Bradenton

Stats Saturday / Sunday 11/10/19:  Total days - 61, Travel days 36,  Miles today - 26, Total mile - 2168

We left St Petersburg in 20 mph wind with 30 mph gusts.  We had to cross Tampa Bay, but only had about 25 miles to go.  Thought I would just take it easy and cruise slow at 10 mph.  As we got out into Tampa Bay, the waves were white capping about 3-4 foot.  There were not any swells, and yes there is a difference.  It was not quite as rough as the crossing as the waves were on our stern.  We ended up running the bay at about 20 mph as this was smoother than rocking and rolling with the waves.  We probably would have just stayed at St Pete, but we wanted to get across to meet up with Alyssa, Marcia's niece.  Also, the wind on Sunday looked just as bad.

Leaving St Petersburg

 Skyway bridge

 Container ship coming in.

 Although windy, it was a nice day, coming into Bradenton.

We arrived at Riviera Dunes Marina late morning.  We fueled up and then had to back into our slip against the wind.  Was kind of nervous as I did not want to hit any of the yachts in the marina.  Got in OK and then washed the boat - AGAIN.  Alyssa came by and we watched the end of the Penn State game.  Not a good outcome, but the bloody marys were good.

After the game we hung out on the boat for a while and then walked up to the restaurant for dinner.  Dinner was very good, and since it was Alyssa's birthday on Friday, we got a free slice of key lime pie.  We did not embarrass her and sing happy birthday.  It cooled off, like into the 60's so we sat at the fire pit and had a couple of drinks.  We retired to the boat, and Alyssa slept in the guest stateroom.  

Yep, got into the bourbon.

We cooked up bacon and eggs for breakfast, then we lowered the dinghy into the water.  We cruised around for awhile even though it was windy and choppy.  We ended up stopping at Caddy's for some appetizers, and I decided to have a Bud Light - or two.  Alyssa pulled a fast one and sneaked off and payed the check.  Yep, she pulled a Dave Witherby.  We did use Matt and Sarah's speaker that they got us when we left.  It worked very good, and was louder than I thought it would be.  Thanks again!

Back at the boat we said goodbye to Alyssa.  We thoroughly  enjoyed visiting with her and were glad she was able to spend the night and day with us..  It had been about 11 years since I had seen her last.  I did some chart plotting that will cover the next few days then did some light waxing on the back of the boat.  The diesel soot and salt water just take their toll.  

Lucy did not seem to mind that Alyssa was here.

 Cluck Norris seemed pretty happy to have a new friend as well.