Our First Post

O God, thy Sea is so great and my boat so small

 

January 27, 2023: Crow’s Nest Marina, Venice FL:

 

We arrived in Venice late yesterday after a short 20-mile voyage from Sarasota Yacht Club. We have had a very easy week and spent two or three days at our last few locations. It’s been great to explore the local area and not be moving every day. We have never spent a lot of time in Florida as tourists, so it was nice to check out the Northwest coast of the state. 

So how did we get to Venice from Clearwater well here’s a recap of our week:

Saturday January 21, 2023, Travel Day # 92 Clearwater Municipal Marina, Clearwater FL. Seafood Shack Marina, Cortez FL. Distance 43 Miles, Total Time 5 Hours, We had spent 3 days in Clearwater and enjoyed our time there, it a beautiful beach which seems to go on forever. It was fun to walk the beach daily and play tourist however it was time to move south. There were several loopers at the Clearwater Marina, two of whom we had not seen since August in Canada, so it was fun catching up with old buddy boats, several months later. Most of the loopers we had not met before so we made some new friends.

We departed Clearwater first thing in the morning and the first 10 miles was in a protected channel. The challenge of the day was crossing Tampa Bay which is a large body of shallow water and can have lots of recreational and commercial traffic. It didn’t disappoint!

Our crossing was 15 miles, so nothing compared to our last crossing, however enough activity and traffic to be mindful. The Bay is 25 miles wide, so the chop was significant, and we crossed on the open ocean side. The wind was on our nose so that was an advantage, but the waves were a beam so that made it a bit rollie. It was a perfectly sunny day, and the visibility was excellent as it was 75 degrees. Overall, an excellent day to be making the 43-mile voyage.

We arrived in the early afternoon at Seafood Shack Marina and that turned out to be a great facility with a wonderful restaurant right on site. Our friends Ray and Jane from Pura Vida were at the marina and met us as we arrived. We had lunch washed down the boat and headed out for a nice walk around Cortex Florida. This was an old fishing village and sponge harvesting community and it was fun to explore the area. We got our 10K steps in, had a few drinks with ray and Jane then ate dinner at the restaurant and had a great meal and an easy night.

The next morning, we did a few boat projects and then headed to the beaches across the causeway and visited both Bradenton Beach and Anna Maria Beach. We had lunch in a great restaurant, The Sandbar right at the tip of Anna Maria Beach and “had our toes in the sand”!

We headed back to the boat and a high school friend Peter and Claudia Divol met us at the boat at 4 PM and we had a few cocktails. Peter and I had reacquainted two years ago, (he initiated it, and I am so pleased he did) and we have been able to reconnect 3 times since then and I know we will again next summer.  The following morning, we were off to Sarasota Yacht Club so we had an early night.

 

 

Clearwater Marina 

 

                                              Docktails

  Clearwater Bay

Traveling down the GIWW 

Tampa Bay Bridge

Cortez FL

 

Lawn Ornaments

 

 

Words to Live By

Monday, January 23,2023 Travel Day #93 Seafood Shack Marina, Cortez FL, to Sarasota Yacht Club Sarasota FL.  Total Distance 18 Miles, Total Time 2.5 Hours

 

We had a very short ride this day but wanted to arrive before the winds picked up. The forecast was for sunny skies, but the winds were forecasted to be 15-20 which they were, and light chop 2–3-foot waves. The winds have really been very strong and to be honest no one is traveling on the ocean (outside) it has been so rough. We are fortunate this time of year to have the Intracoastal Waterway, otherwise all boats would  be staying in place. We had an uneventful day on the water and were able to arrive before noontime and settle in. The Yacht Club was beautiful a first-class facility. They had a gym, sauna, heated pool, restaurants, two bars and an outside bar and grill. Also, the club was less than a mile walk to St Armands Circle which we had never been to. What a great area, we were most impressed with the layout and shops. We walked to St Armands all three days. We were the only folks staying on the docks at the Yacht Club, they don’t take many transient boats, but it was a wonderful place to spend three days.

Late the next morning Peter came and picked Meredith and I up and showed us all around the Sarasota area and then went to their house for lunch. We hung out for a few hours then the four of us went back to St Armands Circle and had dinner. The following day Pat Maynard, (Meredith’s Dad’s widow) also came to visit from Citrus Hills a 2.5 hour drive, (Thank you Pat). Once again we had a great walk down to St Armands Circle for yet another meal. It was great to catch up with Pat as we had not seen her in 2 years.

