tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80724359984145935262024-03-13T09:04:09.231-07:00Daydream's Great LoopPat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.comBlogger209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-15813172066750505962017-11-14T04:12:00.002-08:002017-12-03T10:57:31.611-08:00Daydream Crosses Her Wake and Goes Gold!<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 226 - November 13, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">November 13, 2017, was Patty's birthday, and she got the birthday present she was really hoping for - for us to have crossed our wake and to see <i>Daydream</i> on the trailer ready for the long drive back to Birch Bay!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VFFGvCJlr14/WgrvXzxDkQI/AAAAAAAAE6s/FNpcJ_M3yWEFuo5BC6RTBnQ5dlDctrrjwCLcBGAs/s1600/Daydream%2Bon%2BTrailer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VFFGvCJlr14/WgrvXzxDkQI/AAAAAAAAE6s/FNpcJ_M3yWEFuo5BC6RTBnQ5dlDctrrjwCLcBGAs/s640/Daydream%2Bon%2BTrailer.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Daydream</i> on trailer and ready to roll!</td></tr>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">T</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;">HE STATISTICS</span></span></div>
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<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Start date: April 1, 2017 at Ortona Lock Boat Ramp</li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Crossed wake: 9:54 a.m. November 13, 2017 at Ortona Lock Boat Ramp</li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Total days on Loop: 226</li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Non-travel days: 89</li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Locks transited: 108</li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Statute miles traveled: 5,428</li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Engine hours: 844.5</li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Outboard maintenances performed: 4 </li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fuel used: 1,114 gallons</li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cost of fuel: $4,200</li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nights in marinas: 82</li>
<li style="color: black; white-space: pre-wrap;">Boat cards collected:75</li>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ll8EX-C4uDY/Wgr_D3DQk-I/AAAAAAAAE7A/yc9ncWWg6oUhFr09457exoGYF6U_WuFtACLcBGAs/s1600/Ortona%2BLock%2BBoat%2BRamp.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ll8EX-C4uDY/Wgr_D3DQk-I/AAAAAAAAE7A/yc9ncWWg6oUhFr09457exoGYF6U_WuFtACLcBGAs/s640/Ortona%2BLock%2BBoat%2BRamp.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ortona Lock Boat Ramp, where we launched April 1, 2017, and crossed our wake November 13, 2017</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>SPECIAL THANKS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Jonathan Arthur and Rosa Cross in Florida. Jonathan allowed us to stay at Honest John's Fish Camp for a few days, and loaned us his car to go shopping. And for stopping to say hello each time they passed us on the Loop!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Benton and Ann Blalock in North Carolina. They hauled<i> Daydream</i> out, let us crash their </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">family gathering, fed us and put us up, took us shopping, arranged a grooming for Baxter, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">and showed me how to do the engine maintenance.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Charlie and Sally Vinroot in Virginia. They gave us refuge from a storm, fed us and put us up, took us shopping, and took us sightseeing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Mary Israelow in New Jersey. Mary put us up, fed us, took me to the eye doctor, took us shopping, and took us sightseeing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob and Maureen Clark in New Jersey. They put us up and fed us and took us sightseeing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Evan and Jeanne Chiligirs in Chicago. They took us shopping and took us out for the best Greek meal we have ever had.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bob and Marie Austin in Pensacola. They had given us all their Loop guide books before we started the Loop, and on the Loop they put us up and fed us and took us sightseeing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Marc and Anita Grove in Apalachicola. They helped us in many ways! They took us on a river cruise, allowed us to use their slip at Battery Park Marina, and loaned us their golf cart. Marc and the crew at Wefings made it their mission to get <i>Daydream</i> able to plane and run fast enough for a short crossing of the Big Bend (and succeeded).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cecil and Danny Hazen in Cape Coral. They put us up and fed us, repositioned our truck and trailer, and took us sightseeing.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>THINGS WE FOUND MOST USEFUL</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The iPad mounted on a RAM mount at the helm. It was our main chartplotter with Garmin Blue Chart Mobile, our access to weather information with SailFlow, and our FaceTime connection to the grandchildren!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Skipper Bob books and Active Captain via Garmin Blue Chart Mobile. We consulted these resources daily, and often multiple times per day. Don't leave home without them!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The ARB freezer and Pelican cooler. We kept a frozen gallon of water in the cooler and swapped it daily between the ARB and the Pelican cooler. The ARB kept us well stocked with frozen food and most importantly, ice for our drinks!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Coleman one burner propane stove for when we had no shore power, and the NuWave induction cooker for when we had shore power.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Verizon Jetpack MiFi. Our T-Mobile iPhones had no service most of the time, and the Jetpack gave us both internet and cell phone connectivity.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our iPhones. They were our cameras, our calendars, our backup chartplotters, and everything else an iPhone can do, including being used for phone calls! They would have been useless most of the time without the Verizon Jetpack, but WiFi calling worked great whenever the Jetpack could connect to the Verizon network.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our Chromebooks. The blog photos were edited on the Chromebook, the blog text was written on the Chromebook, and the blog was published on the Chromebook. We used the Chromebooks for paying some bills online, email, web browsing, online shopping, and news. I have Ubuntu Linux on my Chromebook, which really extended its capabilities.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our Kindles, Patty downloaded many books from the library and read her Kindle almost every day, me less so but I read my Kindle quite a bit too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Camfrano 12 volt fans, one fixed mount, and the other one portable.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Endless Breeze 12 volt box fan. We put this on a little folding table aimed into the vee-berth, opened the vee-berth hatch, and that was almost always all the cooling we needed.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Sea Eagle kayak. This was a great substitute for a traditional dinghy. Much lighter and easier to get on and off the roof. Baxter approved!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Airhead composting toilet. Never needing to pump out was a huge benefit.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Helio shower. This is a little marvel that lets two people shower. We heated up some water and added it to cold water in the Helio tank until it was the right temperature. The foot pump pressurized the tank and the 7 foot long line to the shower head worked great.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Magma grill. Sometimes you just have to grill something - a steak, some fish, bratwurst sausage, Polish sausage - we did not use it every night of course but when we needed it, it was just the ticket. We also used it to bake tortilla pizzas!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">8" and 10" cast iron frying pans and a 2 quart stainless saucepan. These were the only cookware we used.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The stainless French Press and stainless Thermos vacuum bottle. These items made that wonderful morning coffee on the cockpit possible.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>THINGS THAT WERE MARGINAL</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Coastal Explorer laptop and AIS. Coastal Explorer was unusable with the USB monitor I had originally mounted. Then I discovered Duet Display and was able to use the iPad as the monitor for the Toshiba laptop, and Coastal Explorer was usable, But it did not give us anything that the iPad and Garmin Blue Chart Mobile also gave us except AIS. The AIS was somewhat useful when encountering tows on the rivers, but even when it was not turned on, we did fine dealing with the tows.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The butane stove. It got used occasionally when we had no shore power and didn't want to cook on the cockpit, but those times were few and far between.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>THINGS WE BROUGHT AND NEVER USED</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The inside curtains for the camperback. We thought we needed privacy curtains, but as it turned out, we really didn't care if anybody saw us shower!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our ukuleles. We brought them but never took them out once, and they just used up valuable storage space!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cat carrier. Don't know what we were thinking! Lucy never got off the boat once!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Stainless cookware set. We bought an expensive set, but only used the 2 quart saucepan. The rest of the set used up valuable storage space.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The air conditioner. We bought it in St. Augustine and carried it around the Loop but only used it three times. Of course, we would have used it more if the weather had been hotter, which it certainly might have been.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The 7 gallon Aquatainer with emergency water, We made it just fine with the 20 gallons in our fresh water tank. The Aquatainer just took up space and added extra weight.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DeLorme In-Reach. With Facebook, we really did not need the In-Reach, and never activated it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DJI Phantom 3 Standard Drone. DJI changed the control program so it no longer worked on my iPhone 5. I got a new control program called Litchi, but I was reluctant to fly until I could do tests over land instead of over water!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>FAVORITE PLACE</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Chicago, without a doubt, but Mackinac Island was a close second.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>MOST STRESSFUL EVENT</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our night in St. Joseph, when we got slammed into the concrete wall all night and destroyed our starboard rub rail.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>FINAL THOUGHTS</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The days we got off the boat staying with friends and our night at the Blackstone in Chicago were really rejuvenating. Everyone should get off the boat now and then.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The size of our boat was not a handicap but a benefit on the Loop. <i>Daydream</i> was big enough that we had everything we needed and were comfortable, and small enough that both Patty and I could handle her safely. It allowed us to go under many bridges without waiting for an opening, and the shallow draft allowed us to go into many places larger boats could not go. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Not being able to plane was not a problem for the most part. We were slow cruisers before we started the Loop, and we will be slow cruisers when we go back to our home waters. We were, however, very glad Wefings Marine made the changes necessary so we could get on plane for the Big Bend crossing at 15 mph!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">No matter what anybody says on the AGLCA Forum, the only ESSENTIAL things for navigating on the Loop are an iPad with Garmin Blue Chart Mobile, an iPhone as a backup for the IPad, a depth sounder, a VHF radio, and enough knowledge and experience to be a safe boater.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Skills we acquired or improved on the Loop were using the available weather resources, figuring out our own criteria for go / no-go decisions, and the patience to wait for acceptable weather conditions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><b>SIGNING OFF</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This, my friends, is the final installment of our<i> Daydream's</i> Loop blog. We want to thank those of you who read it daily, posted comments, or contacted us through the Contact Form. We are absolutely humbled and amazed that enough of you enjoyed our blog enough to push it to more than 74,000 page views, It has truly been the adventure of a lifetime!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We will proudly be flying the AGLCA Gold burgee from here on out!</span></td></tr>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-52713885163678174222017-11-13T19:08:00.000-08:002017-11-13T19:08:47.863-08:00Labelle!<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY 225 - November 12, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We got up at 6:30 a.m. so we could get on the water by 8:00 a.m. When I got up, Cecil and Danny were already up! After another fine breakfast of muffins and fruit, we went down to the Hazens' dock, had our hugs and goodbyes, and cast off our lines!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Tom and Jody Goldman, who are planning to do the Loop in 2018 in their Rosborough 25, had emailed us to ask if we would be in Labelle today, and we replied that we would, and would be delighted to meet them! They are from Bradenton, and wanted to talk about doing the Loop on a 25 foot boat.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We followed our track out of Cape Coral to the Caloosahatchee River. We ran slow until we were across the wide part of the river. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Jody called us to let us know they were in Labelle and I told her we were going to kick it up!</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> As soon as we were into the narrower river channel, I kicked it up to put </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Daydream</i><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> on the plane! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Jody and Tom were on the City Wharf to catch our lines when we arrived, and gave us a celebratory bottle of champagne! The Labelle City Wharf is a newly upgraded facility with nice fixed piers, some with power and water, We were at a slip without power or water, but that was fine, as we would only be there overnight, and we could use our Aquatainer to refill our water in the morning. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We went up to a little gazebo at the city park above the wharf, and had a nice conversation with the Goldmans, who had lots and lots of questions, and I hope they will find our answers helpful!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">After a bit, our C-Dory friend Jim Widmann arrived. Jim lives in Naples, and has a C-Dory Venture 23. We all chatted for a bit, and then the Goldmans departed. We went to a Mexican restaurant called Amigos and Beer in Labelle with Jim where, shall we say, Patty celebrated her birthday, which is tomorrow, with gusto!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">After dinner, Jim brought us back to the City Wharf, where we went down to the boat, and although it was incredibly early, it was dark and we were tired, so we just went to bed!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomorrow we have only about 10 miles to go to the Ortona Lock Boat Ramp, where we will officially cross our wake! It is hard to believe, but our incredible adventure is really drawing to a close!</span></div>
Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-10588828095870702332017-11-12T16:14:00.000-08:002017-11-12T16:14:58.776-08:00Day Two in Cape Coral with the Hazens<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 224 - November 11, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sleeping in a real bed feels so good! I woke up earlier than Patty, and went out and had my first cup of coffee with Cecil and Danny, and when Patty was up and showered, we went out to the lanai for breakfast! Grapes, a fruit plate with watermelon, cantaloupe and pineapple, and a real treat, Canadian "<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butter_tart">butter tarts</a>"! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are planning to have Glades Boatyard put <i>Daydream </i>on our trailer with their TraveLift on Monday. Although Kim at Glades had said the TraveLift was fully booked on Monday, she said there could be a cancellation, so we wanted to be ready in case there is a cancellation. We had arranged for River Forest to reconnect the negative terminals to the batteries on the Silverado and that we would be coming to pick it up during the weekend. We also arranged with Glades for permission to park the truck and trailer at Glades. The problem is, River Forest and Glades are on opposite sides of the river, they are both past Labelle, and the closest bridge is in Labelle. All of these are more than 50 miles from Cape Coral. We have been puzzling the logistics of all of this for some time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Danny to the rescue! She offered to drive us to River Forest to pick up the truck and trailer, and bring us back from Glades while Cecil pursued his Saturday passion, college football! </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">About 10:00 a.m., Danny, Patty and I piled into the Hazens' Honda Odyssey and headed out! We drove first to Labelle, crossed the bridge there, and drove to River Forest Yacht Basin. We made a stop at the Ortona Lock Boat Ramp, which is a mile upstream from River Forest. This is where we launched and where we will technically "cross our wake." We had such a hard time launching there due to the ramp being narrow and steep and lacking a dock that we had decided long ago that there was no way we could retrieve there. I wish I had take a couple of pictures there. One would be the ramp, and other would be the huge pile of hurricane debris pushed up in the turn around for the ramp. It now would not have only been difficult, it would have been impossible to use the Ortona Lock Boat Ramp.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The truck and trailer were indeed ready and waiting for us at River Forest Yacht Basin. We then had to drive back to Labelle to cross the river again, and then drive farther to Glades, where we fortunately found a good spot to park. Although the office was closed, we left a key with one of the employees to take to the office in case they needed to move the truck and trailer. Glades is mainly a long-term storage facility, and we all thought that most of the boats stored there would never see the water again!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We drove back to Labelle, and stopped at the Town Wharf, which has very nice docks, power and water, which are free. We intend to stay here tomorrow night and head to Glades, which is 15 miles farther upstream first thing Monday morning. By this time, it was lunch time, and Danny suggested we stop at their favorite place in Labelle, the <a href="http://www.logcabinlabelle.com/">Log Cabin BBQ.</a> This is indeed a log cabin, and it was packed when we arrived, but we got a table. We all ordered the pulled pork sandwich with two sides and sweet tea. The styrofoam cups of tea were indeed sweet and huge! Then we got a complimentary cup of soup, our sandwiches and side, and a complimentary cup of ice cream. If you are ever in Labelle, we can highly recommend the Log Cabin BBQ!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the drive back to Cape Coral, Danny gave us a driving tour of Ft. Myers and Cape Coral via the surface streets. It was interesting to drive by the Thomas Edison and Henry Ford homes in Ft. Myers. It was also interesting to see the different sections in Cape Coral, which developed in stages over the years. New developments are still going on, apparently to the chagrin of residents of adjacent developments. What, NIMBYs in Cape Coral?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We got back home about 3:30, just in time for the Georgia - Auburn football game, which we all watched until supper. Cecil cooked the spaghetti and Danny made the salad. They are taking such good care of us, and we really appreciate it! Baxter likes them too!</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-77989601680864315092017-11-11T06:38:00.000-08:002017-11-11T06:38:12.976-08:00Cape Coral at Hazen Residence<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 223 - November 10, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Baxter and I went back to shore and under the high dock first thing, back on board for toast and coffee, and we were off for Cape Coral! We had left ourselves a fairly short run from Don Pedro Island State Park to Cape Cora, only 36 milesl. We departed Don Pedro Island State Park as gingerly as we had come in!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was what seemed like an unusually high volume of boat traffic, or maybe it was not unusual for this part of the ICW, I don't know. I do know that we got waked by a large number of big boats running very fast and very close. Otherwise, it was an uneventful trip!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had directions from Cecil Hazen on finding our way into his house starting with the turn in at R92 on the Caloosahatchee River. The only thing I didn't know was which house it was, so I entered his address into Google Earth, and then took the lat/lon coordinates. Turned out it was close, but close only counts in horseshoes. I guess the fourth digit in lat/lon is significant, so we were off by one canal! A man was out on his dock, and when we stopped, he said "You are looking for Cecil Hazen, aren't you? Go to the next canal, all the way to the end, and you will see his trawler." You can see our miscue on our track in Cape Coral!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Cape Coral is a very interesting place! Most, but not all, of the homes are on canals. Cape Coral history began in 1957 when two brothers from Baltimore, Maryland, Leonard and Jack Rosen, flew over the peninsula known as Redfish point, across the Caloosahatchee River near present-day Fort Myers. Cape Coral was founded as Redfish Point. Leonard and Jack Rosen, who were real estate developers, purchased a 103-square-mile tract known as Redfish Point for $678,000 in that year and, in 1958, began development of the city as a master-planned, pre-planned community. Today, a lot of the homes on the canals are valued at more than a million dollars! Canals were dug, streets paved, houses and businesses built.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-7" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coral,_Florida#cite_note-7" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[7]</a></sup> Cape Coral was promoted like no other Florida development. The city incorporated in August 1970, and its population continued to grow rapidly until the real estate slowdown that gripped the region beginning in 2008.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11" style="line-height: 1; unicode-bidi: isolate; white-space: nowrap;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coral,_Florida#cite_note-11" style="background: none; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;">[11]</a></sup> In 2016 Forbes Magazine named the City of Cape Coral as # 9 of the 25 "Best Places To Retire In 2016." </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We met Cecil and Danny Hazen on their trawler <i>Desperado</i> in Canada, and we locked through a number of locks together. We were holed up together in Demopolis waiting out Hurricane Nate, and anchored together at the Alabama River cutoff on the way to Mobile. We saw them again and had dinner together in Apalachicola, where they started their big push home with an overnight crossing to Clearwater, but they made a point of saying we could not just cruise by Cape Coral without stopping, so here we are! And grateful!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Hazens have two boats on their dock on their canal. They are long time sailors, and have owned their Tartan 37 for 22 years but only bought the trawler a month before starting the Loop. They have many trophies and certificates from sailboat racing. Both boats are named <i>Desperado!</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We called Glade Boatyard to try to make arrangements to put <i>Daydream</i> on the trailer with their TraveLift, on Monday. The lady there said there <i>might </i>be a cancellation, so Danny is going to drive us to River Forest Yacht Basin tomorrow to retrieve our truck and trailer and move it to the Glade Boatyard. We will "cross our wake" at the Ortona Lock Boat Ramp on Sunday, and probably spend the night at the Labelle Town Dock. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Danny had a wonderful dinner of barbecued short ribs, potato salad, and corn on the cob prepared. A shower, clean clothes, then a soft bed, and we were both out like a light!</span><br />
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-30908953091430568442017-11-10T08:28:00.001-08:002017-11-10T08:28:43.124-08:00Don Pedro Island State Park<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY 222 - November 9, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We will be heading for Cape Coral tomorrow to stay with Cecil and Danny Hazen of <i>Desperado </i>before cruising the Caloosahatchee River on Sunday to "cross our wake," so we wanted to get as far along the ICW toward Cape Coral as feasible to make tomorrow a shorter day. We cruised from the De Soto National Monument to Don Pedro Island State Park, a distance of 62 miles!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We started out going our usual 7 mph, but decided we should put <i>Daydream</i> up on plane for at least part of the cruise to shorten the day. Where it was possible, we cruised at 14 miles per hour, and I estimate we were on plane for about two hours, so we probably covered 28 of the 62 miles on plane. Although we want to have the fuel tank as nearly empty as possible when we retrieve, we have to be mindful that we have enough fuel left to do the Cape Coral to Forest River on plane at least part of the time, since that will be a 52 mile day!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Screenshot of De Soto National Monument to Don Pedro Island State Park route</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We had chosen the Don Pedro Island State Park anchorage because we needed to get to shore at the last anchorage on the final day of the great "Baxter Pooped Here" tour, (Jim, we have adopted your description, since it really is so apt). Active Captain said dogs were welcome in Don Pedro Island State Park, The only problems were, first, we had a dickens of a time finding the state park, and second, when we did find it, we were doubtful as to how we would get Baxter to shore!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The Active Captain anchorage symbols for the Don Pedro Island anchorages were just outside the ICW channel. We had put a marker there, and stopped when we got to the marker. The reviews mention taking the dinghy from the anchorage under a concrete bridge to the state park dock. But from the anchorage symbols, we could not see either a state park dock or a concrete bridge. At this point, it was too late to go anywhere else! We actually found the state park using the Maps app on the iPhone! We were close, but we could see it was a bit off the ICW through a narrow channel. Narrow and shallow! It was hard to see the channel from the ICW, but once we knew what we were looking for, we finally found it. Once we were inside, we saw there was actually another Active Captain anchorage symbol in the little bay in front of the state park dock! This is not an anchorage for big boats, as the channel in was about two and half feet deep most the way! - </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Screenshot of Don Pedro Island State Park anchorage</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Channel into Don Pedro Island State Park anchorage</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We got inside the anchorage area, which opened up and got deeper the farther in we went, and set the hook in 8 feet. We could see that the dock was a fixed dock, and quite high, which I might possibly have gotten on to from the kayak, but it would have been a challenge!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Don Pedro Island State Park fixed dock</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I took the kayak down, Baxter and I somewhat dubiously got in it ,and I paddled over to the dock, When I got close, it appeared to me that we could go UNDER the fixed dock! I had to virtually lie down on my back, and Baxter somehow instinctively lowered his head, and we squeezed under the dock with about two inches to spare! Behind the dock, there was a little pool with a foot or two of sandy beach, where we landed the kayak! This one was right up there with dancing on narrow rock ledges to get to shore in the North Channel!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Don Pedro Island State Park is just another beautiful state park on a barrier island. Here is what Florida State Parks has to say about Don Pedro Island State Park. "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #2d3120; font-family: "Open Sans", sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Beautiful Don Pedro Island State Park is part of an extensive chain of barrier islands extending along Florida's Gulf Coast. Between Knight Island and Little Gasparilla Island, Don Pedro is accessible only by private boat or ferry. Boaters can tie up at the dock on the mangrove-lined bay side of the island. Access the dock via the channel south of the Cape Haze power line crossing, but be sure to idle, as the channel is only 2.5 feet deep." We can attest to that last part from first hand knowledge!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">After Baxter and I returned to <i>Daydream</i>, Patty and I had our sundowners and a simple dinner of sausage patties and cheese grits!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Once again, the sun set over Don Pedro Island State Park, as it has for ages and will for ages to come. Still we never tire of sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico. It is a little sad to think that this is probably the last sunset over the Gulf that we will see for a long, long time - maybe forever...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We ended the evening with a FaceTime chat with Romy who is 3 today. We had hoped to watch her open the present we sent. Reception was good. We got her a doll house complete with furniture and a family. Her reaction couldn't have been better. She loved it and immediately started arranging everything. Should be good for imaginative play for awhile.</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-18905995075385002972017-11-09T09:50:00.000-08:002017-11-09T10:36:36.862-08:00De Soto National Monument, Bradenton<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 221 - November 8, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It has been no secret that we are anxious to get home. We have really enjoyed the whole Loop. We might have dashed home from Mobile, but we could see we would make it home by Christmas, so we took the time to enjoy Pensacola, Apalachicola, Cedar Key, and Tarpon Springs. Even the overnights in Bayport and Caladesi Island were fun. Crystal River was fine except for not seeing the famed manatees!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are now, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">we must confess,</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> officially on a "schedule," the bane of all cruising! We want to be in Cape Coral on Friday the 10th, where we will visit with our friends Cecil and Danny </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">on Friday and Saturday</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">, who just completed their Loop on </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Desperado </i><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">. We will depart Cape Coral on Sunday the 12th for Labelle, where we will cross our wake as we pass the Ortona Lock Boat Ramp. After going through the lock, we'll go on to River Forest Yacht Basin, where our truck and trailer are stored. We hope our C-Dory friend Jim Widmann from Naples will help with the logistics of retrieval at the Labelle Boat Ramp, since River Forest says our C-Dory is too small for their TraveLift! So this means tomorrow night's anchorage will be our last on the Loop!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today we cruised 52 miles from Caladesi Island State Park to the De Soto National Monument in Bradenton. On the way, we saw this sailboat on the rocks. We are guessing the sailboat hit the rocks at high tide and couldn't get off, and then the tide went out. Not a pretty picture!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were orginally looking at an anchorage called Bayway Structure E, which is shown as an anchorage in Active Captain with shore access but not mentioned in Skipper Bob, but when we got there, we realized it was not nearly far enough, so we looked at Active Captain, and thought the Manatee River anchorages looked good, especially the De Soto National Monument. To get there, we had to cross Tampa Bay. This is a large body of water! We had a calm day, for which we were grateful, because we can see how this could be a very unpleasant crossing with significant wind and waves. The ICW channel across Tampa Bay takes some crazy twists and turns but we know the channel goes the way it does for a good reason, so we just followed the daymarks. We got passed by this big boy in Tampa Bay, a dinner cruise ship out at lunch time!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The<i> Starlight Sapphire</i> dinner cruise ship on Tampa Bay</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The De Soto National Monument anchorage in Bradenton is a great anchorage, where we were able to anchor close to a sandy beach right opposite the monument. This is a historical and recreational site, not a bird sanctuary, so dogs are welcome. This anchorage is known locally as "The Cross"! In addition to the cross, there is an obelisk, which is the actual monument, with an interpretive sign about Hernando de Soto (1500 - 1542). There once was a bronze statue on the base of the monument, but due to vandalism, it has moved to a museum in Bradenton. The Cross and the monument are both owned by the Dioscese of Venice. They paint de Soto as "the Catholic Conquistador" and talk only about his 12 priests and friars, but how accurate that is may be open to question, since he could not expect to conquer Florida only with a band of priests! He had soldiers and mercenaries for that task!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot of de Soto National Monument anchorage</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Cross at De Soto National Monument</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">In May 1539, Conquistador Hernando de Soto’s army of soldiers, hired mercenaries, craftsmen and clergy made landfall in Tampa Bay. They were met with fierce resistance of indigenous people protecting their homelands. De Soto’s quest for glory and gold would be a four year, four thousand mile odyssey of intrigue, warfare, disease, and discovery that would form the history of the United States. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">In 1537 Hernando de Soto would meet with the Emperor Charles V and impress him with his tales from the Indies. Charles would later approve De Soto's request </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">to govern and conquer a portion of the New World, a place named </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">La Florida</em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">. De Soto would depart Spain in September 1537 to travel to Cuba were he would claim his title of Governor and begin forming his expedition to </span><em style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">La Florida</em><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">May 1539 De Soto would depart Havana and sail for a selected bay on Florida's west coast to begin the expedition that would cost him his fortune and his life. You can read more about De Soto on the National Parks Service De Soto webpage <a href="https://www.nps.gov/deso/learn/historyculture/index.htm">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">We once again had potstickers for dinner! Patty makes the meat filling with ground pork sausage, garlic, chopped onion, a little soy sauce, a little sesame oil and some corn starch. She puts the filling in potsticker wrappers, inches the edges shut. She steams them with a lid on the pan, then takes the lid off for the the water to evaporate, and the bottoms to get brown and crisp. We do not feel at all limited in what we can cook in our little boat. It tickles me when I read other Looper accounts of how they eat out most nights!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Patty making potstickers in <i>Daydream</i>'s galley!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Finally, I heard from the gentlemen who visited me and gave me the bottle of bourbon! HIs name is Nick Catsos. He follows a number of Looper blogs, and pointed out something I had not noticed before. At the very top of a blog, above the title, there is a link for "Next blog" and that is how he found Daydream's Loop. Nick has been interested in the Loop since about 1990, but doubts that he will ever do it himself (never say never, Nick!). He was interested at one time in C-Dorys but driving from inside a cabin in Florida in the summer would be a horror in his opinion. Thanks, NIck!</span></div>
Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-39493571202093296272017-11-08T08:49:00.000-08:002017-11-08T08:49:02.537-08:00Caladesi Island State Park<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 220 - November 7, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today at 7:30 a.m., I heard somebody calling my name outside the boat. I don't wake up easily, but I unsnapped the center window cover and opened the window. There was a gentleman there on the dock who, when I opened the window, told me he had read my blog, He said he wanted to take us to Walmart (according to Patty, I don't remember that, but she is much better at waking up than I am!). He also said he wanted to give me a bottle of bourbon but the liquor store wasn't open yet. He said he had wanted to do the Great Loop back in 2001 but for personal reasons, he was not able to do that. He also said he had guests who wanted to have breakfast on the docks, so he left But half an hour later he returned and said the liquor store was now open, and gave me a bottle of Makers Mark! This is not just bourbon, but GREAT bourbon (thank you, Jan Risheim, for making Evan Williams forever inferior!). I am such an idiot! I did not ask him what his name was, and so, if he should read this, I hope he will leave a Comment or send me an email via the Contact Form identifying himself, so I can properly acknowledge and thank him!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After breakfast, I went into the marina office to return the key to the private bathroom and shower and pay the bill. This was the first marina that did not collect moorage in advance! We cast off the lines and headed back toward the Gulf ICW, which had started as soon as we were inside Anclote Key, stopping on the way at the Anclote Village Marina fuel dock for the last gas we will purchase on our Loop! With the last fill, we calculated the total fuel used was just over 1,000 gallons. This makes us smile! One Looper reported using 8,500 gallons of fuel, and our friends Nick and Barb on <i>RioMarLago</i> reported using 5,748 gallons of fuel. I guess those numbers are the cost of having a bigger boat and the need for speed! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I took a few more pictures of the boats along the Sponge Docks as we cruised out of Tarpon Springs. Many boats are name "Agios" this or that, so I Googled it, and it turns out Agios means "Saint" - there are a lot of boats in Tarpon Springs named for saints!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QaOW14XDDgI/WgMoNfh4xQI/AAAAAAAAE2M/imVSfDvnb3kaFaSbsfQfdqG3QbOLYj76gCLcBGAs/s1600/Agios%2BNiolaos.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="743" data-original-width="1600" height="296" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-QaOW14XDDgI/WgMoNfh4xQI/AAAAAAAAE2M/imVSfDvnb3kaFaSbsfQfdqG3QbOLYj76gCLcBGAs/s640/Agios%2BNiolaos.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Agios Nikolaos</i></span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MkwuQLd7LSc/WgMohrrOJQI/AAAAAAAAE2Q/_Sckm0POyTEZ-W-l9thxD5jaDJQylDc0wCLcBGAs/s1600/More%2Bboats%2Bon%2Bthe%2BSponge%2BDocks.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="857" data-original-width="1600" height="342" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-MkwuQLd7LSc/WgMohrrOJQI/AAAAAAAAE2Q/_Sckm0POyTEZ-W-l9thxD5jaDJQylDc0wCLcBGAs/s640/More%2Bboats%2Bon%2Bthe%2BSponge%2BDocks.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Boats along the Sponge Docks</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was a long way out the Anclote River to the ICW, but after we were out, it was a very short cruise to Caladesi Island State Park Marina. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Screenshot of Caladesi Island State Part Marina</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The marina, as the screenshot shows, is really in the interior of Caladesi Island. The entire island is undeveloped, and is incredibly quiet and peaceful. The island is immediately west of Dunedin, across St. Joseph Sound. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Originally part of a large <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrier_island" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Barrier island">barrier island</a>, Caladesi Island and Honeymoon Island, north of Caladesi, were formed in 1921 when a <a class="mw-redirect" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Hurricane">hurricane</a> created Hurricane Pass, splitting the barrier island into two parts. Although Caladesi is still referred to as an island, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Elena" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Hurricane Elena">Hurricane Elena</a> filled in Dunedin Pass in 1985, making Caladesi "Island" accessible by walking northward from North Clearwater Beach.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The marina has some restrictions based on length and beam on the tee ends of the docks and wider slips with longer floating docks, so we had to use a smaller slip. Although the marina has floating docks in excellent condition, they are not really long enough for a 25 foot boat to go bow in. We went bow in, and quickly realized that was not going to work, so we turned <i>Daydream</i> around by hand with the lines, lowered the kicker, and tied up stern in.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><i>Daydream</i> stern in at Caladesi State Park Marina</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In the 1880s, homesteader Henry Scharrer and his daughter Myrtle lived on the island. Later in life, at the age of 87, </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myrtle_Scharrer_Betz" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; text-decoration-line: none;" title="Myrtle Scharrer Betz">Myrtle Scharrer Betz</a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">penned the book</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><i style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Yesteryear I Lived in Paradise</i><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">, telling of her life on the barrier island. Myrtle apparently rowed to Dunedin every day to attend school. The Florida State Parks website does not say when the State acquired the land, but its completely undeveloped nature indicates it did not pass through many private hands. It is a real jewel, and could easily have ended up looking exactly like Clearwater Beach had it been privately developed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There is a nature trail that leads to the beach of the Gulf of Mexico, and Patty and I walked it but I forgot to bring my iPhone to take any pictures! Baxter enjoyed a long walk off the boat as well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We met several other boaters there, including Ed from a trailer sailboat club, and Duane and Diane, Gold Loopers from Punta Gorda on a 34 foot PDQ power catamaran, <i>Diva Di</i>, with whom we shared a very pleasant evening of conversation and adult beverages!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomorrow, we press on. We have tentatively identified where we plan to spend the night tomorrow night, but this is all kind of flexible and we may end up playing it by ear!</span><br />
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-82595507336793019382017-11-08T07:23:00.000-08:002017-11-08T07:23:30.765-08:00Tarpon Springs Port Day<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 219 - November 6, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We slept in a bit and had a "Sunday breakfast" on a Monday! We walked over to the Chamber Office to clarify a few things about the Jolley Trolley schedule and pickup point on the Sponge Docks, which was right across the street from the marina.The Jolly Trolley is only $2.50 for seniors for an all day pass that allows you to get on or off as many times as you want. So at 11:00 a.m., we got aboard the Jolley Trolley!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The Jolley Trolley</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The Coastal Route runs through the communities of Tarpon Sorings, Crystal Beach, Palm Harbor, Ozona, Dunedin, and Clearwater, with a transfer to the Beach Route for Clearwater Beach. The trolley was far different than we thought it would be because the stops were not a few blocks apart but in some cases miles apart. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> T</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">he trolleys run about half an hour apart instead of every ten or fifteen minutes. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We thought we might get off at the Publix Supermarket, which is a regular stop, but we decided just to enjoy the ride!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> We had not gone into downtown Tarpon Springs because it is really too far to walk from the Sponge Docks. Tarpon Springs has a population of 24,000, and there were a number of places we might have enjoyed like the Cultural Center and several museums, but they we all closed on the days we were there. If we were going to get off and explore one community, it would have been Dunedin, which is a community of about 36,000 but has a central downtown that has a really small town feeling. </span><span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">The Lay Association of the Free Church of Scotland, through a company called the Otago Association, founded </span><span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Dunedin</span><span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> at the head of Otago Harbour in 1848 as the principal town of its Scottish settlement. The name comes from Dùn Èideann, the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the Scottish capital. The Welcome to Dunedin sign and the City Hall prominently feature a piper! </span><span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Clearwater is a larger city, with high rise buildings and a populations of about 115,000. Clearwater Beach looks like any resort town, with a Ron Jon Surf Shop and loads of small shops, restaurants, bars and hotels. The trolley did not go into Ozona, but the rest of the route was essentially strip malls and fairly uninteresting.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">We got back to the City Marina about 1:30 p.m. ready for lunch, so we walked over to Yianni's Greek Restaurant. We had the best gyros ever! The meat was ground lamb and beef, cooked on a vertical rotisserie and then sliced off in thin strips. Gyro means "turn," so it is essentially the same thing as doner kebap in Turkey. It was served with pita bread, onions, tomatoes and </span><span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">tzatziki. We had enough of the gyro meat left over for lunch the next day! This late, and filling, lunch presented a problem, since our reservations at Hellas were for 6:00 p.m. No way would we be ready to eat again at 6:00 p.m., so we changed our reservations to 8:00 p.m.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">We spent the rest of the afternoon walking the entire length of the Sponge Docks on each side of the street! We poked our noses into many, many stores. Patty bought silk sponges for her pottery at Palm Creek in Arizona, some specialty lemon infused oilve oil, which is great over hummus, and small gifts for the grandchildren. I took a lot of photos of boats!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n7yc8vVkNi4/WgMTgt-GVHI/AAAAAAAAE1A/QLzWM-Z-9PE1gomnpokQlPQW1624CiJ7QCLcBGAs/s1600/Sponges.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-n7yc8vVkNi4/WgMTgt-GVHI/AAAAAAAAE1A/QLzWM-Z-9PE1gomnpokQlPQW1624CiJ7QCLcBGAs/s640/Sponges.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Typical retail display of sponges - we didn't buy any of these.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KNrKTBUi3cM/WgMUCuXkRhI/AAAAAAAAE1I/fO9zXNa80kIH30Uv2bAVouBkHjv2If8NACLcBGAs/s1600/Specialty%2Bolive%2Boilts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="760" data-original-width="1600" height="304" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KNrKTBUi3cM/WgMUCuXkRhI/AAAAAAAAE1I/fO9zXNa80kIH30Uv2bAVouBkHjv2If8NACLcBGAs/s640/Specialty%2Bolive%2Boilts.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Specialty olive oils - we bouight the lemon infused olive oil in the middle.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cGjHICdjTLc/WgMU-bL3MXI/AAAAAAAAE1U/0GaRecwxDjQCMbe9twjLYyxjTXyFJUkcACLcBGAs/s1600/Sponge%2Bboat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cGjHICdjTLc/WgMU-bL3MXI/AAAAAAAAE1U/0GaRecwxDjQCMbe9twjLYyxjTXyFJUkcACLcBGAs/s640/Sponge%2Bboat.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sponge boat on display in courtyard</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6kk9ZXpQccI/WgMVcK8JbKI/AAAAAAAAE1Y/fFZS6Nra0-0c9E8kNB31V9C2oVl2R2DUACLcBGAs/s1600/Tarpon%2BSprings.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6kk9ZXpQccI/WgMVcK8JbKI/AAAAAAAAE1Y/fFZS6Nra0-0c9E8kNB31V9C2oVl2R2DUACLcBGAs/s640/Tarpon%2BSprings.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <i>Tarpon Springs</i> sponge boat</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HDyQe78AQt4/WgMV6ZfCGQI/AAAAAAAAE1k/hwte4ADx9Fs_WWK8oPW9vnZvK8pzpz6fQCLcBGAs/s1600/Anclote%2Btour%2Bboat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-HDyQe78AQt4/WgMV6ZfCGQI/AAAAAAAAE1k/hwte4ADx9Fs_WWK8oPW9vnZvK8pzpz6fQCLcBGAs/s640/Anclote%2Btour%2Bboat.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Anclote River tour boat</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">We walked back to the marina with a bit of time on our hands before our dinner reservations. There was a bird on the gunwale of a charter fishing boat, and the Dock Master said he had been feeding in the boat's live well!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Well fed bird on gunwale of charter fishing boat</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I wrote and published my blog for yesterday, and then eventually it was time to head for Hellas Greek Restaurant.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UXoA0O8JdwM/WgMXgFe4EzI/AAAAAAAAE18/0NdyXDlVT_AEG1StvoqqsMLJifsRBKWywCLcBGAs/s1600/Hellas%2BRestaurant.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UXoA0O8JdwM/WgMXgFe4EzI/AAAAAAAAE18/0NdyXDlVT_AEG1StvoqqsMLJifsRBKWywCLcBGAs/s640/Hellas%2BRestaurant.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Hellas Restaurant</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif;">We each started with the lemon soup called avgolemono and a glass of white wine. The avgolemono was delicious, and we may need to get a recipe and start making it at home. Then things went downhill! I had ordered slices of leg of spring lamb and Patty had ordered tiropita, which is an assortment of cheeses baked in filo dough. The waiter soon returned to tell me that he was sorry that they had run out of the slices of lamb, and I needed to choose something else. A Greek restaurant that allows itself to run out of lamb? Not good. So I chose the assorted cold plate, with octopus, shrimp, peppers, olives, </span><span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> </span><span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">tzatziki, and a scoop of </span><span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> taramosalata, a Greek meze made from tarama, which is salted and cured fish roe, and a scoop of skordalia, which is a potato and garlic dip. The octopus, shrimp, peppers and olives were good, but unfortunately, the assorted cold plate did not come with pita, which left me wondering exactly what I was supposed to spread the </span></span><span style="font-family: Roboto, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">tzatziki, </span><span style="color: #545454; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">taramosalat and skordalia on, since none of these seems like something you would eat without pita. Patty's tiropita was one huge piece, when she had been expecting individual rolls, the way they are served everywhere else she has had them. Maybe the whole experience was colored by how good Yiannis had been, but we will probably not be recommending Hellas. Your mileage may vary!</span><br />
