At the last minute before setting off I couldn't find the bluetooth keyboard I depend on to use the Blogger app on my phone. My thumbs are not as agile as a teenager's, so it would have been hard to write up blog post notes aboard. In the past I've found that voice-to-text makes weird and sometimes indecent mistakes. So I took notes each day and I'll write them up now.
Mon. 10-26: Happy birthday Aileen! We cast off after breakfast. Sunny and hot. Wind light and contrary (southerly) so mostly under power. On the way we stopped at Egmont Key to give Gracie a walk ashore. It is a more developed state park now, and pets are not allowed ashore. So after a quick visit to the beach we upped anchor and continued across a nearly calm Tampa Bay to Cortez, where we docked at a favorite spot, the Seafood Shack. When we went ashore for dinner I failed to close up the boat completely, and paid the price. A surprise thunderstorm got everything wet in the area of the companionway. Once we were back and below it continued to rain most of the night and with the boat shut up it was miserably hot and wet. The first night of any cruise is always a bit uncomfortable, but this was over the top. Slept poorly and wondered why we were there instead of home in a big dry bed with air conditioning. Gracie didn't seem to mind, though.
Tues. 10-27 Happy birthday Tim! We decided to press on with the cruise. The wind was stronger but still southerly. The old saying is that gentlemen don't sail to windward, but on the narrow Intracoastal Waterway channels, there isn't any choice but to power. We motored to Sarasota, with one brief row ashore for Gracie's relief, and docked at high-end Marina Jack, alongside a 120' yacht with professional crew. We weren't hungry but had a good light supper ashore. We listened to the must-win World Series game on the radio. It was sad that the Rays fell short but we're still proud of them. It is unseasonably hot: 90 degrees at 7 p.m. with 80% humidity. Maybe we should have waited a week or two to cruise. Later on it was still hot for sleeping but at least there was no rain. Gracie isn't allowed on our bed at home, but on the boat there doesn't seem to be any alternative. She curls up at our feet, but when we stir in the morning she comes up and licks our faces. During the day she is still nervous and uncertain on the boat, having a hard time finding a good place to settle down. But she is interested in other boats, the birds, and the places ashore we are passing.
Wed. 10-28: Weather conditions the same- sunny and hot, with a S wind of 10-12 kts. Motoring south. Gracie is getting her sea legs- stays in the cockpit but enjoys the sights. Relaxed, frequently napping. We stopped twice so I could row her ashore for relief. At Venice we docked at the Crows Nest, just inside the Inlet. A strong tidal current kept Carina surging forward and back, pulling on the dock lines all night. Good dinner at the Crows Nest restaurant, though.
Thur. 10-29 Same weather- clear, hot, strong S wind. Continued motoring S on the Intracoastal Waterway. Returned to a favorite anchorage ad Engelwood Beach, just inside Stump Pass. Gracie very agile getting in and out of the dinghy. She even jumped up and aboard Carina without help once. Our spirits are way better than that first night. We can't do all the things we used to, or put up with what we used to, but as always we settle happily into cruising after a few days. We rowed ashore and walked over to the beach in the afternoon. Gracie enjoyed the chance to run around, but a park ranger soon sternly chased us off the beach: no dogs allowed. A comfortable night at anchor. All things considered, it is more comfortable at anchor than at a dock.
Fri. 10-30 Happy birthday Ethan! The weather changed overnight. The wind shifted to a light breeze from the north, with misty rain. And it is much cooler- mid 70's. We sailed and motorsailed south to Charlotte Harbor. We had a good sail across Charlotte Harbor to a favorite place, Cabbage Key. Gracie had a good walk around the island without any encounters with alligators despite several signs that they are in the area. It is surprising alligators would be there since there is no surface fresh water on the island. No dogs allowed at the restaurant so we had the world's champion takeout dinner. Our spot at the dock was stern-to the wind and somewhat exposed, but we slept comfortably. We even used a blanket. Wouldn't have expected that a couple of days ago.
