Lorenzo & Delois Johnson

Yesterday was a very good day.  All Loopers in the area were invited to a party here in FT Myers.  This is an annual event, and is sponsored by Gerald and Rosalie Kaemmerer, who are Loopers and live in this area.

The party started at 2 Pm.  The weather was perfect.  There was lots of good food and lots of beverages, both hi-test and regular.  The party is held at the shop in Gerald’s citrus orchard.  This was a really great event.  We met old friends and acquaintances whom we had not seen for a long time.  The setting was perfect; the trees still have lots of ripened fruit hanging from them, there is a large concrete pad perfect for dancing, and live music was provided by a Looper who is also a music artist.    Gerald and his wife are terrific hosts.  They have really made their friends feel welcome.

My expectation for citrus products has changed.  The tree ripened fruit is totally different from the store bought variety.  Allowing the fruit to fully ripen on the tree before being picked improves the taste more than one would imagine.  From now on, when I eat a store bought orange, I will know what I am missing.

I was overly impressed by the outhouse.  For those of You who remember, an outhouse was NOT a place to be remembered .  Gerald has a plain green His and Hers outhouse in the Grove , obviously for the comfort of those working in the grove.  Walk inside the small building, and you are caught off guard.  This place has running water, mirrows on the walls, well lighted, and all the amenities found in the best restrooms. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed.  The next time Gerald passes through our area in North Carolina, I will take him aside and show him what a REAL outhouse looks like.

Gerald, we salute You.  You have given new meaning to the term “Looper”.

We returned from the party to find the streets closed for a parade.  The estate of Thomas Edison, the inventor and father of the electric light, is just a few blocks from the marina.  It is a very popular tourist attraction in this area.  An annual parade is held at night to honor the invention of the electric light.  The light festival includes many events during the festival weekend.  The parade is the largest night time parade in all of South West Florida.  Boats in the Marina were dressed with lights for the occasion, and it is a big weekend for this area.

We left the car about a mile from the boat and walked to the marina.  We went to the flybridge and was able to watch some of the festivities from there.  At around 10:0 PM the traffic had slowed enough that we were able to walk back to the car and drive it to the Marina parking lot.

This is a great marina.  We are docked with the stern facing West over the Bay.  Every afternoon, we are treated to a spectacular sunset as the Sun appears to slowly dissolve into the Bay.  We have found that dinner on the aft deck at sunset is a truly satisfying experience. 

Lois is really enjoying herself.  I am not sure how I will keep her home once we get back.  She is planning to leave enough clothes in her closet on the boat tto allow her to leave at a moments notice.  This has been an awesomely great adventure thus far.  We are looking for excuses to not let it end.

We had a really good day today.  We left Venice around 0700, and headed toward Ft Myers.  It was a very interesting trip.  The Manatee controls this part of Florida.  90% of all the waterway signs had the word “Manatee” on it.  We did not see a single Manatee.  The Manatees are obviously very affluent; they live in front of all the houses in the high rent district, but You never have to slow for Manatee zones in the undeveloped or sparsely developed areas.

The weather was perfect; opening the windows on the flybridge provided enough cooling to make it very comfortable.  The scenery was the best we have experienced thus far in Florida.

We arrived at the Marina around 4:00PM, and had to dock in high winds.  It was a bit tricky turning in close quarters and backing into the slip, but it went smoothly and quickly. 

We had dinner at the Crab House on the end of the dock.  We had a party of nine friends (Dave, Bill and Kathy on Cat’s Cradle, Lois and Bob on Going There, and Lorenzo, Lois Marianne, and George on Lil’ David.  We had an enjoyable dinner, and the crabs lost big tonight.

Tomorrow, we will retrieve our car from St Petersburg Municipal Marina.  It is only a 2 hour drive, so it will be an easy day.

We are on the move again.   We grudgingly left St Petersburg this morning,and we are heading to Ft. Myers, Fl.  We have made reservations for 1 month at the Legacy Harbor Marina, and we already have our slip assignment.  Yesterday, we drove both cars to Legacy Harbor, and left one car at Legacy Harbor.  We left the second car at the St Petersburg Marina, and will return for it sometime this weekend.

St Petersburg was a wonderful place to stay.  The facilities and people were top notch, and there was lots to do.  The weather was perfect, as expected.  We went to the beach, lots of restaurants, local tours and attractions, and had many pleasant days shared with other boaters.  We have really enjoyed having George and Marianne visiting with Us. 

We are planning to stay in Ft Myers for a month.  The weather there is really warm, requiring A/C  to stay comfortable.  We will use the car to visit the Florida Keys, Disney World, and other Florida attractions while we wait for the weather to get warmer before we start moving North and East. 

