It has been relatively cold down here.  We expected to be wearing shorts and t shirts every day but instead we are wearing jeans and jackets and sweat shirts.  But today the sun came out and it warmed up.... a little bit.  Enough to bring out the wild life.  We had many manatee sightings.  It was very exciting.  I found a group of them hanging out down the dock a little way.  Unfortunately my friend Mary left yesterday.  She was looking for the manatee's.
We went out for dinner with 2 other couples last night.  I heard all the horror stories of running aground.  The women agreed that there were times when they considered divorce.  So I guess everybody has those moments when things just get too exciting and scarry and you wish you were somewhere else.  But all agreed that the good out weighed the bad and that is why we are all still here.  I guess that is why we all have Boat US as insurance for getting you out of almost any jam you get into.  More adventures to come.  Hopefully not to exciting.

Manatee's.

We did it!!! We are finally in Marathon.  But what a challange it has been.
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times."  I kept saying that yesterday.  We left Marco Island and rubbed bottom several times before finally getting out to the gulf.  We have finally decided that we must draft more than 4 feet.  Draft is how much of the boat is under water.  It is measured from the water line to the bottom of the keel.
We had a really beautiful cruising day.  Sunny and warm and only a scattering of crab pots to dodge.
Then we got to Shark river.  The entrance was good.  There seemed to be room for the 3 boats traveling together and one that was already there and even 2 that came in after us.  But Dick wanted to be out of the channel and he headed us just a little too close to shore.  We were stuck in mud but able to somehow plow thru it causing the water filters to get clogged up with mud and the port engine to over heat.  We set the anchor quicker than I thought possible and opened up all the compartments to dissipate the heat and smoke.  Later my friend Mary fell down and hurt herself.  After some acupuncture and bandages and a little vodka therapy she was a little better.  Friends came by to look at the engines and help clean out the mud.  And also for some beer therapy.  Just when I thought things were going to quiet down for the night, Abby the boat dog started crying and moaning and barking that she needed to get off the boat to pee.  There was no where to dinghy her to shore.  After many hours of encouragement she was able to pee on the turf on the back of the boat.  Everything got quiet and it was a lovely evening.
The dolphins were swimming all around us.  We couldn't see them but we could hear them.  It was delightful.
The moon was almost full and the stars were very bright.  Mary felt this was the best part of the trip.  It was a truly glorious night.
In the morning after looking the engines over again our friend Allan who is a boat mechanic, determined that the only problem we still had was the alternators and that we could get to Marathon without them.  So we shoved off and had a lovely cruising day on the Gulf dodging crab pots.  Allan got us to our marina without a problem and here we are.  We have one very happy dog and very happy, sleepy crew.  More to come.

Well, we finally shoved off from Salty Sam's.  We loved it there but it was time to leave.  We are now at Marco Island.  Very nice day on the water.  It is unseasonably cold here.  I know you all think "big deal".  At least it's not snowing.  But it is quite cold and we are running the heat.  When we left this morning it was very cold and we were on the water with a stiff breeze.  We had wind on the stern and quartering at times.  Remember what that is?  It is when the waves are hitting the back of the boat and sometimes hitting on the side quarter of the boat.  Also called quartering seas.  We also had a lot of fun zig zagging through the crab pots.  So hard to see them cause they are not very big.  The water is also very shallow, only 8 feet in some places.  Just a little challanging.
Went out with other loopers today for dinner.  More fun and games.
We are planning to anchor out tomorrow night at shark river then hightail it down to Marathon key the next day.  There is more bad weather moving in Thursday night into Friday.  Just want to get tied up and settled before it all hits.  There have been more tornado's down here.  This is pretty unusual for Florida.
More to come.

This is Naples that we passed on the way to Marco Island.

Fishing boats we saw on the way out of Ft. Myers this morning.  It is in honor of my friend Bett back in Michigan.  It is named Ole Bett Sea.

