11/26/2015
Thanksgiving Dinner at Port St. Joe
Our host and Chef, Huen
Thanksgiving Day dawned bright and beautiful and by 1 p.m.
the “Loopers” at Port St. Joe Marina were beginning to line up in the parking
lot to either be shuttled by cars to Linda and Huen’s home, or to ride their
bicycles there. Their house was all on
one level with a very large backyard, and when we entered, the dining tables
were set up in an L-shape which spanned two rooms with seating for 40 people! Huen was in charge of all the cooking, which
included at least three turkeys and several hams, soup, gravy, stuffing, and at
least nine different side dishes of various vegetables! While Huen spent his time cooking over hot
stoves, and ovens, we all enjoyed appetizers outside, and when we were all
called to the table, Huen started to make an emotional sppech, then got short
of breath, and had to step outside. His
health had not been the best this year, but with the help of his doctors, and a
lot of prayers, a procedure had been done which helped him greatly. When he returned to the table, he asked if
someone would say “Grace”, and Pat volunteered to do so, with special thanks
for these gracious boaters who had opened their home to all of us who were
basically strangers to them. After the wonderful
meal, now the desserts appeared: Pecan
Pie, two kinds of Pumpkin Pie, and Blueberry Cake, which were all
home-made. The camaraderie continued
after dinner, and one “Looper” even wrote a terrific poem a la “Twas the Night
Before Christmas” about our fabulous hosts.
By 6 p.m. the shuttles resumed taking boaters now back to the marina,
and we returned to “Reflection” both full and happy after a very memorable Thanksgiving Day!
11/27/2015
Today we awaited the arrival of Ray and Caryl Houle, who were
driving up from their home in Cape Coral, Florida to join us for the up-coming
Big Bend of Florida crossing of the Gulf of Mexico from Carrabelle on the
Panhandle to Clearwater on its west coast. This would be an over-night crossing
which we would do two days from now, if the conditions were favorable. They had a six hour drive, got a late start
because of a problem with the rental car, and then ran into some additional
traffic delays, so they didn’t arrive until almost 6 p.m. After some cocktails aboard, we ended up
going out to a local Chinese restaurant for dinner, and spent the rest of the
evening catching up on all our mutual activities.
11/28/2015
This morning we were all up early, and Pat and Caryl were
grocery shopping at the local “Piggly Wiggly” supermarket at 6:30 a.m. so that
Ray could transport them back to the marina with all their many bags of
purchases before he had to drive to Panama City to return their rental
car. George accompanied Ray on the trip,
and a taxi service from Port St. Joe returned them back to the marina several
hours later. At 5 p.m. we were
invited aboard “Changing Latitudes”, a
“Looper” boat owned by John and Priscilla, and Dale and Andy from Waukegan,
Illinois, who we had hosted a few nights ago on “Reflection”. We knew that all these folks would have much
in common with ray and Caryl, since all of them had been racing sailors, prior
to owning their power-boats. We all
enjoyed a great evening together, and then we and the Houles had dinner at the
marina’s on-site restaurant which was very close-by.
11/29 -11/30/2015
Dog Island Anchorage
After a stop at the marina’s pump-out, we left Port St. Joe
at 7:30 a.m. for a 55 mile trip to Dog Island Anchorage near Carrabelle, and
arrived there in very calm conditions in the early afternoon. We noticed a number of “Looper” boats who could
not operate as fast as we would, heading out through East Pass for their
crossing, but we, as well as “Changing Latitudes” had decided to start out at
10 p.m., so that we would spend less time in the dark and make the 170 mile
trip to Clearwater at a speed of 10-15 knots.
This would also enable us to not be blinded by the sun, which before 10
a.m. could mask our seeing the many crab pots near the Clearwater entrance on
the other side. At 9:50 p.m. we raised
anchor along with “Changing Latitudes”, who would be following us on the
trip. Pat had already said many prayers
for our safety and had blessed our vessel with the holy water she keeps near
our bed-side, and so, we were on our way! Traveling at night in the dark and relying on
instrumentation alone ( GPS, AIS, and radar) which we have at both our upper
and lower helms, can be somewhat surreal, and it feels like you are going into
a black void. Though there was some
cloud cover, it was almost a full moon, so we could see some semblance of a
horizon at times through the clouds, but we never got the full benefit of the
moon-light, which we could have if conditions were clear. Though the wave and wind conditions at the
anchorage were calm, as we headed out farther and farther away from land, the
seas started to pick up from a south/southeast direction. George and Pat took the first two-hour watch
from 10 p.m. – 12:30 p.m., and Ray and Caryl took the next from
12:30 a.m. – 2:30 a.m., and this is how we alternated overnight. Nobody ever got a good deal of sleep, because
the engines were loud when running at these higher speeds. As dawn broke, the waves were now 2-3 foot
high, and the wind was blowing at 10-15 knots on our port bow, and besides
spray coming over the bow, the couch in the main salon started moving back and
forth, and it became difficult to move down below. This was remarkably similar to the conditions
on our first “Loop” trip! Finally as we
got closer to Clearwater, things eventually started to calm down, and we only
had to concern ourselves with doging crab-pots.
“Changing Latitudes” chose to enter Clearwater from a more southern pass
, so they had broken off from our course a few hours before. At around noon we entered the harbor where
the Clearwater Yacht Club is located, but the dock space where we were assigned
was taken up by another boat! We
quickly contacted the dockmaster, and
were given a better spot right in front of the Yacht Club’s dining area, and we
were tied up at 12:20 p.m. – a trip of 14 ½ hours. Afterwards, naps were in order for all of us,
and since the yacht club was closed for dining on Mondays, we had Italian
dinners delivered to the boat by “the Gondolier” restaurant nearby, and toasted
to our successful crossing with an outstanding crew!
