St Pete-Longboat Key - Dec 2-16

Time to head south again!  We plotted our course for Ft Myers Beach. A nice 100 mile cruise.  We departed St Pete Municipal Marina early Sunday morning, traveled southwest across Tampa Bay, and under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge where we had to give way to an inbound cargo ship. We caught the intra-coastal waterway near the north end of Anna Maria Island. We traveled the ICW vs going outside to the Gulf of Mexico due to rough conditions on the GOM. After 60 miles, we dropped the hook near Englewood Beach for the night.

Monday was dolphin day!  The dolphins made numerous appearances on our 40 mile cruise to Ft Myers Beach. By mid afternoon, we pulled into a slip at Salty Sam's Marina where we took a one week stay.  We had a fun filled week which included: a beach day, several dinghy rides, eating lots of peel and eat shrimp, seeing our friends Lori from Keenan Marina, Dave & Michelle from Just Us (Loopers), and Todd & Star from Byron Center.

Saturday was a beautiful day so we jumped in the dinghy, headed south on the ICW to Lover's Key at Big Carlos Pass Inlet, then continued out on the Gulf for the remainder of our 8 mile cruise to New Pass.  New Pass is a small inlet with clear blue water and sandy beaches. The dolphins greeted us as we entered the inlet.  Paradise!

Sunday morning we took the dinghy across the ICW, tied up at Todd & Star's seawall and walked to church at Chapel By The Sea Presbyterian. After church we scooted back quite quickly to the mother ship to beat the incoming rain.  The rains persisted all afternoon, but ended by early evening so we could walk to Dixie Fish Company our favorite shrimp joint.

Monday morning Captain Tide Guru had us wait until 10am to get enough water under the boat to make a safe escape from our spot in the marina. North again.  The PV2 is beginning to feel like a yoyo on this trip!  The First Mate declared this our best dolphin day ever!  (so far)  It was a dolphinfest chasing us across Gasparilla Sound!  We took a slip that evening at Aqua Marina Palm Harbour where our friend from home, Kim Wagner, his wife and other family members joined us for dinner at the marina.

Tuesday we again stopped 5 miles short of Longboat Key to anchor out for the evening. We dropped the hook behind Otter Key.  Although we were confident the anchor was well set, the Captain did a recon with the dinghy to see if we could tuck in closer to shore.  We could!  We then lifted the anchor to move, only to find a cement block lodged on the tip of the anchor. The First Mate took over the wheel while the Captain went forward to dislodge the block. Good thing we decided to move since the anchor would never have penetrated the bottom as designed. Once securely settled, out came the grill for our last night on anchor this trip.

Wednesday morning we moved up to the Moorings at Longboat Key Club, our final destination of this trip.  Wednesday afternoon and Thursday we spent time provisioning, cleaning, washing and yes, exploring when our chores were finished.

Friday our friend Karen Dupy drove over to spend a couple nights on the boat with us. Even though the weather was cool and windy, we enjoyed shopping and dinner at St Armands Circle on Friday and managed to sneak in a dinghy ride on Saturday afternoon.

Sunday morning, we closed up the boat and jumped in Karen's car to drop the Captain off at Tampa Airport to fly home. Sheli & Karen continued on the The Villages, a couple hour northeast of Tampa where Karen lives.  Sheli enjoyed a couple days with Karen before flying home on Wednesday.

Incoming!

Great day on Ft Myers Beach!

Shrimping Fleet in Ft Myers Beach.

Star & Todd

Michele & Dave

Hanging out at New Pass.

Constant traveling companions. 

Longboat Key

Calm waters.

Captain & Karen bundled up for dinghy ride.

Sheli & Karen

Merry Christmas Florida style.

Charlotte Harbor-St Petersburg - Nov 22-Dec 1

It’s good to be back on Pura Vida dos! We flew down to Punta Gorda on Thanksgiving Day to be reunited with the boat. She spent the summer (Hurricane season) on the hard at Safe Cove Boat Storage in Charlotte Harbor. Our friend Larry Poll picked up us and his wife (who was on our same flight) at the airport and lent us his van for provisioning. We spent the night on the boat on land and she was splashed the next morning. Yeehaw!  After 7 months on land, the ole gal needed a good cleaning so we spent Friday whipping her back into ship shape.

Saturday morning we left the dock at Safe Cove and cruised 30 miles to anchor in Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa. This continues to be one of our favorite anchorages in Florida.  Great night.

