Making Don and Gail Proud

Sarasota

Well, the plan was for us to pull the anchor up at 6 a.m. from Bishop's Point and head south to Blackburn Bay. Unfortunately the weather forecasters were wrong (GASP!) again. Our night of sleep in forecasted 2-4 knot winds turned out to be a night of almost no sleep in gusty 15 - 20 knot winds. The sound of the snubber line stretching over and over just took away any chance of a good nights sleep.

We slept in a bit the following morning after the wind and waves settled before having breakfast and deciding upon a new plan. Brenda researched a few local marinas before deciding that $85+ per night was out of the question. Then she found that Marina Jacks manages a mooring field right by downtown Sarasota and charges $25 per night with full marina services included. A pumpout, hot showers and a tiki bar won us over very quickly.

We motor sailed over and picked up a mooring ball which was a first for this trip. We learned some tricks to picking up mooring balls when we chartered with Karen and Peter in the BVI last summer. Brenda expertly snagged the pennant and had us tied up in no time at all even in the windy conditions.

We enjoyed a late lunch and a few drinks at O'Leary's Tiki Bar with our dinghy tied up right in front. The wind and waves settled nicely that night which allowed us to catch up on our sleep.

O'Leary's Tiki Bar and Grill

 

The next day we took The Ernie T in to go grocery shopping at Publix. Once the groceries were back aboard we loaded up 10 days worth of laundry and went back ashore at noon to wash and dry the huge pile. When we were in Clearwater, Don and Gail aboard Island Tyme were famous for perfecting the art of laundry day. They would fill the laundry machines and then walk around the corner to The Bait House bar and grill to enjoy several cocktails while their laundry went round and round. Don always came back from doing laundry with a big grin on his face. Don loved laundry day!

Brenda and I are sometimes quick learners and took Don and Gail's lessons to heart. We completed laundry 7 hours later when we left the local tiki bar with clean laundry and big grins on our faces.

We met a fun couple at the tiki bar and mentioned to them that we hoarded our quarters for laundry day like college kids. After they paid their tab the woman handed Brenda a small stack of quarters for her laundry kitty. We all had a good laugh over that.

The end of another fun laundry day.

 

 

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Desoto Point to Bishop's Point, Sarasota Bay

Locals going for a ride under a bridge.

Leaving our anchorage at Desoto Point we headed out the Manatee River to the ICW just a couple of miles away. Our plan was for a short run southeast to an overnight anchorage by Bishop's Point in Sarasota Bay. Although it is only a 16 mile route there are two bascule bridges we needed to have opened for us. Both the Anna Maria and Cortez Bridges open on the hour and every half hour, so we had to time our passage.

We followed another sailboat down the ICW route as it appeared to be going slowly to arrive at the 10:30 a.m. opening like us. Well before the bridge the other sailboat started speeding up which we thought was a mistake according to our calculations. We sped up a bit for a while thinking maybe we were wrong and would miss our opening. When the sailboat hailed the bridge on VHF requesting they hold the 10:00 a.m. opening for them we realized he'd never make it. We slowed way down to arrive near 10:30 a.m. as planned.

We arrived at the bridge a few minutes early which is perfect, as we wouldn't have to do many circles in the channel like the sailboat that tried to make the earlier opening was doing. We putted through the bridge and figured we would need to average just 3.6 knots to make the Cortez Bridge 11:00 a.m. opening. This time the other sailboat kept pace and arrived just before the opening. Two birds decided to ride under the bridge on our bow pulpit and lifelines. That was pretty cool.

Bishop's Point anchorage

We motor sailed when we could after the bridges and finally had some wind to go sailing once we entered Sarasota Bay. After a nice sail we dropped our anchor a couple hundred yards from shore and tidied up the boat. In a day or two we will be headed out again. It has been 9 days since we were in a marina to fill the water tanks, empty the holding tank, get groceries and do laundry. We'll need to take care of those things pretty soon.

 

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Desoto Point on the Manatee River

Desoto Point anchorage in the distance

Sailing out the Pass-A-Grille Channel we turned south toward Tampa Bay. Our destination today was Desoto Point on the Manatee River off Tampa Bay. Although the wind wasn't great for sailing we did have some fun trying to sail out in the Gulf of Mexico. Instead of going all the way out to the west end of the Egmont Channel (Tampa Bay) we threaded our way though a small cut that showed at least 6 feet of water at low tide.

As soon as we made it through the cut we needed to cross the main shipping channel without getting in the way of the big dogs. We slowed way down and sidetracked a bit to allow this big fella and his pilot boat all the room they wanted.

Once we crossed Tampa Bay we entered the Manatee River and finally rounded Desoto Point into a nice little anchorage.

Desoto National Memorial Park offers a glimpse into Conquistador Hernando Desoto's landing here in 1593. There is a small museum, a neat 15 minute history movie and some beautiful scenic trails around the grounds. In the museum they had replica helmets and chainmail for us to pick up and try on. The chainmail was at best a "medium", so Mike passed on trying it on. It weighed a ton! Between the helmet, chainmail, padding, etc. they had to carry 80 to 100 pounds of gear not including their water and weapons. Wow, they were tough buggers.

You think of these explorers landing on a beach and spending some time gathering supplies, treasures and interacting with the locals. Yet we learned that Desoto spent 4 years traveling both on horseback and foot for 4000 miles from this spot. He never did find the gold he was so urgently seeking. The Indians just kept telling him, "Yes there is lots of gold, just keep going a little further north"

Mike trying on a new sailing hat

We spent the night aboard Wrinkles and then hopped back into The Ernie T to dinghy across the Manatee River to Snead Island. There we had a wonderful day of hiking all over the Emerson Point Preserve. The trails go by huge Indian burial mounds, house ruins, ponds, streams and amazing trees. The trails are a mixture of blacktop bike paths, crushed seashell footpaths and simple sand/dirt paths. Walking along the paths with just the sounds of birds calling, dried leaves crunching underfoot and the gentle wind rustling the wide variety of vegetation made for a memorable experience.

One trail featured a Lookout Tower, which Mike found humorous. He commented, "A lookout tower in Florida only needs about one hundred feet of elevation." Once we ascended the tiny structure we were rewarded with a magnificent view. We could see the very pretty Tampa Bay Skyway bridge, Terra Ceia Bay and most of the Emerson Park land.

Terra Ceia Bay and the TB bridge

Mike with one of the amazing trees.

 

Mike with one of the amazing trees.

Footpath trails

Sunset over Desoto Point

 

Sunset over Desoto Point

 

 

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