Back in the water - December 2011

Driving our van from Colorado, we returned to Florida on November 17th.  Christina and Larry were not at all as we had left them - happily - as they had delivered Dorothy, a beautiful, healthy baby girl into the world.  We were adopted as one set of several grandparents and spent a great deal of time transfixed in amazement at Christina and Larry’s creation.  

When we arrived at Snead’s, S/V Jupiter’s Smile was found to be already in the Travelift being moved out of the storage yard to the work area.  

We had arranged for a hole to be drilled in the bottom of the hull (a through hull) so that we could install the intake for a water maker.  Pat Peterson of Peterson Marine made tickets available for us at the St. Petersburg Boat Show where we could be shown the Spectra line of water makers and meet the manufacturers representative.  We purchased the Ventura 200T, a unit that produces about 200 gallons per day (8.3 gallons per hour) and uses just under 10 amperes of 12 volt DC electricity.  It and the installation were not cheap, but we expect to be cruising to places where no amount of money can buy good water.  We will make our own.  While our boat was being drilled, the through hull installed and the bottom painted, I was inside and above decks putting the boat back together as much as I could.  The two solar panels I had stowed inside for the hurricane season were a real joy to reinstall while I hung out from the stern of the boat on the arch about 25 feet above the asphalt.  With Barb’s help, the job was completed perfectly.

Thanksgiving “weekend” brought all work to a halt and we enjoyed our time with Christina, Larry and Dorothy at their house and had dinner at their good friends’ Steve and Dan’s house.

Once all the boat yard work was completed, the launch occurred on November 29th.  We pulled into the slip and decided to spend our first night “on the water” in almost six months.  During the afternoon, however, we discovered that the through hull was slowly, but surely, leaking.  On November 30th, bright and early, we were hauled back out of the water, the leak repaired and then returned back to the slip, free to begin loading our gear and provisioning with food and supplies for the cruising season with only one more task to accomplish - the installation of the water maker itself. 

We thought that if we moved the boat closer to Peterson’s location that they would have an easier time finishing the job.  We had happened to meet the harbormaster of the Gulfport City Marina at the boat show and he crowed about the “hidden jewel” that was Gulfport and the half price transient dock rate we could pay as we had our work done.

Weekly rate is .75/foot/week, electricity included.

Floating transient dock

On December 5th, I left Snead’s dock to take the boat the 14 miles to Gulfport while Barb drove the van to Gulfport.  It took her less than an hour and it took me over four hours.  She drove over the beautiful Skyway bridge while I waited for the openings of the Pinellas Causeway Structures “E” and “C”.  The Gulfport Marina was great!  They even had two bikes we could borrow and we toured the town to get some exercise.  We imagine that Gulfport is now like Key West was forty or fifty years ago.  Quaint and quirky, but not crawling with tourists.

My brother, Tom and his wife, Vickie have been touring in their motor home and decided to visit us here in Gulfport.  We took a drive to the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg and found the experience interesting and amusing - well worth the effort.

Our water maker was installed.

The pump, valves, filters and through hull

Control box, valve to direct pure product water and the left end of the Clark pump and membrane unit (hanging inverted)

The right side of the Clark pump and membrane and reject water and heating/AC unit outlet through hulls and heating/AC ductwork

I am very pleased with the installation because we used a locker below our port side settee that already had some plumbing for our air conditioning/heating unit in it and we were able to install the filtration units and pump in the same locker.  We were able hang the membrane unit (upside down - but it doesn’t care) in the space behind the back of the settee and we still have access to the spaces below it for storage.  Most importantly, Barb kept ALL her space for storage on the starboard side of the boat.


Another addition to the boat that pleases me is the piano we brought with us from Colorado.  Every few days, if our energy supply is adequate, Barb plays for an hour or so and I love it.

On Saturday morning, the 17th, we pulled out of Gulfport City Marina and headed for sea (the Gulf).  Once we cleared the Tampa Bay ship channel we hoisted our spinnaker for the downwind run and enjoyed the day.  

