Sailing Last Mango

1-19   We arrived at Pelican Bay just off of Cayo Costa State Park at 1700 hours with the sun shining right in our eyes making it more difficult to make our anchorage and not run aground. Fortunately there was a nice boater who came to our assistance via radio and instructed us where the deeper water was. Unfortunately he was gone the next morning so I was not able to thank him in person. Upon anchoring we did get to see M/V Young at Heart, M/V Serenity and M/V Seahorse before it was too late. It was great to see them again, some we haven’t seen since Grafton Illinois or Demopolis Alabama. Karen and I had Pina Colada’s via the Tailgator and we slept the night away in a picture perfect calm anchorage.  Dolphin Video Cayo Costa State Park Video Cayo Costa Ferry Dock. The only way to the State Park The "Real Florida" I'm not sure 1-20    Morning came and we woke up to the serene beauty of this place the State Park ...

1-16     The last 2 days Karen and I have sailing our asses off, we haven’t gone hundreds of miles but could’ve if we wanted. The whisker pole is proving itself to be a real asset. We left Clearwater Pass without the wind that was predicted. We motored for about 45 minutes and we noticed the wind filling in from the North which is what was predicted for the whole day. I popped  up on of the deck and set the pole (still learning the in’s and out’s of the Forespar whisker pole). Last Mango sailed well with just the jib poled out, but once I was sure there was enough wind I set a preventer on the main and we were zipping along wing on wing with a top speed of 7.9 knots, way cool! I also have to add during this sailing the dolphins were everywhere and they stayed with us for about 45 minutes. If there was a downfall to the day it would be that the day was overcast with on and off light rain. Link for Youtube with Dolphins We anchored in an anchorage cal...

1/6      It seems to me that I can notice the days getting longer now even though it’s just a bit over a minute a day. Maybe it’s just the temperatures that have been warmer than normal, I don’t know but it’s been great. The past few days I’ve been running around getting the appropriate materials together to renew my captains license. Kinda pain in the ass when you don’t live in the area and need to run around to get things done. Drug test done, physical done all Coast Guard forms filled out and copies made and sent out.  Visit to the Island Packet Factory Birthplace of Last Mango IP32-61 IP 370 Mold ready to go. Hannah and Kelly just after the Airport Pickup We picked up Karen’s sister Kelly from the Tampa airport this morning at 1 AM, her plane was late coming in from Chicago but she didn’t care as she left below zero weather to arrive in much warmer Florida weather. Hannah and Kelly were like 2 excited 7 year olds talking about what they were ...

Christmas is over. Karen, Hannah and I drove back to Dunedin Florida without incident. The weather down here is better than when we left with temperatures in the high 70’s to mid 80’s. I know Hannah’s loving it but Karen and I are just as happy. Dunedin seems like a place I could live one day. Marker One marina has been great and almost everything other than a West Marine are within a short walk or a short bike ride away.  Karen's Sister Kelly gave us this Great Gift Sisters are tired after Christmas Day. Hannah joined Karen and Kelly Sam gave us a Iowa Hawkeye Boat Fender. Unfortunately we could not show it during the TaxSlayer Bowl Game. The other day the three of us sailed the dinghy over to Honeymoon and Caledesi Island. It was a nice leisurely sail over to the islands and while enjoying ourselves beach coaming and birdwatching the wind died prompting the use of manual rowing to make it back to Last Mango before dusk. While rowing back Hannah got to see her...