12-11 Apalachicola greeted us this morning with cool bright sunshine this morning with a small breeze. Fracas and Last Mango crew decided this is the day to cross over to the West coast of Florida. We threw the lines off and motored out under the 319 bridge into Apalachicola Bay and St. Georges Sound. Last Mango was able to sail a bit under jib but as we passed Dog Island and East Pass it became apparent that the wind was quickly dying. Motoring all day and night was a bit monotonous but what can we do. Karen was very determined that we maintain a 6 knot pace. The seas were a bit lumpy and on the stern quarter but we quickly adapted. I think Karen was even able to relax and there was no mal de mer onboard. Karen was the first to take a nap as she usually likes to be up late into the night. I stayed in the cockpit and ate jerky, played Spider Solitaire and watched for anything that might get in our way. The moon came up shortly after 9 pm and scared the crap out of me. I was expecting it but it seemed to appear out of nowhere and was very large and orange. I must have really been into my solitaire game because I looked up and saw what I thought was a large ship bearing down on me but after a second I realized it was just the moon rising. Nothing else around us but our buddy boat Fracas. Shortly thereafter I’m playing solitaire again and listening to the waves rushing by making Last Mango rock side to side. I could barely see the waves in the moonlight except for the splashes near where I parked my butt in the seat. We chose to cross tonight not because the wind or weather was particularly good but because the night would be clear and the moon would be a 85% illumination. Shortly after the moon startled me I was once again startled into alertness by a dolphin surfacing right next to Last Mango and me and exhaling into the air which seemed to sound like someone pulling the plug on an air compressor. I tried several times to capture them on the camera but found it impossible. I must have been loud in fumbling around the boat with the camera because shortly thereafter Karen came up out of the cabin. I alerted her to the dolphins and they seemed to disappear as fast as they appeared.
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| The Entrance to East Pass Entering the Gulf |
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| My Attempt to Capture the Moonrise on Camera |
We sailed the remainder of the night under covers and stayed warm without much issue. Karen seemed to think the sun was never going to rise again. I guess it did get dark at shortly after 5:30 pm and sun didn’t rise until 7:30, so it was dark for well over 12 hours. Morning came with a beautiful sunrise, this seemed to re-invigorate Karen and I have to admit it was nice to see and it warmed the temperature quickly. At 10:30 we started to see larger boats out on the horizon. They appeared to be a mix of shrimpers and crab boats. The clock showed noon and this seemed to be the trigger for crab pots. Rows of crab pots appeared and Karen was keeping a very alert lookout and directing me and Last Mango through them without and snags. We made it to buoy #2 and the entrance to Tarpon Springs area of the ICW. We had decided a couple of days ago to stay at Marker 1 marina in Dunedin so we still had a little way to go to tie up and relax with a beer or two.
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| Setting a line to see if anything strikes |
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| Karen Captures a Sunset |
We continued to motor along to Marker 1 and the only obstacle was the wind and the Dunedin causeway bridge. Everything we ever read about the bridge stated to call the bridge tender about a half mile out so that the bridge will be up for our arrival because the current can be strong and pull boats into the bridge without it being raised. We did call and the bridge tender promptly answered and stated he saw us and would have the bridge ready for our arrival. We arrived and waited and waited. We watched cars and trucks move across the bridge. I now had the boat is reverse fighting the current with Fracas not too far behind. We now watched as joggers, bicyclers and old women walking across the bridge. I finally turned Last Mango around and faced into the current. This left Fracas to be up facing against the bridge. Maybe Fracas larger masts will attract the bridge tenders attention. I’m trying desperately not to call the bridge tender again and question his lack of action. I few minutes later Fracas is now turning around and joining Last Mango in motoring in circles and patiently waiting for the bridge. The bridge did eventually open and we quickly passed through just to make a turn to port into Marker 1 after about 100 yards. We contacted the marina via radio and Marker 1’s fuel dock guy “Don” quickly informed us of our slip assignment. We motored in and slid into our slip, two dock boys greeted us and helped us tie up. We yelled greetings to other cruisers we’ve met along the way and it was nice to see and hear their greetings also. Jim from M/V Perfect Balance made his way over to our slip and said that there’s not enough water at this slip for us. Jim said there will be 3 feet of water here at low tide and Last Mango needs at least 4 1/2 feet to float. The dock boys looked at us puzzled and Karen quickly went over to the dock master to advise her of our situation. The dock boys looked at me and I at them, both of our looks were looks of what should I do now? I think we were just happy we didn’t have to deal with Karen. Karen was back at the boat and advised us of our new assignment. We’re taking a slip next to Jim and Mimi on “Perfect Balance”. COOL ! We got tied up and shared beers with everyone. All is well, this is a beautiful marina and seems to be a busy place. I think we’ll be happy here, there’s plenty to do and lots of bike trails.
