix of touristy old Florida and new condos and hotels along the beach. We even saw bikini girls wandering through McDonald’s after dark. I don’t think there will be many bikinis visible tomorrow with 20+ mph winds, temps in the 60’s and a freeze watch for tomorrow night. Only a couple more days before we pick up Jess and Sarah. We’re counting down the hours.

Day 106: Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Port to Port: Shell Island

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 00      Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First blueberry muffins baked on the boat,; First time visiting dolphin by dinghy – very cool.

Mile to Mile: Its supposed to be a nice quiet night again so we decided to stay put and enjoy the relative peacefulness of Shell Island before we get to the marina where we plan to stay for the next month. We started the day with a special treat – fresh blueberry muffins. We are starting to figure out this baking oven and didn’t burn anything this time.

After reading for a while (I finished The Bourne Sanction – thanks Bill), we made a quick snack for lunch, put the motor on the dinghy and buzzed across the channel to an inviting sand sprit jutting out on the end of one of the barrier island protecting our little cove. Surprisingly, it was mostly made up of crushed oyster and clam shells. Lucky we had our water shoes on. But it was a nice break from the boat. We wandered along the shore exploring – Cindy hauled a few more shells back to the boat. We stopped at the bait boat and bought a few treats and chatted for a while before returning to Aurora. We are excited to see Jess and Sarah in a few days and can’t wait for our next adventures. Civilization, here we come.

Day 105: Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Port to Port: Pelican Bay to Shell Island

Underway: 7:05 am      Motor Off: 12:05 pm      Miles Traveled: 27      Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First stilt houses; First bait/snack boat; First boat-made rice krispie bars – perfect as always.

Mile to Mile: Today seemed to fly by. We started the day with a special treat – we shared a farmers market grapefruit gifted to us by Spiritus the day we left Dunedin. We savored every juicy wedge and can’t wait to find a farmers market near the marina. We have been deprived of grapefruit and need to get our fix soon.

After motoring away from our quiet anchorage, we raised the mainsail to get a gentle boost from the steady breeze off our starboard side. Cindy read a great book out-loud as we motor sailed across Pine Island Sound towards Fort Myers. Before we knew it we turned in towards our chosen anchorage at Shell Island – right off the intracoastal waterway and only a little over 7 miles from Fort Myers – a perfect place to hang out for a couple of days before the hustle and bustle of civilization for the next month.

We anchored across the bay from an older cruising boat advertising live bait and food – Jasper’s Bait Boat. This is the first time we have seen this service on the water and it is an interesting business. In talking to the guy manning the boat, they have been doing this for a couple of months and experimenting with what to offer. Believe it of not, they are “open” 24 hours – their motto is “We may doze, but we never close”. It takes a special person to hang out 24 hours a day alone on a boat selling bait and snacks. It’s interesting that they are located at the “Miserable Mile” on the Caloosahatchee River. Why its called that is beyond me – I’ll have to Google it sometime.

It’s always interesting to see what Aurora does after we anchor. Normally, on lakes in Minnesota, Aurora would hang straight back downwind from the anchor. Here, who knows what direction she will like best. The wind was blowing pretty hard in the afternoon from the south but Aurora was laying at a 90 degree angle to the wind. The invisible tidal current was pulling her in a totally unexpected direction towards the island. The current can flow right through parts of the mangrove swamp surrounding the actual island. And in another 8 hours, we will be facing a totally different direction. Another unsolvable mystery.

Day 104: Monday, December 17, 2012

Port to Port: Roberts Bay to Pelican Bay

Underway: 7:47 am      Motor Off: 3:47 pm      Miles Traveled: 35      Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time paying more than $5.00 per gallon for marina gas (something to avoid in the future although the bucket of free ice made it a little less painful); First bikini girls.

