Trip to Sarasota

 

Sunset Saturday night

Yes, I sound like a broken record.....but....we decided to stay in Key West until Saturday. Cindy called and offered to help us take the boat straight from Key West to Sarasota. She took an 8+ hour bus trip down to Key West Friday afternoon. Friday night we met up with Doug and Chuck and had an early night. 

Saturday we checked out of the marina (again!) and were off the dock around 7:45. We originally thought that it would be a 30 hour trip, but once we were on the water, Bill did a few more calculations and we realized we would be into Sarasota by early morning. 

It was a perfect trip. The weather was great (a few showers and thunderstorms that we avoided), the wind was OK (we sailed most of Saturday afternoon before succumbing to the engine) the seas calm (beamy, but not bad). It was a stunning sunset and an even prettier moon set. Before the moon went down, the Gulf of Mexico was illuminated by the stars and orangey moon. 

Bill did the 9 pm - 12 am watch, Cindy and I did 12 to 3, Bill did 3-6 and we did 6-around 8, which is when we got close enough to the cut to get into Sarasota that we needed to get Bill up. Both the marina and Sea Tow told us that - yes, the channel was recently dredged, but no, there are no markers; use the sun. And sure enough, it was sunny enough to see the shallow spots. We had two bridges to get under a bascule and a fixed 65 footer. We haven't had to deal with fixed bridges in awhile, and held our breath the whole time. 

 

Sunrise Sunday morning

Despite living on a boat and traveling for more than a year, this was actually my first overnight trip. It was really nice to have Cindy there so I could sit with and learn from her during the watches. It was a good experience, and I do feel comfortable enough so that Bill and I could do an overnight by ourselves (although the more the merrier!) The water at night was beautiful; for me it was such a different experience being out there 'alone' (more or less) with the moon, the stars, and the flying fish. 

All in all, it was about a 26 hour trip. 

So now we are in Sarasota in our 'new home' where we will be for the next three months. We are in a great slip on the perfect dock and are happy to be here. 

Sunday afternoon Boyd drove from Boyton and we all went to dinner and are calling it an early night. Everyone is wiped from the trip and lack of serious sleep. 

 

Cindy getting ready to dock

More pictures of the trip

Leaving Key West

 

Our plan is to leave Key West early tomorrow morning (around 6:30) and head for Marco Island. We turned the boat around today in the slip with the help of the marina so we are all set to go in the morning. We have had a great time here and have enjoyed every minute of the sites, sounds, and people of beautiful Key West. 

Beautiful sunset

 

Going..... 

 

Going.....

 

Going....

 

Gone! 

St. Simons Island, GA

Today was a strange day. We had rain, sunshine, wind, no wind off an on throughout the day. Today, like yesterday, was a very beautiful leg of the trip. We went from Killkenny (statute mile 614) to St. Simons Island, GA (statute mile 675). For a lot of the trip today Bill cut the engine back so we were doing between 4.5 and 5 knots. He did this for two reasons. First, we wanted to let the tide rise a little more before going through the Mudd River, which has depths of under 6 feet (mean low tide.) Second, if we were going to run aground, we wanted to do it at a slow speed. There were two boats ahead of us who were nice enough to give periodic updates on the water depths that they saw, and we went through without incident.

Today we also saw lots of animals on the shore. We saw some type of burro, goats, herons, and of course dolphins. The rivers we traveled through today were windey and narrow, so we got a good view of the shoreline.

It rained off and on today but ended up being a beautiful late afternoon. We even saw a rainbow, which disappeared after only a few minutes.

We are staying at Golden Isles Marina in St. Simons Island, GA, which is a nice facility. We enjoyed a fabulous sunset and are about to go to dinner. Destination Fernandina Beach, FL (statue mile 770) tomorrow.

For more pictures of today's beautiful trip, click here.

Trailer Trash

Wednesday Bill and I drove up to Georgetown to meet up with Dave and Molly. The four of us decided to go camping for a few days in their incredible RV. On the way to Rehoboth Beach Delaware, we pulled into a little airport where we looked at a bunch of old and restored airplanes. Neat. We stopped at a farmstand and got a bunch of corn for dinner.

We spent the afternoon / night at a campground near Rehobeth Beach, Delaware. Camping is actually a lot like boating in the sense that people come from all over, are very friendly, etc. Molly and Dave's trailer is amazing and h-u-g-e. After a delicious dinner on the grill, we watched the sunset, walked around the campground for a bit, played a little yahtzee. We had a lot of fun!

Thursday we got up, and after stopping at some of the outlet stores, decided to go to Maryland to see another campground and so we could be nearer to the boat if the storm picked up. We went to Elkton, MD to a beautiful campground with lots of trees and a pool, etc. It was amazing. Molly cooked another delicious meal (complete with apple pie) and Dave put the TV outside so Bill could watch the Redskins lose. Camping is awesome. It was nice to be out of the marina for a few days and have a different view of the trees, farms, etc. We even saw a few deer.

Friday we got up and drove back to Dave and Molly's marina before Bill and I headed back to Annapolis to get ready for the storm. Today, Saturday, we are hanging out watching movies in the wind / rain. We saw 30 knots, but we are in a slip at the dock safe and sound.

For more pictures of our camping trip, click here.

Happy 4th

We hope everyone had a happy fourth of July. Bill and I really had a nice day. We did a whole lot of nothing, and it was perfect. Bill got the game on the computer, and I took a nice long walk out to Plum Island. I did some more work on my cross stitch, and we got takeout and, after a stunning sunset, watched about four firework shows from the boat. It was really relaxing and perfect.

On Thursday Bill and I visited the Maritime Museum, which is literally steps from the boat. We discovered that Newburyport is the birthplace of the US Coast Guard. And that there have been a ton of shipwrecks at the mouth of the River.

Thursday night we had a visit from Nathan and Lauren. We went to dinner at the Tannery and braved out the downpours and lightning.

Leinster Bay

We left Yacht Haven on Friday morning and motored to Leinster Bay, St. John. We really only intended on staying for one night, but we ended up staying three. Friday we hung out, read, got some sun. On Saturday we snorkeled Watermelon Cay - which was again fabulous. On Sunday we actually got off the boat and hiked up to the ruins of a sugarcane mill. Here are pictures of some "friends" we met along the way, the view from the top of the hill, one of the three beautiful sunsets we saw, and part of the ruins.

We enjoyed more games of backgammon and good meals on the grill. There are no restaurants, stores, or anything else at Leinster Bay, but we came prepared. Today, Monday, we left and are now in Trellis Bay. First we had to go to Soper's Hole to clear immigration and customs since Trellis is near Beef Island, BVI. Tomorrow we will leave to go to Virgin Gorda Sound, which neither of us has been to before, so we are looking forward to it.