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<span style="color: #545454; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We have enjoyed our day and a half in Tarpon Springs a lot, and again are really glad we elected to come in and stay at the marina instead of anchoring out at Anclote Key as we had originally planned to do. Our Loop is really winding down now, and the end is bittersweet, as Patty says. The Florida weather beats the snow back in Washington State by a mile, but we are both ready to go home!</span><br />
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-88063039754854218702017-11-06T15:29:00.000-08:002017-11-06T15:31:39.065-08:00Tarpon Springs!<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 218 - November 5, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We woke up at Bayport this morning in pea soup fog! Although the clocks changed from daylight savings time to standard time, we were biologically still on daylight savings time, and got up an hour early. Fog or not, Baxter still needed his shore trip, so I paddled to the boat ramp and back in the fog!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jm1KAqZxo_E/WgBSDOQuOMI/AAAAAAAAEyw/CA7c-KmlBncwUtwcT2YTwCzNJYowPEvmgCLcBGAs/s1600/Kayak%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bfog.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1129" data-original-width="1600" height="450" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Jm1KAqZxo_E/WgBSDOQuOMI/AAAAAAAAEyw/CA7c-KmlBncwUtwcT2YTwCzNJYowPEvmgCLcBGAs/s640/Kayak%2Bin%2Bthe%2Bfog.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pat and Baxter in kayak in the fog!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Just as we were coming alongside the boat in the kayak, I heard a loud splash near the shore, and glanced over. I'm pretty sure this was our first real alligator sighting! Even though everything we have read and heard about alligators is that they are shy, and usually don't bother people, I wasted no time getting Baxter and then myself back on the boat! Baxter rides in a very precarious spot, and a little dog in the water, or even in a kayak, might be a tempting snack for an alligator! We got the binoculars out and scanned the water near the shore, but did not see anything else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Our friend Jonathan Arthur, who just completed his THIRD Loop on his 22 foot C-Dory Salty, called this morning because he saw we were at Bayport, and he wanted to urge us to cruise up the Wiki Wachee, which he says is one of his favorite rivers. He also asked where we would be staying in Tarpon Springs, and when I told him the City Marina, he was a bit down on it. He said the docks are lousy (or something like that) and there are a lot of people going by on the street. On the first count, yes, the docks are pilings and little fixed finger piers, and it has been exciting getting on and off the boat at low tide, when the finger pier is three or four feet above the boat, but we have managed. The Harbor Master says floating docks are coming next year - too late for us! On the second count, to us being right on the Sponge Docks, where everything is close at hand, is a big plus. They also have just completed a very nice private bathroom with a great shower for boaters. So all in all, we are not sorry we are here. It would have been a lot more difficult to do everything we did if we had been at a marina across the Anclote River!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center occupies the other half of the marina office building, and the lady there was very helpful. We left with a fistful of maps and guides to the area, which we will probably look at more closely tomorrow morning. We also asked her which was her favorite Greek restaurant, and both she and the Harbor Master said without hesitation that it was Hellas, so we plan to have dinner there tomorrow.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tarpon Springs City Marina and Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tarpon Springs is known as the "Sponge Capital of the World." The City Marina is on Dodecanese Boulevard, and is at the start of the Sponge Docks, an area now mostly occupied by Greek restaurants, gift shops, specialty shops (tea, spice, olive oil), and lots of sponge shops. The waterfront now has mostly tour boats and charter fishing boats. The Sponge Docks are the historic home of the sponge diving fleet and the Sponge Exchange, where the sponges brought in were bought and sold.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The first settlers in Tarpon Springs were A.W. Omond, who arrived in 1876. Mary married J.C. Boyer, and they lived on Spring Bayou. Mary loved the fish she saw leaping in the air, and she named the settlement Tarpon Springs. Actually, the fish were not tarpon but mullet! But Tarpon Springs certainly sounds better than Mullet Springs would have!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">In 1880, Hamilton Disston, son of Disston Saw Company founder Henry Disston,</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"> </span><span style="color: #444444;">bought four million acres of the central west coast of Florida from the State of Florida for 25 cents an acre. This saved the state from bankruptcy. Included in the purchase was Tarpon Springs. Tarpon Springs got a post office in 1884 and was incorporated in 1887. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444;">One of Disston's promoters, John Cheney, found that money could be made by harvesting sponges from the Gulf, and by 1890, the Cheney Sponge Company sold almost a million dollars worth of sponges. </span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The most experienced sponge divers in the world were from Greece, and by 1905, 500 Greek sponge divers were working from 50 sponge dive boats. Greek restaurants opened on the Sponge Docks to feed the boat crews. For 30 years, the sponge industry was Florida's largest industry, larger even than citrus. In the 1940s, blight severely impacted the sponge industry, and by the 1950s, the industry was nearly wiped out. Fortunately, in the 1980s, new sponge beds were found, and Tarpon Springs is once again a world leader in the production of natural sponges. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So, what is a sponge? I did a Google search and compiled information from several sources. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #6a6a6a; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Although sponges look like</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> plants, they are actually a simple form of multicellular animal. They are similar to other animals in that they are multicellular and produce sperm cells, but unlike other animals, they lack true tissues and organs, and have no body symmetry. Sponges are bottom dwellers that attach themselves to something solid, and their bodies filter water flowing through their central cavities, so they can receive enough food to grow. So now you know everything I know about sponges!</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #545454; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We got here early enough in the afternoon to walk along the Sponge Docks. We first wandered into a sponge shop that was showing a movie in its little theater about the early days for sponge diving. I don't know, but I am guessing the film was from the 1930s or 1940s. The divers wore dive suits made from waterproof canvas and helmets with an air line to the sponge boat. The things the divers feared most were sharks, fouled air lines, and the bends. This movie was actually great background about Tarpon Springs and the sponge industry.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Dodecanese Boulevard was barricaded for several blocks for a maritime festival with a number of displays and booths. I stopped to talk with a boat builder named Paul, who was part of the Florida Gulf Coast TSCA (Traditional Small Craft Association). He had a small wooden boat that he had built, and said that it was the boat that he used the most. I said I would like to try building a boat like that but doubted I could do it. He told me how he had built this boat using plans and patterns, and that it was made from nine pieces of plywood, one 1 x 6, and a lot of 1 x 2s. He said the main requirement was not skill but patience! I also told him we were doing the Great Loop, and showed him a photo of <i>Daydream. </i>He said he saw us come in, and thought it was a great looking boat. Probably several hundred boats had passed since we had come in, so it is remarkable to me that he remembered seeing us come in!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Paul's tools for building traditional small wooden boats</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We poked our noses into a couple of other shops but decided we would leave shopping for tomorrow, because we wanted to go back to the boat to listen to the Seattle Seahawks game via streaming radio over the internet. As Seattle fans know, we need not have bothered, as Seattle was a bit off its game! The last things we did were make dinner reservations for tomorrow evening at Hellas Greek Restaurant, buy baklava for dessert and stop at Yianni's Greek Restaurant to buy a take-out Greek salad to go with the Ruby Reds (fabulous shrimp) that Marie Austin had bought at Joe Patti's Seafood in Pensacola that we had taken out of our freezer earlier in the day! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Greek salad - brings back fond memories of Evan and Jeanne Chiligiris in Chicago!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruby Reds cooked in salted water with Zatarains Shrimp and Crab Boil - thanks, Marie!</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tomorrow we'll take the Jolly Trolley and do our sightseeing and shopping!</span><br />
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-78159758173681452022017-11-05T05:28:00.000-08:002017-11-05T05:30:00.946-08:00Bayport<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 217 - November 4, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The run from Crystal River to Tarpon Springs was too long for us to make at our normal cruising speed in one day, so we decided to cut the distance in half, and stop at Bayport on the Wiki Wachee River. There is a boat ramp at Bayport, so we knew we would be able to get Baxter to shore. What we didn't know was what a delightful anchorage Bayport would turn out to be! The water here is as crystal clear as we expected the Crystal River to be. If there were manatees here, we would be able to see them!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Screenshot of Crystal River to Bayport track</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was a 48 mile run that took us about seven hours. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We anchored in about five feet at high tide just outside the channel, with about a two foot tidal swing, so we should be okay in the morning! There was a lot of boat traffic, but most of the boats did not speed up until they were well past us on their way out and slowed well before they turned into the channel to the ramp, so we did not take too many wakes!. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The boat ramp is up a long channel off the river, so it was a bit of a paddle to take Baxter in! The boat ramp has a two wide ramps, a floating dock, and a wonderful park up at the top. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bayport anchorage. There is no boat ramp where the boat ramp symbol<br />is at the entrance to the channel. The boat ramp and park are at the far end of he the channel!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Entrance to Bayport boat ramp</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had a very quiet evening, and Patty made wonderful pot stickers with a soy - sesame oil dipping sauce. We do not do too badly for meals on board!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">As it does every day, the sun set once again over the Gulf, which was really quite beautiful from the Wiki Wachee River!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Sunset from Bayport on the Wiki Wachee River</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Tomorrow we press on for Tarpon Springs!</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-87361118843153867732017-11-04T11:44:00.000-07:002017-11-04T11:44:42.911-07:00Crystal River<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY 216 - November 3, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Our day started with a beautiful sunrise at Cedar Key!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ELtVZrZmMeE/Wf26ZuzgvfI/AAAAAAAAEwU/AVLLycmfa7caLdg3fp-EaLyxfvHRbAcHgCLcBGAs/s1600/Sunrise%2Bat%2BCedar%2BKey.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="838" data-original-width="1600" height="334" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ELtVZrZmMeE/Wf26ZuzgvfI/AAAAAAAAEwU/AVLLycmfa7caLdg3fp-EaLyxfvHRbAcHgCLcBGAs/s640/Sunrise%2Bat%2BCedar%2BKey.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sunrise at Cedar Key!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">While we were having breakfast, a number of similar boats were heading out. We had seen the same boats yesterday. As one passed by us slowly and close enough for me to yell to the operator, I asked what the boats were used for. He replied they were for clamming and oystering. Note the position of the outboard engine - can you still call it an "outboard" when it is mounted this way?</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ESUcSP395CI/Wf28ZAVFTkI/AAAAAAAAEwg/4S6sUmmd9lYmX2wcdyFSf6s5JPIFJ4pbACLcBGAs/s1600/Clamming%2Bboat.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ESUcSP395CI/Wf28ZAVFTkI/AAAAAAAAEwg/4S6sUmmd9lYmX2wcdyFSf6s5JPIFJ4pbACLcBGAs/s640/Clamming%2Bboat.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clamming - oystering boat at Cedar Key- outboard power head is right behind operator near the bow!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Since we had come into Cedar Key via the channel from the north, we cruised out of Cedar Key in a different channel to the south back to the Gulf. This took us directly past Seahorse Key, where we were originally going to anchor. There was a nice sandy beach there, but we realized just how much we would have missed if we had anchored there without ever going into town! </span><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Once out in the Gulf, we got far enough offshore to avoid the really shallow water closer in. The weather is still holding for us - absolutely beautiful cruising conditions, which is forecast to continue through next Wednesday, which will allow us to get back inside the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway at Tarpon Springs! Once again, we had an uneventful cruise in the Gulf down to the entrance to the channel to Crystal River, with the most challenging thing being to avoid all the crab floats!</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r5YpfmLDEFs/Wf3Kana5_oI/AAAAAAAAExI/UpSW2HO_5K0EMBYlZ7aAMt9N-DFCbDTQwCLcBGAs/s1600/Cedar%2BKey%2Bto%2BCrystal%2BRiver%2BTrack.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-r5YpfmLDEFs/Wf3Kana5_oI/AAAAAAAAExI/UpSW2HO_5K0EMBYlZ7aAMt9N-DFCbDTQwCLcBGAs/s640/Cedar%2BKey%2Bto%2BCrystal%2BRiver%2BTrack.PNG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Screenshot of Cedar Kay to Crystal River track</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The channel into Crystal River is about nine and a half miles long. We were expecting to see crystal clear water, but all the way in from the Gulf to Kings Bay, the water was murky. The whole channel had speed limit signs and warning signs about manatees. We did not see a single manatee all the way in to Kings Bay. We anchored behind Pete's Pier Marina off the municipal boat ramp symbol (no boat ramp was visible) and then re-read Skipper Bob and Active Captain. These both said we would see lots of manatees in Kings Bay, and made it sound like they would be frolicking in the bay near our boat. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Screenshot of Crystal River anchorage - boat ramp symbol to right is municiapal boat ramp, but not visible from the boat! Garmin Blue Chart Mobile does not show any detail about what is on the shore.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8NUWEDBmJd4/Wf3Di4JGo7I/AAAAAAAAEww/YyRK1dVCikA6voT3uxICaZJRn2-98JHvgCLcBGAs/s1600/Manatee%2Bsigh%2Bat%2BCrystal%2BRiver.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8NUWEDBmJd4/Wf3Di4JGo7I/AAAAAAAAEww/YyRK1dVCikA6voT3uxICaZJRn2-98JHvgCLcBGAs/s640/Manatee%2Bsigh%2Bat%2BCrystal%2BRiver.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Signs on bridge over channel leading to Three Sisters Springs</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We then Googled how to see manatees at Crystal River. What we ultimately gleaned was that the best place to see manatees was at the head of the Crystal River at a spot called Three Sisters Springs, where there are numerous fresh water springs that feed the river. So we pulled anchor, motored over to a spot just outside the channel leading to Three Sisters Springs, and got the kayak down. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">It was a long paddle up the channel, but finally we came to the entrance to Three Sisters Springs, which is a wildlife reserve that has vertical pipes at the entrance that are spaced to allow kayaks or canoes to enter but prevent anything wider from entering. There is a boardwalk around the entire area for viewing from the shore. There also are all kinds of signs posted by the National Wildlife Service with the rules for interacting with manatees. The water here was indeed crystal clear, and we were hopeful that we would see manatees at last! People on a commercial manatee djve boat tour out at the entrance told us there were indeed quite a few manatees in Three Sisters Springs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">We did not see manatees. More accurately, what we saw was "manatee." Just one, and he or she was very inactive. We tried to rake a photo, but although the water was clear, it was in a shaded spot, so the photo is hard to make out. We had seen a lot more manatees back at Honest John's Fish Camp in Melbourne Beach on the Atlantic ICW.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FK58bn_U1aw/Wf3EFFeVFUI/AAAAAAAAEw4/lZzxU7W6caII7UXpnTBIG2sr1F2q2Aj2gCLcBGAs/s1600/Manatee.