Mile to Mile: We had planned a nice easy 22-mile day but we were making good time and travel conditions were ideal so we hammered out 13 more miles to get across two large bays – Gasparilla Sound and Charlotte Harbor. You never know what the weather will bring tomorrow. If fact the weather forecast for later this week has 25+ knot winds in it so we need to get closer to Fort Myers to feel comfortable.

The day wasn’t all work though. We did see our first boat full of bikini girls. On a Monday yet. We must be in Florida. I also saw another manatee but Cindy missed it. They only surface for a few seconds to breath and then go back under the dark water. Maybe tomorrow we’ll see more of both.

We never get tired of the wildlife (not that kind of wildlife). There are always birds, animals or fish to be seen. The pelicans are especially interesting to watch. They are incredibly efficient fisherman and flyers. Watching them glide effortlessly a few inches above the water is a treat. And then they will angle up to get a better view, stop in midair and dive bomb into the water with a big splash. I’d hate to be a fish in Florida – life is short and full of hazards from below and above.

Even with our extra mileage, we arrived at Pelican Bay well before dark and had an early dinner of leftovers and dinghied to the dock at the nearby state park – Cayo Costa – to try to watch the sunset across the Gulf. We started down the trail to the beach but decided we wouldn’t have time to walk over a mile to watch the sunset and get back to the boat before dark so we reluctantly returned to the boat to watch the sunset from Aurora. Maybe next time.

In Passing: Siesta Key, Crescent Beach, Siesta Stretch Point O’Rocks, Heron Lagoon, Coral Cove, Blind Pass, Bird Keys, Alligator Creek, Rambler Hole.

Day 103: Sunday, December 16, 2012

Port to Port: Longboat Key to Roberts Bay

Underway: 8:00 am      Motor Off: 2:45 pm      Miles Traveled: 29      Stayed At: Anchor

Mile to Mile: We are getting a little soft here in Florida. On the rivers, a 29 mile day would be a treat. Now, with less daylight and more traffic and bridges and civilization, 29 miles seems like a long day. We did take a short break and tied up along a wall across from Nokomis Beach and enjoyed a few minutes getting water and peeking out at the beautiful white sand beaches along the gulf. A nice break in an otherwise routine day. We are starting to get used to more boat traffic now that we are in New Florida. It’s a big adjustment over our experience over the last several months. The scenery is different too – lots of big houses and huge condo complexes just about everywhere you look.

Navigation is pretty easy. Just keep between the green and red markers and all is well (usually). You don’t want to stray too far out of the narrow channel though since most of the bays and channels making up the intracoastal are extremely shallow – 2 to 5 feet deep at low tide. Even in the channel, a stray shoal can show up unexpectedly causing the depth finder to beep its shallow water warning. It’s a continuous challenge to stay focused, keep on course, find the next marker, watch out for oncoming and overtaking traffic and enjoy the ride. (And did I mention all the crab pot floats?)

We anchored for the night in Roberts Bay near a public dock and dinghy beach at Venice Florida. The anchorage was well protected and quiet. After a quick dinner of beef tips and rice, we had a relaxing evening, read and enjoyed a pretty sunset. We could have fallen asleep at 7:30 pm (being outside all day in the wind, sun and fresh air does that to you) but we forced ourselves to stay up to 9:00 pm. We can’t get too soft can we. What would Jess and Sarah think?

In Passing: Ringling Bridge, Bird Key, Lido Key, South Coconut Bayou, Mangrove Cut.

Day 102: Saturday, December 15, 2012

Port to Port: Longboat Key

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 00      Stayed At: Dock

First Things First: First wild peacock; First time taking the trolley; First lighted boat parade.

