Happy New Year!! Still in Sarasota and Loving it!

Happy New Year to all!
We are still in Sarasota as our hot water heater delivery was held up by the holiday.  It is supposed to be in Bradenton on Monday 1/4.  We have arrangements to get it installed on Tuesday.
The Sarasota New Year's fireworks display was right in front of our boat. 
Waiting for fireworks:

They're right here!!

 

 

Fortunately all the ash was blowing away from the boats so no mess to clean up in the morning!  They were lit off literally 50 yards in front of our boat....

Moonrise over Sarasota...

Waiting for the midnight pineapple drop downtown:  Lots of people, carnival rides, etc.

 

And of course it cost an extra dollar a foot for three nights around New Years because of the event.  But the good news for us was we didn't have to leave as we earlier had planned due to slip availability.  They ended up with a cancellation and we got the slip!  Having an open work order awaiting parts (water heater) didn't hurt our chances I presume. 
We do like Sarasota but also realize we have to move on....  We will leave on Wed (weather permitting) and continue our migration toward the Keys.  We plan stops at Pelican Bay to anchor out a couple nights, then will visit the Fort Myers, Naples and Marco Island areas (and likely anchor out some more here too).  And we have more good news.  Jordan is coming to visit us in Fort Myers as well!  So we will again have family aboard!  We also have many landlubber friends in this area to visit. So it will be great to be on the move again.
We took a number of walks exploring the city, its condo communities, parks, etc.  Here is a view from our bridge walks out to Bird Key, a four mile round trip.

It is really a nice city.  As our dock neighbor said, "you can't eat your way through Sarasota.".  There are many, many fine restaurants to choose from!  And a Whole Foods only blocks away as well for gourmet cooking aboard.  What a great stop this has been.
Sunset from the boat:

On New Years Day we launched the dinghy and went over to Lido Key for a nice walk. It was another hot morning with a slight cloud cover making it very comfortable.  When we got back to the dinghy, we found the anchor had dragged a bit and it had partially filled with water from the large boat wakes. Tom unfortunately waded out to it with Julie's phone in the swimsuit pocket.  So it was time to leave and go to the Verizon store for a new one....Julie had wanted the new Samsung Note 5 to replace her 3+ year old cracked screen S3 anyway.  It was also fortunate that photos were stored on the micro SD card and we could recover them.  And Google had stored all her contacts, apps, etc.  So I guess it all worked out.
It is hard to believe we have been at this adventure for over 4 months now.  We are having a great time meeting new people and seeing new places.  It is truly a unique way to see the wonderful country we live in.

December statistics:
Miles travelled:  372 /Trip to Date: 2509
Travel days:   7 /45
Engine hours: 33 / 288
Locks:   0/35
Bridges opened:   3 /11
Days on hook or free wall:   0 /11
Gallons of diesel:   306 / 1801
Sarasota as home for 17 days:   Really cool...maybe we should have stayed a month!

Thanks for following us!  We'll see you in Fort Myers Jordan!  And we'll see some of you on land and others in the Keys soon!

 

Christmas in Sarasota

We continued to explore Sarasota after Sarah and Joe left for Michigan visits.  Walks on Siesta Key
beach, dinghy exploration of the channels and homes along the keys, re-provisioning, etc.

Siesta Key:

Julie and her Mom at Siesta Key back in the day...the 60's

 

Dinghy ride

 

 The marina is probably the nicest physical facility we have been to.  Modern floating docks, all types of maintenance/repair services on site, pump outs in the slip, a short walk across the Tamiami Trail to town.  Lots, and I mean lots! of restaurants and shops.  Three restaurants right at the  marina!  Nice, but one cannot afford to stay too long as the rates are a bit pricey. Definitely worth a stop here. And a fourth just around the marina...O'Leary's Tiki Bar:

Speaking of maintenance, we are having some isinglass repaired and are currently trying to source a rather rare hot water heater.  No one has a 20 gal, 240V, horizontal configuration in stock.  It may be two to three weeks to get the water heater we are told.   Oh well, we have been stuck in a lot worse places!

