Posts

St. Petersburg and Pass-A-Grille

Image
 You've probably been wondering where we are???? We docked in St Petersburg Municipal Marina at around 4 pm on the 15th!  What a beautiful locale, and Frank, the Dock Jockey is a delight! He hails from North Carolina but works in St. Pete for 5 months out of the year and then returns to North Carolina mountains for the hurricane season. Thursday during the day we prepared Cady Girl for our guests - you know, vacuum, dust, make beds - same-o, same-o. After, the slave driver Captain finished washing the boat, we took a 3-mile bike ride to the hardware store.  I was not happy! It's too humid for this Oregonian. Jan and Ray arrived around 5 having hitched a ride from the Tampa Airport with a young man, they met on the plane. They settled in and then we walked up to the Stillwaters Tavern on Beach Dr. NE.  Outdoor seating, lots of people watching and great food and drink. The architecture and homes in St. Pete are beautiful and the flora and fauna are "bitchin", per Capta...
Post a Comment
Read more

Cedar Key to Crystal River to Clearwater

Image
We left Cedar Key in beautiful weather and motored to Crystal River on Sunday.  Crystal River is the Manatee Capital of the World and home to a beautiful National Wildlife Refuge. Manatees are large, herbivorous marine mammals, also known as "sea cows." We took the tender up some canals known as breeding grounds for the manatees, but alas, we found not a one. 😪 We found several abandoned boats and a shipwreck, instead. On Monday we motored for 87 miles to Clearwater.  A beautiful, beachy, condo locale.  We docked at the Municipal Marina and walked up the street to a fantastic restaurant, The District Bistro! They had a great playlist too, and all of their drinks were modeled after the 30's era.  Don had a "Boulevardier" and I had a "Curious Margarita" made of Orange Gin, Tequila, Lime juice and agave.  Extraordinary!!! Yesterday was laundry, boat maintenance -installing new water pumps in the engine, a task the Captain had not done before.  He had his...
1 comment
Read more

Dog Island to Steinhatchee to Cedar Key

Image
There are good days and bad days in boating!  These last two days went from one extreme to the other. On Friday, we left Dog Island bright and early as we had a 78-mile trip across the Gulf!  Weather and seas did not cooperate with conditions worse than the day before. Wind was 20-25 with gusts up to 35; waves were up to 4-6 feet.  Needless to say, we wore our special watches. The good news was that it calmed down as we got closer to our destination. Steinhatchee and specifically the Sea Hag Marina was quite an experience.  It is the fisherman's hang out for that part of Florida, for sure. They even provide lounge chairs to watch others filet their catch. The staff at the marina was great and the store was amazing. We walked up to Kathi's Krab Shack for dinner. I had the flounder Po-Boy and Paula, our waitress offered Soft Shell Crabs on special.  Don asked if they were blue crab or snow crab, her response was "they're soft-shell crab."  Being the Maryland ...
1 comment
Read more

Apalachicola to Tysons Harbor on Dog Island

Image
What a day! I don't think I've explained this trick "Relief band" we purchased last year (see photo below). We used it a lot today as we were close to the Gulf of Wigglesworth in rough seas! Anyhow, the watch generates a pulse (shock) that stimulates the median nerve near your wrist.  The impulses from the median nerve travel through the body's nervous system to the part of the brain which controls nausea and vomiting. The pulses have a rebalancing effect, normalizing the messages from the brain to the stomach!  IT WORKS! Anyhow, after 35 miles of fun and games (wind gusts from 21 to 35 mph, waves 2 to 3 feet and spray over the fly bridge); we anchored in a beautiful spot - Tysons Harbor on Dog Island.  Walked the white sandy beach, rode in the tender and now are relaxing. We have a BIG day tomorrow - as we actually go out into the Gulf and cross over to the West Coast of Florida for more fun!  Keep saying those prayers for no wind and smaller swells, Relief Band ...
2 comments
Read more

Port St. Joe to Apalachicola

Image
Wednesday morning, we walked up to Piggly Wiggly (Love that name) and CVS for some supplies.  Leaving Port St. Joe, we headed back up the Gulf County Canal to the Intracoastal Waterway to continue our trip south - destination Apalachicola (pronounce that?). This section of the intracoastal waterway was much more interesting with lots of hurricane debris, fisherman and cypress trees. The hard part was that, as we entered the Apalachicola River, the winds picked up into a small craft advisory - Winds up to 23 miles an hour.  Good thing Cady Girl is so stable!   We, I should say Don, docked at SCIPIO Creek Marina despite the winds.  The marina is a wee bit inland, so that should make for a smoother, quieter night.  It is still windy, however! We walked the town where I learned a horticultural lesson I thought I would share for my gardening friends:  The Sago Palm (see picture below) is not a palm at all, but rather a cycad.  Cycads are a group of pla...
2 comments
Read more