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-FK58bn_U1aw/Wf3EFFeVFUI/AAAAAAAAEw4/lZzxU7W6caII7UXpnTBIG2sr1F2q2Aj2gCLcBGAs/s640/Manatee.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Manatee at Three Sisters Springs, looks like he/she has propeller scars on back!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">So we pulled anchor, and motored back to our original spot. I loaded Baxter in the kayak and went looking for the city boat ramp. I found the remnants of an old boat ramp, but it had a chain across the top and the area above was freshly graded and obviously in the process of being developed for some other use. Baxter hopped out, turned around and hopped right back in the kayak! So I paddled along the shore until I came to some people on a deck, who directed me to the city boat ramp, which was between a dive tour service and a restaurant, and the ramp was quite a ways back at a right angle. Having found the ramp, all was good for the dog, and now it will be easy for tomorrow morning's shore visit!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">There were restaurants, bars, ice cream parlors, dive tour services, motels and a crab processing plant around the shore where we were anchored, but a highway went past, on the other side and there was no town like Cedar Key anywhere in sight. If there had been, we possibly would have stayed another day to check it out. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">All in all, we were very seriously disappointed in Crystal River.</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-87813479609329581892017-11-03T12:12:00.002-07:002017-11-04T12:03:31.978-07:00Our Day in Cedar Key<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 215 - November 2, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are SO glad we decided to stay a second night here so we could have a day in Cedar Key today! After taking Baxter to shore, I put the second seat into the Sea Eagle. After breakfast, we both got into the kayak, paddled to the park, and pulled the kayak up under a tree off the beach. Then we walked up 2nd Street. Our first stop was the Chamber of Commerce Visitor Center, which was just opening for the day! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">2nd Street in Cedar Key - truly "Old Florida"!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Island Hotel and Restaurant on 2nd Street, established in 1859</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Visitor Center is a mini-museum in itself! The woman there spent quite bit of time telling us about Cedar Key, and among the facts we learned was that the principal industry in Cedar Key is now<a href="http://shellfish.ifas.ufl.edu/cedar-key-everlasting/"> farm raised clams </a>on leased beds. This web page is well worth reading - aquaculture now supports 500 jobs in this small city and surrounding keys. Cedar Key is now a leading producer of clams in Florida. She also told us that the school in Cedar Key is the smallest in the State of Florida, with 270 students, kindergarten through high school, with only eight seniors this year!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was quite a bit of other historical information in the Visitor Center, as well as a large display of all kinds of shells. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We took a brochure with a map, but the best advice she gave us was to rent a golf cart! </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We would not have been able to see one-tenth of the interesting things we saw without the golf cart. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We asked her where we could buy local seafood retail, and she looked at a list and told us the only place selling retail seafood that we could get to on a golf cart (due to the restriction of not being able to drive a golf cart on Hwy 24) was Cooke's Seafood. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The golf cart rental place was back down by the boat launch and park, and we rented a two-person golf cart for four hours from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Three people from Indiana were there at the same time, and they rented a four person golf cart. We kept running into them at various places throughout the time we had the golf cart!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We first wound back and forth through the numbered and lettered streets looking at the houses, and working our way toward the school, the cemetery, the Cedar Key Museum State Park, and Cooke's Seafood. Cedar Key is much smaller than Apalachicola, and is not as rich in fine old houses, but is has a few!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After navigating the residential streets, we came to the school, which is on a high point next to the water reservoir, which was the first thing we had seen as we were approaching from the Gulf. The school mascot is the shark, and the little pull out at the rear of the school was signed "Shark Drop-off"! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Cedar Key School, home of The Sharks!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We proceeded on to the Cedar Key Cemetery, which has a lot of old graves. There are also a lot of contemporary graves. If we had gone to the cemetery after the Cedar Key Museum State Park, we might have known some names to look for, but we didn't so we just drove through and stopped when something looked interesting!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">An apparently old grave - we could not read a marker</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Those are clam shells adorning this grave!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><br />The Cedar Key State Park Museum was fascinating. It is not a large museum, but it lays out the history of Cedar Key and the surrounding area from pre-historic times through the early 1900s. The exhibits were very well done and the artifacts in each section were thoroughly explained. Cedar Key was once important - as you might guess - for the milling of cedar, which supported the pencil industry! Faber and Eagle, brands many of us remember using in grade school, both had factories in Cedar Key. Unfortunately, they did not practice sustainable harvesting, and soon all the cedar trees were gone! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was also quite a bit of information at the museum about the cross state rail line, and the man who almost single-handedly brought it to be by </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">David Levy Yulee, a U.S. Senator.</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> The rail line ran from Fernandina Beach on the Atlantic Ocean to Cedar Key on the Gulf of Mexico. The first train arrived on the rail line in 1861, and operated with daily passenger and freight service between Cedar Key and Fernandina Beach until the 1880s, when a new rail line bypassed Cedar Key in favor of the larger port of Tampa.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Some books were for sale at the museum, and one of them caught my eye - "A Thousand Mile Walk" by noted conservationist John Muir. John Muir is well known and remembered in Washington State, and I wondered if this book covered his time in Washington, but it turns out this thousand mile walk was from Indiana to Florida, and he spent about three months in Cedar Key in 1916. Our friends from Indiana were there at the museum at the same time, and were delighted Muir's walk started in their home state!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Perhaps the most interesting thing at the Cedar Key State Park Museum was not inside the museum proper! It is the St. Clair Whitman house. A brick path leads from the museum to the Whitman house past a huge iron cauldron that was used by the Confederates to boil sea water down to salt to a modest looking house a short distance away. Whitman was an avid collector of shells, prehistoric Indian artifacts and other items of historical significance. The house was originally located in the residential area of Cedar Key, but was moved </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">to the State Park Museum</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> in the 1990s, and was restored and furnished to its condition in the 1920s when the Whitman family lived in it. Some of the furnishings are original, and others, like the round table and mismatched chairs in the kitchen, were as his descendants remembered and described them. Many of Whitman's personal possessions are there also, including his glasses, hearing aids, harmonica and cigar boxes (I wondered however about the authenticity of the cigar boxes)! His collections of shells, arrow heads, and other artifacts are there too, all as he had organized them. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This is am impressive look back in time!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we left the Cedar Key State Park Museum, it was a short drive to Cooke's Seafood. We were not ready to buy yet since we wanted that to be the last thing before returning to the boat, but we wanted to see what was available. We were hoping for some grouper or other white fish to make ceviche, but all they had was mullet, and we were a little skeptical about ceviche made with mullet! We decided - probably not a surprise - on a pint of shucked oysters!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was time for lunch when we were done at the Cedar Key State Park Museum, and we chatted a bit with the folks from Indiana, who recommended Steamers down by the pier, </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">especially the Bloody Marys!</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">On the way to Steamers, we stopped at the hardware store for some more propane bottles, since we want to make sure we don't run out, and at the liquor store for the same reason! So we headed down to Steamers, parked the golf cart, walked upstairs, and - shock of all shocks - had Bloody Marys and a dozen oysters on the half shell each!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Bloody Marys and ouysters at Steamers in Cedar Key</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After lunch, we headed to the one little grocery store in town, and although we did not know we needed $60 more worth of stuff, that is how it turned out! Our final stop was back at Cooke's Seafood, where we bought our pint of shucked oysters, It was almost 2:30 p.m., so we headed back down to return the golf cart, load up the kayak, and paddle back out to the boat!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Baxter got his afternoon trip to shore, and `when <i> </i>I brought him back, I went out for a couple more photos. Finally we got our pelican picture! </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">What is this bird? There was one of these birds on every single float around the swimming beach!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Daydream</i> anchored in front of city park at Cedar Key</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then it was time for sundowners! After sundowners, we moved on to the pint of oysters for supper! Patty thought that a pint of shucked oysters surely could not contain two dozen oysters, but they were small to medium sized, and there were quite a few more than two dozen! We did not have any shells to have them on the half shell, so we used little custard cups. We put a few oysters in each cup and then put lemon juice, horse radish and hot sauce on them. They were just as good as the restaurant oysters, but instead of $15 a dozen, they were $15 a pint!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This was a very good day, and we will always have wonderful memories of our day in Cedar Key!</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-30125020793658537742017-11-02T13:51:00.000-07:002017-11-02T13:53:43.523-07:00Cedar Key<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 214 - November 1, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After I took Baxter up to the street above Sea Hag Marina, we had breakfast. I refilled the water tank and wrapped up the power cord, and then we cast off our lines for Cedar Key! It was quite a long way out the Steinhatchee channel, but once out into Gulf, we pointed our bow south. The Gulf was exceptionally calm, and we understand that we will have easy cruising on the Gulf for the rest of this week.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We are once again slow cruisers! It did not take us long to get re-accustomed to life at 7 mph. One and a half gallons per hour sure beats nine gallons per hour! We put the boat on autopilot and really did not have to do much else except avoid the bazillion or more crab floats, and we had an uneventful cruise. We think "uneventful" is the best kind of cruise!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We had originally intended to anchor at Sea Horse Key for just one night but made a last minute decision to go on into Cedar Key to see the town. Active Captain pointed us to an anchorage just off the municipal boat ramp, but first we had to wind our way in through the Cedar Key channel, which is quite a maze! This is where an iPad navigation app such as Garmin Blue Chart Mobile really shines! Skipper Bob used paper charts and relied on the day marks, and his comment on the Cedar Key channel was that you would need a good pair of binoculars to wend your way from day mark to day mark! Garmin Blue Chart Mobile on the iPad showed us exactly where the channel was and more importantly, showed where our boat was in the channel! All in all, exiting the Steinhatchee channel, cruising in the Gulf to the Cedar Key channel entrance, and then going in the Cedar Key channel, we traveled 55 miles today.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Screenshot of track (the green line) into Cedar Key</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">A "key," we learned from Google as we were cruising, is a small flat island of sand covering a coral reef. Cedar Key is a town, and the Cedar Keys are the group of 13 keys including Cedar Key, Otsena Otie Key, and Seahorse Key. The undeveloped keys are a national wildlife refuge called, naturally, the Cedar Keys National Wildlife Refuge.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We got to our anchorage in time for me to take Baxter to shore, and then have drinks and dinner. As we look to shore, the boat ramp and pier are to our left and a wonderful city park with a white sand swimming beach, a kayak launching area, a big play area, dog poop bag stations, and restrooms is directly in front of us. We picked this spot because of the boat ramp, but I didn't use the boat ramp because I saw the kayak launch area in the park. I forgot Baxter's leash, and he romped and romped in the sand. I wasn't sure he would come back when I called him, but eventually he apparently decided he had enough fun and turned around, trotted back down to the kayak, and hopped in! Dogs are allowed here, and all of Cedar Key is dog friendly. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">It was too late to go into town today, so we decided to stay here two nights and tour the town tomorrow! This area is known as the "Lost Coast," and like Apalachicola, is the true "Old Florida"! We are, as some of you know, conflicted - on the one hand, we are anxious to get home. On the other hand, we will probably never be back here in our boat. We are pretty sure we will spend two days at Crystal River and two days at Tarpon Springs. After that, we will watch the calendar and make our decisions day by day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> We got treated to another great view over the pier this evening just after the sun went down!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">View over Cedar Key Pier just after sunset!</span></td></tr>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-561296592165244072017-11-01T08:38:00.000-07:002017-11-01T08:38:32.216-07:00Crossing the Big Bend and Steinhatchee!<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY 213 - October 31, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Today's blog starts with first light at Dog Island and ends with the afterglow of sunset on the Steinhatchee River! In between, of course, was the crossing of the Gulf of Mexico, the Big Bend from East Pass to the Steinhatchee River channel!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We foolishly set our alarm clock for 6:00 a.m., not thinking to see when there would be enough light to paddle Baxter to shore. So we had our coffee and toast in the cabin while it was still pitch black outside! There is always a little bit of light before sunrise, and as it was just starting to get light enough to see anything, Baxter and I headed for shore for the last time on the Panhandle!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Back at the boat, I put the kayak up on the roof, and we pulled anchor and motored to East Pass, which is the inlet to St. George Sound between St. George Island and Dog Island. Just outside East Pass, we were ready for the real test! How would </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Daydream</i><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> perform? Marc and the crew at Wefings Marine had done everything possible. Marc had said it was his personal mission to get </span><i style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Daydream</i><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> on the plane for the crossing. The trim tabs now worked, we had a Stingray hydrofoil stabilizer, and most importantly, we had a new 11 pitch prop that let the Honda get up to its rated 6,000 RPM wide open throttle. The tests in the Apalachicola River we thought had gone reasonably well. We had also off-loaded quite a bit of weight before we left. Eddie's Weather WAG told us we would have near perfect conditions. Today would be the day for the real thing!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We left East Pass at 8:15 a.m., I put the trim tabs into the full down position, put the hammer down, and ran the tach up to 5,200 RPMs. <i>Daydream</i> came up easily on a plane, and just like that we were running at 14 -smph. I fiddled with engine attitude a bit, and brought the trim tabs up a little, and we were running at 15 smph, burning 9 gallons per hour. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The winds were in the single digits and the wave height was measured in inches, not feet! Not like a mirror, but little ripples! We followed our route out to R26 and then made a slight left to follow our route to Steinhatchee. Our speed varied between 13.9 and 16.1, but most of the time held fairly steady at 15.0 mph. It was not long until we were completely out of the sight of land! I think this was the first time, but perhaps we were out of sight of land crossing Lake Ontario but I really don't remember. We each took a two hour shift. When I took over for my second shift, I knew we would be there before another two hours elapsed!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We arrived at the entrance to the Steinhatchee channel at 1:14 p.m., one minute short of five hours. The channel into the Steinhatchee marinas is LONG, several miles. The first marina we came to that had gas was The Sea Hag, a catchy name for a marina - I never asked what the back story was on the name! We each made our guess on what it would take to fill the tank. We had run 24 miles from Apalachicola to Dog Island, about 3 miles each way, 6 miles total, from East Pass to Cannonball Point where we anchored, all going slow, about 75 miles from East Pass to Steinhatchee channel going fast, and maybe 2 miles into the marina, again going slow, a total of 107 miles. Based on past experience, I mentally calculated that we had used about 55 gallons from Apalachicola to Sea Hag Marina. Patty, ever the pessimist, guessed it would be 80 gallons. In fact she was afraid we would run out of gas coming across! The actual amount to fill the tank was 51 gallons, so a little better than 2 mpg overall. Based on 9 gph for five hours, I think we used 45 of the 51 gallons on the 75 mile crossing going fast. Well, 15 mph is not really "fast," but for us, it seemed like we were flying compared to the ~7 mph we had cruised almost the entire previous 4,900 miles!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We were going to look for an anchorage after we gassed up, but Sea Hag was pretty empty, and Patty said she thought we should just stay there for the night. I agreed wholeheartedly! It would mean not having to find a place to land Baxter, and the Steinhatchee River did not look particularly good for that. We had just joined BoatUS about a week earlier because AGLCA just advertised that BoatUS was giving a 50% discount to AGLCA members on the basic membership, which brought the cost down from $30 to a measly $15. When I went up to pay for the moorage, he asked if we were BoatUS members, and I showed him a picture of our membership card on my iPhone. He did some calculating and said "That will be $15." It might not have been $15 even, but even without the BoatUS discount, this would have been a dirt cheap marina! Water, power, restrooms and showers for $15 must make this one of the best marina deals going. Floating docks in good condition, too!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">If "brunch" is between breakfast and lunch, what is between lunch and dinner?" Lunner"? Anyway, after the crossing and getting tied up, we had our sundowners quite a bit before sundown, and had "lunner" or whatever. Patty had made some ceviche from the Walmart frozen cod, with tomato, peppers, onion, a jalepeno and lime juice, which we ate on pita chips. Quite a bit later, we snacked on fine cheeses on Triscuits with wine. It's a tough life, but somebody has got to do it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">When I came back from my shower, we sat in the cockpit as it was getting dark, and as always, as amazing as it may seem, the sun set yet again. The channel back out to the Gulf was really very pretty!</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-44291365914875932612017-10-31T14:15:00.000-07:002017-10-31T14:15:18.617-07:00Dog Island<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY 213 - October 30, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Our plan for the day was to take off for Dog Island right after lunch, so we had a little time in the morning to work some more trying to figure out how to get Patty's new iPhone working. I could not believe T-Mobile's purported iPhone guru who told us that WiFi calling would not work on a non-T-Mobile supplied iPhone. An unlocked iPhone is an iPhone is an iPhone, and the only thing that distinguishes one from another is what carrier's SIM you put in it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Not sure how the idea hit me, but my generic refurbished iPhone works fine, and so the test of whether Patty's phone was really the problem would be to put my SIM in her iPhone. We did that, and, what do you know, it worked perfectly, WiFi calling and all. So the issue was definitely not her phone, but something with her SIM or something else, So we called T-Mobile Customer Service yet again, and this time, we got a person who knew what she was talking about. After we explained what we had been told, and how the iPhone worked great with my SIM card, she checked her computer, and quickly came back and told us that the SIM for Patty's iPhone with phone number ending in 7020 had never been activated. She went ahead and activated it. What do you know,? Now Patty's iPhone works as it is supposed to! Bad on the prior two T-Mobile customer service reps. Funny thing, after every customer service call, they send us a survey asking, "How likely are you to recommend T-Mobile?" Well, actually not at all! But I don't bother answering the survey.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Then I returned Marc's golf cart to his house and walked back to the marina. The walk made me appreciate the golf cart all the more! While we were having lunch, Marc stopped by and brought us some boudin sausage, which Patty says is "like a rice casserole in a casing"! We thanked Marc profusely for everything, said our goodbyes, and cast off our lines for Dog Island!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Dog Island is about 24 miles from Apalachicola, and since we left about 1:30 p.m., we just ran at our usual trawler speed of ~7 smph. We passed the east end of St. George Island and the St. George Sound inlet, and curled around the west end of Dog Island into Shipping Cove. We anchored initially where the first anchor symbol is, but when Patty got out the binoculars, there were signs all along the beach that said "No Trespassing." One Active Captain review mentioned that landing was permitted by the old pier, and that it turns out is where the second anchor symbol is, which is called Cannonball Point. Sure enough, this was well past the end of the "No Trespassing" signs, and since it was not anybody's front yard and was not posted, we anchored there, I got the Sea Eagle down, and Baxter got to go to shore!</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">After sundowners and dinner, </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">we did a final weather check, and all still seems scumpo for a crossing of the Big Bend tomorrow! I had marked the R26 buoy that is at the end of the shoal south of Carrabelle, and then created a route on Garmin Blue Chart Mobile to Steinhatchee. This allows us to stay on the route line while zoomed in tightly enough to see any hazards. Although I don't think there ARE any hazards after passing R26, if there were, I want to be able to see them!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We think we will be ready to scoot across, but we will find out tomorrow morning for sure!</span></div>
Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-59417714661647803702017-10-30T07:12:00.000-07:002017-10-30T07:12:02.785-07:00Ninth -and Last - Port Day in Apalachicola - Waiting for a Weather Window<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY 212 - October 29, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Shortest blog post ever - today did we did next to nothing! I off-loaded some heavy stuff form the boat, including the two folding bikes, the air conditioner, the box of outboard service parts and tools, and the dinged up Honda Stainless prop that we replaced at Irish Boat Shop in Harbor Springs, and delivered them to Marc's garage to be picked up when we tow home.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Then we listened to the Seahawks game with just another miraculous last minute drive engineered by Russell Wilson to beat the Houston Texans. Finally we went to Up the Creek for our last hurrah - a dozen raw oysters and a cup of grits each, with a shared slice of key lime pie for dessert.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">That was it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Marc and Anita Grove for their hospitality. Fist, the use of their slip at Battery Park Marina was huge. We will have been here ten nights when we leave tomorrow. The loan of the golf cart was also wonderful. We could have walked to some of the places we went, but some we would never have gotten to without the golf cart. Finally, their hospitality and generosity have been marvelous. Thanks, guys!</span></div>
Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-33311733894722986542017-10-29T14:57:00.004-07:002017-10-29T14:57:47.914-07:00Eighth Port Day in Apalachicola - Waiting for a Weather Window<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY 211 - October 28, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">As you might remember, Patty's original iPhone 5S sleeps with the fishes. You wouldn't think you could spend all day trying to put a SIM card into a refurbished iPhone 5, restore from a back-up and get everything working, but that is pretty much what we did today. And we have still come up short, maybe some tech wizard out there can point us in the right direction, but more about that later.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Marc had purchased a refurbished unlocked iPhone 5S on his Amazon Prime account and we paid him for it. He</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> let us know when the iPhone arrived, and dropped it off the next morning! So far so good.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The iPhone has landed!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Color us naive, but we did not know it would not have a SIM card in it. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We thought it would, and by some magic, T-Mobile could program the SIM remotely. We opened the SIM card tray with a paper clip, and saw that the tray was empty. </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So we ordered a T-Mobile SIM card directly from T-Mobile Customer Service. Say what you will about how crappy T-Mobile coverage is, and their coverage is completely crappy, their customer service is excellent. You get customer service by dialing 611, and your call is routed to a call center based on your area code. Our call center was in Bellingham, 15 miles from where we live. If you have ever had to deal with a customer service call center in Bangladesh, or wherever, you will know how wonderful it is to talk to a native English speaker whom you can understand! The SIM card was free, but there was an expedited shipping charge we were delighted to pay, and the SIM card actually arrived in one day, and Marc dropped that by the boat as well.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So we punched the SIM card out of the little plastic card. Patty tried and tried to put it in the SIM tray and insert it back into the iPhone, but no she go. After turning it over multiple times and looking at it, we decided to Google "inserting SIM card in iPhone 5" and watched a YouTube video, where we learned that the iPhone 5S requires a nano SIM. This SIM, we thought, was the wrong one. The video showed how to cut down a standard SIM to the dimensions of a nano SIM, but I sure didn't want to have to do that, so back on the phone to T-Mobile customer service. Well, I ended up with egg on my face, as I was on the line with customer service, Patty noticed that she could break off the excess plastic on the SIM to get it down to nano size and fit it into the tray. So I thanked the customer service representative and said "Never mind, my wife figured it out."</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Now, we have an iPhone with a T-Mobile SIM in it. I did a restore from an iTunes backup on the Macbook. There was something not right about it. First off, the name of the backup was "crab_queen," while Patty's iPhone has been named "Patty's iPhone" for quite awhile. All the same, I did the restore. When she fired it up, what had been restored was all MY apps and data. Then I thought it was possible that I had done the most recent backup to the Toshiba laptop, and sure enough, there was an iTunes backup on the Toshiba named "Patty's iPhone." So I did a restore from that one, and it looked like we were there. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Patty's new iPhone 5S<br /></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">But although she could connect to WiFi and send and receive emails with her new iPhone, she could not send or receive phone calls or texts. There is no T-Mobile cell service in Apalachicola, so I figured that could be the problem and turning on "WiFi calling" in the phone settings would fix it. That is the only way I can make or receive phone calls on my iPhone here.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So I went into the phone settings and turned on WiFi calling. Instead of turning on WiFi calling, a message pops up "Please contact customer service to turn on WiFi calling for this account." So back again to Customer Service. The first representative checked everything and said WiFi calling was enabled for all phones on our account (there are three phones, mine, Patty's and Austin's), but I tried again, and got the same message. The first representative handed me off to his "Apple specialist," who turned out to be in Missouri, which was okay, since he was a native English speaker also! This guy, however, said that WiFi calling would not work on an unlocked iPhone 5 unless it had originally been obtained from T-Mobile. I don't believe this, because my iPhone 5 was a generic unlocked iPhone purchased at a refurbished iPhone store in Savannah, and mine works just fine. It would be an amazing coincidence if my refurbished iPhone just happened to be a T-Mobile phone, but it is possible I suppose. But an unlocked iPhone, as far as I can find, is an unlocked iPhone that should work on any network with that network's SIM card. So wizards, what say you?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So we still don't know if Patty will be able to make and receive phone calls if and when we get some place where there is T-Mobile cell coverage. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The next set of problems I cannot really explain well, but it is related to Apple's idiotic security systems. If you make a mistake twice, your Apple ID gets "disabled for security reasons." This has, in the past, required resetting the Apple ID password. Patty has been trying to download "Word with Friends," and our Apple ID has been locked. Or it could have been been a result of something I did because I really don't understand the settings for "Name, Phone Numbers and Email," which I tried multiple times to set on Patty's phone. Apple sends a security code if you try to add a phone number, but of course Patty's iPhone never received the security code. I kept trying, and maybe THAT is why our Apple ID is locked.I was able to add her phone number to this setting on my iPhone, which did receive the security code. This is incredibly confusing, and not explained anywhere as far as I know. I really do not want to reset the Apple ID password, I have enough trouble remembering it anyway. Maybe it is time to move to another carrier and a non-Apple phone! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">So enough of phones for the day. We had invited Marc and Anita out to dinner at a restaurant of their choice, and they chose Up the Stairs downtown. We had a great dinner, and tried to forget our phone frustrations! Patty had a blue drink, as our friend Roger Bumgarner said, "It is very important to have a drink that matches your shirt and earr</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">ings!" Anita had wine, and Marc and I had much more sensible double Manhattans! The dinner was great, and so was the company and conversation!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Patty's blue mojito at Up the Stairs restaurant!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Our last thing for the day was, as always, to recheck the weather sites. Our day for crossing is now definitely Tuesday...unless that changes again tomorrow!</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-61091162782071170462017-10-29T09:01:00.000-07:002017-10-29T09:01:27.445-07:00Seventh Port Day in Apalachicola - Waiting for a Weather Window<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY 210 - October 27, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Today was another tourist day in Apalachicola! We are having lazy mornings, getting up later and later. By the time I get back from walking Baxter, Patty has made the coffee. After we have one cup in the cockpit, had our toast, then had another cup of coffee, it seems like it is late morning. This suits us fine, because there is really nothing we HAVE to do most days now! We reflected that Apalachicola is a great place to wait for a weather window since it is a wonderful tourist destination for which many people pay thousands of dollars to do what we are doing here mostly for free!</span></div>