Sunday was another beautiful day, so we cruised out on the Gulf of Mexico 40 miles north to Venice where we took a slip at Crow’s Nest Marina for the night. While we enjoyed the warm, 80 degree temps, our family & friends back in Michigan were receiving their first significant snow event of the season. 😎

Our goal was to head north to St Petersburg by Thursday to help our friends at the FreedomLift booth at the St Petersburg Boat Show. Due to weather forcasts of strong northerly  winds midweek, we decided to get across Tampa Bay on Monday.  Our home for 3 nights was the Pasadena Marina. We were assigned a spot on their sea wall which was very well blocked from the north winds. Sweet! Tuesday and Wednesday were spent exploring St Pete Beach, John’s Pass and Gulfport. Racking up miles on the flip flops! Little to cool and windy for dinghy exploration.

Thursday morning “Captain Tide Guru” made sure we left the marina at high tide. (When there are strong north winds, it blows the water out of Tampa Bay, so the low tides have been extremely low)
We traveled around Pinellas Point and up to St Petersburg Municipal Marina. It was a cold, windy ride as the winds continue to be out of the north. Thursday thru Saturday we spent our time at the boat show, helping out at the FreedomLift booth and checking out the boats and other product being displayed. Fun! Friday night our friends from FreedomLift, Greg & Brenda Vogel & Brett Nichols stopped by the boat and then we walked into town for a fabulous dinner.  We really enjoyed our stay in St Pete - great time, great town!

PV2 in storage

Headed for water!

Beautiful morning at Cayo Costa.

Dolphins love our wake!

Happy to be here!

St Pete Boat Show

Any questions?

Longboat Key - Feb 7-Mar 8

The PV2 continues it's well deserved rest at Longboat Key. While the boat has not moved, the crew has changed on a weekly basis. After spending a few days settling in at the marina and preparing the boat for his absence, the Captain headed back home to Michigan and back to work.  While the Captain's away, the crew will play!  Sheli called on friends to assist her in "caring" for the PV2.
Deb Deters, Vicki Stroven and Karen Dupy all took turns spending time living on the boat with Sheli and enjoying the many amenities of Longboat Key area.  Everyday was sunny, hot and wonderful!  Days were filled with walks, beach time, swimming in the Gulf of Mexico as well as the pools, exploring on the dinghy and of course shopping!

On March 3, the Captain returned to relax for a few days and reclaim his first mate!  It was so exciting to have the Captain back that even the manatees showed up next to the boat to greet him.

On March 8, we sadly left the PV2 behind and flew back to Michigan. We will return in April to bring the boat to Charlotte Harbor where we will have it hauled out of the water and stored on land for the summer.

    Docked at Longboat Key Club Moorings.

    Friends from home!  Marlin and Lori Brower stopped by!

    Sheli & Deb at Anna Maria Island.

   
    Sheli & Vicki at Bradenton Beach.

    Sheli & Karen in Sarasota.

    Awesome Longboat Key beach!

     What a day at the beach!

   
     Manatee - aka Sea Cow, aka Wally!

    Don't you just want to scrub those barnacles off his back?

    Cruising Sarasota Bay.

    OK, maybe it's not all work!

   

Ft Myers Beach-Longboat Key - Feb 1-6

Thursday morning we left Salty Sam's and traveled back north 30 miles to the small island of Cayo Costa where we anchored out for 2 nights.  We had a wonderful day that was warm, sunny and low winds. Finally! In the afternoon we dinghyed over to a sandy beach and spent some time enjoying the warmth. It was a great night to grill out and take in the awesome starry night.

Friday morning the winds were still down and the seas were calm so we set out for a morning dinghy cruise. We traveled around the point onto the Gulf where we observed hammerhead sharks, rays and dolphins swimming near and under the dinghy in the clear shallow waters. Amazing!  After a brief pit stop on the boat we continued our dinghy quest the other direction 3 miles to Cabbage Key which is a 100 acre island "reminiscent of days gone by".  On the island we had burgers for lunch at the famous Cabbage Key Inn & Restaurant. The walls and ceiling are covered with dollar bills with patrons names written on them. As legend has it, sailors of by gone days would stick dollar bills with their name on it to the wall. This way when they returned, possibly empty handed, they were guaranteed a drink. There is currently said to be 70,000 one dollar bills adorning the walls.  After our burger lunch the first mate insisted on a walk, so we stopped at the dock and ranger station at Cayo Costa State Park. The walk was beautiful thru the palm forest and out to the beach. 