Mile to Mile: We aren’t in any hurry to get to Fort Myers early so this seems like a good place for a down day. We have two missions today – take a trip down the Key to the new Publix grocery store (Grand Opening weekend) for a few essentials and enjoy the lighted boat parade tonight. What would normally be a 30 minute excursion (roundtrip) by car ends up being a 2.5 hour exercise in patience. The trolley only runs every hour so we don’t want to miss it. We need to walk about a mile to the trolley stop. Just getting the 6 miles to the store takes 1+ hours including walking, waiting and travel time. We need to do the same routine in reverse on the way back with 20 lbs of ice and several bags of groceries. It’s a beautiful day, we need the exercise and the road is lined with amazing waterfront homes nearly the whole way so we aren’t suffering but usually simple tasks do eat up a lot of our daylight hours. At least we got to see our first wild peacock crossing the street on the way to the bus – that’s not something you see everyday.

We processed the ice, stowed our groceries and relaxed while we waited for Santa Clause to come. We helped boats coming for the parade to dock which was a fun way to meet people. We met Keith and Chris on La Familia – a beautiful Grand Banks motor cruiser. They aren’t doing the Loop (yet) but are exploring big junks of the east and Gulf coast. Their homeport is Annapolis, Maryland. They had been anchored in the cove for a week relaxing and working and moved over to the dock to enjoy some stone crab for lunch. We met them after our excursion to the store and chatted about the Loop, boats, kids and our mutual adventures. We told them about the boat parade so they decided to hang out at the dock till evening.

At first it seemed like only a few boats would show up for the parade but at the last minute, just before dusk, a bunch of boats showed up from who knows where. As soon as it was dark the boats maneuvered into position and flipped on their lights and it was an amazing sight. (How they avoided hitting each other or the crab pots or the anchored boats or the sightseeing boats is beyond me). We watched with dozens of other people from the neighborhood and eating at the restaurant as the boats slowly snaked their way past the dock and down the channel. A powerboat at the dock with a souped up sound system played a nice mix of classic and modern Christmas music to make it extra special. It was worth the wait.

After the excitement was other, we decided to share a burger at the restaurant and ended up meeting Keith and Chris doing the same thing – except they were going for the stone crab again. And they had something to celebrate. They had commented earlier that Keith was going to be a Grandpa (again) anytime – in fact they were heading to Tampa to fly out west for the event in a few days. Well, the new arrival probably showed up about the time the lighted boats were getting ready for the parade. They treated us to a glass of champagne to celebrate and we enjoyed a nice dinner together. What a special way to end a fun day. You never know which direction your day is going to go – you just need to go with the flow and enjoy the ride.

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

Day 100: Thursday, December 13, 2012

Port to Port: Dunedin to McPherson Bayou

Underway: 9:36 am      Motor Off: 2:50 pm      Miles Traveled: 26      Stayed At: Anchor

First Things First: First time getting stuck on a shoal; first hundred days of our trip.

Mile to Mile: We reluctantly left Dunedin this morning. There is much more to explore here and we will miss our friends Eddy and Linda on Spiritus but we need to make our way to Fort Meyers to celebrate Christmas with Jess and Sarah. Definitely something to look forward to.

One thing we are amazed at here is the tides. These docks don’t float so sometimes we leave and step directly off onto the dock. When we come back we might have to step down almost three feet. We are still learning how to tie our lines so they aren’t too tight or too loose at low or high tide. Kind of amazing to watch though.

We have enjoyed our stay here at the Dunedin Municipal Marina. The staff are very helpful (thanks Bill and Tom) and the facility is clean, quiet and well managed. Definitely a Looper-worthy place to check out.

We were planning to get going early this morning but at our impromptu, pot luck dinner/boat-tails last night we somehow got around to talking about food (again) and Eddy mentioned a great place to have breakfast in Dunedin. Well, we do have a short day ahead. And we do need to eat sometime. And we really don’t want to leave. And we really would like to spend a little more time with Eddy and Linda. So, breakfast it is. And it was amazing.