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We headed out in Marc's golf cart to tour the Orman House Museum, the second of the two antebellum homes in Apalachicola. The Orman House Museum is now a Florida State Parks property, which means it has an admission fee. Ranger Jeremy collected the $4.00, and gave us a bit of history, and started us on a self-guided tour. This house was built between 1836 and 1838, and stands on ten and a half acres. Many of the furnishings in the house are original, including a sideboard in the dining room made from cypress wood, which has never been refinished according to Ranger Jeremy. We toured the rest of the house on our own, which was fine because there were quite a few explanatory signs in each room.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thomas Orman House Museum</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Original Orman sideboard made from cypress wood</span></td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">Thomas Orman, like David Raney, was born in 1799, and also like Raney, is buried in the Chestnut Street Cemetery. Both were prominent cotton merchants in Apalachicola. </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Thomas and Sarah Orman had one son, William, and William and Anne Orman had one daughter, Sadie, who married John Fennimore Cooper Griggs, who was the Customs Collector and Captain of the Port. Sadie outlived Mr. Griggs and a second husband, and lived in the house until a very old age, cared for by a second cousin, Earl Orman. When Sadie passed away, she left the property to Earl. The last of Thomas </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">Orman's descendants, Iona Andrews, continued to live in the house right up until 1994. Iona apparently lived only in the two back rooms and let the rest of the house fall into ruins. A photo from that time shows the exterior of the house had fallen into serious disrepair. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">It was purchased by Douglas and Anna Gaidry in 1994, who substantially restored the house and ran it as a bed and breakfast until 1999, when they sold it to the State of Florida after winning a Florida Trust for Historic Preservation in 1997. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">The Gaidrys put in electricity, plumbing, modern bathrooms, and updated the kitchen for the bed and breakfast. Ranger Jeremy told us the State Parks will restore the kitchen to a more historic version, although the original kitchen had been an outbuilding due to the danger of fire.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">The slave quarters building still stands on the property, but is literally falling down.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Slave quarters at Thomas Orman House</span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">After the Orman House, we went over to the John Gorrie State Museum. Gorrie was the inventor of the ice machine. Dr. Gorrie invented the ice machine in an attempt to cool his yellow fever patients. The ice machine he invented became the basis for the ice industry and air conditioning. The museum contains a replica of Dr. Gorrie's original machine. Unfortunately, the museum was closed for an extended period, and we did not get to go inside!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">On the way back, we looked for the historic homes listed in the Chamber of Commerce's Historic Walking Tour (riding in the golf cart of course). We found many of them, but I didn't try to photograph them all. Here are a couple that we stopped for. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">The Billy Bryant House, built in 1915, is notable because Billy Bryant, a builder of fine homes and boats, was African American. Florida was segregated like the rest of the southern states, but that evidently did not hold Billy Bryant back! Today the Mayor of Apalachicola, Van Johnson, is an African American, and Apalachicola seems to be way ahead of Savannah and Charleston, where we saw many 4x4 pickups driving around with Confederate battle flags. We have seen nothing like that here!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">The Flatauer House was built for Adolph Flatauer in 1908 - 1909. I Googled Adolf Flatauer, and learned we was an "itinerant peddler and dry goods merchant." It seems a rather grand house for an itinerant peddler, so I assume he must have had considerable success as a dry goods merchant! I also found this studio portrait of Adolph's daughters, Clara and Tessie, on Florida Memories, the State Library and Archives of Florida website!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">We ended our "tourist" day at the Apalachicola Chocolate & Coffee Company for some very expensive gelato and a small selection of chocolates! Back at the boat, we had probably the first dinner not at a restaurant since the previous Friday!</span></div>
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;">We continue to look at our weather resources for the weather window to cross the Big Bend. It still looks like possibly Monday or Tuesday next week. I also played with Garmin Blue Chart Mobile on the iPad. We have known how to place markers at the current location, but I Googled how to place markers at specific latitude / longitude coordinates, which is ridiculously easy and I don't know how it previously eluded me. I also Googled creating and editing routes, which likewise is very easy, but I had not felt the need for routes before, since it is hard to get lost in an intracoastal waterway or a river! We know we need to avoid the shoals, and go across to Steinhatchee from R26, a red nun way out below Alligator Point, so I placed a marker there with the coordinates in Skipper Bob, and created our route from Dog Island, where we will spend the night before the crossing, to R26, and then to the channel entrance to Steinhatchee! We love Apalachicola and the Groves' hospitality, but we are anxious to get underway again!</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-32623000701578285282017-10-27T04:54:00.000-07:002017-10-27T04:59:50.584-07:00Sixth Port Day in Apalachicola - Waiting for a Weather Window<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 209 - October 26, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This morning we woke up on <i>Daydream</i> in the Wefings Marine shop! Marc came by in the morning bearing gifts: some lightly dressed sashimi, some smoked tuna and some smoked mullet! No matter what else happens, we will eat well!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">There was no sightseeing today. Today was all about getting <i>Daydream</i> ready to cross the Big Bend on the plane. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Yesterday the trim tabs were fixed and the Stingray3 fin was installed, but the new 11 pitch prop had not arrived. We have been running with a Michigan Wheel 14-3/8 x 15 prop since Harbor Springs, and we could not get <i>Daydream</i> on the plane with this prop for love nor money. Putting the throttle down simply resulted in pushing a huge bow wake and maybe getting to 9 miles per hour. We have been quite anxious to see if what Marc is doing is going to change this for us.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After coffee and toast, we could only wait for the new prop to arrive. I wrote my blog post, and we continued to look at the weather sites, mainly SailFlow. It looks like Monday might now be the best day, but we will reassess that on a daily basis.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The new Honda aluminum 15 x 11 prop arrived on the FedEx truck shortly after lunch, and Spencer put it on the BF-150. Now everything that could be done has been done, short of re-powering with a new 200 hp outboard.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Now there was nothing left to do but to get out on the water to see if we had succeeded. Spencer hooked the trailer up to the pickup, and drove Patty and me back to the Battery Park launch ramp in Apalachicola. Marc joined us shortly, and we put <i>Daydream</i> back in the water, and we did our tests.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">My assessment is that it was a qualified success. Watch the iPhone video that Patty took from the shore as we passed and please let me know what you think, either in a comment or with the contact form (I can reply by email if you use the contact form).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Marc, Spencer and I took her out for the first test. We got the speed we were looking for. Downstream at wide open throttle with a 2.5 mph current pushing us, we were knocking at 20 miles per hour. At 5,200 RPMs we were running at 13 - 15 mph. But I say it was a "qualified success" because <i>Daydream</i> is still very heavy, and it does not just pop up effortlessly and gracefully on the plane like it does when it is lightly loaded and propped for the San Juan Islands and Strait of Georgia. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Marc commented that he had never seen a C-Dory 25 that sat so low in the water. Getting on plane was a delicate balance of managing the trim tabs, the engine attitude and the RPMs. Handling at speed is not nearly as responsive as it should be. By analogy to the animal kingdom, <i>Daydream</i> is still a slug, but a faster slug!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">For the second test, Spencer removed the Stingray3 fin, since Marc wanted to be sure that the fin was not actually reducing the speed. We went out into Apalachicola Bay and satisfied ourselves that it wasn't. In fact, it was running just a little slower. So we came back in and Spencer reinstalled the Stingray3. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Second guessing ourselves, we wondered if we should have gone to a 13 pitch instead of an 11 pitch prop, which would have given higher speeds at lower RPMs if it worked at all. Back in our home waters, we run in the mid teens at 3,800 - 4,200 RPMs. But that ship has sailed, and this is the prop that we will use to cross the Big Bend of the Gulf of Mexico and finish our Loop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">At least our crossing time will be half of what it would have been with the 15 pitch prop. And we are not going to worry about how much fuel we use for the crossing!</span></div>
Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-50006849300872821552017-10-26T07:07:00.000-07:002017-10-26T16:21:37.250-07:00Fifth Port Day in Apalachicola - Waiting for Weather Window<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 208 - October 25, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Today was the day we were supposed to get our new 11 pitch prop and the Stingray3 fin installed on the Honda BF150 and the trim tabs repaired. Marc and some of his guys came down to the boat ramp at 9:00 a.m., but not to pull us out! It looked to us like he unloaded a Rosborough 246 (which by the way, is a VERY nice boat) and then loaded it on to different trailer. He said he had some errands to run, and it would be about 45 minutes, so we had breakfast and I made a quick run on the golf cart back to the Piggly Wiggly. Then we got a call from Marc that they would be back after his guys had lunch. So we saw that today would not be the day we moved to Dog Island to get ready for a Thursday crossing! Looking at everything, Thursday was the day with the good weather window, and we are going to miss it.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We finally got pulled some time between 1:00 and 1:30 p.m. Marc's helper, Spencer, drove <i>Daydream</i> for power loading, and I was ballast to keep her level side to side! He had a bit of trouble, but after a couple of attempts <i>Daydream</i> was on the trailer and strapped down, and Marc towed her the seven miles to Wefings Marine in Eastpoint. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We arrived at Wefings about 2:00 p.m.<i> </i></span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i>Daydream</i> was pulled inside the covered shop, and we got our folding chairs out to wait!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Spencer got right down to fixing the trim tabs, and somebody else pressure washed the bottom. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> He quickly found that the trim tab fuse was blown. He replace the fuse and showed me where it was located, since I had previously looked for it and couldn't find it. With the new fuse, the tabs were once again operable, but the position indicator light was still blinking. He did some research and isolated this to the position sensor in one of the trim tabs. Since we never look at the position indicator anyway (it is mounted so low that you basically have to get down on your knees on the floor to see it), and we operate the tabs by the way the bow of the boat responds, we are okay with not putting in a new sensor, at least for the time being.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Then Spencer installed the Stingray3 fin, which is pretty slick, since it does not require drilling holes in the cavitation plate. It is held in place by what Spencer called the lower unit torque tab. He had to make a minor modification to the fin with a Dremel tool and use a slightly longer bolt to replace the torque tab, but the fin is solidly in place. Now all we needed was the new prop.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When the FedEx delivery came, our new prop was not there. Tracking showed it had left Memphis and was "out for delivery." That means it will arrive some time tomorrow, and FedEx only guarantees that it will be before 4:30 p.m. Ron, the GM, thinks it will probably be here in the morning, but maybe not. They said they could come to the marina to put the prop on tomorrow, but we decided to spend the night on the boat in the shop so they can put the prop on here as soon as it arrives, and hopefully, we can get out on the water to test whether or not we can plane.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The problem all this presents is that having missed the Thursday weather window, we now have the quandary of our next weather window for the crossing. </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Marc thought Friday looked okay, but it looked pretty sketchy to us on SailFlow and Marine Weather.</span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"> Saturday and Sunday were definitely bad days by all accounts, with high wind, high waves and a short period between waves. Ideally, we want less than two foot waves, wind less than 15 knots from the right direction, and a period between waves at least twice the wave height. Patty thought Monday looked possible. The worst thing was that </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">the sources we consulted were sometimes conflicting, with one saying high wind and another saying small waves, and vice versa, for the same day!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So I emailed Marv, who publishes Marv's Weather Service, which Marv does strictly as a public service. His reports had been spot on during Hurricane Nate. He responded that our weather window, as he saw it right now, was Tuesday, and that could change between now and then. So, for now, Tuesday it is, and as prudent mariners who do not wish to get our fillings knocked out, we will sit here Thursday through Monday. It is a good thing we love oysters!</span></div>
Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-47747563731797685372017-10-25T19:08:00.000-07:002017-10-26T05:53:43.131-07:00Fourth Port Day in Apalachicola - Waiting for Weather Window<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 207 - October 24, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Patty showered with the Helio on the cockpit while I was walking Baxter, and then when I returned, I did a somewhat abbreviated version of a shower too - well, I washed my hair, that is sort of an abbreviated shower, isn't it? And I ran out of hot water at that! Back to coffee and toast for breakfast. I wrote my blog for the day, and then off for another day for sightseeing in Apalachicola. Having Marc's golf cart certainly made it easier to get around!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We headed first for the Chestnut Street Cemetery. We had a brochure with a map and the names of some of the people buried there along with their stories, such as Mary Hickey, who slit her husband's throat and then killed herself. Unfortunately, the map was not very good and we did not find Mary's grave or many of the others listed, so we just walked around. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many, but not all, of the gravestones were very old, with birth dates in the late 1700s and early 1800s. There were a lot of graves of soldiers who had fought in the Confederate States Army, with very little information other than their military service. We did recognize some of the names on headstones or memorials, like David Raney and Thomas Orman, who were both born in 1799, and who were both notable cotton merchants who each built mansions before the Civil War!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Raney plot at Chestnut Street Cemetery - the small headstones are various family members</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">One of the interesting structures in the cemetery is known as "The Chimney," and according to the brochure, nobody knows who erected it, when, or why, but for generations, Apalachicola youth have had to climb to the top to leave childhood behind!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">"The Chimney" in the Chestnut Street Cemetery</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Many of the headstones of those less wealthy than the Raneys and Ormans have not stood up to time and the salt air well, and are difficult or impossible to read. Many of the plots at one time had wrought iron fences and gates, but now they are almost all rusty and falling down, with apparently nobody left to notice or care.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Rusty gate and falling down fence around one family plot</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After touring the cemetery, went to the Piggly Wiggly supermarket for some shopping, and on our way back to the boat for drinks and lunch, stopped to look at a few of the great homes in Apalachicola.</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Love the porches and widow's walk on this one!</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5lUoGUtBByg/WfE2MnWtNyI/AAAAAAAAEmw/7roGhNghl7wWWzVBZKNRE8J3iWpHlEB9wCEwYBhgL/s1600/House%2B3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="480" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5lUoGUtBByg/WfE2MnWtNyI/AAAAAAAAEmw/7roGhNghl7wWWzVBZKNRE8J3iWpHlEB9wCEwYBhgL/s640/House%2B3.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This house was being painted when I took this photo - it is a great house with a widow's walk and a turret!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After lunch, we went back downtown, and our first stop was a funky antique / junk shop called "The Tin Shed." The Tin Shed has a lot of bona fide maritime antiques, mingled with a lot of cheap junk! It is a fun place to spend a little time looking around!