Mon. 10-30 to Sarasota

A chilly night, 49 when we woke up. But the cabin is 10 degrees warmer and we were fine.

Most of the day was spent renting a car and driving to St. Pete to pick up a fuel pipe for the engine. Rented from Enterprise and it went quick, easy and cheap.

It felt strange to be in our home town without going home.

The engine part went on easily and after lunch we were on our way. We have had engine trouble three times in the last 20 years and all three times were at the same spot in Bradenton Beach. We have to go by there again on the way home but we will whistle and raise our feet up.

Because of the late start we only went a short way, and tucked into an obscure marina on Sarasota Bay north of that city. The tide was low and we touched bottom on the way in, but there are quite a few larger sailboats at the marina. Maybe they have local knowledge. After dinner aboard we took a walk to a package store to replenish our liquor supply. All is well.

Sun. 10 -29 at Cortez

5 a.m. a brief hard rain and then a full gale from NW. Very bouncy and noisy aboard but  no danger once I got dock lines adjusted. After sunrise no rain but wind continues, about 30 kts. One small boat at marina is sunk, and another was smashing into its neighbor until I tied it off. Planned to ride bike to church but scrubbed that. For all that, it's a good day- the phone charged to 100% overnight.
      The sunk boat was a 15' NOAA survey boat: your tax dollars at work. I helped turn it upright so it could be bailed out. Overhauling the engine will be another matter.
     This is the windiest non-tropical day I have seen since moving back to Florida in 1977. The windiest was the 1995 "March Storm".  If we weren't stuck here we would be stuck somewhere else. Maybe without a restaurant and bar nearby.  Sandy is a good sport. Makes all the difference.
   

Sat 10-28 at Cortez

We quickly found out what's the problem with the engine. Shortly after leaving the dock I discovered a bad leak in a fuel line on the engine. i'm surprised it ran at all. We returned to the marina. The plan is to rent a car Mon. a.m. and drive to the regional distributor for Yanmar parts, which is in St. Pete. We're stuck here for the weekend. A lazy day aboard, reading and napping. Started raining at noon, continued until bedtime. But wait- there's more! I left the phone out in the cockpit in the rain. It's the waterproof and shockproof version, and it survived, but it didn't seem to connect right to a charger.  Major worry- I even rely on the phone for navigation. Spent the evening at the bar here watching game 4 of the World Series.

10-2i7 to Cortez

A beautiful day to be on the water. When we cast off at 9:45 it was 72 with a clioudless sky an an easterly breeze anout 10 kts. we sailed to Pass a Grille and downwind out that channel, then turned south and, once clear of the shosls off Bunces Pass, it was a straight shot inside Egmont Key and across the bay to rejoin the Intracoastal at Terra Ceia. the last part was motorsailing because the wind became contrary and light. We reached Cortez about 4, relaxed a while before cocktails aboard and then dinner ashore at the Seafood Shack where we are docked. Excellent dinner.

The only adventure of the day was in the middle of Tampa Bay when the engine quit. There was air in the fuel line so I bled the fuel lines and switched to another fuel tank. Started right up and ran fine the rest of the way but I'm at a loss for the reason it wasn't getting fuel.

Casting off again

We will be leaving home Friday October 27th for a cruise on Carina. We'll sail South along the Gulf Coast and just see how far we get.