Tarpon Springs

Tarpon Springs FL is the home to a significant Greek community with Sponge harvesting their primary source of income.  Trick and I visited a sponge museum today.  We hear a lot of Greek being spoken in the streets and stores.  Who knew?

Sponge Diver

Sponge supply store

This is how they string sponges together by size.

We learned about the history of sponge diving.

They closed the street for a party

Party in Tarpon Springs

The Greeks know deserts!!!

Trick in Tarpon Springs

Catch of the day???

It looks like tomorrow afternoon we should be able to cast off and head out for our 150 mile crossing of the Gulf of Mexico.  It will take 18 hours to reach "C Quarters" marina in Carrabelle FL with an ETA of 7AM Monday morning just after sunrise.  Should be interesting.  I am hoping for clear skies so we can take advantage of the nearly full moon to look for crab pot buoys.

Say Bye Bye Tarpon Springs!!!

Happy Birthday SAM!!!

Today is Sam's Birthday.  

In order to suprise him, Melissa flew home this morning from Tampa.  She walked in the office at 3 in the afternoon and shocked Sam and Josh.  What a good way to celebrate a birthday.  Poor Sam had to work since his boss neglected to tell the rest of the staff to give him the day off.  I hear that there is pizza and cake planned for later this evening.



Sam at the Dry Tortugas









 Happy Birthday Sam.  You really have a lot going for you so you can expect things will get even better in your future.







With Melissa flying out, Trick and I motored up to Tarpon Springs.  We only went about 12 miles.

Nice little city marina right in the heart of the Greek community.  Great if you like their food.

We are waiting on a weather window to cross the Gulf.  Right now it looks like a small window will open up at noon on Easter Sunday.  Stay tuned........

Waiting to Cross the Gulf

Wednesday April 4th, 2012

Clearwater, Florida

As we bid a fond farewell to Sarasota - Marina Jacks is a fabulous place to stay....wonderful facilities and Starbucks is within walking distance :) We motored in the Gulf of Mexico, which was calm, warm and sunny....although we were several miles offshore...the first mate prefers to be closer to land but it was a beautiful trip. We saw the Coast Guard practicing rescue exercises...at least I assume that is what they were doing. We docked at the municipal marina in Clearwater as reports of major thunderstorms are going to prevent the impending crossing of the Gulf.

The forecast is for strong winds and storms the next few days so we might be here a while.  Pat ("Trick") has joined us to help with the crossing of the Gulf.  Keep your fingers crossed that the weather clears and quiets quickly.

Farewell Sarasota!

Coast Guard rescue practice

Hello Clearwater...busy, busy

Ever wonder what happened to Jaws?

Yes, Clearwater does have pirates

local welcoming committee

Sarasota

This morning as I was catching up on some emails I heard manatee out in the bay.  It could have been dolphins.  Maybe even whales.  Okay, not whales, but cool never the less.

leaving Captiva

Headed out at 9:15 for Sarasota.  Weather was beautiful again. 

ready for the storms

Traveled the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway up to Charlotte Harbor then cut out onto the Gulf as the wind was from the east so it was very calm on the Gulf. 

The 1st Mate enjoyed the day of motoring north.

We traveled up to Venice and then snuck back into the IGWW for the balance of the trip to Sarasota.

homes along the Gulf

Hawk with babies

The Gulf is beautiful and only have to worry about crab pots.  The IGWW is a plethera of activities so always something to notice.

Very friendly bridge tenders.

These young ladies made Schmom very nervous as they jumped through our wake several times.

We pulled into Marina Jacks at about 5PM and then headed off in a cab to West Marine for electrical parts.  Back to the boat and things went together pretty quick.  And it all works so now we have full electrical shore power!!

Fountain at Marina Jacks

Missy and I had a very nice dinner here at the Marina restaurant.  This marina is so nice it might be worth considering a month stay next winter.  Key West does have a lot to offer though......

Captiva

Monday morning in Marco Island we walked to Starbucks and West Marine. I purchased and installed a new radio antenna so now we have better reception.  We we docked right next to the Key West Express and it headed out at 8:30 A.M.  Their service to Key West ends for the season the end of the week.  They sure had a load of passengers today as they all walked past our boat.

The weather was beautiful as we left.  Warm sun, calm winds.  Schmom was happy.  The Captain was happy.

The Dolphins are still all around.

Dolphins ahead

playing in our wake

We have seen several Sea Turtles on the trip but they are very shy and dive as soon as they see the boat.  We did see a couple of them mating just after we left Key West.  They are just too quick to get a picture of.