We didn’t know what to expect – remember, I love breakfast and have pretty high standards.  But my doubts were eased when Cindy’s hot chocolate was delivered – it was a work of art and tasted amazing. It was served in a tall glass with a whip cream topping drizzled with dark chocolate and topped with three white chocolate twist garnishes across the top (and she almost didn’t share any of it with me). Isn’t that how everyone should serve their hot chocolate – the world would definitely be a better place wouldn’t it? My eggs, bacon, sausage, red potatoes and pancakes were wonderful. Eddy’s corn beef hash side was obviously made from scratch. We won’t need to eat again for the rest of the day (but we probably will). The best part, though, was the conversation and laughter that we shared. If you are ever in Dunedin, go to Kelly’s and have a great breakfast. Say hi to Eddy and Linda on Spiritus too – at the rate they are going, they might still be there.

Day 99: Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Port to Port: Dunedin, Florida

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 00      Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: Another early start today. There don’t seem to be enough hours in the day to get all the projects done and still have plenty of time for fun (in the daylight at least). First thing in the morning, I walked a mile to the nearest Laundromat to throw a load in while I tried to catch up on the blog. Hot and humid again but who’s complaining – back home they got 10+ inches of snow and bitter cold. We feel incredibly lucky everyday.

Another day, another ebelskiver party. Eddy and Linda are the first people we’ve made ebelskiver for on this trip who have had them before – Eddy’s grandma used to make them for him many years ago. Suffice it to say that there weren’t any left by the time we finished brunch and got back to our boat (I of course ate my fair share of those little round pancakes).

After spending some time writing the blog, we filled the rest of the afternoon exploring the shops in Dunedin. Its lucky we have a small boat and are trying to downsize or we may have come away with a pretty big pile of things we couldn’t live without.

The humidity finally caught up with us and turned to rain and we barely made it back to the boat before it poured for a short time. This is the only time Aurora is a little uncomfortable – it doesn’t take long to become hot and sticky when you can’t open any windows. But we certainly can’t complain. We have only had two days where it rained during the day and we got wet – in 3+ months of travel. And it will be in the 70’s tomorrow. And probably sunny. And we live on the water. So who’s  complaining?

Day 98: Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Port to Port: Dunedin, Florida

Underway: 0:00 am      Motor Off: 0:00 pm      Miles Traveled: 00      Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: I started the day early – I caught a bus to Clearwater before 8 am to go to the marine place to get my parts. I decided to walk the 3 miles back to get some much needed exercise but was soon sweating even though it was still early – our first real experience with the heat and humidity of southern Florida.

And that was just the beginning. We invited Eddy and Linda to an abelskiver brunch (on their boat of course) tomorrow morning so we needed to get a few ingredients. The hardware store and grocery store we wanted to go to was 3 miles away so another hike was unavoidable (we spend a lot of time getting places that only take a few minutes by car).

We also toured downtown Dunedin. What an amazing little town. Unique shops, great restaurants and not one chain store clone cluttering up the historic downtown area. Yea! We timed it perfectly too, since downtown is decorated in it’s Christmas best – local businesses adopted the light poles along mainstreet and had a contest to decorate each one for the Holidays. Every town should try this – the creativity was amazing and it really showed that the businesses care about the community.

Dunedin is also famous for it’s trees. Some of the trees in the residential areas are so expansive one tree shades an entire yard, house included. Take my word for it – they are amazing. (Or visit yourself – its only 3+ months by boat but its well worth the trip).

After a long, hot, busy day, we relaxed in the cool breeze on the upper deck of Spiritus and enjoyed drinks, snacks and nachos…and a few strawberry margaritas. I can see why Eddy and Linda decided to stay a while. I don’t want to leave either.