Barb watching dolphins on our spinnaker run

Just before sundown we doused the spinnaker and sailed with the main and genoa, which we reefed later that night in rising winds that gusted twenty-nine knots to push us on toward Fort Myers Beach.  We pulled into the mooring field, Sunday morning, about 24 hours following our departure from Gulfport.  We showered at the marina facility and walked the beach before an early dinner and bed.

Monday morning, the 19th we dropped the mooring and sailed to the inlet to Naples, Gordon Pass, making fresh water for two hours along the way.  We were unsuccessful in our first attempt to find a place to anchor and we knew we liked Naples from our visit with Sue and Oscar in late November, so we motored up the channel to the Naples City Marina and took a mooring ball with the intention of staying two nights, giving us a chance to roam the town again - which we did and enjoyed (land showers again!)

On Wednesday, we motored along the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway to Marco Island and found our way into Smokehouse Bay and a wonderful anchorage.  We dinghyed under a highway bridge and found the Winn-Dixie’s dock just around the corner.  We had not been to a grocery store with a dock in the USA before.  We strolled around Marco Island, had lunch and loaded up on more groceries since it was so convenient.

Marco Island was the location of the landmark lawsuit that has changed the rules regarding anchoring in Florida municipalities.  Previously, Marco Island, along with certain other places, did not allow anchoring overnight, until a boater anchored there, was ticketed and filed suit with the support of BoatUS.  The case went into the Federal court system and it was finally decided that cruisers could anchor where they wished outside of recognized channels.  I can understand the cities not wanting derelict boats anchored and falling apart, but cruising boats, with the ability to be underway should be able to stop and anchor.  That is what the courts found as well.  We stayed two nights in that nice anchorage celebrating the arrival of the Winter Solstice.

On Friday, we made our way out Big Marco Pass, rounded Cape Romano and put in at Little Shark River in the Everglades for the night.  Along the way we learned something about making water.  We ran the water maker for 3 hours and I noticed that the “Change Filters” indicator was showing that the filters were doing their job, but needed changing.  I think that the outflow from the “sea of grass”, the Everglades, is rich in filter-clogging nutrients and sediment and our water maker was giving testimony to that fact.  I changed filters and ran the water maker for a little while to be sure all was in order before I shut it down and flushed it with fresh water (all done automatically!)  We learned that it is good to run the water maker in clear water.

On Christmas Eve we sailed from the Little Shark River across Florida Bay towards “the keys.”  We called on the radio to contact our friends Bill and Dorothy 

on Full Circle, whom we knew to be in Marathon and they answered.  They told us that the mooring ball next to them had been vacated and that there was a Christmas Eve potluck nearby, if we were interested.  Barb prepared a dish and we crossed under Highway 1 at Moser Channel under the Seven Mile Bridge and headed straight East to Boot Key Harbor in Marathon.  A little after 2 PM we secured the mooring ball right next to “Full Circle.

Christmas was happy in the company of friends and strangers and we planned to spend  about the next two weeks waiting for important mail, packages and doing the business necessary for our departure out of the USA.  The Marathon City Marina is a great place to do those things as they accept mail for their “tenants” and they have land showers.  New Years Eve came and went in the company of Bill and Dorothy and long time friends of theirs whom we had met in Colorado, Carl and Tracy.  

Tracy & Carl whoopin' it up New Year's Eve

A tradition, started last year, is the Marathon City Marina Polar Bear Plunge on New Years Day.  For safety reasons, diving is not allowed and the other requirement is that you must bring your own ice cube.

A fun start to 2012!

"On the hard" at Snead Island Boat Yard

On Sunday, May 29th we began preparing Jupiter's Smile for her first, ever, long term rest on land.  We need to be ready for hauling the boat out of the water on June 1st.  The to do list includes removing the three sails, the canvas bimini and dodger, and two of our three solar panels.  The sails and canvas were stowed below inside the cabin along with the deflated and rolled dinghy.  Clothes, seat cushions, food, the portable generator, the bicycles, the Hydrovane autohelm and the dinghy motor came off the boat and went into the rear of a rented SUV in two shifts.   This was all done while the boat was at the dock and we had the air conditioning running in the ninety degree heat.  Larry and Christina are storing these items until we return with our own van later in the month.

