TMI

Yes, it's a slow news day on Aunt Aggie.  We are preparing to leave the boat for 17 days, so we are doing some chores and packing.  We ate a weird meal for lunch:  broccoli, deviled eggs and apple with peanut butter.  That finished up some fresh items.  We did two loads of laundry.  It turns out that we only have one suitcase here, so we are checking a zippered shopping bag.  We are flying Southwest and can check two bags, and we really want to do that.  But we don't have two bags, so we're making do.

George is an interesting packer.  He wears shorts every day, and we only wash once a week.  Yesterday he had on dirty shorts, and we were going to the tax office. He started looking for clean shorts and discovered that he only had two pair here, both dirty.  He'd left the others in Atlanta after Thanksgiving.  So he went dirty.  We do assume that no one really is looking at us.

He is also thrifty.  I don't mind his economizing usually since that is one of the reasons we can take this trip.  This morning George dressed in warm-ups from tennis, so we could wash the shorts.  So far, so good.  Another item on our to-do list was a haircut for George.  Here is a man who does not want to pay $15 for a haircut at Super Cuts.  Instead he bought a Conair Home Haircutting Kit and asked me to cut his hair.  (He likes to use the #4 guard.)  When I was teaching, I did not want to do haircuts on the side.  Now I really have no excuse.  I have plenty of free time.  When it was time for the haircut, George changed into boxers (no shirt)  and sat on the blue kitchen stool out on the back porch.  What a sight!  I trimmed away.  The next thing we knew, a fishing cruise came by.  We heard their laughter, but we did not wave or encourage.  They probably were just jealous.  You can see how sporty he looks now, all cleaned up.

Did you ever hear Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story"?  My father used to listen to Paul Harvey at noon on the radio while he ate lunch.  Well, here's the rest of the story about Island Girl, the boat who waked us on Friday.  We were walking around the docks last night, looking at lights and boat names.  And there it was - Island Girl!  No one was home.  We took a picture and thought of revenge.  No good ideas so far.

We will be in Atlanta for Christmas and New Year's, returning to Aunt Aggie on January 3, 2015.  The blog will restart on January 4.  Happy Hanukkah!  Merry Christmas!  Happy New Year!

The Journey for the Sojourner Permit

Today is another beautiful, blue sky day in Ft. Myers.  We spent five hours going to pay our sojourner tax at the Lee County government office.  At least two of those hours were waiting on the bus.  We walked to the trolley and rode it to the bus stop.  Darn!  We had just missed the bus and had to wait an hour.  Looking around, we spotted the Sunflower Cafe.  Their sign read "Home Cooking and Cocktails."  This is no surprise in Florida, where most folks you meet away from the beach are elderly.  We went in and had fruit and juice - no cocktails at 11:00 am - and killed some time.  Then we took the #130 bus north, following its route on the iPhone.  I had expected to exit in a town.  No, we were out on a busy four lane highway.  There was a sidewalk, but the blocks were long.  How far were we from the tax office?  Not too far.  It seemed as if we were in trouble, but the walk was maybe a half mile.  We waited there for 30 minutes to see someone.  She did know about the Sojourner Permit.

The Sojourner Permit is a way for Florida to tax boaters.  Even though Aunt Aggie is registered both by the Coast Guard and the state of Georgia, we have to pay this tax.  There's been lots of discussion on the AGLCA forum about whether to pay or not.  The consensus is that you'd rather pay upfront than be stopped on the water and fined.  Our tax was $122.  This gives us permission to stay in Florida for more than 90 days and spend more money here.

We walked back to our bus stop and waited in the sun for 40 minutes - no bench and no shade.  Then we rode back to the trolley stop.  We ate lunch at Perkins Restaurant across from the trolley lot.  This leads to our next topic: Restaurants in Atlanta are really good and reliable, and we have taken them for granted for years.

We do not eat at fancy restaurants usually.  We like to eat out on the weekends at Los Loros on N. Decatur Road, Thai Chili on LaVista Road, Community Barbecue on Clairmont, or Chris's Pizza at Toco Hills.  We always get a tasty meal.  The service is quick and friendly.  The food is reliably delicious.  Now we are eating out in similarly priced places around the south and having meals that are at best ok.  Yes, we eat them, but we don't really like the food.  It is bland or too salty or not really hot.  Sauces remind me of school cafeteria meals.  We really didn't know that our palates were refined.  The only meal I can think of that measured up was my fried shrimp basket at Ft. Myers Beach for Sunday lunch.  The shrimp were lightly battered and fresh.  That meal was yummy.  So we are looking forward to returning to eat in Atlanta in a few days.

