Crow's Nest - Venice FL

Miles today 30

Friday 06/26/20 & Saturday 06/27/20

We left Boca Grande around 9:30 on Friday morning.  We had about 30 miles to go to get to Venice, so we decided to take it slow and just cruise up the Intracostal Waterway again.  There was an option to run out in the Gulf, but there is not much to see doing that.  It took us about 3 1/2 hours to get to Venice due to the no wake zones and the a bridge that we had to wait for.  It was a nice cruise but hot.

We got to the Crow's Nest marina, which is really just a restaurant with some docks, but they had power and water so not a bad stop.  It is located on the pass leading to the Gulf, so a lot of traffic going by.  It is supposed to be a no wake zone, but everyone who had been on the river knows how that goes.  After lunch we put the dinghy in and played around.  We went 1st to an island beach just in front of the boat.  After a quick dip, we took a cruise up past Pop's bar and grill.  We then went to a sandbar and took another dip for a while.  We decide to take the dinghy out into the Gulf.  We did, and dropped the anchor and got in.  Waves were a little much for the dinghy, so we went back inside to the GICW and cruised past the Yacht Club and to the Waterfront grill.  There was no where for us to tie up so it was back to the boat.  Was a fun way to spend the afternoon.

 Island beach view from our boat

We were going to take a walk down to the beach for the sunset, but the rain moved in and changed our plans.  When it did stop, we noticed the 80' sport fish boat that came in behind us.

On Saturday, we took an Uber to downtown and walked around the shops for awhile.  It was hot so we went into a lot of stores to cool off.  Although some interesting stuff, we managed not to purchase anything.  We did some chores around the boat in the afternoon.  On a bad note, the new ice maker that we just purchased in February was not working.  After some trouble shooting, the ice maker is working but the outlet that it plugs into is not.  It is either the outlet or the breaker.  I will try to switch out the breaker when we get to Bradenton.  Doing it without electrocuting myself will be the trick.

We will head to Sarasota in the morning.

Boca Grande

Wednesday 6/24/20 & Thursday 6/25/20

Miles today - 20

So even though today is Sunday, I have to go back in time and get caught up.  We left Mark's house around 10:00 planning on a slow cruise to Boca Grande.  When we got out into Charlotte Harbour, the water was so smooth and there was no wind we decided to kick it up and take advantage of the water.

As we headed into Boca, I finally managed to catch a couple of dolphins

We made good time getting to Boca, and they did allow us to check in early.  We could not pick up the golf cart until 3:00, but that gave us time to eat lunch and do some quick cleaning.

At 3:00, we got the golf cart and explored the island.  We found an ice cream shop and a few other shops.  We did not buy anything, but I came close.

We took the cart from one end of the island to the other.  We ended up just having dinner back on the boat.  It was a good decision as we watched a good storm move in just around dinner time.

On Thursday morning, we did a quick trip to the hardware store and then got Lobster Rolls for lunch.  They were carry out only, so we took them back to the boat.  They lived up to the hype.  After lunch we went to the beach for a few hours.  When we were tired of the sun, we went up to the beach bar for a cold beer.

We went into town for dinner.  It was a good Italian place.  Mine was shrimp diablo, not gumbo.  They did not have gumbo.

After dinner we took a drive over to the beach for the sunset.

On Friday morning we pulled out headed for Venice.  You will have to wait until the next post for that story.  

Oh Yeah - we did go into the small liquor store there and I found a bottle of Bourbon.  Sorry Maggie but Marcia blamed you (for letting me try it while at your house) and I totally threw you under the bus.  Better you than me :):)  You will have to come to the boat to have some.  (yes it was a reasonably good price)

Punta Gorda - Mark's House

Sunday 6/21/20 through 6/23/20

Miles today - 22   Total miles - 3541
Total days (phase 3) - 21

Sunday 6/21/20
We woke up well after sunrise at Cayo Costa anchorage.  We decided to cook up sausage and eggs for breakfast as we did not have far to travel today.  It was a quiet night.  I did try to take some pictures of the stars, but they did not turn out.  Lets just say that there were a lot of them.  I tried to catch a picture of the dolphins but there are too sneaky for me.  Nope - not doing well with the pictures of late.
Morning at anchorage

We got to Mark's house in Punta Gorda and tied off to his 42 Silverton around lunchtime.  Marcia and Deb went off to go shopping, and Mark and I went off to Walmart to get oil.  While getting the oil, we also picked up some steaks for dinner.   After WM, we went to Gator's for some wings and beer.  Back at the house, we got in the pool as it was hot.  We grilled up the steaks for dinner then we decided to go to Titi's as Marcia had not been there yet.   There was a nice breeze, and Jim and Sarah Sutliff also came and met us there.

Sunset at Titi's 

Jim & Sarah

 Mark & Deb

 Pat & Marcia

Back at the house, Mark and I had a cigar and a nightcap.

Monday 6/22/20
Today was a work day.  Marcia cleaned and did laundry and I went to the engine room.  Changing the oil in October in Cincinnati is not bad, changing it in Florida summertime is just brutal.  Other than sweating out about 90% of the water in my body, it was done.  It actually went pretty smooth other than HOT.  I did manage not to spill any oil.  Each engine takes about 5 1/2 gallons of oil.  I also changed my Racor fuel filters.  After that was done, I showered and then Mark and I got rid of all the used oil and jugs.  We sat in the pool for a while and then got ready to meet Jim and Sarah for dinner.  They invited us all over for a grill out at their house.  Dinner was great, pork chops, scallop potatoes and salad.  Sarah even made a Key Lime pie for Mark's birthday.