12/1/2015
We remained at the Clearwater Yacht Club for an extra day,
so that we could clean up the boat, and also catch up on some rest. Ray and Caryl also took advantage of the
town’s “Free Rides for Tips” program to go mall shopping, and in the evening we
we went to the Club’s casual dining room for dinner.
12/2/2015
Leaving Clearwater
Ray
Caryl
Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Tampa Bay
Caryl and her birthday cake
“Reflection” left the dock around 8 a.m. for a 39 mile trip
across Tampa Bay to the Bradenton Yacht Club on the Manatee River where we
pulled in around noon. This was another
lovely facility, and since it was Caryl’s birthday, George made arrangements
for a chocolate birthday cake to be delivered to our table when we would have
dinner there that evening. Our meals
were delicious, and finally when the staff came out singing with the cake and
candle, we were shocked at its size and weight!
It was about 12 inches round, and made of sumptuous dense chocolate, and
it weighed six pounds! The slices were
large and pre-cut, and we even shared some with the people at the next table
who were “eyeing” it! After our own fair
shares, we boxed up the rest and took it back to the boat, where we continued
to make a slight dent in it over the next few days.
12/3/2015
Clouds on the way south
Caryl
Ray
The Captain
Venice Inlet
The weather was not predicted to be good over the up-coming
days, so we left Bradenton at 7:10 a.m. for what we originally thought would be
a 55 mile trip to Royal Palm Marina in Englewood, Florida. However, as we were about to go through the
Casey Key (Albee) Bascule Bridge that had to open for us, the bridge-tender
asked us how far we were going that day, and then informed us that the Boca
Grande (Gasparilla) Swing Bridge which was being repaired, and through which we
would have to proceed, was closed for the next three days! If we went to Royal Palm as we had planned,
we would be stuck there, so we made a very quick on-the-spot decision. The Venice Inlet was only a short distance ahead of us, so
instead of our remaining on the sheltered ICW, we decided to make a fast run of
21 miles south on the Gulf to wide Charlotte Harbor in Punta Gorda. Luckily the conditions were not bad out
there, and we made the trip in about three hours all the way to Burnt Store
Marina, which was the closest location for us to return Ray and Caryl to their
home in nearby Cape Coral. We arrived at their fuel dock after our surprise 91
mile trip, and after getting 50 gallons of diesel, we moved to a slip in front
of their on-site restaurant at about 4:15 p.m.
The Houles stayed that night with us, because Caryl’s step-dad, who was
going to pick them up, unfortunately had to take his wife to the hospital for
some tests. At any rate, we all had a great pork chop dinner aboard, and we
still had plenty of Caryl’s birthday cake available for dessert!
12/4/2015
Our surprise wreath
The Houles left in the morning when her step-dad picked them
up, and even took our bedding and towels that they had used aboard home to be
washed. Ray also took one of our galley
drawers home to repair for us in his shop.
It’s great to have good friends!
Ray eventually drove back again in the afternoon to pick us up, so that
we could visit their new home in Cape Coral which they have owned for about a
year, have dinner, and do more laundry.
Their home and landscaping is lovely, and they have really worked on it
and decorated it beautifully. After our
house tour, we ended up in their bar room, and then we suddenly noticed a huge
wreath made out of 400 corks hanging from a glass corner cabinet.
It was wrapped with green ribbon and bows, decorated with two American
flags, had an AGLCA (America’s Great Loop Cruisers” Association) logo, along
with signs which said: “Reflection”, and “Platinum Loopers” on it! We both stunned and thrilled that they had
taken the time to make us such a truly meaningful, wonderful keep-sake for
us! They are both amazingly creative
people, and their house is a tribute to their talents and artistic piece
collections. We had a terrific dinner
with them that evening, and later went back to the boat with our wonderful
wreath and three bags of clean laundry!
12/5/2015
The weather continued to be windy and dismal, so we had a
quiet day on the boat, and Ray and Carol came over and picked us up so that we
could take a riding tour of Pine Island and the Matlacha Pass areas as well as
Cape Coral, and we eventually stopped in at one of their favorite outdoor bars
on the water for wings and nachos. Later,
after they dropped us off, George picked up a Caprese Salad and an amazingly
good pizza for us for dinner at Burnt Store’s on-site restaurant which he said
was really “hopping” that night.
However, by choice, a quiet dinner on the boat and TV were the only
things on our agenda for the evening.
12/6/2015
We decided to stay at the marina for one more day, and Ray and
Caryl again kindly invited us to come to their house for dinner in the late
afternoon. In the morning, we had a
knock at our door, and met one of the AGLCA Harbor Hosts for Burnt Store, who
not only welcomed us to the area, but was willing to drive us to the grocery
store, West marine, WalMart, etc. It was
a very kind gesture, and we thanked him for his thoughtfulness. Ray picked us up, and after a quick trip to
the local Publix for a few supplies, as well as dessert and wine, we returned
to the Houles’ home, which now had even more decorations up than two days ago,
including a beautifully decorated tree. Our chicken dinner was delicious, and afterwards we said our
final “good-byes” for the time being with thanks for all they had done for us,
and with hopes that they will visit us in Marathon sometime this winter.
12/7/2015
Sanibel Island Light
Coming into Naples, FL