Our slip is beside a nature preserve, so there are birds all over the docks.  

Publix - the Adventure (still in Ft. Myers)

Last night there was a lounge singer at the Parrot Key bar at our marina.  We were walking by to go to the barbecue place nearby, and we heard him singing "Just the Way You Look Tonight."  I used to listen to an Andy Williams album with that song.  This guy was crooning pretty well, so George stopped and took a little video.    (Movie had to be removed in order to print this.)

At the end of this, the singer sees George and gives us a wave.

There were lots of partiers on the dock last night.  We were inside, watching Friends, season two.  We heard loud, happy people from several boats.  Very nice to be near them, even though I didn't want to go outside and join in.  After being in a couple of deserted marinas that seemed like the perfect settings for murder mysteries, I am happy to be in a more cheery spot.  

This morning we read the AJC in a leisurely way and then got to work cleaning around 11:00 am.  We cleaned with the hose and a scrub brush and a mop/broom combo, starting at the top and going from front to back.  I scrubbed at dirt and spider poop.  George washed and dried the windows.  

Spider poop is practically permanent.  This is a scourge I discovered on our boat.  The poop, a tiny black mole, sticks to the boat and resists scrubbing.  If it's not one with the fiberglass, I can sometimes scrape it off with a fingernail.  (Charming.)

After cleaning, filling our water tank, and having lunch, we walked to the beach.  What a treat!  Another beautiful day, and we live near the beach.  After a bit of shopping for a White Elephant Christmas party gift and beach walking, we dropped in to a beach bar where the locals all knew each other.  Fun to observe.  We could tell this is a regular group and this is their spot.  They knew the singer too.  We picked up shells for an art project with our granddaughters and then went to the street to catch the trolley.  

Getting to the grocery store is sometimes challenging.  Today we took the trolley along the beach road to a Publix.  The driver was helpful, telling us when to get off. We picked up a few items and got back outside to hop on the same trolley when it came back around.  We rode it to the end of the island and over the Matanzas Bridge to our street.  Then we walked home again.  It took 40 minutes to go from Publix to our boat.  Completing errands without a car is time consuming, but it is also  interesting.  

Here I am with our Cokes, Lemonades, and two bags.  We needed to go to the store today to prepare for our 5 day trip in January.  We'll come back after Christmas and buy fresh food for that trip.  Now we know where Publix is and how to get there on the trolley.  So it was a scouting trip and a way to get two loads of food/drink on the boat.

We're not skilled at taking selfies.

As we walked home from the trolley, we were passing bumper to bumper traffic.  Most cars were from Wisconsin.  Many people were wearing Green Bay jerseys.  They had been at Parrot Key (our marina) for the Green Bay game.  That place knows how to bring in the fans.

Tomorrow we have another errand:  paying Florida's Sojourner Tax.  We may be taking a couple of buses downtown for that.  

Christmas Decorations

I've never been at the beach or in Florida at Christmas.  Today, December 13, we walked across a bridge and were at Ft. Myers Beach.  It is a bustling beach scene with restaurants (I had my requisite fried shrimp basket.)  and beach shops (We bought two snorkel and mask combos. Merry Christmas!)
and all types of people wearing shorts and tees and flip flops.

Still thinking it was cold, I was wearing jeans, sneakers with socks, two shirts, and a jacket.  But the northerners and foreigners were very happy to see the sun, and they had stripped down for action.  (We see similar behavior in San Francisco whenever the sun comes out.)We got in the spirit, took off our shoes, and walked along the beach and watched the boats far out on the horizon.  That will be us in a month, headed away to the keys.

It's fun to be in this different environment during the holidays.  We are seeing a whole new view of Christmas decorations.

This is the boat of our neighbor, Cameron.  He is a young guy who lives on the sailboat.

This sailboat is the main decoration at Salty Sam's, our marina.

