Back to Loopin'

I see over on my blogger home page that it has been 2 months since my last update.  Most of the time was spent at our on-shore home for holiday celebrations, but we did manage a one week dog-free trip back to Freedom in December and a quick ski trip to Colorado. Once our youngest was back to college in mid January we headed back to St. Pete and the Loop. Our intent was to stay just a few days before throwing off the bowlines. It only took a few days, though, to remember how much we love St. Pete and how much we wanted to extend our stay. The marina had room for us, and so we settled in for another week. There is always something going on in St. Pete -- music festivals, boat shows, and in mid February the annual Martin Luther King Parade. Ham and I headed up the dock to watch and it was full of marching bands, kids throwing and catching beads, and high spirits.

As always we enjoyed watching the St. Pete Yacht Club kids sailing lessons every afternoon. Their chatter made us laugh..

 Once that week was up, Mother Nature chimed in with her opinion and we waited out a cold front for a few more days. The extra time in St. Pete allowed us the chance to head over to our favorite beach side lunch spot one day and drive down to Venice for lunch with Al and Donna (staying on Venice for the month), Bill and Judy (who live in Venice fulltime), and Allen and Amy( Ft. Myers residents). We really don't have anyplace to be until February 15th when we have a month long slip reservation in Fort Myers Beach. We could easily do that in two days -- but instead we are squeezing it into two weeks.

We finally did untie the lines on January 29th -- and what a project that was!  After nearly two months of hard work  the lines were tight and taut around the pilings. The Cap'n wisely suggested we start the process on the 28th. That afternoon we spent about an hour untying what I call the long-term lines, ie those lines that allowed FREEDOM to withstand the winter weather patterns, but were not needed to keep us safely in the slip until the next morning. We were also able to make a plan for getting the remaining line untied the next morning -- we were fully prepared to just cut off the starboard bow line and keep moving the next day.  As it turns out, with expert use of the thrusters and boat hook, we slipped out easily just before 7:30 AM and we were back on the blue highway.

It was a cold start ( 46 degrees) but a sunny and calm trip to Venice. Among the crowd of fishermen and snowbirds lining the jetty at the Venice Inlet we spied our friends Donna and Bill waving a welcome.  We felt like celebrities!

That was nothing compared to our arrival at Fisherman's Wharf Marina just a few minutes later when waiting on the dock were our friends Margie and Jim from Maryland, and Donna and Bill who had somehow reunited with Al and Judy between the jetty and the marina.  The dockhands were very impressed with our welcoming committee and the Cap'ns smooth docking.

After two nights in Venice we were off again,  continuing our very s-l-o-w trip south. It was Saturday and there was lots of boat traffic, bridges openings to wait for and shallow waters to avoid -- welcome back  to the Gulf Coast IntraCoastal Waterway!  By 2:30 we were anchored 14 miles from Venice near the town of  Englewood. Late afternoon we lowered the dinghy to explore the area. We had quite a time finding a good place to take Ham ashore and  finally settled on a small patch of grass between two private homes at the end of a street. A post on Active Captain told us a park bench by the water indicated it was okay to pull up.  At this particular spot we felt we were being assessed by the neighbors, so we made it quick: we pulled the dinghy up to the concrete bulkhead, told  Ham to jump off the bow, gave him the command to do his thing, and then to jump  back on board. 30 seconds later we were off.... Not a good solution for more than an overnight, but he was a trooper and it all worked out.

The following three nights found us in a cul de sac-like anchorage near Cape Haze, about 10 miles down the ICW We were a short dinghy ride from the Don Pedro State Park -- a perfect spot to take Ham to shore, get some exercise and do some shell seeking.  Ham wasn't allowed on the beach, but we found plenty to do and see on the nature trail.  We shared our anchorage with two Nordic tugs ( one a Looper named Celebration) for the first two nights,  and 2 different boats, including one Looper,  on the third night.

Despite the thousands of "Manatee Area" signs in Florida, in the three winters I have spent a significant amount of time  on the water all over the state of  Florida I have seen 1, yes one, manatee

We replaced out overly loved dinghy with a new sleeker model, Here's Ham looking a bit windblown, but still in charge.

Ham and the Cap'n on the Don Pedro Park Nature trail. 

Motoring through the mangroves

On Wednesday, Feb 4th, we ventured about 20 miles to Punta Gorda in Charlotte Harbor.  Once again, we are at anchor. The first few days were a little rainy and  lumpy due to a passing cold front, and thunder storms kept us awake, but after all the months of limited anchorages and difficult on shore dinghy access through the Great Lakes and down the inland rivers, we are really enjoying the chance to anchor out and really "cruise.". I love the late morning departures, spending no more than 4 hours traveling each day, and  staying in the same anchorage for as long as we want.  No rush, no docking lines and fenders to sort out, no marina fees. And a fabulous sunset every night.

We may end up in a marina tomorrow night to take fill the water tanks and go out to dinner, but even so, it's good to be back to Loopin'