Tuesday 6/23/20
Marcia and I borrowed Mark's car and made a provisioning trip to Walmart.  We did not need a lot, mostly beer and water.  After Walmart and lunch, the 3 of us went to Fisherman's Village.  We walked a few shops and ended up at Harpoon Harry's for cocktails.  Bloody Mary was good and the beers were cold, Marcia had a Mule.  After the Village, we stopped by Beth and John Roepke's to say hi.  They are friends from back when we had the boat at Rivertowne.  It was nice to visit and catch up with them.  Back at Mark's house, we had a plan that he and I would go to Fadora's Cigar bar and then Marcia and Deb would drive up later when Deb got off work.  Timing worked out pretty well as we were just finishing our cigars when Marcia and Deb got there.  We went next door to Pioneer Pizza which was really good.  Back at the house, it was an early night as the last couple of weeks are starting to catching up to me.  We hung out on the boat and turned in early.


Next post will catch you up on Boca Grande.

South Seas Resort & Cayo Costa

Friday 6/19/20 & Saturday 6/20/20

Miles Today - 4 (yes a whopping 4 miles)

On Friday morning we left Tween Water and made the short jump up to South Seas Resort.  Both are on Captiva Island.  The only reason it was 4 miles and not less was because we had to go back out the channel and come back into the South Seas Channel.  It was too shallow to just run up the coast.  We had been to South Seas years before on Mark's boat, so it was cool to now be doing it on our boat.

We got fuel before going into our slip.  This is not so significant of an event, but it is worth mentioning only because it is the cheapest fuel that we have gotten since leaving last September at $1.99 a gallon.  When we got into our slip we chuckled as the boat right in front of us was R&R.  Not the Rick and Rhonda R&R but the Ray and Robin R&R.  After washing the boat in a light rain shower, we walked over to R&R for a cocktail.  After 2, the rain left and the sun came out. We all decided to go up to the pool and cool off.

R&R (Ray and Robin)

 Lot of nice boats / yachts at South Seas

Pool pic (you can see the back of my head)

After talking with R&R, we decided to take the trolly down the road and ate a Mexican restaurant.  Food was good, but the margaritas were better,

We did walk around a little bit after dinner and had to go into Doc Ford's.  A must see for those that have read Randy Wayne White.  His Doc Ford novels are all set in this area.

I did sit out on the back of the boat and have a bourbon and a cigar.  Thought Robin was going to come over as well, but she must have been over served earlier in the day.  :).

Saturday 06/20/20 - Cayo Costa - Pelican Bay Anchorage

Miles today - 15 miles

After breakfast, we left South Seas Resort and headed up the GICW to an anchorage in Pelican Bay called Cayo Costa.  We were looking forward to this as we had heard great things about it.  It only took about a hour to get there as we cruised most of the Gulf Intra Costal Waterway.  It was a little shallow getting in, but even I can follow directions at times and we got in without issue.  We anchored in about 8 feet of water with a nice breeze.

Beach entering Cayo Costa

 At anchor

  

It was not long after we were anchored that Mark and Deb showed up in their Sea Hunt center console.  We left with them to go to Englewood and lunch at Stump's Pass.  Mark let me drive the Sea Hunt.  It was pretty cool running at 45 mph up the GICW.  By the way, nobody passed us.  Tight fit getting into Stumps for lunch, but Mark managed to squeeze us in.

 View from lunch

After lunch, we went out into the Gulf to make the run back to Boca Grande Pass.  Gulf was smooth and it was a quick ride.  

We decided to anchor the boat at Boca Grande beach and hang out for the afternoon.  As soon as we got anchored, a couple of Manatees swam right by, actually under our anchor line.

 A couple of studs coming out of the water.  Not Bo Dereck but still a 10  :)

 Couple of Hotties catching some rays.

Mark dropped us back off at our boat and headed home.  We grilled on the boat and had a great sunset.

We had a peaceful and uneventful night at anchor.  We did try to sleep without the generator on at first.  We had the boat cooled down, but I woke up about 1:30 getting hot.  Marcia had the fan set up on a table, so I flipped it on.  At 4:30 the fan was not cutting it anymore, so I started up the generator and the AC.  We cooked up sausage and eggs for breakfast and then headed up Charlotte Harbor to stay a few days at Mark's house. 

Our view for breakfast

Tween Water-Part 2

So today is Wednesday 6/24 and we are now at Boca Grande Marina.  I am now going to take a page from Hawaii Five 0, and say "6 days earlier".

Thursday 6/18

I was going to try and catch you up with one long post, but it would be way to long so I will try to do a quick series of posts to get you current on what has been happening.  It has been a busy week!

After lunch on Thursday we did go to the pool at Tween Waters.  Pool was very nice and the water was chilled so it was refreshing.  We did have to use our coupon book to get our BOGO drink.  We started with Rum Runners, but switched to Pina Colada and a Mud Slide.

Pina Colada with floater and Mud Slide

 Pool Pic

After the pool we cleaned up and went to dinner on site at the Crows Nest.  After dinner we walked across the street to catch the sunset.