This palm tree with a base of poinsettias is in the square of Ft. Myers Beach.  What a perfect mix of tropical plants!

Bad Behavior on the Low Seas: Does Friday bring out the bad manners of boaters?

Today was cloudy and chilly, so we ran our boat from the lower helm.  We also waited around a long time to leave Pelican Bay, giving the tide time to rise.  We finally pulled out at 11:15 am.  We had a good trip except for some bonehead boaters who came by us too close and rocked Aunt Aggie badly.

There was no reason to pass us closely.  Or if you feel as if you need to go so close, you should SLOW DOWN.  Really polite boaters call on the radio and tell the other boat that they are coming up behind.  They ask, "Do you want a fast pass or a slow pass?  Is it ok if I pass on your port?"  But today two yachts passed so close to us that I had to sit on the floor to keep from falling over.  They sort of came out of nowhere too.  And we do pay attention.  George was driving, and I was on look out for other boats, manatees, channel markers.

The second close passer was a real jerk.  I had gone below to sort clothes.  (I have too many shorts and shirts for my locker, so I am bringing some to Atlanta.)  When I walked back up, I spied the boat with my peripheral vision.  I saw him really close and his wake was about 4 feet.  I yelled and sat down.  Then he came by us, knocking us to port.  Books, plant, chart, shells I gathered yesterday - all went flying.  George immediately got on the radio.
George:  Island Girl, Island Girl, this is Aunt Aggie.  (We saw the boat name as they passed.)
Island Girl:  Aunt Aggie, this is Island Girl.
G:  Nice pass.  You threw our stuff all over the boat.  (irritated)
Island Girl:  Got it.  (couldn't care less)
A boat behind us said:  No consideration for anyone.
Then we watched as Island Girl came close beside two sailboats headed our way and waked them too.
Sail boat:  Nice pass, asshole.
George:  Must be Island Girl.
Sailboat:  Yeah, a real nice boat. (dripping sarcasm)
Any boats in the area can hear these transmissions, so it does give you a bit of revenge to know the name of the jerky driver.  The Coast Guard does monitor channel 16, but they didn't call to ask our location, so I guess they had some more important work today.  In fact we had heard earlier on radio that they had a live ammunition practice out 23 miles west of Charlotte Harbor today.

Later we had a fun chat on the radio with Two Old Knots, a Canadian trawler.  They were the boat behind us earlier. They passed us when we were almost to Ft. Myers.  George and their captain talked about doing the loop, where we are all headed today, when we are all going to Key West.  It's fun to talk to a comrade, a new friend.  Some time we may run into them at a marina.

I took only one photo today, the Sanibel Lighthouse.

We are tucked in at Salty Sam's Marina in Ft. Myers, staying here for a month.  We will take the bus to town tomorrow and shop.  We can also take a trolley to the beach.  There are two restaurants on site, a barbecue place and a Caribbean shrimp spot.  We're looking forward to eating out.  We've been well behaved all week.  Happy Friday to all!

We made it to the beach today!

We had a lazy morning at Uncle Henry's Marina on Gasparilla Island.  As I was walking to the bathroom, I heard a snort and saw the back of a manatee.  Waited, but he was under water.  After my trip to the restroom, I came back to slip #51, and there he was.  I went to get George, and the big guy was still there when we returned.  We stayed and watched and filmed.  Three manatees came into the slip.  They are slow moving, brown fellows.  This was my first time to see a manatee's face, and I did note the trunk look.  "Are manatees related to elephants?" I asked Google.  Yes, elephants are their closest relations now.  So cool.  Enjoy these movies. (Movie had to be removed in order to print this.)

We motored over to Cayo Costa State Park and anchored in Pelican Bay.  The entrance is shallow, but we got in fine.  There are several sail boats here too.  We paddled our dinghy over to the park, walked to the beach and found shells.  It was warm enough at 3:00 pm to go barefoot.

The path to the gulf

The water colors are lovely.

I wanted this shell, but another animal had already claimed it.

Feels lucky to find a whole sand dollar.

The view as we left to walk back to the dock.

When we arrived at the park, we were just in time for the tram ride to the beach side.  A young French couple was with us.  They were camping for 8 days, and their stuff filled the truck that was pulling the tram.  We helped them unload at the campground and then walked to the beach.

