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| Traveling with Toucana and Peacock |
I am remiss! The last post I made was in June of 2018 and since then, so much has transpired! To begin, it seems like yesterday, but in January of 2018 we visited some friends and family spread out around Florida while killing time awaiting medical appointments. My brother Don and sister-in-law Karen in Naples, friends Jack and Carol in Punta Gorda, friends Bruce and Ellen in Venice and on our way back to St. Augustine our friends Craig and Judith in Gainesville. A funny thing happened in Punta Gorda... aside from having a great time, we absolutely loved this quaint little town just north of Fort Myers. Canals grace the backyards of almost every house in this development, perfect to keep our boat/home for the past 4.5 years. We knew that we had a 5 year plan for living aboard EXILE, and although we weren't looking for a new home just yet, I discovered what I'm certain was meant to be for us. Upon returning to St. Augustine I checked to see what was on the market in Punta Gorda Isles and there it was. On the market for just 20 days and certain to be scooped up quickly. So, back we went to Punta Gorda the following weekend to have a look. We made an offer and since the sellers didn't want to close until the end of April, we signed the contract and headed to the Bahamas to revisit our favorite places until it was time to return for the closing. A couple of months later we sold the house in Ponte Vedra Beach. With the boat behind the house and new furnishings in place we stayed for a couple of months then closed up and headed to Maine for the summer to escape the brutal heat of southwest Florida.
Fast forward to July 2019: Back in Maine to enjoy all the things we love; friends, boats, island hopping, cool nights, and of course, our Sunday picnics feasting on lobster, clams, corn and all the yummy side dishes. We took another trip to the Bahamas earlier in the spring and returned at the beginning of June.
Now for the exciting news! During our time in Maine last year we put our sailboat on the market. The gulf coast of Florida isn't the place for a 5'9 draft or a 64' mast, so we decided to look for something more appropriate. We happened to find our next boat right here in Punta Gorda! She's a 43' Island Pilot. Yes, a motor vessel. Strange for us, huh? Anyway, she's a 2008 and in good shape especially since Jeff is a non-stop putterer. He's either cleaning the engine room, fixing or updating parts and waxing, waxing, waxing. He has quite the reputation and people call him lovingly, Mr. Clean. Sometimes people call him a little over the top, unable to stop. His work pays off though. We get many compliments on the boat. Our friend Blaine, finally figured out what Jeff's initials stood for: JUST KEEP WAXING!
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| EXILE (4) |
We weren't able to take her to the Bahamas this spring, although we had planned to go to Eleuthera since our beloved Abacos was (and is) still rebounding from Hurricane Dorian. However, this nasty COVID-19 pandemic had other ideas. Our time in the Bahamas was replaced with time in our house. Amazing the things you can accomplish when you have nowhere to go! Like many of you probably, we cleaned the garage, I cleaned the pantry, closets, reorganized the kitchen, rearranged the living room furniture, etc and Jeff spent many hours tinkering on the boat. We took a couple of trips to boatyards so Jeff could paint the bottom, change oil and the like but we hadn't really taken any REAL trips. Somehow last summer, Jeff managed to pick up a bacterial infection in the bursa sac of his elbow. After weeks of antibiotics, it was surgically removed and he was on IV antibiotics daily for another month, which finished up probably around the first week of pandemic lockdown. On March 17th, I ventured out for some groceries and was in total disbelief. The shelves were bare and of all things, toilet paper was nowhere to be found. (old news for most of us now) After getting past the shock, I headed home with whatever food I could find instead of what was on my list and stayed home for two months! In the beginning we had groceries delivered. After a while, Jeff would put on his mask and take his hand sanitizer to grab the things we needed.
Fortunately, keeping socially distant wasn't quite as bad as for some since we could get out on the boat overnight here and there. Friends would do the same and we'd be anchored out together. In the beginning it was hard to communicate. We'd be yelling to each other from our boats which had to be 50' apart! Even still, it was SO good to see our friends instead of the insides of our homes. We are so lucky to be living in Florida where the weather allows us to do this.
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| There were about 30 boats out from our PGIslanders group |
One of our trips took us to a favorite anchorage called Pelican Bay near Cayo Costa just south of Boca Grand Pass. In order to get together with our friends for happy hour, we each took our own dinghy through a hidden entryway to a pond where we toss our anchors keeping us a good 6' apart. During one of our get togethers there were many manatees swimming (romping!) around between our dinghies, occasionally dragging one of our boats several feet. Spring into summer is mating season for these gentle giants. Perhaps they were doing so, although once in a while they would come by the dinghy for a pat on the back or roll over for a belly rub. Very sociable creatures, they are.
