Clearwater to Sarasota Bay

Saturday, Nov 30, 2013

We were up at the crack of dawn, happy to be on the move again.  We left Clearwater Municipal Marina at 6:55am.

Sun rising over the Scientology HQ...this one's for you Tom Cruise

Rejoined the Intercoastal Waterway...southward bound

We only had to wait for only two bridges today

We liked the tenacity of the small house wedged in between two monsters

As we motored along we were followed by this huge Sportfisherman boat. It was a lovely sleek craft in pale aqua.  As it passed us Kerm was salivating and promising that he will own one when we win the lottery.

When it passed us we noted that it was called Blue Heaven and Kerm said it was a perfect name

Sunshine Skyway Bridge from Tampa Bay

Closer shot of the bridge but you can't see the pretty suspension wires...new camera

 Tampa Bay was a moderate chop so we were tossed about a little but it only for on hour or so.  Not bad at all.

Jewfish Key...lots of boats in there enjoying a "Cheeseburgers in Paradise" on a nice Saturday afternoon

 We had a great day on the Belle traveling 57 miles to Sarasota Bay.  We grabbed a mooring ball for only $25 a night and we don't have to worry about anchor drag all night.

Mooring Field

Marina Jack's

Our mooring ball

Condos with Moorish flourished

Front deck looking a little messy...not my usual pristine presentation

Navionics screen showing exactly where we are moored

Tomorrow we are hoping to reach the mooring field down in Fort Myers Beach.  We may go on the outside in the Gulf of Mexico rather than using the Intercoastal Waterway...but we will see what the morning brings.

Love to all and take care
Christie

New Camera

Kerm went out and bought us a new camera this morning.  This one is waterproof, shockproof, dustproof and he even bought the extended protectoon plan, which we never do.  Now watch me toss this one overboard... so much camera angst this trip!!!

Had a lovely Thanksgiving dinner last night with Mike anod Charlotte and their neighbors.  Great food and great company.  We stayed overnight and it was awesome to sleep in a real bed again and take a real shower in civlized surroundings.

Tomorrow we take off again, heading for the mooring field at Sarasota.  We are happy to be moving.  Watch out, Joe .We're coming your way.

Christie
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Big Waves at Clearwater Beach

Waves were crashing on the beach

 

We took a walk this morning and the wind was whistling.  The pictures don't do the waves justice.

We have been invited to Thanksgiving dinner at Mike and Charlotte Sarafolean's , Kerm's cousins.  It will be wonderful to have real turkey day dinner.

Kerm has working in the bilge and I have been sleeping...what an unfair deal.  But I serve a purpose... I'm the boat's schleper...I get food, beer, ice and anything else that's needed.

Hope all is well with eveyone out there

Christie

 

Blowing stink +

Kerm here,
It's blowing about 25 with gusts to 35mph.  The tide is super high as the wind is pushing water from the gulf into the inlets.  Right now it's about a foot higher than normal high even tho the tide should be about a foot lower than normal high.  High tide was about 45 minutes ago and should be falling but it's still going up.  Between a 180 degree wind shift and higher than normal tides the lines need to be adjusted but some are just too tight to mess with.  I did add one line at 4 am this morning to replace one that was too tight to reposition.  If there is one constant with cruising,  you never stop learning as mother nature keeps on slamming variables at you. 

Chris is sleeping in this morning as she sat up last night watching the thunderstorms roll in and worried that the boat would bang into the boat next door.  There were also tornado warnings but I don't know what we would do if one came.  Hold on dear we're going for a ride.  The noise and movement of the boat would scare the heck out of anyone who has not been through something like this before.  Doors and windows rattling, window covers and lee cloths flapping, bumpers rubbing on pilings and the wind whistling through the rigging.  Reminds me of the straight line winds in Canada a couple of years ago when our bimini was torn off.  The storm came out of the blue and made a mess out of the town of Hastings where we were tied up.  One boat near us lost his complete flybridge.

Thanksgiving will be a bit quiet around here with Dan up in MI.  Chris bought some turkey.  Just a part of a turkey.  Our oven is big enough for a chicken but for a whole turkey,  not a chance.  Two years ago when we were in Pasadena, Fl for Christmas Chris bought a turkey for our Christmas dinner with Dan on the boat but didn't figure in the size of the boat oven.  Chris didn't notice until the turkey was prepped and the oven door was opened.  Oops.  The problem was solved by cutting said turkey into parts but Dan and I had a field day giving her the raz.

For those wondering about son Dan.  He is still waiting in line for flight simulator time to finish up his training.  The training is for jet powered airplanes as he was only certified for turbo props.   His base will be Cleveland when the training is complete.  He has lived in so many places over the last few years he is looking forward to putting down roots just about anywhere. 

Blowing stink

Kerm here,

We made the right decision to stay in port.  It's crazy out there.  We're in the shelter of a bay and have a 46 footer on the windward side of us but still are being knocked around.  The wind is blowing 20 + with gusts as high as 30.  No way would I want to be at anchor.  No way.  At least we are at a decent location with services just across the street.  All we need now is a Walmart to get a new camera and a Home Depot for a little repair job in the bilge. 