 

 

 

Lido Beach

                                    Claudia, Meredith  and Peter 

Jack and Mr. Ringling

                        Homes along the GIWW

                              Skinny Channels on the GIWW

Sunset

Thursday, January 26, 2023 Travel Day # 94 Sarasota Yacht Club Sarasota FL To Crow’s Nest Marina Venice FL Total Distance 20 Miles, Total Time 3 Hours

 

A cold front went through this morning around 1 AM (think rain, thunder, and lightning) and an hour after the front passed, the winds died down and went from a southerly (warm) flow to a northerly (cold). We wanted to be underway by first light which is around 8 AM as we knew the winds were forecasted to be blowing 20-25 by 9 AM. Our first section was across Sarasota Bay so to get that portion out of the way in 10-15 MPH would be preferable. Therefore, we had an hour to get into the Intracoastal Waterway. It worked great as we only had 10 MPH winds across Sarasota Bay and the northerly wind meant it was on our stern which was very comfortable, even when the wind did pick up. By the time we arrived at Crow’s Nest Marina it was blowing all of 25 MPH and the chop was 3-4 feet. Sure, glad we arrived by 11 AM. We actually had a Grady White called Crow’s Nest several years ago, so when we found the marina a few weeks ago said lets check that place out. Side story:  the naming of our boat came about because  my mother’s maiden name was Crowley and her friends called her Crow. When she passed away and I got some money we upgraded our boat and figured it was “Crow’s Nest”! 

We had several low bridges on the journey today so we had to hail the bridgetenders to have them open, 2 were swing bridges and one we had to have raised. We have not had bridge height restrictions for many weeks, since the rivers. The challenge here in Florida is they open or swing the bridges on the hour and half hour, whereas in the rivers and canals they open on demand. Therefore you have to time your arrival, and adjust speed between bridges which just takes some planning (just what I need is MORE planning!). The wind was very strong and the waves gave us a nice boost (anything to save fuel) so we had a nice ride to Venice yesterday morning and were all settled in before noontime.

When we arrived at Pura Vida (Ray and Jane) were here and we have traveled with them on and off since January and had just seen them in Cortez. . They also spent 3 weeks in Sandestin at Baytowne Marina while we were there. Unfortunately, they are headed to The Keys from here and we are not therefore , we won’t catch up with them until later this spring hopefully. Ray is a Scotsman and Jane a Canadian, and they raised their family in Toronto where they still reside. Two great people,  Jane is a sweetheart and Ray is EVERTHING one would imagine a Scotsman to be, hilarious (maybe the funniest fellow we have met on the loop)  and an above average drinker!

Track 

 

Fellow Looper passing by 

Homes along the way

As I write this Thursday & Friday afternoon, we are waiting for Bob and Barbara Keller to pick us up and we are spending the night at their home. No rocking boat oh my! They are good friends from New York and Bob, and I go back 30 years as business partners. Bob is an amazing cook and loves to entertain, as many of you know, so it should be a fun evening. Bob and I are golfing in the morning and I’m sure the ladies will have a great day in Venice.

Bob Keller & Jack Raising a Glass

We had a great night with the Keller's, Bob and I played golf with his neighbors The Woods, and Barbra and Meredith toured Venice. The Keller's just dropped us off back on the boat and we have dinner reservations at the restaurant, here at Crows Nest which everyone says is fabulous.

We are off to Cabbage Key in the morning and unfortunalty they are calling for 20-25 MPH winds but it should be 10 degrees warmer, so hopefully and early start. 

 

That is an overview of our past week for Her Idea, we saw friends and family and spent 2-3 nights at each location which allowed us to explore the local towns. Next we head to Stuart Florida where we will spend the month of February. Our friends Cliff and Laura George winter in Stuart and are close to the marina we are staying at. We have also been able to set up a few play dates to visit other good friends and if you’re in that area, let us know and we will try and hook up. March first our plan is to begin our journey up the east coast and hopefully cross our wake on June 1^st, 5 months and 3,000 miles to go.

We depart Venice on Saturday, and we will head down to Fort Myers and then cross Lake Okeechobee.  Its 150 Miles from Fort Myers to Port Saint Lucie and 250 mile from here to Stuart.

 

Fair Winds 

PS just as a side note the folks who were unable to cross the Gulf on the day / night we did are still stuck up in Carrabelle. Here is Eddy's report from yesterday, we sure made the right call. This would have been our second week there and looking at another!

Discussion reply details

Group:	Weather Wag
Created by:	Eddy Johnsen
Date & Time:	24 Jan 2023, 06:55:54
Title:	Daily Weather Wag Post
Message:	Tuesday, 24 January 2023 Ahoy Fellow Loopers! Sometimes you have to accept the fact that you’re looking for something that just isn’t there. That’s how it is with the weather-window that we’ve been hoping will open up this coming Saturday (28th). According to this morning’s review of the on-line weather sites, it is fading into a wistful memory. What was the longest time Loopers had to wait for a good Gulf crossing weather-window? Over the years I have heard and read about many folks who exclaimed, “We waited two weeks in Carrabelle for a weather-window”. I sincerely hope you don’t become part of a new group of Loopers who someday say they waited three, but it could happen! Meanwhile, I’ll continue to keep on the lookout and will let y'all know when I see something that IS there!