We have items on the boat that we have never used.  This will be the time to remove these things, the biggest being the Hydrovane autohelm.  It will also be an opportunity to do a really deep, Spring cleaning.   

Our boat's radar and windmill are seen beyond the white boat in the center

Once the boat was hauled, power washed and held in place with properly chained stands in "Yard  B", we clammered aboard to remove the two solar panels.  I wanted to do this task over land instead of over water just in case something dropped. 


I want to reduce the windage in case of storms this season.  The windmill blades are feathered and one blade is tied to the supporting pole so it will not turn in the wind.  I am leaving one solar panel in place to keep the batteries charged.  The other two panels are stored, hopefully out of harms way, inside the cabin.

It looks like a mess inside, and I guess it is, but the rolled up dinghy is just out of this view below, on the left on the port settee.  On sole (the floor) there is the cooler and the hatch is open for ventilation.  The whisker pole is to the right of the hatch.  Next to the whisker pole one the starboard settee are our fender boards, a boat hook, the cockpit cushions and then the two solar panels.  In the forward cabin, the mattress is folded and the sails and some clean laundry is stowed on the forward berth in bags.

The boat is strapped down with anchors screwed into the ground...

...and the instruments are covered with Barb's handiwork.

We leave Jupiter's Smile as safely protected and prepared for the hurricane season as we can.  Be safe, little boat!  We love you!

Check the Blog http://jupiterssmileisdocked.blogspot.com/ for any news until our return at the end of October.

Colorado, here we come!

Exploring the West Central Florida Coast

Having established a date to sail with Larry and Christina, we set out to explore as we sailed back to meet them in Ft. Myers on May 8th.  We sailed out of Davis Island Yacht Club's marina into upper Tampa Bay.  We sailed the length of the upper bay to Boca Ciega Bay at the northeast end of the Sunshine Bridge Causeway and anchored.  In the middle of the night the winds shifted and came from the south.  Our anchorage became rolly.   In the morning, we lifted anchor and headed back to the Davis Island Yacht Club to find shelter from the waves.  When we got near, we saw the masts of the docked boats rocking and rolling.  We decided that we didn't need to pay for a rocking night(s?) at a dock.  We pulled out and headed to the far west side of the north bay to see if the seas there were less.  They were indeed less, but not small enough for our liking.   As we sailed down the bay again the winds increased and shifted to the west southwest, the direction we wished to go.  We were taking spray over the bow and the dodger and small craft were advised to seek shelter.  I decided to head to St. Petersburg and put into the Harborage Marina for shelter.  After tying to the dock we washed the boat and filled with fresh water.  We set out the next day and sailed to our favorite anchorage near de Soto point.  We headed out the next day, deciding to use Passage Key Inlet again and tried to sail south, but the wind was too light.  We motored into Long Boat Key Inlet several hours later (after another lovebug encounter), had the bridge opened for us and then motored the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway into Sarasota Bay.  We anchored off the Eastern shore for the night.  The next day, we moved to an anchorage off City Island and spent a few days exploring Sarasota.  One pays $2 at O'Leary's Watersports and Grill and then may tie up and lock one's dinghy to a cable or palm tree there.

 We did that for two days and then decided to eat lunch there and not pay the fee.

The sights within Bayfront Park are varied and entertaining.  Remember, clicking on the photos will enlarge them for easier viewing.

There were many banners like this throughout the park

We left Sarasota and motored the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GICW) arriving in Venice a few hours later.  We took a right turn and exited Venice Inlet into the Gulf and continued to Boca Grande Inlet, anchoring in Pelican Bay for the night.  The next day found us in the Ft. Myers Beach mooring field again.