We made it to Captiva for the night.  This is a barrier island just outside of Ft. Meyers.  A single bridge connects Sanibel Island to the mainland and Captiva is a thin barrier island north of Sanibel.  Very much a tourist destination.  Missy and I had a very nice dinner at the marina/resort restaurant. 

Jack Sparrow seems to have lost another boat.

We had some electrical problems after we docked.  I will be looking for another West Marine as we travel north. 

This guy is not having a good day.

Sarasota is our target for today, then Tarpon Springs on Wednesday.  If the weather is nice my buddy Trick and I will be crossing the Gulf to Carrabelle sometime Thurs/Fri as it is an 18 hour voyage.  Then on to Mobil Al. 

Aint No Foolin' ~ April 1, 2012

First Mates Report ~

After a rather harrowing ride on the Atlantic ocean yesterday - today we had much calmer waters on the gulf side. We were up and on the water heading to Marco Island by 7:00 a.m.....the first mate is not really functional at that hour but she is a trooper! We went 90 miles in 11 hours...try it sometime, when you are in sun and 80 degree weather....it is a superior way to travel.

We spent a spectacular winter on Stock Island in Key West Florida mostly due to the wonderful friends and family that visited to enjoy the sun and fun ~ here's a minor pictorial......enjoy!

Rachael & Jamie are official KW sun worshippers

This dude is setting the trend in men's swimwear!

Darrell did some awesome strummin'

Sam in the cockpit on the way to the Dry Tortugas...who knew?

 

Kerm, Chris, Linda & Lloyd (with the beak) rafted up with us for a week

Atlantic ocean swim with Rae, Shelby and Julie

Sunrise in Marathon Florida April 1st

Bye Banana Bay Marina

Free dolphin show!!

and a hitchhiker...

Heading home

March, 31st, 2012...after almost four wonderful months in Key West, we are heading back to Minnesota.  The long way.  Via boat. 

We have a new dingy for our trip up north.

The plan is to head up the Gulf side of Florida then along the panhandle to Mobil Alabama.  Then we will leave the Gulf and head up river through the TennTom waterway.  That will take us up to the Ohio River where we cut over to the Mississippi, then north to St. Paul. Total trip should take six weeks but we are going to do it in stages.  We will leave the boat up river in Alabama for a month, move it to St. Louis and leave it again, and then finish the trip in June or July.
We have made several repairs and updates while in Key West. We had a transmission problem repaired, new cutless bearings installed, a new bottom paining, installed a new "in motion" TV system, and had an electronic system installed that allows us to identify other vessels, especially the big ones.

Bottom is primed and ready for paint.  We slept on the boat a couple of nights while in the yard.  Boats are not meant to be on land.....it was no fun at all!!!

We splashed the boat after spending 3 nights on the hard.

While we had the boat being repaired I had a local outfit look at the genset as it was not producing electricity.  The "expert" determined it needed a re-wind that would cost 3 to 4k and a new genset would be around 12k.  Before I spent any money on the old genset or pop for a new one, I wanted Pat "Trick" Stair to look at it.  He is coming down next week to help with the crossing I have to do up in the Panhandle. 

Trick wanted me to try "jumping" the generator to see if that could solve the problem.  He was looking at the tech manuals online as we talked on the phone.  With a lot of twisting and contorting, I was able to get the back cover off the genset.  While looking for the correct wire to jump, I noticed a broken wire.  Trick told me how to fix it and guess what?  We have a working genset again.  For nothing!!  Kerm will be proud of me.

We left Stock Island Marina Village late this morning heading for a stop in Marathon before we turn north for the Gulf Coast of Florida.  Allan McCartney helped us as we let the dock lines loose for the last time this season. 

We headed up Hawk Channel into moderate chop with seas of 3 feet....maybe an occasional 4 footer.  Missy was not liking the journey.  I feel so bad when she is uncomfortable but we had about 30 miles in Hawk Channel.  I did see a couple of Sea Turtles mating at the surface but was not able to grab a camera.  Once we got to Bahia Honda we were able to duck under the bridge and finish our trip to Marathon on the calmer Gulf waters.

Dock Ducks greet us in Marathon

We will be up early in the morning to head out on a 90 mile leg to Marco Island.

We had to really wash the boat off after getting knocked around in Hawk Channel with salt spray everywhere.  While I was washing the boat this Manatee came over and took advantage of the freash water spilling off the boat.

Remember to follow our journey with the Spot locator.  Copy and paste the link at the bottom of the page and you will be able to see where we are.
We had a great time down here.  Most of our days we shared with family or friends.  I will let Melissa fill you in on the great people we had the opportunity to connect with.  We are both kinda tired after a long day so she will add her comments the next day or two.