Wow.  So much has happened in two days.  We are still at Salty Sam's at Ft. Myers beach.  We plan to stay 3 more days because they continue to predict bad weather.  Luckily there are a bunch of looper and we are having fun.
We heard that others hit bottom in that shallow part of the icw also.  One of our friends got very stuck and had to call Boat US to get pulled out.  They were pushed out of the channel by a big boat going very fast directly at them.  Then another friend got stuck but other friends were able to pull them out.  What a day.
But yesterday started with a text from my brother saying that our uncle Lauren has died.  He was my father's last sibling still alive.  That is it for that generation.
Then Dick had rented a car so we went to Walmart to do some needed shopping.  While we were gone the weather got very bad and they made announcements in the store that there were tornado warnings out and everyone needed to move to the center of the store.  I was in phone contact with Mary and our friends Andy and Twylla came over to get her.  She grabbed Abby and they sat it out on shore in the women's bathroom which had brick walls.  The tornado went by very close to us.  Some friends had some damage to the door of their boat and some people on another dock had damage to their Bimini top but that was all.  Then the sun came out and it was a beautiful day.  So we all went to the bar for happy hour.  What a day.  Today is beautiful and sunny but tomorrow is suppose to be bad weather again so we are staying put again.  (Will we ever get to Marathon?)  Monday they are predicting big waves on the Gulf so we will stay put again.  After that we are going to go as fast as we can to the keys.  No more sitting around.
We have noticed a strange noise coming from the hull.  Our friends tell us that it is fish chewing on the barnacles on the bottom of the boat.  So today we will have a scuba diver go down and look at the hull.  He will look the whole hull over and let us know what it needs, including the props.  We heard about a guy who was not getting very good power from his boat only to find out he had a rope tangled around the shaft of one propeller.  So it is good to have this done from time to time.  It's worth it for the peace of mind.
Today a bunch of people are getting together to go to a beach on the other side of the river.  Sounds like a fun afternoon.  We will do some shelling and let the dog run.
More adventures in wonderland.

Sunset at Palmetto, FL.

A swing bridge that we had to call to get it opened for us to pass through.

This is an osprey that has nested on top of a poll.  It is very common down here.

We have left Regatta marina in Palmetto, FL.  Spent last night at Venice, FL.  Nice little marina.  Mary and I walked over the bridge and into town.  Lots of old people.  Guess we need to join them.
Today, Wed, we moved on to Ft. Myers beach.  We are at Salty Sam's marina.  So far we are having a blast.  This is good after a very hard day.  We had a couple challenges.  We left very early and that was not so good.  We were at low tide and we went into a very shallow area.  We were skimming the bottom is many places and although it does not appear to have done any harm to the boat, I am a wreck. Can you say shoaling?  Shoaling is the movement of sand or other things on the bottom that move because of tides and currents.  Can be a real big problem for boaters because you don't know when it is going to occur or where.   Then we hit a big bay and went over many large waves.  When we went downstairs to fix lunch we found lots of stuff on the floor.  Nothing broken, just a mess to clean up.
We just got back from the bar where they had a very nice happy hour and we also found out that the slip fee was 50% off because of one of the organizations we belong to.  Very good ending to a hard day.  We did see many dolphins and they were jumping and playing in our wake.  Very fun to watch.  We also saw a couple of racoon by the side of the river and many osprey nesting in the signs and markers.  Glad to be here.

We moved.  We are now at Regatta Point marina at Palmetto, FL.  My friends Kevin and Joanne came down with us and got their car.  I expect they are back in Wisconsin right now.  We had a very good time with them.  Mary Francis is still with us and plans to be for at least a week when we will hopefully be in the keys.
It was a very fun ride down here.  Saw lots of dolphins playing around the bow of our boat.  Also saw several osprey and Mary spotted a hammer head shark.  We had several lift bridges we had to wait for and many no wake zones because of manatees.
When we got down here we were able to spend some time with my cousin Benji Leighton and his wife Jacky.   They also took us on a tour of Anna Maria Island and to the Publix for groceries.  Very fun day.  We are staying here one more day then will shove off on our way south to the keys.
There has been some talk especially by our Canadian friends Twyla and Andy about burgee's.  They collect them.  They are the little triangle shaped flags that are used to identify a particular yacht club or group.  You've probably seen a million of them and didn't know they actually had a name.  We have a burgee on our bow that identifies us as loopers.
We are in the midst of a rain storm right now.  Glad we are not on the water.
Always more to come.

Me and Benji and Jacky.