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| The start of sunrise |
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| Here comes the sun |
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| Soon it will be warming up. |
12-13 We said goodbye to Fracas as they moved south to meet up with family coming down for the holidays. We’re also getting things ready for the trip back to Illinois for the holidays. Trying to eat everything in the fridge so we don’t have to throw away too much and packing clothes and presents that were purchased along the way. It must be stressful because Karen and I were not communicating well. It’s going to be a long ride for us back to the Chicago area. We ended the evening eating dinner with Fracas celebrating my birthday a day early. Greg and Mary Lynn are wonderful and gave me some sailing related gifts.
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| Hurray! Bridge is opening and Fracas wastes no time. |
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| Me enjoying a sunrise. |
12-14 Karen reminded me that it’s my birthday. I had a lazy day, I watched a little football and went for a bike ride to Caladesi Island. It was cool to see everyone enjoying themselves along the ocean. From fishing, sailing, jogging to listening to football playing bags a lot of people out and about. Don the fuel guy stated that this is nothing, during the summer months the fuel dock is open 24 hours a day. My day ended with a banana split and a bike ride back to the marina.
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| Sponging Dock Decorated for Christmas |
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| Beautiful Dunedin |
12-15 We did receive our small car and we we’re able to fit everything in with lots of room to spare. It seemed like forever to get out of Florida, the thick fog in the morning didn’t help matters. A few driver changes and gas fill ups and a lot of Dr. Pepper and we were arriving at our son’s house at 4:30 in the morning. The snow flurries greeted us in Peoria and we knew it was much colder than we’ve grown accustom.
12-17 We went to sleep and got up early to see Sam and his girlfriend Nicole again before they took off for work. To me it doesn’t appear either of them have changed. Sam is picking on Nicole per his usual and Nicole just smiles and deals with it. I used one of Sam’s bikes for a ride today and enjoyed being back on a real bike even though it seems terribly cold. Karen and I took a much needed nap and before we knew it they were back home from work.
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| Young Bagpipers of Dunedin. |
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| Not sure this air reservoir is OSHA compliant |
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The Captain tells me that the old keg of beer will hold 15 minutes
of air for one man on the bottom picking sponges. |
12-18 Time to go get Hannah from the University of Iowa where she’s in the Nursing program. She’s looking forward to Christmas break with us and the warmth of the Florida sunshine. Sam took the day off from work and he and Karen went to get her while I visited with my parents. I have not seen them since August but talk with them at least every couple of days. Fortunately they have recovered from the flu recently and are up to seeing me for the day. It seems that everyone up here has had the flu sometime since Thanksgiving. Before I knew it Karen, Sam and Hannah were back from Iowa and at my parents house. It was great to see Hannah and we gave each other hugs. She seems to be the same old Hannah even though she has some interesting stories to tell about her time in Iowa.
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| Making Snow in Dunedin |
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| Snowing for the Parade |
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| The Parade Ends but the Crowd just starts |
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| Santa sees me. He knows I've been Nice |
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| Band getting ready for after the Parade. |
Back to Sam’s house we go and Nicole has a pot of chili and a pan of cornbread ready for our arrival. Sam has agreed to watch Christmas movies tonight but that didn’t last long. Soon we were flipping between the Bulls game, Thursday Night Football and Key and Peele.
The blog will be on hiatus until we get back to Florida after Christmas.
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