We are starting to realize that we are getting close to the end of our adventure.  We do not want it to end.  This has been the most memorable year of my life, and no other year comes close.  We will never be the same.   I am very grateful for having the oppurtunity to live this adventure.

We are docked at the City dock in Venice, and we are anxious to leave here.  This City has a poor reputation with the cruising community.  Lots of Harrassment by the local law authorities, and we are hoping to leave here without learing about the harrasement first hand. 

I am really concerned about our assigned dock at the  Legacy Harbor Marina.  Joe’s Crab Shack is located at the end of the dock.  Lois is already looking for their menu.  We will walk past the Crab Shack every time we leave or return to the boat.

We  left Tarpon Springs this morning, and traveled 55 miles to St Petersburg.  It was a good trip, but very challenging.  We are now in the Intercoastal Waterway again, and we have to get accustomed to narrow channels, shallow water, and  boaters with attitudes.  The scenery was very beautiful, and we saw lots of dolphins.  There were lots of boats in the water, and it seemed strange to see that many boats in use in the winter. 

We are docked at the St. Petersburg City Marina. This is a very large and modern facility, centrally located  near lots of attractions.  We are looking forward to our week here.

We had a good dinner at a local restaurant, the Shrimp House.  Their reputation is justly earned; it was a very good shrimp dinner.

Tomorrow, We will drive back to Tarpon Springs to get our vehicle.  It is very nice to have transportation available.  How did we ever get along without Navigation systems in our vehicles??  It has been challenging for us, being in strange places all of the time. The TOMTOM has certainly made it easier.

We have had an enjoyable week long  stay in Tarpon Springs.  This is a really nice place to visit.  It is a Greek Sponge fishing village, and sponges and food are the primary interests in this town.  The sponges and the Manatees are the prime attraction for many tourists.  The sponges are gathered by divers working in the Gulf of Mexico. 

Sunday, we met with friends that we have met on this trip who happened to be in this area.   Lois and Marianne prepared dinner for nine on Lil’ David’s aft deck, and we had a great meal and lots of fun.  Bob and Lois Christopher (Going There) drove up from Crystal River where they are docked for a month or so, and Bill and  Kathy Bouman, and Dave Smith (Cats Cradle) were visiting also.  Cat’s Cradle  arrived in Tarpon Springs on Thursday Afternoon, and we were very glad to see them. 

Today, we moved George’s car to the Marina in ST. Petersburg, and we will leave our car here until we return on Thursday to move it to Saint Petersburg.  Tomorrow, (Wed), we will take the boat to Saint Petersburg, and we will stay there for a week or more, and use the boat as a central point for sightseeing. My baby daughter will be joining us for the weekend.  She is scheduled to arrive on Thursday evening, and we will drive to the airport to pick her up.  I am anxious for her to arrive. 

We are having a great time.  It does not get much better than this.   I am not sure that I deserve the fun I am having, but I am going to enjoy it as long as it lasts. 

Lil’ David continues to be the star of this show.  What a great vessel she has been!!!  My prepararation efforts are really paying dividends.  I am still waiting for something to go wrong so that I can use some of the very large inventory of spare parts I have on board.  I will not complain, however, if I am denied that oppurtunity.

We have crossed the Gulf!!  We left Carrabelle at 3:30 PM on Wed, and proceeded out into the Gulf.  After the first hour, I was convinced that the grounding incident had not created any problems with the running gear.  We were very watchful for the first hour or two that we were underway, and everything was operating properly.  We settled in for a long night.

The Gulf waters were calm, and we only needed to make a few minor course changes to maintain a smooth ride.  The moon provided good illumination for most of the night.  The water was absolutely beautiful, and it was really great watching the night sky as the wind shifted and the sea conditions changed accordingly.  We had a really beautiful sunset, and it seemed to signal that we were now committed to making this trip. 

Lois and Marianne joined us on the flybridge.  The outside temperatures were in the low 30’s but we were comfortable with the heater keeping it warm and toasty.  We fixed dinner and ate on the flybridge, and settled in for the night.  We watched television all night, so we were not bored by the lack of activity.  Shortly after midnight, we lost most of our moonlight, and we were plowing forward through the darkness for the remainder of the night.

We  watched as daybreak started moving over the horizon.  It was a beautiful sight.  We arrived at the Tarpon Springs entrance channel at around 09:30 AM, and we were secured at the dock at Tarpon Springs Municipal Marina by 10:30. 