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| Manatees splashing about |
On May 17th, we embarked on a planned (well, mostly planned) cruise with two other couples (Carol & Jack and Kaaren & Tony) to head north and explore areas we hadn't yet been to. This is new territory for us so our friends were terrific guides! Our first stop would be to anchor at Pelican Bay again, which never fails to be short of fabulous. A short trip to the south end of Cayo Costa for a beach day, then back to the anchorage for the night. The beach is uninhabited so the shells are bountiful and the stretches of beach just gorgeous. Cayo Costa is a state park, which is why it's so beautiful and undeveloped. Two days later we began our northbound trek and arrived at our first destination, the Venice Yacht Club. The shopping in Venice is fabulous and just happened to be around a mile from the Yacht Club. It was quite hot, but shoppers we are (the men stayed on the boats) and that wasn't going to stop us. Needless to say, it was a successful trip. After having not been out for months because of the stay-at-home order, it was quite therapeutic. We donned our masks and slathered our hands with sanitizer often. Even ate lunch at one of our favorite places, which we had all to ourselves!
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| In the distance, an egret fishing for lunch |
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| Bodrum Restaurant |
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| Always nice to have Mother Nature wash down the boat |
After two days in Venice, we headed out for Bradenton and stayed two nights at the Yacht Club there. Once again, the girls took off on an adventure while the boys stayed onboard. We walked 1.3 miles to get to the trails at Emerson Point Preserve, then another 3 or so and back to the marina. All in all, we probably walked 6 or 7 miles. In 90+ degree heat. Thank goodness for tree cover!
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| Cappy, appropriately named as he's usually at the helm! |
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| Toucana, Peacock and Exile through the Blackburn Point swing bridge |
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| Toucana |
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| Kaaren and Carol |
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| Not sure what kind of fish those are. Can you see them? |
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| Looking out toward the Sunshine Skyway Bridge in Sarasota |
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| An obstacle across the trail |
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| A turtle soaking up some sun on the surface of the water |
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| Pretty flower, not sure it's name |
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| A brief get-together for the pooches. Cappy, Rocky, Casey & Lili. Photo credit: Carol Akerman |
The next morning we departed to cross Tampa Bay before the wind picked up. We arrived at Gulfport Municipal Marina by 10:00 am so we all took off to explore the village of Gulfport. Brunch at Stella's for everyone, where they were following CDC guidelines for social distancing and the servers wore masks and gloves. We were seated outside where Cappy and Lili could join us. When we first arrived Cappy went straight for the water dish (even though we carry some for him) and plopped himself down in front of it. He was a huge hit with the staff.
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| I wish this water bowl was a swimming pool! |
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| View from inside the salon through our "picture window" |
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| Just chillin |
On the morning of May 27th, we took off and had the anchor down early so we girls could go shelling. Appropriate thing to do while on Shell Key.... The guys stayed onboard with the dogs since it's a bird sanctuary and no pets are allowed on the beach. After lunch we cruised to Egmont Key, a wildlife sanctuary nearby. We took our dinghies ashore and let the dogs swim along the shoreline.
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| One pooped puppy enjoying some A/C |
After all that doggy swimming, we cruised a little further to anchor in the Manatee River. It was a very warm night so we ran the generator often. Jeff doesn't like to leave it on when we sleep, so we woke up a few times and had to turn it on to cool it down again. At 9:00 we headed off to Longboat Key to anchor. These were mostly short runs and we had plenty of time to dinghy to the beach and let the dogs do their business and play to their hearts content. The six of us enjoyed dinner outside at Mar Vista where Jeff and Carol ordered the whole fried Lionfish. What a tasty treat! They are a very invasive fish in the Bahamas and people are paid to kill them! All the meals were delightfully prepared and we had a great time there. Our waitress, CC (from Thailand) was fantastic and made the experience even more enjoyable. Our bellies full, we all headed back to our boats for the night.
We plan on heading to Maine next month once again to escape the heat in Southwest Florida for a little while. Hope you are all doing well and we can enjoy getting back to our "new normal" in the near future. Until next time.....
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