I just went outside to check lines and added one more line and repositioned the bumpers.  For those unfamiliar with docks down here most of the marinas have stationary docks with very short fingers and you tie to pilings midships and aft plus crossed bow lines to the dock.  Tying is further complicated by the tide going up and down from 2 to 6 feet depending on where you are and the wind pushing water in or out of where you are.  The lines need to be tight enough to hold you into your spot but loose enough as to not be too tight at either end of the tide change.  Also you have to keep in mind that during a full moon and no moon the tides are lower than normal at low tide and higher than normal at high tide.  This plus during the winter months the low tide tends to also be lower than in the summer months.  Typically you run fore and aft lines just like normal but additional spring lines running from the aft posts to forward on the boat and from mid posts to aft on the boat.  Sprinkle additional lines to taste.  The dockmasters tend to give you the "you are truly an idiot" look if you don't do it right and will actually give you the time of day if you nail it.  We have been on the receiving line of both attitudes.

Me, the bilge rat.  I like the bilge to be clean and dry.  There tends to be no boat smells if you keep it that way.  While a pool of fresh water will eventually start smelling even a small pool of salt water will go rancid in a hurry.  Stinky!  Over the last few weeks I had noticed a very small amount of fresh water coming in from somewhere.  I just thought it was from washing the boat or rainwater overwhelming the gutter around the rear hatch.  Nope.  One of the water tanks is leaking.  I figured it was probably a fitting behind a nonstructural bulkhead.  I had to pull the insulating tiles off said bulkhead and cut an opening large enough to get at the fittings.  Nope.  The fitting were just fine.  Nuts,  a weld on the tank is cracked in an area that is not easy to get to.  Major surgery is required to get to it and I'm not about to do that on the run so I'm just going to button things up and only use this tank for the Bahamas.  The leak is just a drip so we'll use this one up first.  The way we use water we'll just have to put up with it for about a month. 

Speaking of fresh water,  In the Bahamas nearly all water comes from reverse osmosis (RO) water plants.  The RO process requires large amounts of electricity and that electricity comes from diesel power plants.  Between the high maintenance cost of running a RO plant and the cost of diesel, water is an expensive commodity.  Because of this marinas typically charge for water.  At slips and fuel docks the water is metered and the typical cost is 50 cents per gallon.  So stock up on paper plates, plastic silverware and wash first in salt and rinse with fresh.  Washing the boat with fresh water is out of the question.



 

Windy day

We have decided to stay at Clearwater Beach for a couple more days due to choppy conditions on the waterways and in Tampa Bay.

Today as I was walking to the biffy I saw a pelican almost blown off the dock in a hefty gust.  I figured it was a sign we should stay in port.  We may end up here for Thanksgiving but that's okay.   Better safe than beaten up by the elements.

While Kerm worked in the bilge I made apple crumble from scratch.   It was a big hit at the dinner table tonight.

Hope everybody's plans for the holiday work out well.  Be careful of that big storm bearing down on the hinterlands.

Hugs to all
Christie

The Crossing to Clearwater

First of all,  I can't call the 22 hours and 180 miles across the Gulf a fun ride and after doing it once before a couple of years ago the adventure part of it has worn just a bit thin.  2 AM, waves crashing over the bow, cold, windy, can't see a damn thing, Chris tucked in after her shift and another hundred miles to go... Oh boy, isn't this fun.  But, it's over and I'm sure that after a week I will be telling people how great the crossing was in such a way that people will actually want to give it a try themselves.

Recap.  We sat in Carrabelle for 10 days waiting for the Gulf to give us a weather window.  Last Sunday there was a reported window that we jumped at but turned around after a couple of miles.  It was the right decision as the people who crossed that night got pretty beat up.  So we waited.  The window Friday by all reports was going to be decent and if not taken the Gulf would be rough for yet another week.  14 total boats jumped at the chance and off we went at 1:00 PM.  We had ourselves a fleet although it split into 3 distinct routes with 2 variations towards the end.  Some stayed close to the west coast of Fl,  some took a direct path and some including us were somewhere in between.  The two destinations were Tarpon Springs and the other Clearwater.  Each variation has its advantages and disadvantages.  Taking the direct route was shorter but rougher and following the coast would mean dodging crab pots all night but a bit smoother plus it gives some people a good feeling being closer to civilization.  This being closer to shore for 'safety' is the worst reason as there is almost nowhere to pull in with deep water draft boats like ours especially at night.  I guess it gives people a warm fuzzy.

So off we went like a herd of turtles.  The prediction was for about 3 to 4 foot waves calming to 1 to 2's in the afternoon and further calming as the night came.  Reality was 3 to 4's with some smaller at times and around 2am things stared to  slowly calm down more. At least we were generally pointed into them throughout the trip.  By inland boater standards, rough but by salt standards not all that bad.


The boat ran well for the crossing.  I only took a short look in the bilge but everything looks fine.  Today I'll take a long look but I'm not anticipating any problems.  Our VHF radio on the flybridge is having trouble in sending mode but I'm thinking it has to do more with settings than an actual defect somewhere.  It's probably something to do with the new intercom that I installed last week.  A good or is it a bad problem showed up at night when we crossed.  The new LED green navigation light on the starboard of the flybridge is too bright.  Good for other boats to see us but so bright that the front deck lights up to the point that it messes up our night vision.  I'm going to experiment with some sort of shield to keep the light doing its navigation job but take the beam off the front deck.  Its red sister light on the port is OK as red lights does not mess up a persons night vision.