 

We were only able to get a 10 day slip assignment as there is a huge fireworks display and party for New Years right here.  So we are moving to Longboat Key Moorings across the bay starting Jan 30 for a few days (maybe more as noted above).
Courtney is staying at Julie's mom's house for a few weeks here in Sarasota so we have been visiting him every day or so.  He graciously allowed us use of his car which makes our re-provisioning and other errands so convenient.  Thanks so much Courtney!
We went to St. Martha's parish Mass on Christmas Eve.  The older Italian priest was quite a character.  In fact, after he welcomed all and wished everyone a Merry Christmas his line was..." I have a secret for you all" and quietly said "we are open for business every Sunday!".   We thought that was a quite clever way to remind folks!  He also said he was an IBM priest.   Italian Big Mouth.  What a character.
Anyway had a great Italian meal downtown afterwards and even listened to a Christian rock band doing a church service and Christmas songs in the park for a few minutes on our walk home (to the boat).

Christmas Eve full moon back at the boat:

 

 

 

On Christmas morning we drove to Lido Key and walked the beach (did Siesta Key the day before).  These are some of the best beaches around in our opinion.  Great walking beaches, we took over an hour walk on each!  Best of both worlds, a little exercise and a great view along the shore!
Gary and Cindy's favorite spot on Lido;

Courtney invited us for a delicious Christmas dinner he had graciously prepared.  He had planned on a couple other people to attend but they both had last minute complications and could not.  So there was plenty of leftovers for Courtney!  Thanks again Courtney!
On Sat we explored the downtown area including the farmer's market.  We went over to Payne Park which was home to a major league baseball team spring training for years and years up to the late 80's (the White Sox were the last team to practice here).  The field is gone but the hotel once owned by the baseball team is still standing and serves as administrative offices for the city.  The Payne family deeded the land to the city and stipulated that it be a public park if no major league baseball team held spring training there.  It is a beautiful area today. The park is right where Julie's grandmother lived for years in a trailer park.   Julie has been coming to Sarasota since she was 2 years old so has witnessed many of these changes.  She recalled going to sit in the hotel lobby with her Mom and Dad to watch all the baseball players enter and exit.  She also remembered going down the street for ice cream as well as feeding peanuts to the squirrels in the park.

 

 

 

On Sunday Dec 27, our good friends Rich and Paula and their daughter Maggie stopped in for a visit as they were in Florida for a family vacation. It is great having friends visit and again we encourage you to keep track of our whereabouts and contact us if our paths will cross....we'd love to have you aboard! Anyway, we took a great boat ride and Courtney and one of the Sarasota neighbors, Cindy, joined us. 

Unfortunately, no dolphins....sorry Maggie!  The Kohlers helped us wash the salt off the boat and then we all had a great grilled dinner aboard.  We all retired fairly early and the Kohlers had to be on their way around 9 AM on Monday.  It was such a pleasure seeing them and having them aboard.  Safe travels Kohlers.
On Monday I finally found a hot water heater in stock in Connecticut.  It will take a week to get here due to the Holiday so I guess I'd better get busy and make a reservation to stay longer in Sarasota....
Thanks for following us....Happy New Year to all.

So Excited to have Family Aboard! Clearwater, St Pete and Sarasota.

We made the 20 or so mile trip from Tarpon Springs to Clearwater Beach marina on Sunday Dec 13.  As directed by the Turtle Cove staff we waited until we had some tide come in as I am sure our props were sitting in the mud at low tide there.   Just took our time and enjoyed the inter coastal activity along the way. 
It was pretty windy so we had some salt deposits upon arrival.  We sterned in next to Job Site a beautiful Sea Ray sedan bridge from Bay Harbor.  We last ran into them at Aqua Marine at the head of the Tenn Tom back in Oct.  They had been here a couple weeks and loved it....and after spending three days here we agreed! 

Short walk to a wonderful sandy beach, lots of shops, restaurants, etc.

So after our arrival and washing the boat, we got our showers done and Sarah and Joe arrived from Bellingham WA to join us for a whole week.  It is so nice to have them aboard as our first guests!!