On May 8th, Larry and Christina arrived at Doc Ford's Restaurant's dock and I took them aboard our dinghy and out to Jupiter's Smile.  We dropped the mooring ball and motored north on the GICW.  Once we cleared the section known as "The Miserable Mile" the wind picked up and even though we were near our planned anchorage, we elected to raise sails and play for a while in the breeze.  We anchored and Barbie cooked up a great dinner that we enjoyed in the cockpit just before the sunset.  The next day we were forced again to motor and we pulled in to Pelican Bay a little after three.  We have now visited this anchorage three times and like it very much.  We dinghied to shore and took the shuttle across Cayo Costa to the beach.  We beach combed a little, walked back to the dock and dinghied back for dinner aboard.  As had we motored over the previous days Christina was reading and grading her students' final exams so this was not an entirely carefree trip for her.  We left Pelican Bay the next morning and motored into the Gulf through Boca Grande and headed south, back towards Ft. Myers Beach.  We rounded Cayo Costa, Captiva Island and Sanibel Island.  When we got just south of Sanibel the wind began to pick up, we turned off the engine and we sailed with Larry at the helm all the way into Matanzas Pass, the Estero River, under the Ft. Myers Beach Bridge and up to a mooring ball.  

Christina was able to connect to the University's computer using our Internet card and she entered her final grades for her students while sitting in our cockpit.  Nice office!  I thought it was a very pleasant two and a half days on the water with them aboard and they were able to experience a little of what it is like to live on the boat.  

The next day, we realized that a boat we were near in the mooring field was S/V Java Moon.  We had met Skip in San Andres, Colombia and again in Providencia in January, 2010.  We met again and I drove us all in the dinghy for dinner at Bonita Bills and exchanged tales.  Fortunately, we got to finish dinner and our beer, but, unfortunately, dark clouds rolled in and the wind rose alarmingly.  

We rushed for the dinghy without busing our tables and headed back to the boats.  As we approached Java Moon to drop off Skip we all noticed that another sailboat was scooting through the mooring field with the mooring ball still attached.  The boat was loose, the mooring line having broken, and its crew was on a neighboring boat.  The boat missed Jupiter's Smile by a little (enough) and the skipper raced his dinghy to board and halt the boat just in time to prevent it from grounding on the far side of the mooring field.  Life on the water is seldom boring.  We spent some more time visiting the beach and while on the Internet discovered that there was an AKC dog show coming to North Ft. Myers.  To get to the show we decided to rent a motor scooter, but we would need to leave early in the morning before the rental office opened at 9.  The owner said that we could pick up the scooter around 4PM and keep it over-night and return it before 4PM the next day for just the 9-4 rental fee.  We did just that and since it isn't dark until around 8PM, we took the scooter for a whirl across the causeway to Sanibel Island to comb the beach and then went up to the Tween Waters Inn on Captiva Island for dinner.  We returned to the marina in twilight, well windblown and tired.  The next day we travelled to the dog show.  The trip took a little more than an hour along roads that had a 55 mph speed limit.  The scooter sometimes hit 45 mph with the two of us aboard.  We watched all three Borzoi compete and decided that we would come back and see the Hound Group competition after lunch.  The Best of Breed Borzoi didn't earn a placement, but a very nice Saluki won Group 1.  The Borzoi owners and the Saluki owner all knew people we knew and it was fun to "talk dogs" again after so many years.  The scooter ride back was against the wind and the machine struggled to maintain 40 mph all the way.  I dropped Barbie off and then dropped the scooter off, walking the three blocks back to the marina.  That day was certainly a change of pace for us.

We dropped the mooring ball and motored almost the whole way back to Pelican Bay for visit number four.  This time we stayed several days.  We dinghied over to Cabbage Key and had dinner at the Cabbage Key Inn where supposedly they make the best hamburger on the Florida West Coast.  Barbie thought it couldn't compare to the much less expensive burger at Bonita Bill's.  I haven't had either burger (or any burger for years) so I can't say.