Day 97: Monday, December 10, 2012

Port to Port: Dunedin, Florida

Underway: 8:04 am      Motor Off: 8:15 pm      Miles Traveled: 0.25      Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: We lucked out last night – the fog cleared overnight and conditions were dead calm all night – we slept like babies. Today was a really short travel day. We anchored out in front of the Dunedin Municipal Marina last night and we could have waited for the incoming tide and drifted into our slip. And we had a welcoming committee even though it was only a little after 8:00 am when we arrived. Eddy from Spiritus was on one of the transient docks waiting for us – hmmm? They randomly found us at Turtle Cove. And now, he just happened to see us come into the marina early on a Monday morning. I wonder where he hid that GPS tracker. (We did text them last night that we were here but still, what are the odds?)

It was a very welcome homecoming (although he did forget to bring me a hot coffee). We didn’t even get docked before we all sat down on Spiritus to have coffee and catch up on our mutual adventures. This is going to be a fun place to spend some time.

We were lucky and the harbormaster had a very convenient slip available on the same pier as Spiritus and only a short walk across the parking lot to the bathrooms and showers. This marina is completely full and has a waiting list to get a permanent slip so we are grateful for the quiet and calm inside slip.

After getting the boat re-docked, it was time for few boat projects. The anchor light isn’t working so I needed to trace the problem. After testing the circuits, fuses and wiring (and moving everything around several times), I found the problem was a broken wire in an impossible to fix place just below the opening on deck where the wires come out to a plug. We’ll have to jury-rig something until I can run some new wire. I also found a source in Clearwater for a thermostat and spark plugs for Boris.

Cindy and I were going to take the bus the 2.6 miles to Clearwater but decided to start walking when it wasn’t expected to arrive at our stop for another 40 minutes. Well, after sightseeing, taking pictures and a detour for an amazing rib sandwich, we decided to save the trip for another day and walked back to the marina to get ready for dinner on Spiritus. Linda’s friend Ruth also joined us (she is a retired nurse and avid wind surfer/kite boarder/sailor) and we enjoyed a great dinner of pork tenderloin ala Eddy and rice while we all watched a rip roaring thunderstorm send lightning flashes all across the bay – our first storm in a long time. A pretty amazing first day in Dunedin, Florida

Day 96: Sunday, December 9, 2012

Port to Port: Tarpon Springs to Dunedin

Underway: 11:26 am      Motor Off: 2:30 pm      Miles Traveled: 17      Stayed At: Marina

Mile to Mile: Today was a welcome short day down the intracoastal. We enjoyed a couple cups of coffee with John and toured his boat – he likes to spend as much time as possible on it on the weekends even if it is only at the marina sometimes. We wandered one last time by the sponge docks looking in some of the shops – this is the place to buy natural sponges of every kind imaginable. We tried without success to find a bakery with some type of fresh donuts or rolls. By some marina miracle, though, fresh donuts miraculously appeared when we returned to Aurora. John had asked his girlfriend, Lynette, to pick up a few donuts for us on her way over to the boat. They wouldn’t even let us pay for them. This marina life could get kind of addicting. Thanks John and Lynette, we enjoyed meeting you and hope your future adventures are as amazing as ours have been here at Turtle Cove.

We had to wait for the fog to burn off in the morning before leaving. Even though the sun peaked through finally in Tarpon Springs, as we turned south down the marked channel, the fog thickened and never really burned off for the rest of the day. We could also see the next set of markers but were thankful that the Sunday boat traffic was very light and we didn’t have to worry too much about getting run over

It was an interesting afternoon listening to the VHF radio channel 16. The Coast Guard was very busy trying to help people who were in trouble. The first call was a boat taking on water – we could hear only half the conversation but they asked the person in trouble a lot of questions over 20+ minutes trying to assess the situation and find out where they were. The second situation involved someone tangled in a prop – yikes. Scary. Later, near dark there was a call about someone in the water off a beach somewhere. We have heard very few emergency calls on our trip so far (thankfully) so this afternoon was unique.

We quickly made it down to an anchorage outside Dunedin Florida and planned to head in to the marina tomorrow morning. Our friends on Spiritus are there and loving it so we are excited to catch up with them, relax for a couple of days and do some exploring.