And as we said a little earlier, Clearwater is very nice and we just kept extending our stay one day at a time.  Sarah and Joe's friend Matt Fletcher showed up in Clearwater with his fiance' Meg.  This was a surprise to all as they had not announced it publically until then!  Congratulations Matt and Meg!

We left for St Pete on Wed.  Leaving Clearwater: A shot from Matt and Meg's room at the hotel.

Had a great 40 mile (or so) trip under warm sunny skies with little wind.  We had hoped to see many dolphins and were not disappointed!  In fact at one time we had in excess of six swimming in our wakes....some under the bow sprit and others along the side of the boat.  And it even included one juvenile dolphin who was keeping up with the others just fine.  Sarah and Joe taking pictures and videos of the dolphins.  What a day on Tampa Bay!

 

Our original destination was the municipal marina but they only had one night available.  So we decided the Renaissance Vinoy Resort (a Marriott managed property) marina would suffice...:>)
Boy, what a place. A storied past, refurbished to it's former grandeur in the 90's.  Opened in 1925, occupied by the military in WWII, closed in the 70's, occupied by the homeless and rodents for years, then finally refurbished as noted.  Wow.  From the glory days:

Today with Sum Escape in the foreground

 

Huge outdoor pool and hot tubs, great exercise and spa facilities, etc.  All available to the marina guest as well.  Sarah and Joe used the exercise facilities and Joe set a personal best on the treadmill running a half marathon before we left on Sunday morning! 
And with our Marriott member number, $2 a foot (same as Clearwater Beach and other marinas with many less amenities).  Oh Nancy C, there were great hair dryers in the shower facilities!!  You better stop here!
And wouldn't you know it, we got "stuck" here due to the wind and large waves on Tampa Bay.  We were going to stay 2 nights and ended up staying 5...what a sacrifice! 

Beautiful Christmas tree at Vinoy.

The Dali museum in St Pete was really interesting.  We did not know anything about this surrealist artist until visiting the museum.  What detail and creativity!  You should take the couple hours to do this museum if in the area.  It is amazing art.

 

We found many great restaurants in St Pete.  The marinas are right in the heart of it all.  St Pete is a little out of the way via the Loop, but in our opinion, a very worthwhile trip off the regular route. 

 

At the Canopy restaurant overlooking the park and Christmas tree.

 

Lots of condos downtown for possible future exploration too...seems like a pretty vibrant city.
On Fri night and Sat we found out the downside to the Vinoy marina....easterly component winds and a strong surge in the harbor.  So we checked the weather and noted continued strong east winds.  The wave forecast was only three footers on Tampa Bay, so we set out at 9:30 AM for Sarasota, Marina Jack to escape the surge.  It turned out to be a good choice.  Tampa Bay was a following sea, but the auto pilot and 2100 RPM (16 MPH or so with the wave action) was a great formula to get under the Sunshine Skyway and on to Anna Maria Island inlet into the intercoastal again.

 

 

 

 

Coming into Sarasota

 

It would have been nice to show Sarah and Joe more travelling along the Great Loop, but the cities we visited were fun and we found plenty to do.  And they at least had two travel days with us to see what a typical day of travel is like.   It was likely enough for them as 10MPH is pretty slow for a 30 something.  But they did enjoy the dolphin shows!  Oh, and as Joe pointed out, they did about 1% of the Loop!
When we arrived at Marina Jacks, the boat was full of salt as the 15 knot winds kicked up significant spray our entire trip.  So we sent Sarah and Joe off to enjoy a late lunch and Julie and I ate a quick sandwich and then scrubbed the boat.  Courtney joined us in the evening for dinner at Marina Jack....it was very good and a piano bar to boot.  View from the boat at Marina Jack.

 

Dinner crew:

 

On Monday we enjoyed a dinghy ride around Bird Key....and actually through the canal through the middle.

Even dinghyed over to O'Leary's Tiki Bar for lunch!

 

 

 

We sent Joe and Sarah off on the Marina Jack courtesy shuttle to the airport around 3 PM on Monday.

 

Tuesday brought a work day and a quiet boat...we miss the kids already!  But our time in Sarasota will be great visiting Courtney and exploring the city.  Thanks for following us.  Merry Christmas to all!!