We left Pelican Bay and headed out Boca Grande Pass, navigated the Swash and hoisted sails headed toward Sarasota.  We called the Sarasota Yacht Club, the organization that places the buoys in Big Sarasota Pass to learn about the status of the inlet.  It is reported to be difficult to navigate without "local knowledge" so I was going to be sure to get the most up to date information about this pass.  I also called Towboat US and was assured that if I followed the channel markers, I would be fine...and we were.  We passed under the Ringling Brothers Bridge and anchored near a city boat launching facility so that we could access the Publix grocery store across the street in the morning.  We did that next morning and after storing our provisions got underway, under sail, in Sarasota Bay headed north.  Barbie did a great job of piloting us while I trimmed sails to navigate the GICW to a popular anchorage at the north end of Longboat Key.  That evening, we went ashore for a nice dinner and then walked to the beach to burn some of it off.  We left the next morning, motoring up the GICW, opening the Cortez and Anna Maria Bridges and entered the lower part of Tampa Bay.  We turned north and anchored just off what is called Passage Key.  No part of the Key was above water but we waded across what amounted to a sandbar with the Gulf of Mexico on one side and Tampa Bay on the other about a mile from any other piece of land.  We soon grew tired of that novelty and proceeded north to Egmont Key.  We anchored and saw signs that told that this was a bird sanctuary and that the beach was closed.  We didn't leave however.  We planned to stay through the night anchored right where we were.  We thought it would be fine to see the shore birds returning to their roosts and to watch the sunset over the island.  We could move the next day to the north to explore the beach and the Key where landing ashore was permitted.  The winds would shift from a westerly to an easterly direction after midnight, but the forecast was for continued 5 - 10 knot wind speeds (just enough to ventilate the interior of the boat.)  We would be in the lee of the shore until midnight and then against a lee shore after that.  The shore to windward (in the lee of the shore) is good.  The land is protecting us from the wind and waves.  A windward shore is good.  A lee shore is not good.  The wind is blowing the boat toward the land.   If an anchor drags the boat ends up on the beach. But, the winds had been forecasted to be light.  Barb was still awake, reading at midnight, when the wind shifted almost on queue - but it blew at 20 knots!  An instrument alarm woke me up and I still had my eyes closed as I ran to check it and bumped into Barb as she was already checking the instrument herself.

"Fetch" is the nautical term for the distance on the water over which the wind travels.  The greater the fetch the more distance waves have to gather the energy of the wind and build on themselves.  The energy in the wind (anything, actually) increases with the square of its velocity.  Double the wind velocity and it has four times the energy.  Wind blowing 20 knots has 16 times more energy than wind blowing 5 knots.  Before the wind shift, the fetch was a matter of yards.  After the wind shifted, the fetch was nearly ten miles.  All that meant we were wakened by waves building from nothing to three feet rather suddenly and rudely.  The anchor was holding, but we were hobby horsing as the wind was howling in the wind generator (the only happy piece of equipment on the boat at the moment.  We were generating electricity from indirect solar (i.e. wind) power even though it was midnight.)  Barb went gamely to the bow and as I motored slowly forward, we began retrieving the anchor to move to a windward shore.  She worked the windlass flawlessly and we were on our way, crashing into the waves.  I considered going to the lee side of Fort De Soto,  just north of our position but the chart shows some shallow water near there and it was low tide now.  Did I mention that it was midnight?  It was not the best time to try to anchor in a place one had never visited before.  Although we were very familiar with it, I didn't like the idea of navigating the Manatee River to the southeast, toward Palmetto and Bradenton, because the dredged channel is narrow and it was low tide.  It was also midnight.  Once anchored there, there would still be a fair amount of fetch so the effort would not be greatly rewarded. We ended up crossing the lower bay, eastward, toward the Southwest end of the Sunshine Bridge Causeway and anchored in calm water about a quarter mile from the shore at position 27.56175,-82.63555 at 2 am,  just as the last quarter moon was rising in a clear, starry sky.  The wind was still blowing about 17 knots, but we were protected from the waves (the water was almost calm) due to only a quarter mile of fetch.  We shut down the boat, put Jupiter's Smile to sleep and we as well, were soon sound asleep - again.

Sleeping on a boat is different from sleeping on land.  But sleep we did and got a late start the next day.  Barbie steered close to the wind and I trimmed sails as we entered the Manatee River and pulled into our old anchorage in the Manatee River just off de Soto point.