We had a very good Gulf Crossing.  We traveled 180 miles across open waters in about 20 hours.  It was a great adventure, and We are glad to have it behind us.  Lil David, as usual, performed flawlessly for the trip.  –

We will stay here for a few days, and then move on to the Tampa area, where we will meet Shenna on Thursday.  She is flying to Tampa to spend the weekend with Us.

We spent Friday resting from our overnight adventure, and today we played tourist.  We watched the Manatees in the park, and toured the sponge diving docks.  This is a really beautiful town.  It has some of the best reataurants of any place we have visited thus far.

We have been very busy this week.

Sunday, we moved the boat across the river to the C-Quarters Marina.  This is a better place to stage a Gulf Crossing from.  We are more likely to meet other boats crossing, and there is more and better weather information available.

George and Marianne joined us on Sunday afternoon.  They are going to cross the Gulf with Us.  We drove to Florida two years ago and helped them cross the Gulf when they were on their Great Loop trip, and they are returning the favor.  Very happy to have them on board.

Monday, we did some boat chores getting everything back in shape.  We went to Appalichacola  for dinner at Papa Joes’s Oyster Bar.  It was well worth the trip.  It was the best Oysters I have had in a long time.  (Lois had crab cakes!!)

Tuesday was a lazy day.  This is how it started:

Lois:  “Lorenzo, what are you going to do today?”

Lorenzo:  “Nothing”

Lois: “But that’s what You did Yesterday!!!”

Lorenzo: “ I didn’t finish”

Tuesday night was quite an adventure.  I woke up at 2 am, because the boat was listing heavily to stbd.   I was alarmed and went in the engine room to check for leakage or other abnormal conditions.  Everything was normal.  I checked the forward bilge, and found that everything was normal there.  The boat was listed far enough to allow water to siphon into the bilges from the bilge pump discharge lines, and the bilge pumps were cycling to keep the bilges dry.  We were really listed by now.  I went outside in the cold, and found that we were hard aground, with almost all of the water gone from the slip at the stern of the boat.  The strong NE winds had blown the water out of the Harbor, and we were hard aground.  I was surprised to see that we were aground in the same slip that had had plenty of water since we docked here three days ago.  Went back to sleep, and waited for the tide to rise.  This is the first time I have ever seen a 3’ change in the tide caused by wind.

Wednesday was a long day.  We drove both vehicles to Tarpon Springs, and left one there so that we would have transportation when we crossed the Gulf. We also arranged docking at the Tarpon Springs Municipal Marina.  It was over 500 miles round trip.  Returned to the boat at around 8:30 PM, and found the boat floating enough to allow us to move it forward into deeper water.  The Winds are expected to subside tonight, but tomorrow, we will take the boat out for a test run to make sure the running gear was not damaged in the grounding.  We will also dock bow-in this time.

Turned the boat around, and docked bow-in.  Props and running gear were smooth, so we decided to take advantage of the low winds predicted for tonight and make our Gulf crossing tonight.  This is a major trip, with a distance of approximately 180 miles.  We will be totally out of communication range for almost all of the trip.  The weather is predicted to be calm and cold, with lows in the 20’s.  We will be warm using the propane heater or running the generator and using the heat pumps.  We are preparing to leave around 3:30 PM to allow us to get out in deep water past the crab pots during daylight hours.  Portia and Starrie are raring to go, and are anxious to strut their stuff.  I have checked everything and am comfortable that we are ready. 

We are back home.  We arrived at the boat today at  6PM, after an uneventful trip from home.  The Dog is Off the Chain Again!!!

We decided to use one of our vehicles to return to the boat rather than use a rental car as we have done in the past.  We are going to keep the car with us, and use it to improve our ability to visit places away from the water.  We will normally travel approximately 100 miles/week, so the car will not be very far away.  We will use rental cars on the weekend to retrieve our vehicle from it’s last location.

Today’s weather has been fairly cool, and quite calm.  Winds are expected to increase tonight. 

Portia and Starrie cranked with just a brief touch of the start switch.  They really sounded good to me.  They have had a well deserved six week rest, but now they are ready for action again.  The boat is ready to go.

The weather for the next week does not look promising.  Lots of wind with large seas are predicted.  We will probably be here for at least the remainder of next week before we can cross the Gulf.  We will not leave here until the weather is favorable.  We will be patient and wait for favorable conditions.  Having the car available makes it easier to to wait.

We are going to move the boat to the C-Quarters Marina, which is in the town of Carrabelle.  We are presently at the Dockside Marina on Timber Island.  Moving will put us closer to the flow of boat traffic, and will increase our chances of having a buddy boat to cross with.  We are really grateful to the Folks at Dockside Marina.  They took really good care of Lil’ David, and were really helpful and supporrtive for Us.