Just now we heard a horn sound.  It is a guy standing on a sailboat just beside us (anchored a bit too close, really) blowing on a conch shell.  Where are we?  Is this the islands?  Does that signal happy hour?
I hope so.

Aunt Aggie likes Uncle Henry.

Today we went just a couple of hours to Gasparilla Island.  We are in a wonderful area near Ft. Myers, and we just want to putter around and visit different islands before leaving our boat at Ft. Myers for Christmas holidays.  

Several years ago when George got the idea for the Great Loop trip, we chartered Patience, a 32 foot Grand Banks, and went to several islands.  We had a great time, and we found that the motor noise did not disturb us.  So here we are on a return trip.

This morning was cold and clear and sunny.  Lovely day for travel on the ICW.  It seemed that everyone was coming outside after our three grey days.  We saw an older gent with a shovel on a sand bar, digging for oysters perhaps?  We saw a paddler on Lemon Bay; bird watchers at Cedar Point; the ubiquitous fishermen.   In fact, a fishing boat caught a mess of mullet right beside our boat while we were still docked this morning. A dolphin followed us for several minutes, racing Aunt Aggie and leaping in the surf.

He has a boat parked out of the frame, but he's walking along the sand bank.  We left at low tide and really had to watch the channel.


In this video I'm trying to show how shallow the water is outside the channel.

Here's the dolphin beside our boat:
(Movies had to be removed in order to print this.)

We were moving pretty well down the ICW in Lemon Bay, and a ferry pulled out in front of us.
We put on the brakes and watched him move across the narrow waterway.  When we checked our map with Active Captain, it said the ferry has no schedule, so watch out.  We need to look ahead, behind, and 360 degrees.  Here's the loaded ferry.

We came into Uncle Henry's Marina at noon.  It is beautiful here.  We took a long walk and tried to get to the beach, but it is blocked by expensive houses.  (Tomorrow we will be at Caya Costa Island, so we can beach walk then.)  Now I am drying three loads of laundry.  Oh, our life is romantic!

Check out the new, entertaining boat name George found. (See the Witty Boat Names page.)  Remember Seinfeld?

Rather Tired of Learning Lessons.

Yesterday we stayed on a mooring ball outside Sarasota, FL.  It was quite windy.  We had tried anchoring, but we felt as if we were not well protected, so we moved to the nearby mooring field.  Here's the view of Sarasota at night from Aunt Aggie.

This does not do justice to what is a glittering shoreline.  I felt a bit guilty gazing at it and not going into the city.  The truth is we are not on vacation:  This is our life.  We are often tired at night and don't want to go out.  Also we prefer to eat at home even though almost every night there is a good restaurant near us.

Someone asked about how mooring balls work.  They are used often to protect reefs in the islands. In Florida they are used to keep boaters paying for space instead of letting us just drop an anchor for free.   Instead of dropping an anchor, the boater grabs a line from the ball and threads it through a line from the boat.  Here are two photos from this morning that show the connection.  

A funny moment from yesterday:  While Jimmy at Cortez Cove Marina replaced our battery, I went into the restroom and had a shower and washed my hair.  It was such a treat after Sunday, when we tried not to use any electricity. I'm picking up some behaviors I may not be able to use at home.  

We spend a lot of time looking at the world.  We spotted an osprey today and could tell the differences between it and an eagle.  Also we motored by Siesta Key and were quite impressed with the real estate.  There were many fancy houses with private pools.  One modern house was white stucco blocks with purple railings and a 2 foot purple wall surrounding the pool.  Sounds tacky, but it wasn't.  Another house had three stories and the pool screened.  No bugs will bother those folks.  Here is a mansion right on the end of Siesta Key.  

We saw this side first, but it's actually the back of the house.

Then we came around and saw the front.  Wow!

Yesterday's lesson was to check the engine and generator before leaving a marina after a long break.  The lesson for today is don't leave an anchorage or marina in Florida until you have another place lined up.  We knew we wanted to stay in a marina tonight due to high winds coming in.  So George chose two marinas that sounded great.  We took off from Sarasota and had no issues with wind.  It was chilly, so we moved below for most of the trip.  When I called our marinas, neither had space for us.  Oh, no!  So I started looking and calling, and we ended up at Royal Palm.  This is a place with a better past than present.  There are old, abandoned boats docked.  There is no loaner car or laundry.  The bathrooms are inside a restaurant.  But we are off the water, well tied and warm.  The sun is out.  Another lesson learned.