Sat. 10-31 Happy halloween! I don't imagine there are many trick-or-treaters out this year, because of the coronavirus. We fixed ourselves a pancake breakfast and did laundry. We decided to go no further south since it would leave us just that much more bucking a contrary wind when we turned north. We left Cabbage Key at noon. Wind NE (contrary again!) so we motored across Charlotte Harbor to Boca Grande. Miller's Marina had said they'd have dock space for us but when we arrived they didn't. So we filled up with fuel and water before moving to anchor out. Taking on water was an incident. The dock worker handed me the hose which I fed down the ventilator above the V-berth. He said, "Let me know when to turn on the water". I said, "OK", which he took to mean to turn on the water. I went below to open the water tank hatches and found water pouring down into the middle of the V-berth area. Miraculously, it was falling directly to the floor and not into either of our sea bags which were not more than a foot from the waterfall. It is just as well we didn't dock there. The docks are exposed to a NE wind and dockage is alongside piers with no tie poles to keep the boat from banging on the dock. OK for a 70' sportfisherman but no good for our little boat. We anchored in a sheltered spot up a creek; too sheltered, actually, as it was very calm and hot for a couple of hours. While rowing Gracie ashore a big manatee came close by. After cocktails aboard we rowed to a nearby public dock and had a good patio dinner (with Gracie). She is now a fully confident sailing dog except that she needs walks ashore; hasn't learned it's OK to go on the boat. A fine rising full moon.
Sun. 11-1 It is a little too far to walk to the local church, and with Gracie it would have been a tag-team thing anyway, so we found an online Sunday Mass. Underway, we briefly touched bottom as we exited the creek, but didn't get stuck. With a light E wind we sailed Gasparilla Sound but the day was mostly motorsailing. When we hailed the Boca Grande bridge on VHF to ask about the scheduled opening, we were reminded that clocks were turned back today for EST, with the whole boating world able to hear how stupid we were. We covered 30 mi. today to Venice. We stopped at a new place for us, the Dockside Waterfront Grille. Good food, good live music, and good drinks. After dinner we moved by dark a mile or so to a popular anchorage. We found a spot with just enough room and just enough water depth. Although initially calm, as forecast the wind piped up about 1 a.m. about 20 kts from the NE and it got suddenly cooler: mid 60's. After I secured the rattling halyards and checked that we weren't dragging our anchor we slept fine. Gracie was concerned, though.
Mon. 11-2 Very windy in the morning. I couldn't have rowed the dinghy ashore, but its motor started (I never know when it will or won't) so she got her relief walk. The tide was low, with the boat beside ours aground and heeled about 30 degrees, but we had about 6" of water under our keel. After pancakes we carefully left the anchorage, got back in the channel, and motored north into about 20 kts of wind all day to Sarasota, back to Marina Jack. I should mention the stuffing box, the fitting where the prop shaft enters the boat. It has been increasingly leaky. That in itself is not a big deal, but repacking the stuffing box takes a little time and is best postponed until we are back home. But also our automatic bilge pump stopped working at all just as we started off on this cruise. A leaky prop shaft and only a hand pump is an inconvenient combination. Consequently I have been doing a lot of hand pumping. Good upper body exercise.
Tue. 11-3 Happy election day! 63 degrees a.m. Of note: we moved to the fuel dock and after refueling I took Gracie for a walk. When I came back Sandy was quietly reading in the cockpit with no dock lines attached and Carina slowly drifting away. I threw her a line and retrieved her and Carina. I'm sure she would have been able to start the engine and bring Carina back to the dock, necessity being the mother of invention, but she wasn't quite put to the test. Choppy motoring across Sarasota Bay (Gracie retreated below) and then some good sailing for a few miles to Cortez and the Seafood Shack. To our surprise, they accommodated us for free in recognition of the number of times we'd been there. This time I closed up the boat before we went ashore for dinner. And the weather was much cooler than our stop there last week. We stayed up later than usual listening to the election returns. Polls had predicted a decisive win for Biden in Florida, but it was quickly apparent that was wrong. In fact, the whole presidential race is surprisingly close. It is not at all clear that Biden will win. The enthusiasm of Trump's followers was underestimated.
Wed. 11-4 We're only a short hop from home, but the strong NE wind will make for a very choppy crossing of Tampa Bay. The wind is forecast to blow at least as strongly from the same direction for the next two days, plus a possibility of rain after today. So there is nothing to be gained by waiting. We just punched into the wind under power and put up with three bouncy hours. Gracie stayed below and finally did get seasick. Of course, once she threw up she was her usual happy self again. For the final stretch in Boca Ciega Bay we had a favorable wind direction and a short nice sail.
I would like to say we have never had cruises when the wind always seemed to blow from direction we wanted to go, but it has actually happened before. Then again, there was one memorable cruise around Tampa Bay when we made a big circle over several days, always downwind. Next time we'll push our departure back a week or two to get cooler weather. But that's sailing- you take what the weather gives you and deal with the unexpected adventures along the way. We ended up enjoying ourselves and enjoyed watching our little shipmate become a sailor.
