Thanksgiving Week

November 24,25,26,27,28,2015

Tuesday Wednesday  Thursday Friday Saturday 

Water Taxie and Jolly Trolly travel

Clearwater Tarpon Springs Clearwater Beach

Day 73,74,75,76,77

It's been an amazing week filled with fun activities with friends and family. Ellen (a friend from high school days) and her husband Lee and their 4 year old grandson Chance joined us on the boat .

It was great catching up and hearing about their adventures.. Chance was a natural at being the Captain.

The weather has been perfect and the full moon made the evening skies pretty amazing too.

We get to see the pirate cruise ship each evening and hear the crowd singing onboard.

Wedsnday we joined Nancy and Mike from California Lady and we took the water taxi to the beach. And there we hopped on the Jolly Trolly and road around the island.

There is much to do at Clearwater Beach. 

It very diverse with single family homes to high rise condos.

Many activities for everyone..windsurfing, fishing, cruising, parasailing, shopping ,eating, mini golf, scooters, ..... 

All kinds of charters.

Beach art.

Frenchy's on the beach.. Great Food!!

Thursday was Thanksgiving.

 We hosted the two other boats that we did the crossing with... Act III, Susan&Jeff

California Lady. Nancy&Mike

It was wonderful .. We each brought dishes to pass and Wine!!!  We are thankful for our nautical family.

Jeff had us all singing after dinner!!! He's very good... Very talented!!! Fun fun fun!!

Along with the fun here in Clearwater... Laundry needed to get done.. Open air ! And what a view!

Friday we took the Jolly Trolly up to Tarpon Spings . The Trolly schedule was a challenge but we became quite good with this means of transportation !

We were told this is a cute Greek town centered around  sponge diving, shops and restaurants !

Dockside Christmas decorations added to our fun.

 The town was busy but not too crowded. 

 Sponges of all kinds were for sale.

 The town has its charm but not as wonderful as the real place.. Rhodes Greece is a wonderful memory . Like no other!

 One of their shops had licorice from around the world.. Phil was loving that shop.. Not me.. I'm not a fan. Nancy got a giggle out of Phil and his excitement.

 The baklava had my interest but I didn't buy any... 

Sponge Bob..

Saturday ... Our daughter Kate, Josh and their boys came to visit us.

 The boys were excited to see the pirate ship go by our dock.

They do seem to have a fun time on that boat.

We had a beautiful day ! Kate and Josh on the water taxi... Knot Yet in the background!

We had lunch by the beach.

The boys are just so darn cute!

Truth be known... I was loving our time spent with this sweet family.. Just wish Crystal Casey and Colton were here too.

Jayce and Papa got the jumps seat in the front of the Trolly. 

It was a scenic ride along the beach.

Lots of feathered friends to watch.

Back to our marina via water taxi .

It was a great day and an awesome week!

So much to be Thankful for..

Port Tarpon to Clearwater Harbor Marina

November 23,2015

Monday 

Miles traveled-12

Total miles traveled-1389

Day 72

Rested up and glad to have a slip, it was a temporary slip.. No water and no electric..  We called and made reservations at Clearwater Harbor Marina.. California Lady and us were on the move again.

I just love the Dolphins.. They came to play in our wake.

Clear skies and cooler temps.. Rested and knowing we only had a short distance to go... Perfect!

The bridge opened right on que.. No wait needed

 This guy had a fish in his talons ..  

Before getting our slip, we needed to pump out .. Not pretty but necessary! 

Once again we are "boat people and we live under a bridge".

The walk into town is clean and safe.

More to explore.. We plan to be here until Sunday.

These  feathered friends welcomed us to  Clearwater!

We like this neighborhood .

The Crossing

November 20,21,22,2015

Friday Saturday Sunday

Miles traveled -225.  Holy Smokes!!!

Total miles traveled-1377

Day 69,70,71

Friday , we were still on the fence whether to make the crossing.. The weather window was really tight.. A go fast boat could get from the pan handle to the west coast of Florida in the predicted time of some calm seas.. We are not a go fast boat and we need more hours to get across.. We could get caught in a storm and 11'seas on the other side.. Not sounding good. We may need to wait another week or better to make it.

Not knowing what the weather was  going to do. Lori came to get Mike.. She drove 8 hours from Charleston SC..  Those of us interested in the crossing went out for Mexican food and talk about the "what if's". Great food by the way at Pepper's in Port St Joe.

Loris visit was late in the night and they got on the road early .. It was great to have them both with us but we understand ... We look forward to when we see them again.

At 6:30 AM Saturday , three boats met again.. The window was tight but if we leave by first light we hope to stay ahead of the scary weather.

We were all untied and on our way to Apalachicola by 7:10.

We got to Apalachicola by 11:00.. We fueled up and walked the dogs. This would be the last walk until Sunday morning..

The weather was cloudy and 1-2 foot seas. This shrimp boat was coming in as we went out.

Here's Act III , Susan and Jeff and their pup Sadie.

Here's California Lady, Nancy and Mike and their pup Leroy

We all wore our life jackets and Buster was low to the floor as we rocked and rolled for the next 18 hours.

It was dark by five.. No real sunset to speak of or photo.

These little lights are Act III and California Lady

We went 80 miles off shore and traveled 225 miles in little over 25 hours at the helm.  We were thankful for autopilot and staying ahead of the storm.. We could see it on radar and we got a little rain , but that's all. Once we got closer to shore we were warned of the kazillion crab pot that might tangle in our props.

So now we are on high alert for crab pots.

Come on daylight and shoreline.. We were exhausted.. But once again we were lucky.. We only saw 3-4 crab pots .  If there were more... It was to dark to see them and we never hit any... 

Now we just wanted to get tied up at a marina. Shower, eat , walk the pups and SLEEP!