Bump in the Road becomes Opportunity for Lunch

Last night we anchored out in Bimini Bay.  George had the idea to charge his computer and watch a movie.  When we tried to turn on the generator, it was dead.  Uh, oh.  We had felt so ready to leave today.  We realized that we hadn't used the generator for a month.  The batteries were dry.  We added water.  No luck.  We adapted our evening plans:  using only one light, no showers, no computers, cold dinner.  It was a plain Jane evening.  Happily, each of us had a great book to read:  George is reading Going Clear about Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard.  I finished The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer.   Here's a photo of us with our reading lights.

The wind was strong, and we were pushed around by loud, confusing waves for most of the night.  It was hard to sleep.  Finally, in the wee hours, the wind calmed.  We made lukewarm tea for breakfast since we couldn't use the coffee pot.

We called Cortez Cove Marina at 8:00 am and told them we needed a battery checked and maybe replaced.  Then we went over (about 7 miles) and Jimmy did the work for us.  He was terrific.  (We had read reviews of the marina and Jimmy on Active Captain, so that felt good.)  While we waited for the new battery to arrive, we walked around and found Cortez  Cafe with home cooking.  The food was just ok, but the atmosphere was perfect.  I think their strong suit is breakfast.

George said, "A bump in the road becomes an opportunity to eat out."  

Since we got a late start at 1:25 pm, we only made it to Sarasota today.  We tried to anchor, but we were getting a lot of pounding again from waves.  So we moved over to the mooring field at Marina Jack's. We still seem to be having a lot of movement and noise, but we are on ball #1, so maybe life will become quieter as night arrives.  At least we are not getting waked by boats coming under the bridge.  

We got some exercise today: walking around Cortez and paddling to pay for the mooring ball.

Tomorrow is supposed to be very windy, so we probably will travel just a bit and go to a marina.  The sun did come out once we arrived at Sarasota.  

This is a fountain across from the office of Marina Jack's, a fancy marina with two bars.  We decided to paddle home and have our happy hour.  

A Cloudy Day in Paradise

What? Every day is not going to be sunny? We have had such lovely days.  We are spoiled!  We wanted to leave Gulfport today, so we listened to the marine weather forecast from NOAA and did our chores and waited for the tide to rise.  We left at 11:20 am after getting a pump-out at the marina.
We had an easy trek planned - across the bay to Anna Maria Island.  The sun never really broke through consistently.  There was fog in the offing and damp wind.  About half way through the trip, the waves grew and pushed against our starboard side.  We rocked so that I had to stay seated and couldn't relax.

Here is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge, a misnomer today.  You can see how gloomy it is.

Once we ducked into Bimini Bay behind Anna Maria Island, the wind died down, and the sun peeked out.  I envisioned us paddling and walking across to the beach.  We anchored in 13 feet of water.
Lots of other boaters came out too.  But the sun quickly exited.  It is just a grey day.

We are surrounded by houses on this small bay.  Here's the view from our starboard side.

At home this day would be perfect for reading and sitting in front of a fire.  We are reading and napping and being glad that we are cozy here.  We're tired after staying up to watch the ACC Championship game last night.  Too much excitement and food and drink for too long.  Tech and FSU both played great, but Tech lost.  It was a terrific game.  We walked to town and visited several spots, trying to find the best seat in front of the tv.  We came home from O'Maddy's at 11:30 pm in the Swoop Taxi.  This is a stretch golf cart with seating for seven plus the driver.  It's free.  You just tip the driver.  Cool idea.  Sorry I didn't get a photo.

As we walked to town, we saw Christmas decorations.  This one has a naughty and nice list on the pole to left.

Happy Captain in his Tech sweater.

The sun is sneaking out between layers of clouds again as I write.  I bet we get a good sunset.  

Chores done; waiting for ACC Championship Game.