Well, we are still in Tarpon Springs but have a firm commitment to leave tomorrow morning - Friday.  We have friends from Wisconsin here with us, Kevin and Joanne.  We also have my friend Mary Sharp here today.  They are currently in the process of putting the rental car down at the marina in Bradenton.  Then they will bring Mary's car back here and park it.  Tomorrow morning we will all leave together on the boat and travel to Bradenton where Kevin and Joanne will get their rental car and drive back to Miami on their way back home.  Meanwhile, Mary is planning to travel down to Marathon with us and take the bus back at some future date.  Looking forward to having traveling buddies.
Yesterday was the celebration of the epiphanie.  It is a religious celebration and very big here in Tarpon Springs.  We walked down into town to see some of what was going on.  There were a lot of blessings both in Greek and english.  There were some high up officials from the church.  You could tell from all their fancy robes.  We're talking over a thousand people I am sure.  It culminated in the priest throwing a crusafix in the water and all the boys diving after it.  The one that gets it gets his name published and who knows what else.  Guess it is quite an honor.  There were 3 helicopters and 4 drones flying over head.  A lot of noise.  Then we walked back down town and had a big Greek lunch.  Our friends shopped for sponges.  That is one of the big cash crops down here.
It has been a very fun time but we are ready to get out of Dodge.

We are still in Tarpon Springs.  Had some electrical work done that continues into today.  Also, thanks to my friend Mary and her keen nose, we found a fuel leak on the port side engine.  So we were able to get that fixed too.
We continue to have fun in this sweet little town.  Found a coffee pot to replace the one that got fried with our electrical problems.  So Dick is once again a happy little camper.  And that's really what's important.  A happy Captain is a happy boat.  We are seriously enjoying the wonderful Greek food in this town.  Makes me think of my aunt Hera with the almost unpronouncable middle name who is greek.  There is a large population of feral cats here that everyone feeds.  Our dog go's nuts watching them.
It is a little chilly here today and very windy.  Glad we had not planned to try to leave.  It would have been difficult to even pull away from the dock.
We have Michigan friends here and will have lunch with them in a little while.  We were out for dinner last Saturday night and they had a belly dancer performing.  Had to pull Dick away.  Very fun night.
We have not seen any manatees but continue to see dolphins.  There are many many varieties of birds here.  Big ones.  They are everywhere and fun to watch.  Our dog had her first sighting of a gecko.  That was a fun surprise.
Hopefully we will get out of here without spending too much more on the boat.
More to come.

Dick getting friendly with the locals.

Wow.  I slept 10 hours last night.  And that was after a 2 hour nap yesterday.  We were all so exhausted from the 19 hour gulf crossing.  But we are here safe and sound and had no major mishaps.  One of our friends lost their radar and depth finder as they were coming into the marina.  When you need to know the depth the most.
There were a couple of surprising things out there.  You can't imagine how dark it is out there.  Makes you hallucinate - see things that aren't there.  I kept thinking I saw lights or other boats but our radar said there were none.  We could not have done this without all the electronics.  It is very disorienting not to be able to see anything outside of the boat.  I was fighting with a little nausea.  Other women friends were just flat out sick.  I had planned all this food but we ended up only eating fruit and nuts and drinking only water.  It was a lot of rocking and rolling.  The whole way!  We passed 2 tows around midnight and were  distracted from the big count down.
So ended up wishing each other Happy New year after the fact.
Coming into Tarpon Springs was difficult.  We got here a little earlier than we wanted so came upon the crab pots when it was still dark.  Trying desparately not to run them over them and get the ropes caught in our props.  Did it without incident.
So we are here till Monday at least and then will start to make our way down to Sombrero Marina in Marathon Key.  There are at least 5 other fellow looper that we haven't seen in awhile.  Good to reconnect after the holidays.  Most are heading south like us.  More adventure to come.

Gathering at Dog Island just before we all left for the crossing of the gulf.  This was the afternoon of Dec. 31, 2015.

We did it.  We made it across the gulf.  All 19 and a half hours.  We are dead on our feet tired.   In a slip at Tarpon Springs.  Crawling in with the big guy.
More later.  I plan to get up later and open a bottle of champagne.