Longboat Key Continues.... Jan 13-24, then on the move again!

Longboat Key Moorings is a very nice location.  Great restaurant on site, great pool and hot tub, Publix a short walk, public access to the beach across the street, free shuttle to resort pool/restaurant/beach (or to Saint Armand's Circle for all the activity there), on site repair staff (and sub contactors of any type you may need) and best of all a great staff to deal with.  We are planning to come back here for a couple months next year!  It is a great spot to have visitors too as we documented in our last post....hint, hint for planning next year family and friends.....

Note how close we are to the pool, ship store and restaurant!

On one of our morning walks along the bay.

 

 

 Our beach access across the street.

 

We did routine maintenance....both the boat and Julie and I with dental work.. and generally made ourselves at home during this time.  Julie's wisdom tooth extraction went well....except for the popcorn withdrawals for the past week! It was nice not travelling or entertaining guests for a spell as we prepared the boat and supplies for cruising to the Bahamas...we are now ready to start moving toward the Bahamas this week.
Thursday Jordan called us.  He said he had something to share.  Can anyone guess it?  Yes, he and Eliza are engaged to be married!!  We are so happy about this!!...and we await more details as the date is set.
On Thursday night we had reservations at the Portofino Italian restaurant about 50 yards from our boat.  As Julie exited our boat John Travolta was exiting the boat right next to us! His party had dinner in the corner at the restaurant and kept a very low profile.  Talking to folks on the dock, it appears he comes here occasionally.  Anyway, it was an interesting event.  I guess you never know who you will run into!  Here is his boat slipped right next to ours.

Leaving the next morning...

Friday and Saturday brought organizing, varnishing and waxing as we ready for the Bahamas.
Debbie and Kevin came over one Sunday for a nice day.  We took a 17 mile dinghy excursion out the Longboat Key Pass and out into the Gulf, coming back in At Big Sarasota Pass around Lido Key.  It was almost dead calm out on the Gulf. We also took a ride through Bird Key on the ride....nice places!  A great ride.

We have seen quite a few Loopers passing through the marina, some only for a few days, some planning to stay a month.  It was fun exchanging Loop experiences with all of them.  It was great to hear from many of them that Michigan was a highlight for all of them.  Numerous couples remarked about the beauty of the  sand dunes, beaches, water clarity, cute towns, etc.  It was fun talking to all of them about their experiences, good and bad.
On Sunday the 23rd we were expecting some strong thunderstorms.  And at around 7:30 PM both our phone alarms went off stating "Tornado Warning, seek shelter immediately".  So we did!  We went to the rest room facility as did a number of others.  Long story short, all was well but a water spout was sighted coming ashore near St Armand's Circle, just 3 miles or so south of us.  This was another instance where our proximity to the pool and other facilities was greatly appreciated!  It would have been tough to seek any fixed shelter from the other end of this large marina.
On Tuesday Jan 24 we got underway for the first time in 46 days! 

Unfortunately we had a delay as the port engine overheated a couple miles out from the marina.  Long story short, the technician had improperly installed the impeller (we had him do that routine maintenance while we were at Longboat).  We went to the fuel dock on one engine (nice to have two!!) and the technician reinstalled the impeller and we were on our way......  We are posting this from our anchorage at Sanibel Island...tomorrow we start across the Okeechobee waterway and then....
Bahamas, here we come!!!!