The next day, we returned to Egmont Key anchoring off the beach where we could land the dinghy and explored the beach, the ruins of the fort built in the late 1800's and the lighthouse.  As we left we sailed near Fort Dodge and then crossed the Bay again to anchor in the Manatee River.  We had called Snead Island Boat Yard and while they would be closed on Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend, they said we could come in early to prepare our boat for the June 1st haul out.  We decided that we didn't need to be "boating" on Memorial Day Weekend with the hoards of local boaters and that the luxury of being at a dock, plugged into shore power providing air conditioning and the lure of "land shower" facilities was all we needed to bring us into the boat yard early.  Our cruising for the early part of 2011 had come to an end, but our work was not done.

Love bugs - more than you want to know!

Bear with me for this Biology lesson.  I must relate our experience with "love bugs" in May.  This is a phenomenon that occurs twice a year all along the Gulf coast, Spring and Fall and sometimes again in December.  Love Bugs (Plecia nearctic) take to the air and mate in huge numbers.  Our first encounter happened while we were sailing up Tampa Bay toward Davis Island and a swarm engulfed our boat.  They landed everywhere including our sails.   Most of the insects we observed were copulating as they flew.  If they landed while copulating, and most were, the female (larger than the male) would crawl along forward dragging the male backwards behind her.  The females lives 2 - 3 days.  The males live longer.  The literature states that the couple may stay connected for days!  That is their behavior.  Our behavior is described below.

A female lovebug

A male lovebug

Lovebugs on a boat (not ours)

Copulating lovebugs

They are very fragile and swatting at them amputates wings and/or legs that flutter onto horizontal surfaces.  Squashing them with a fly swatter leaves a smear that stains badly and they release an acrid odor.  We discovered that it is better to leave them alone, letting them land and allowing them to enjoy their activity.  We have screens to keep these pests from coming inside the boat.  In the cockpit, I found that I could just gently grasp the bugs, individually or coupled, and throw them overboard.  They would usually fly off after being thrown before hitting the water.  While I was at the helm, a few flew under my shorts pant's legs from time to time and if I shifted my weight and crushed them, I would have a stain on my shorts.  Because of this, I eventually wore my oldest, most frayed pair of shorts.  At dusk, when the temperatures began to fall, these pests disappeared.  The swarming seemed to last about two weeks.  We encountered them in the greatest numbers in Tampa Bay, but we ran into swarms of them miles offshore in the Gulf as well.

Motorists in the area find that their cars become encrusted with crushed lovebug bodies everyday after a short drive.  That crust must be scrubbed off as soon as possible because the bodily fluids are acidic and it will damage the paint.  Mother nature is full of wonders.  Thankfully, some of them are short lived.

Since you read this far, you are excused from the upcoming quiz.  Be well!

Into the Florida Keys and onward to Tampa

First stop: Dinner Key Marina in Coconut Grove staying with S/V Nightingale and touring the area until the weather is good to sail farther.

The marina's shuttle boat has a regular schedule, unless the water become too rough.

Look for the vortex beyond the mooring buoy slightly right of center

Looking like no better weather yet

Even worse

We left the mooring field and sailed southbound in Biscayne Bay.  We were able to sail all the way to Buttonwood Sound and Key Largo.  We dropped anchor, but did not go ashore.

The next day we had light winds, but sailed to Isla Morada, dropped the hook and went ashore for dinner at Lorilei's.

The keys are known for their quirky characters...here the "Nautilimo."

We motored along the Intracoastal Waterway the following day, leaving it behind at Six Mile Bridge and sailed into Florida Bay, heading North.  Sandy Key is in the middle of Florida Bay and I thought that it would be a pleasant, isolated stop.  We stopped, but could not land.

Inviting, but a real disappointment.  The signs all say "No Entry."

We entered the Little Shark River and anchored in the first bend with the intent to avoid more mosquitos here than if we went farther upriver.  Our plan worked fairly well.  The mosquitos didn't find us until dusk.

Early the next morning we continued our journey north.  At Marco Island we came in Capri Pass from the Gulf and anchored in Factory Bay with three other boats.