The weather here is delightful:  warm, sunny, and breezy.  Today we did some chores in Gulfport. I put the second coat of paint on my kitchen stool.  I bought this stool on the day of our crossing.  Just walked across the street from the Carrabelle marina and begged a gift store to sell it to me. I was a bit desperate.  The stool was a bit rickety, but it was our seat for the lower helm.  The store owner let me pay $40 for it.  Now it has two coats of Harbor Blue.

George built around his computer, so it will be secure when we bounce on the gulf.  He also added a wooden brace to the wall beside our shelf. We can bungee the baskets onto the shelf, so they won't fall off.  We hope these changes mean our belongings can stay in place as we travel.  When we made the crossing, we put most things on the floor.  Still we had some banging and crashing when we hit the waves poorly.

Here's a panoramic view of the "great room." (Ha!)  This is our study, dining room, kitchen, and living room.  See the baskets with bungee cord on the left; then the fridge and kitchen; and the lower helm with its wheel.  George is sitting at his desk, working at his computer.  He does some CAD work, which he enjoys and which brings in marina money.

Last night we missed the Christmas boat parade.  However, we did see two boats parading through our marina.  They were loaded with children, which was festive.  Just like riding on a float at home.  Plus these actually do float!

I'm trying to hang our Christmas lights, but the directions say not to hang on metal.  What?  I may just hang on the clothesline with our prayer flags.  We're heading downtown in a couple of hours to go the O'Maddy's and watch the game, surrounded by Florida State folks.  Hope they are jolly.

Back on the Boat

We returned to Aunt Aggie last evening just before dark.  We unloaded our rental car quickly and decided to have a welcome home drink and watch the sunset.  This is the view from the boat:

Then we went out to walk around town.  We needed to stretch our legs, so we parked and walked a few blocks.  Lots of folks were around, even though it was a Thursday. 

There are four volleyball courts right in town.  They seem to have a league.   So here we were in December, watching people playing volleyball in their swimsuits.

We heard reggae music from an upstairs deck and went up there for nachos.  There was a musician playing tunes.  The air was soft, and the night was friendly.  A woman entered and began to dance.  Another woman and I joined her.  It just felt right.  

Today we have done lots of chores:  unpacking, grocery shopping, painting a kitchen stool, cleaning up.  George also did two hours of drafting work.  This bird has shared our day.  He perches on our stern line and makes loud, crackling commentary.  Perhaps he moved in while we were gone and is unhappy about our return.  He's not easily moved.  

He is an immature cormorant.  He has a pink throat and brown furry neck.

Tonight Ed and Laura Parvin, who live in Dunedin this winter, are coming for drinks.  Then we're going to watch the Christmas boat parade in St. Petersburg.  Decorating your boat for Christmas is a thing.  I bought some lights today at Ace Hardware along with harbor blue paint for the stool.  (The unveiling will be tomorrow.)   Happy Friday!

Windy and Challenging

Greetings from Gulfport, FL

We arrived yesterday and walked downtown last night.  The town looks artsy and fun.  There's a casino at the end of the street.  A huge crowd was in O'Maddy's, watching football.  Maybe Tampa Bay was playing?  We came on home for dinner because we are trying to clean out the fridge before we go to Atlanta.  If it's not raining too much tonight, we'll walk to a restaurant.

The weather is windy.  Rain and thunderstorms are predicted for this afternoon and evening.  We have our boat well tied and fendered.

Trying to dry towels on the porch.

A big challenge this morning was getting on and off the boat.  We wanted to use restrooms at the marina.  We also planned to wash the boat and put up the window coverings below and seat coverings on the fly bridge.  High tide was around 9:00 am, just when we needed to get off.  It was a three foot drop at least since the dock is not a floating dock.  I thought we were stuck.  Then we came up with a way to exit.  See George's demo: (Movie had to be removed in order to print this.)

Remember, this morning we had twice as far to drop down to the dock.  When we do a
maneuver like this, I always think, "That's why we didn't wait to do the loop."  We are just barely flexible enough for this trip.

