Windy Windy-er Windy-est

December 5 - December 7, 2016

We left Dunedin in the wind.  The waves were small, but the wind blew and was very tiring. Fortunately, it was on our nose, so it wasn't rough.  We hurried across Tampa Bay because waves and wind were favorable.  We knew from the weather forecast the winds were expected to increase over the next two days, which they did. We spent the night anchored at the Cortez Bridge, in Bradenton, FL.

Cape Haze anchorage was our stop for the next night.  It is a small bay shaped like a bowl, surrounded by palm trees and nice homes.  We were sheltered from the winds and had a good night's sleep.  King caught a weak fish, which he threw back, not wanting to clean just one fish.

We had planned to stop at Cayo Costa State Park, one of our favorite stops from the previous loop, but the winds were just too strong.  So we continued on to Ft Myers.

From the ICW it is 15 miles up the Caloosahatchee River to our destination, Ft Myers Municipal Marina.  Up the river we pass this bait and soda shop complete with sunbathing mannequins.  

We were tired and very happy to be at our stop, Ft Myers Municipal Marina.  When we arrived, we did not know that this would be our final leg of the Loop and this would be where we would sell Blue Moon.  

Yahoo Weather shows Ft Myers Municipal Marina and the weather.  Good weather for winter!

Lots of Gold Loopers in town to attend the AGLCA Looper-palooza, a gathering of Loopers, held at the Harborside Event Center.  Three tracks of classes to choose from, one for Gold Loopers, one for current Loopers and one for future Loopers.  We attended the class on how to sell a boat.  

Ft Myers Municipal Marina is located in downtown Ft Myers, just three blocks from shops and restaurants.  It's a great place to be.  This is a Gold Looper gathering at Ford's Garage Restaurant.  

 Ford's Garage with great decor.

 Bathroom sinks are tires and gas nozzles.

 Customized hamburgers.

Dave and Leslie had driven to Ft Myers and were still waiting on their grandbaby to arrive.  They spent a few days on the boat with us.  There was to be a super moon that night, so we went to The Firestone - a roof top restaurant and bar with spectacular views.

The next evening we drove to Cape Coral to visit Todd and Paula, 2014 loopers we first met in Leland, MI.  We enjoyed dinner together plus they gave us a sneak preview of their new home. 

Docktails 

Loopers like to visit at docktails.  Jack and Patty from Nearly Perfect had a perfect spot to host these gatherings, and they enjoyed playing the role of hosts.  We first met Jack and Patty at Great Kills Marina in Staten Island, NY in 2014 and had not seen them since. There, we went to dinner with them and took pictures which King promised he would text to Patty.  One of Patty's first comments to King was, "you owe me some pictures".  So, after a two year wait, King sent her the pictures of the group at Staten Island.  

Docktails

Comparing boating stories.

CJ, Curt and Julie are Gold Loopers with a "Crossing Their Loop" party at Legacy Harbor Marina, Ft Myers.

King and Jack, from Nearly Perfect, discussing the day.

Festivals
Weekend festivals are popular in downtown Ft. Myers.  From the deck of our boat we saw the parade of festival goers take in a Food Truck and Motorcycle Fest, Doggie Fest. Artfest 2016, and Edison Light Parade, to name a few.

Seashell covered VW

Edison Light Parade
In 1885, Thomas Edison built his winter home in FT Myers.  He died in 1931, having successfully received over 1,000 patents for his inventions.  The annual celebration of his life started in 1938.  We were happy to see the Light Parade and Festival.  James and Nicole and sons watched the parade from Blue Moon's sundeck. Our good friends, Captain Jack and Jane, were there also.

The boys see the floats, lights and bands.

Birthday Party for Max, Mike and Lee
We drove from Ft Myers to St Pete Beach and spent the night.  The event was a birthday party for Lee, Mike and Max.  The party was held outside at the St. Pete Country Club. Only problem was, a cold front had come through and it was cold and windy. Still, a good time was had by all.  We enjoyed seeing Looper friends at the large party. We also enjoyed staying that night at this retro motel at St. Pete Beach.

 Blind Resort Courtyard.

 Birthday boys - Lee, Mike and Max

 Everyone having a good time at the party.

 Judy from Valentine and Suzan.

Max from Lazy Suzan.

We first met Max in Orillia, Ontario around the end of July, when he became part of the Lazy Suzan crew.  Nine months later,  in March, Max left Lazy Suzan in Florida to begin his new adventure as a Navy Seal.  Our best to you, Max.

Dunedin

November 16 - December 4, 2016

Florida Gulf Coast

A storm approaching Marker 1 Marina, Dunedin, FL.  We were safety tied in the marina and enjoyed watching the clouds.

King was still experiencing some back pain, although manageable with his pain killer medicines.  He made an appointment to see a pain management specialist in Tampa.  However, no appointment until after Thanksgiving.  We took it easy and did very little sight-seeing.  He did manage to fish off the marina docks and caught quite a few fish, mainly sheepshead.  They are funny looking because of their teeth, but they are good for grilling.