Saturday we traveled 20 miles to an anchorage near Englewood Beach. We walked the beach and had dinner at the White Elephant. 

Sunday on to Venice! Just a short 16 miles up the ICW we tied off at the Crows Nest Marina. The water at the inlet where the marina is located is clear aqua. Wow! We used Marina bicycles to visit downtown Venice. What a beautiful area of high end residential areas and palm lined streets. At night we watched the Super Bowl at the marina restaurant. 

Venice is only 23 miles from Longboat Key where we will be docking the the boat for an extended time. Captain and crew unanimously decided we needed one more night on anchor. Five miles short of Longboat we dropped the hook behind Otter Key. The night did not disappoint. The winds were calm. The temps were warm. The stars were spectacular. 

Tuesday we arrived at Longboat Key Club Moorings near Sarasota.  With Grand Haven 2200 miles in our rear view mirror, it's time to give the PV2 a well deserved rest. 

    Our private beach near Cayo Costa.

    Great calm night on the hook.

    Cabbage Key - dollar bills everywhere!

    Cayo Costa State Park.

   Captain Adorable!

    Local videoing dolphins in our wake.

     Otter Key sunset.

   Relaxing at Longboat Key.

Longboat Key-Ft Myers Beach - Jan 23-31

First we need to apologize to our dolphin friends. Last trip, we bragged them up so much and this time we have taken them for granted. Shame on us. They have been constant companions since arriving in Florida. At times, we don't even notice them until we hear a slap in our wake as they jump in the air and land on their back. This never fails to distract the first mate from her assigned duties. Love them!

Tuesday we traveled south on the ICW 45 miles to Stump Pass near Englewood. Here we pulled off the ICW behind a small island and dropped the hook, jumped in the dinghy and took off on a mission. Our mission was to find our way through a channel, down a backwater canal leading to a spot where Steve's friend and customer Kim Wagner is building a home. Kim met us at the end of the canal which is a short walk from his construction sight.  It was fun seeing the house under construction and learning about the Florida/hurricane building requirements.  We had been experiencing fog on and off throughout the day but by the time we pulled out of Kim's canal, the fog had set in again - thick!  We navigated by iPad to find our way back to the mothership.  Through the thick fog we traveled 2 miles to Royal Palm Marina for the evening. (Due to shallow waters, we had to enter late in the afternoon to catch high tide). The marina sent Bob out in a 16ft skiff to lead us in because their channel markers had been destroyed by hurricane Irma. As we were following him in through the dense fog, we  realized by watching our chart plotter that he was missing the channel and had to guide him by radio back into the channel. Crazy stuff!  That evening Larry (who works with Sheli at Ironwood Golf Course) and his wife Carole picked us up and took us to their favorite local pizza place. The food and fellowship were grand.

Wednesday morning we departed by 8am to again catch high tide out of the marina. We traveled 18 miles and anchored in a small protected channel near Boca Grande.  In the afternoon we dinghyed across to town.  While the first mate was happy walking and shopping, the captain became concerned about the status of the PV2 as the winds were picking up so shopping was cut short. It was a windy, rocky night.

Thursday's destination was Ft Myers Beach. After traveling 15 miles, we pulled into the marina at South Seas Resort on the north end of Captiva Island.  We enjoyed lunch with Steve's cousin Ross Hoezee and his wife Thea who were vacationing there with their kids and grandkids. Fun!
We continued another 15 miles to Salty Sam's Marina in Ft Myers Beach which was our home for the next 7 days.  During our week stay, we enjoyed time with Steve's uncle & aunt, Ken & Joyce Sterk, friends from Byron Center, Todd & Star, and friends from Keenan Marina, Gary & Lori.  Thanks to Gary & Lori for loaning us their car for a provisioning run!

Florida's winter weather this year continues to challenge us with cooler temps and high winds, but still enjoy every day and are thankful to be here.

    Cruising the ICW in the fog.

   Kim Wagner & Steve.

    Anybody seen the mothership?

    Larry & Sheli.

   Our night watchman.

    Ross Hoezee family.

     Ken & Joyce Sterk

    Gary & Lori

    Docked at Salty Sam's

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