Where to Next?

Clearwater Florida to Longboat Key, a very short distance but all the difference in the world. After a beautiful sail down the coast we made our way into the Longboat Pass, navigating between ambiguous markers; there is actually a sign halfway through the channel that states, "Shallow Water", most reassuring. We made it around Jewfish Key without going aground unlike our friends on the Cat "Kitty Wake", they went aground just outside the channel, but Jeff was able to jump over and push her off, ah one of the benefits of a Cat. We made it into the anchorage between Long Beach and Jewfish, oh yeah we went aground twice (see the picture, at low tide, with the birds on it!), but made it off and began our five day stay in a wonderful little anchorage. With shore just a couple of hundred yards away the dink came in handy as did the smaller engine, and the girls just loved going for their daily walks/runs along the beach; which means lots of sand and saltwater (on land and in the boat!)

We made a total recon of the area and even managed a 12 mile round trip to the grocery store on our bikes, ouch. A nice break from the day to day travels. Yup even sailing gets to you every day, well not really.

On Saturday, December 19th, Vicky's cousin Joel made the trip up from Venice Beach to have lunch with us and spend the afternoon catching up after 10 years. We were pleasantly surprised by the goodies Joel brought with him. A bag full of fresh Florida oranges, grapefruit and limes, a concoction of granola, oatmeal and almond milk (nummy) plus a small, adorable Christmas tree! We didn't have any decorations so it was fun to light it up at night to put us in the Christmas mood! We also went for a ride in his car to get diesel for the boat. We haven't been in a car (other than one taxi) since we left Texas so that was a BIG treat!

That morning Vicky was up on the deck when she started yelling, "Ed, it is a huge squishy walrus looking thing! Come quick!". The area is a protected area for manatees so this was the first of many we saw. They escaped before the camera could be retrieved but they are spectacular!

For those of you wondering what our boat looks like...here it is behind us nestled nicely in Long Beach key.Well, the rip tides and surge have now diminished to a manageable size so we will make our way on Monday, Dec. 21st to Key West. We were going to stop in Charlotte Harbor for a day. On Cabbage Key you can go to the restaurant to get a cheeseburger that is the inspiration for Jimmy Buffet's song 'Cheeseburger in Paradise'. It looks like the weather may deteriorate again so we have decided to make the 30 hour trip straight to the Keys while the weather looks good!