We went to the Snook Inn for Dinner.

The following day, coming from the Gulf, we sailed through Matanzas Pass and took a mooring...

...behind Estero Island for about $13 a night and had easy access to showers, laundry, cheap diesel fuel, meetings with friends...

...several waterfront restaurants and the beautiful....

....Ft. Myers Beach.  A fifty-cent trolley ride took us to the publix grocery or all the way to Bonita Springs, where we found a wonderful little authentic Mexican restaurant for lunch, Fogarte's (??).

Barb's cousin, Don and his wife, Sue picked us up and together we toured the Edison and Ford Summer House Museums.  Edison liked the spot on the river and was engaged in researching plants that would, hopefully, produce latex in a large enough quantity to manufacture rubber during the war years.  The research yielded no commercially viable results.  He worked in a nice neighborhood though.

The Edisons loved Ft. Myers and had these Royal Palms planted along the streets to beautify the town.  This is Thomas Edison's Florida house. (above)

 This is his lab

 At one end of the lab is his desk and the cot upon which he took his catnaps

This is the view of Edison's house from his neighbor's house.  The neighbor was his very good friend, Henry Ford.  Ford built the house, but didn't like Florida as much as Edison and only spent about two weeks a year here.

Henry Ford's back yard

This is Sue, Barb and Cousin Don on Henry Ford's back porch.

As we visited this historic site, I couldn't help but remember our good friend Mina Arnn Weiler who was recently killed.  She was a great grand niece of Thomas and Mina Miller Edison.  Mina Edison was a great benefactrix to the town of Ft. Myers.  I thought nostalgically about our own Mina's civic contributions and her years as a teaching colleague in Colorado Springs.

We left Ft. Myers Beach, sailed into the Gulf and rounded Sanibel and Captiva Islands.  We entered Boca Grande Inlet and anchored in the bay in about 12 feet of water.  I called a friend of Christina's, who was also a boater, and he gave us advice about docking in Tampa, but he also encouraged us to explore the area around Charlotte Harbor.  One such place was Pelican Bay off Cayo Costa.  This is a Florida state park and it is a mostly uninhabited barrier island with a lovely anchorage.  We stayed here a few days waiting for the wind to shift around again so we could continue northward.

We sailed north bound in the Gulf using Boca Grande and Swash Cut to get out to the Gulf and then Venice inlet to get in from it.

This is the cut into the Venice area

The Venice town dock allows tying up for eighteen hours.

The docks are heavily patrolled

We went out into the Gulf again and used Passage Key Inlet to the north of Santa Maria Island to enter Lower Tampa Bay headed for de Soto Point.  This is a nice little anchorage in the Manatee River off Tampa Bay with a National Monument and museum dedicated to the landing of Hernando de Soto, in 1539.

 DeSoto and his troops were brutal and ruthless in their far reaching, but unsuccessful quest for gold.  They brought disease and enslavement to the Native Americans and their journey spread fear and loathing far and wide.

We sailed up Tampa Bay and under the Sunshine Bridge to the Davis Island Yacht Club and docked there for several days.   The members are nice folks and an active sailing club.  Since we are members of the Port of Washington Yacht Club we were extended benefits here.

Jupiter's Smile on the far right with downtown Tampa behind.

Larry picked us up and brought us to stay a couple of days with Christina and him at their home in Temple Terrace, just north of Tampa.  Christina is a professor at the University of South Florida and Larry is in the Engineering school in a PhD program there.  While Larry studied for one of his final exams we took Christina to St. Petersburg on Saturday.  We had lunch, visited the Farmers Market and then looked at the many boat yards nearby in Salt Creek.  

We had decided to put Jupiter's Smile on "the hard" in a boat yard and tie down the boat to weather the upcoming hurricane season.  We were shopping for a suitable location.  On Monday, after calling many yards, we settled on the Snead Island Boat Yard on the Manatee River in Palmetto with a haul out date of June 1st.  

Both Christina and Larry were very busy with their end of semester activities so we decided that we would leave and then get together again in Ft. Myers in a week and go sailing together for a few days.