This blog is going on vacation: to Dublin and Atlanta and Auburn to visit friends and family for two weeks.  We'll be back on Aunt Aggie by December 4 and resume the blog on December 5.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Anchoring Out vs Marina Life

We are in Gulfport, FL, very close to St. Petersburg.  We arrived around lunch and got into our slip all by ourselves.  This is a municipal marina with good services.  I am happy to meet Tony, the dock master, to whom I have spoken several times.  We are paying for a month here because it's cheaper than the two weeks we need.  We can leave the boat here while we go off for Thanksgiving visits, but we can only live on the boat for two weeks.  There are rules to keep people from moving into the municipal marinas full time.  We haven't explored the town yet.  Just had lunch and nap.  Guess who is still napping?

As we started our trip today, just 30 miles or 4 hours of boating, I felt anxious.  Why?  Because we stayed in a marina for three days.  (A body at rest tends to stay at rest.)  It's easier for me to keep moving than to relax on land and then get going again.  So I was thinking about the advantages of anchoring vs. marina life.

Anchoring -
1.  When we drop an anchor, we can do it by ourselves. We don't need help from others.  We just pull slowly into the anchorage, find a spot that's less than 10 feet deep if possible, and drop the anchor.  
1.5  When George turns off the motor, the quiet is a gift.
2.  In the morning we just pull it up and move back out onto the ICW.
3.  Anchorages are remote and beautiful.  Sometimes we see/hear fishermen, but they don't bother us.
4.  Often we see dolphins and birds.
5.  George fishes.
6.  We have sunsets and sunrises and starry skies that make us feel rich.
7.  It is easy to move the next day because staying in the anchorage is not an option.
8.  Anchoring is free.

One big drawback with anchoring is the weather.  The weather must be good, which means winds under 10 mph, and no storms predicted.

Marina Life - 
1.  It feels good to pull into a marina and have helpful dock hands take our lines.
2.  They often hook up the electricity too.  
3.  From the marina we can often walk into town, which is entertaining.
4.  We get more exercise when we are in a marina since we take walks.
5.   Sometimes we need a marina for a pump-out, laundry, water, or groceries.
6.  It's fun to walk around the marina and find loopers.
7.  We can have happy hour or dinner with other boaters.
8.  Marinas are important when a storm is coming.  
9.  We almost always can find a spot in the marina we want.  Marina managers are helpful and flexible about how many days we are staying.  We can add days or leave after one.

The big drawback for marinas is the cost.  They are $1 - $2 per foot, so for Aunt Aggie that is $35 - $70/ night.  

Now I just surprised myself with those lists.  I thought anchoring was preferable, but both choices have lots of positives.  

News Flash - We saw our first manatees today.  Couldn't grab the camera fast enough to get a picture.
Time to wake up George and explore Gulfport.

Football Saturday- Hooray for Tech and War Eagle!

We are still in Dunedin, FL; this is our third day.  The weather has improved.  It's sunny.  This morning an egret landed on our bow.  This is my view as I do the dishes:

I'm feeling lucky.  Last night Patriot and Blue Willow, two looper boats, hosted dinner.  They cooked hamburgers, and everyone brought a side dish.  Fourteen people gathered and shared funny and scary stories of their looping trips.  Navigator is finishing the loop in 100 miles.  We are the newest loopers.    We have been with some of these loopers for a few nights: We feel more relaxed and included with them.  To have friends on the loop, you have to push yourself socially, accepting invitations and showing up with drink in hand at cocktail hour.

Today George and I made more plans for December.  I spent a long time researching marinas in Ft. Myers and calling them to find out their monthly rates.  George worked on our accounting.

Finally it was time for the GA Tech - Clemson game.  We walked to Cricketers, an English pub in a shopping center, and watched the game.  It was thrilling.  Yes, I'm sorry the Clemson quarterback was hurt; I am also so glad his injury was not caused by a Tech player.

We walked home and are now reading.  My latest book is The Moviegoer by Walker Percy.  I tried it many years ago and didn't like it.  I have so much time to read now that I hope I can get into it and enjoy it.  I do appreciate the writing.  A fun thing about marinas is that they have places to share books and magazines, so I am reading a ton.  That is a way that George and I get distance from each other.

A forgotten beer becomes a little GA Tech celebration video.
(Movie had to be removed in order to print this.)

What makes a fun town?

We are spending three nights in Dunedin, FL.  Yesterday we came here to get to a new spot since we'd done enough time in Tarpon Springs, and the weather wasn't good for anchoring out.  Today we took the Jolly Trolley to downtown and walked around.  This is a cheery town.  Why?