We met up with Curt and Julie from CJ before they left for Thanksgiving in California.  We first met CJ at Joliet, IL. A unique memory was our 5:30 a.m. departure to reach the Brandon Lock before it closed for the day for repairs. We enjoyed a dinner at a nearby restaurant.

Thanksgiving Day was celebrated with folks from five other boats.  Publix (Supermarket) has a great Thanksgiving meal complete with all the trimmings.  We even had the turkey sliced for us.  Because boat kitchens are small, this was the ideal solution for all of us.

The Tuesday after Thanksgiving we were able to see the doctor.  King received an epidural the next day which helped alleviate his back pain.

We drove through downtown Dunedin on our way back to the marina. Dunedin is one of our favorite Loop towns.

BBQ at its best!  Eli's is family operated and only open on Friday and Saturday.  Food is ordered and served from a walk-up window.  We ate our lunch on the picnic table and also took extra home with us.

Dave and Leslie flew in from Colorado and planned to spend a week or so with us, moving the boat from Dunedin to Ft Myers.  However, as previously said, sometimes things don't work out as planned.  Nicole, their daughter lives in Ft Myers, was due to have her baby the middle of December. However, Nicole started having contractions so Dave and Leslie rented a car and drove to Ft.  Myers. The baby had his own idea of when to be born, coming the middle of December as scheduled.

We carried on, eating, visiting and watching the Christmas boat parade. The marina has an annual hamburger cookout before the boat parade. King and Max in line for hamburgers. I am behind King.

Max, King and I peeking out - beside King.

Hoping for a hamburger handout.

Boat parade after the hamburger cookout. 

Best laid plans - sometimes don't

November 11 - November 13, 2016
Florida Panhandle
There are two usual routes to cross the Gulf at the Florida panhandle.  Our first trip across in 2014 we opted for the three-day route stopping at Steinhatchie, FL, Cedar Key and then Dunedin, FL. Route 2 is a direct overnight crossing taking nearly 24 hours.  The weather was forecast to be beautiful with calm seas.There were 16 other boats planning the overnight crossing. See the flotilla of 17 boats across the center of the photo below. Our group filed a float plan with the Coast Guard and we were set to leave around 3:00 in the afternoon, expecting to arrive Marker 1 Marina in Dunedin the next day around noon.

We set out a little early because King wanted to fish in the channel right outside the entrance to Carrabelle.  He was not feeling the best, but he thought fishing would improve him.  We met the others and set out into the not-so-smooth Gulf.  He continued to feel worse, fever, shaking and a sick stomach.  Not what we wanted for an overnight crossing.  We didn't know what was wrong, could it be appendicitis, gall stones?? We didn't know. After some deliberation and conjoling from me, we decided it best to be safe and turned around and headed back to Carrabelle.  Lee and Suzan had a SAT phone and called the marina.  The thing about Carrabelle is the town consists of one restaurant and a couple of marinas. no taxi, no UBER, no medical, no drugstore and a very small police station.

Fortunately, our chart plotter leaves a bread trail showing where our boat has traveled, so to return I just had to follow the bread crumbs back in.  It would be dark before we landed back at the marina. The folks at The Moorings Marina were there waiting to help get our boat tied up and a local "taxi service" was waiting.  The taxi had come from the nearby town of Apalachicola, FL. about 30 miles away.  By now it was about 7:00 p.m. The taxi drove us to Port St. Joe Regional Medical Center,  a 45 minute drive.

We were the only patients in emergency, so King was quickly taken into a room.  The doctor ruled out various infections, nothing broken, no emergency surgery needed.  He thought it was probably spinal stenosis, since he had previously had a bout with this, plus previous back surgery.  The morphine and Valium did the trick and King slept and felt better.  The doctor gave us a few pills and muscle relaxants and said we could go home.  We finally got back to Carabelle about 1:00 a.m.  Very tired.

The next day a local boater drove me to Apalachicola CVS where I filled King's prescriptions. He took it easy for a couple of days.

With pain killers and muscle relaxants we decided on a new route plan.  We would take the three-day daytime route to Steinhatchee, Cedar Key and Dunedin.  See me smiling about that. It was a very pleasant trip.

 The map shows Blue Moon on the left of the map and our route across to Steinhatchee.

We were happy to reach the marina, but did not enjoy the attack of the biting noseums.  We hurried to the office to register and buy a t-shirt.  I did not get one the first time we were there and wanted to get one this time.

I like my mermaid t-shirt.

A beautiful anchorage and fishing at Cedar Key.  My new favorite fish - a Bonnethead Shark.

Our friends were concerned and kept in touch with us to make sure we were ok.  Lazy Suzan reported about the overnight crossing,  calling it the night from hell.  It was not smooth waters as predicted. Sometimes the weather does not cooperate.  There were 6' waves on the beams of the boats and it was very dark with no moon. Boaters reported items being broken, some people were sick and several boat malfunctions.

Everyone safely reached their destinations, happy to be there and very tired.

We arrived Dunedin Marker 1 Marina.  Happy to be here.