1.  The trolley driver picked us up even though we were standing in the wrong place.  He put us out downtown and pointed out spots we might like.
2.  There is a farmers' market today in a park in the center of town.  A musician was playing "Peaceful Easy Feeling" by the Eagles.  The market has fresh veggies, prepared foods, soaps and crafts.
3.  There is interesting street art.  (See my photos.)
4.  There are several bars and restaurants.  We were looking for a place to watch football tomorrow.  We haven't planned well for GA Tech or Auburn football games this fall and haven't seen any.  This week we remembered to be in a town on Saturday.  So we're staying here tomorrow too.  We found two places we can walk to and watch games.
5.  Just the fact of having the Jolly Trolley run between Tarpon Springs, Dunedin, and Clearwater is pretty cool.  For $4.50 you can ride all day in a clean trolley.

This sign marks the Pinellas Trail, a biking trail that runs between the three towns.

I like discovering the men climbing the outside of this building.  Then I saw the telephone booth too.

This is a bike rack.

The dolphin is an apt symbol since they are ubiquitous.

Fun street signs add playful flavor.

When we returned to Aunt Aggie, we gave away our TV and VCR.  The marina said we could put it in the break room, and maybe a dockhand will take it home.  Since we don't have cable, watching tv has been a trial:  We get the weirdest stations with shows you've never heard of.  Once we decide to watch a show, it is interrupted by static, frozen screens, and dissolving images.  Now we are free.  Our main video indulgence is MadMen season 6.  It's rather grim, but it does have great stories and casting.  

George took away the VCR and TV.  Yahoo!  We have more space on a counter.

Dunedin, FL

This was a quiet day for us.  We are learning to consider the tides and the winds as we make plans.  Two new considerations = more to discuss. Before this week we left the dock whenever we chose.  Today we waited until 1:30 pm, so there would be enough water for us to leave our marina in Tarpon Springs.

We changed plans at the last minute because the marine forecast is not great for Friday and Friday night.  So no anchoring out.  We came south 15 miles to Dunedin, where there are lots of loopers.  Marker 1 Marina came to the Fall Rendezvous and impressed boaters, so here they are.

We've seen several people we know, and they invited us to a hamburger cook-out for Friday night.  We need to bring a side dish.  I am thinking of making mac 'n cheese in the crock pot.  Will that work?  I don't have any casserole dishes here.

We took two walks today:  first around Tarpon Springs while waiting for the tide; just now on the highway in Dunedin, looking for a bike rental place, so we can ride tomorrow.  There is a wonderful biking trail here + the Jolly Trolley.  We will explore tomorrow.

I have no great photos today.  Just a couple of fish sculptures and an egret movie.  I followed the egret on our dock.  They are landing all over the place.

This is a bike rack.

                                     

Tarpon Springs, FL

We slept 12 hours last night.  I felt as if I could sleep all day today too, but I didn't want to miss our day in Tarpon Springs.  This is another funky, fun small town.  The flavor is Greek.

Last night Laura and Ed Parvin, friends from Atlanta who sold their house and now travel around in an RV, came here for drinks.  Then we went to dinner at Dmitri's, a Greek restaurant.  We had a great meal - lamb for George and chicken skewers for me.  We have leftovers for tonight.  Laura and Ed have been traveling on the east coast.  Now they are staying in Dunedin, FL, just 10 miles away for the winter.

Today we were quiet in the morning.  We made plans for the rest of this week.  We changed our rental car, so we can come home next Wednesday.  (One week from today we will be in Atlanta!)

After lunch we walked to town and toured the sponge stores, watched a PBS film on the sponge industry, visited Hellas Bakery, and had a $3 margarita.  I also did some clothes shopping.  Lots of sales appealing to touristy women.  Here are some photos of Tarpon Springs.

This is the sponge dock.

Here are the boxes from Hellas Bakery.

We enjoyed going into the sponge market, watching the movie, and talking to the owner.  Her grandfather came to the US at age 13 as one of 300 sponge divers brought here from Greece.  They started the industry here.  She had photos of him, his contemporaries, and his old tools.

While I shopped, George wandered around the Greek area, taking a movie.
(Movie had to be removed in order to print this.)