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Tin Shed</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a9seOyJKH6Y/WfE4eGiBV2I/AAAAAAAAEnI/5wk8K7Rfywcsqte9YfjHfc8_yTfZjKD2gCLcBGAs/s1600/Admiring%2Bthe%2BMerchandise%2Bat%2Bthe%2BTin%2BShed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a9seOyJKH6Y/WfE4eGiBV2I/AAAAAAAAEnI/5wk8K7Rfywcsqte9YfjHfc8_yTfZjKD2gCLcBGAs/s640/Admiring%2Bthe%2BMerchandise%2Bat%2Bthe%2BTin%2BShed.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little bit of the merchandise greets visitors just inside the door!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Colorful display of floats at The Tin Shed</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After The Tin Shed we proceeded along Water Street. There were more than fifty identical three story brick buildings built in 1838 as cotton warehouses along the waterfront, of which only two survive today, the others having been destroyed by fires, hurricanes or lack of maintenance. One is used today as the Apalachicola City Hall, and the other is used as the Apalachicola Center for History, Culture and Art. We did not go into City Hall but we did go into the Center for History, Culture and Art. There is a very old, very long Indian dugout canoe on exhibit, which was interesting, but the main exhibits were many posters with photos and text submitted by citizens on what they thought was necessary to sustain or revive Apalachicola.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The last thing we did downtown was, naturally, to go back to The Old Time Soda Fountain for some more ice cream!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">When we got back to the marina, our friends Cecil and Danny Hazen from Cape Coral were just arriving on their trawler <i>Desperado. </i>We had first met the Hazens back on the Trent-Severn and again at Demopolis waiting out Hurricane Nate, and we traveled from Demopolis to Mobile more or less with the Hazens, so we made plans to go out to dinner together! Somebody had recommended The Station, a new oyster raw bar, to them, so that is where we went, and we had a very nice evening with our friends! And we never get tired of raw iced oysters on the half shell!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Pat, Danny, Patty and Cecil at The Station Raw Bar</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The Hazens will be leaving tomorrow for Clearwater, which will take them something like 22 hours in their trawler. They apparently have more stamina than we do! We plan to visit them in Cape Coral when we get down there!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We have arranged with Marc to haul us out tomorrow at 9:00 a.m. to repair our trim tabs, install the Stingray3 fin on the Honda outboard, and to install a new 11 pitch prop, which Marc thinks collectively will allow us to get <i>Daydream</i> on the plane for the crossing of the Big Bend. We sure hope he is right!</span></div>
Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-17549485692425023832017-10-24T08:20:00.000-07:002017-10-24T08:20:17.693-07:00Third Port Day in Apalachicola - Waiting for Weather Window<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY 206 - October 23, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Today was and tomorrow will be our days for being typical tourists in Apalachicola! After coffee and another "Sunday breakfast on Monday" (sliced white potatoes, bacon and fried eggs) and writing the blog, we hopped in the golf cart Marc Grove has loaned us and headed downtown! </span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Our first stop was the Apalachicola Chamber Visitors Center, where we got a map and a fistful of brochures! We sat down on a bench outside to orient ourselves, and then headed off!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Our first, and longest, stop was the history Raney House Museum. This is one of only two antebellum homes remaining in Apalachicola. David Raney came to Apalachicola in 1834 from Virginia, and quickly established himself as a cotton trader. David built the house in 1838 at the corner of Market Street and F Avenue. It was originally a rather plain house built in the Federal style, and later, the front door was moved and Doric columns in the Greek Revival style were added, The house sits on a bluff, where David could look out over his eleven cotton warehouses on Water Street! David and wife Harriet raised their family there, including three sons, all of whom fought for the Confederacy, and amazingly, all three lived to return home. The Raney family continued to own and reside in the home until 1914, when it was sold to a physician, and it was purchased by the City of Apalachicola in 1973. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Our guide was Judy McFarland, who took us through every room in the house and the separate semi-attached kitchen. The kitchen had a covered breezeway,that could be quickly knocked away in event of a fire! A fair amount of the furnishings and other contents, including paintings, are original. She did an outstanding job of explaining everything we were seeing, and bringing the Raney family to life for us! The tour is free, but they accept donations, and we did our small part in that regard!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Our guide Judy McFarland in the parlor of the Raney House Museum</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">After the tour was over, we decided we needed some - you guessed it - ice cream! So we headed to a shop downtown called, fittingly, The Old Time Soda Fountain. We would have gone to the other antebellum home, The Orman House, which is now owned by Florida State Parks, but by the time we were done with our ice cream, it was too late in the day to make their tour hours, and since they are only open Thursday through Monday and we are planning to move on to Dog Island on Thursday for a Friday crossing of the Gulf, we will probably not get to see this.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We walked around a bit, but Patty was not really in a shopping mood - as she says, our goal in life is to get rid of junk, not to add to the collection! I did poke my nose into the Oyster City Brewing Company brewery, but just to snap a quick photo! I really have enjoyed their beers at our several dinners out!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Our last tourist stop for the day was the Apalachicola Maritime Museum. This Museum features several tour boat cruises, but since Marc had given us a great boat tour, we passed on their tour boat tours. The museum also has a limited display of artifacts. The most interesting artifact the museum owns is not on site yet! It is a stern wheeler paddle boat donated to the museum by the late Debbie Reynolds! We watched a video of the restoration in progress, and walked around to look at the other artifacts on display. My attention was drawn to a board showing a large number of useful knots. Patty and I have both been struggling with the bowline, which I had once known how to tie - I used it to secure the lines to our crab pots for years - but I cannot for the life of me figure it out now! I took this photo of the venerable bowline, but however much I study it, I cannot duplicate it! If you run into us somewhere along the line, please instruct us on this knot. And yes, we know "Make a loop. Then the rabbit comes up through the hole, goes around the tree and back down the hole." Damned if we can make that work!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">After the Maritime Museum, it was time to head back to the boat for sundowners before heading out for dinner! So far, we have had dinner at Up the Creek and the Oyster City Brewing Company Taproom, both of which were very good. Today we decided to head to Boss Oyster. At every restaurant, we have started with a dozen (or more) raw oysters on the half shell with lemon, horseradish and Crystal hot sauce. The oysters at Boss Oyster, and all the other restaurants, were not Apalachicola oysters, since none are available right now. But the Boss Oyster oysters were served on ice and were nice and cold, and were shucked so they were completely detached from the shell, so we gave them a" thumbs up" on the oysters. Unfortunately, the rest of the dinner, a basked of fried scallops and a basked of lemon pepper grilled shrimp, were mediocre at best, although the cheese grits were good. Where they really fell down in my estimation was their beer selection - with a great local brewery like Oyster City Brewery, their beer selection was limited to national brands available anywhere, and not even very good national brands!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Platter of raw oysters on the half shell! I had eaten one before we decided this deserved a picture!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Our table at Boss Oyster was on the deck, and we were once again treated to a great after- sunset view out over the Apalachicola River!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Tomorrow is another day of sightseeing, as there is still plenty left to occupy our time here! Marc has also ordered a new 11 pitch prop to help solve our planing issue, and the current plan is to pull <i>Daydream</i> on Wednesday to install the prop, try to fix the trim tabs, and install the Stingray3 fin (sort of a Doelfin / Permatrim work-alike). We are keeping our fingers crossed that this will get <i>Daydream</i> up on a plane, because it would be LONG day crossing the Gulf of Mexico to Steinhatchee at the speed we have been cruising!</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-35318769068736247752017-10-23T09:05:00.001-07:002017-10-23T09:05:51.876-07:00Second Port Day in Apalachicola - Waiting for Weather Window<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 205 - October 22, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We were awakened very early in the morning by the loudspeaker in Battery Park across the marina from us announcing "Racers, take your marks, get set," followed by a beep! It seems this morning was the day for the Apalachicola "Running for the Bay" Marathon! There were 5K, 10K, half marathon and full marathon categories, and the starter kept starting the various categories all morning! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">After our coffee, we had a very busy and full day with Marc and Anita Grove! Marc is the president of Wefings Marine in Eastpoint, and Anita is a City Commissioner and works for the State of Florida in management of the vast amount of </span><span style="color: #515151; font-family: "source sans pro" , sans-serif; font-size: 15.988px;">submerged lands and coastal uplands in Florida.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Marc picked us up at the marina in his golf cart and gave us a great tour of Apalachicola. We went to just about every section of the town (popuation about 3,000)! There are a lot of great Victorian homes in Apalachicola, but I didn't photograph any of them, maybe I will in the next day or two!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Oyster shells bagged up for seeding the oyster beds.</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Apalachicola shrimp fleet - Marc says not a good year for the shirmpers!<br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">After the tour, Marc took us to his home, where I got to try some of his homebrews in progress, both sours. They were in settling carboys and not carbonated, like still wine! He uses unfermented sweet wort from the Oyster City Brewing Company, and then ferments it with the yeast of his choices and finishes it. Both were very good, but I am partial to sours! He also gave me several cans of his favorite craft brews and a bottle of his own mead, which we will hang onto for a special occasion! Marc had also ordered a replacement iPhone 5 from Amazon for Patty, so we thanked him and paid him for it. It should be here Thursday.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Marc had made some ceviche and sliced a cucumber, which we had for lunch, and then we took Marc's golf cart back to the marina, which we will have to get around town for a few days, and Marc and Anita drove over in their pickup truck, and </span><span style="font-size: small;">we were off for a boat ride with Marc and Anita in one of the Wefings rental boats they keep at the marina.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">There are quite a few creeks and rivers that flow in and out of the Apalachicola River, and Marc I think knows them like the back of his hand. He told us where we were going, we might hear some banjos playing ala </span><i style="font-size: medium;">Deliverance</i><span style="font-size: small;">, because we would be deep in the woods! We did not hear any banjos, but we saw quite a few hunting camps, which are floating houses in various states of repair tied to the banks along the various waterways, where there might or might not be a little bit of dry ground on shore. It is all public land, so nobody has any rights in their upland improvements if any! I took a short iPhone video as we roared around the corners of one of the creeks hoping we did not meet anybody else coming the other direction!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">After the boat ride, Marc took Patty and me for a tour of Wefings Marine in Eastpoint., which is across the bridge about seven miles from Apalachicola. Wefings used to be a C-Dory dealer, and was one of the favorite dealers of C-Brats around the country, who would travel to Eastpoint to do business with Marc. That relationship has ended, which has left a bad taste in the collective mouths of most of us C-Brats. Wefings is now a Rosborough dealer, and the Rosborough is a considerably nicer boat than C-Dory anyway. Wefings also has other boat lines, including a gorgeous Twin Vee catamaran with a big Suzuki 300 hp outboard, and quite a few other fishing boats that Florida fishermen favor, and brokers used C-Dorys and Ranger Tugs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Marc looked through his inventory of propellers to see if he had one with a suitable lower pitch to help us get <i>Daydream</i> up on plane. He didn't, but he will have his parts guy order one tomorrow. I also bought a Doelfin / Permatrim work-alike, which should help us get on the plane. The plan is to pull the boat on a trailer when the prop arrives to install it and the fin. We are really hoping we will be able to cross the Gulf at 14 - 16 smph instead of 7!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Marc and Anita went home and we agreed to meet at the Oyster City Brewing Company Taproom for dinner. Golf cart</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">s are street legal in Apalachicola, which makes a great deal of sense in a small town like this, and we drove in, parked and got a table. Marc and Anita were along shortly, and we dined on raw oysters and "Duck Fries," which are not exactly poutine but have duck confit, crisped prosciutto, cracklins, and melted gruyere cheese over french fries, and they were pretty good! I had a pint each of two different Oyster City Brewery brews, which were pretty good!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">We thanked Marc and Anita for a great day, said goodnight, and Patty drove the golf cart back to the marina. We checked Eddie's Weather WAG for updates, and it now looks like the day to cross the Gulf will be Friday rather than Thursday. This will give us an extra day for the iPhone to be delivered and for the prop and fin to get installed. Baxter got one last walk in the park, and we hit the hay!</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-75459759895096432312017-10-22T06:33:00.001-07:002017-10-22T06:33:45.540-07:00First Port Day in Apalachicola - Waiting for Weather Window<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">DAY 204 - October 21, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We have at least until Thursday to wait for the weather window to cross the Gulf of Mexico, and we check Eddie's Weather WAG daily for updates. We don't want to get our fillings knocked out on the crossing, so as prudent mariners, we will wait!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">I took Baxter for a nice long walk first thing! We went out the board walk and around the park. He loves his walks, not just for the obvious reason - he enjoys being outside, walking, and mostly sniffing and marking just about everything. I enjoy my walks with Baxter too!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">The first thing we look forward to in a marina is a full shower, but unfortunately, there are no showers at the Battery Park Marina, so Patty put the blanket up and used the Helio for her shower. Then we</span><span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;"> had "Sunday breakfast" on Saturday! Most mornings while cruising it is coffee and toast, but when we are at a marina with power, we like to have something a little more substantial. This morning is was corned beef hash and eggs. Looks like we will have a few more days to have breakfast in the marina. I'm sure Patty will figure out something for variety, like pancakes, French toast, or Mexican hash, which is pork sausage, green chilies, diced potatoes scrambled with eggs doused with green sauce, one of our favorites!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">After catching up on emails and posting the blog, we walked up to the Piggly Wiggly supermarket, which is a little over half a mile. We bought about as much as we could carry. We know we will make at least one more trip. Marc Grove had mentioned loaning us a golf cart, which would make it a bit easier to carry, say, a four liters of box wine and half a rack of beer! I got excited when I saw the Piggly Wiggly smokehouse out in the parking lot, but they told me it was shut down pending some improvements required by the Health Department. I would have loved to try some of their BBQ!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">In the afternoon, we relaxed a bit, had our sundowners, and headed downtown for dinner. We chose a place on Water Street called Up the Creek Raw Bar based on the reviews, This is a different direction from the Piggly Wiggly, and took us right through downtown Apalachicola, which is a very compact and busy downtown. We look forward to walking around Monday and Tuesday, since there are a lot of shops, restaurants, and museums. I want to check out the Apalachicola Maritime Museum for sure, and probably the Art and Culture Museum. On the way we passed the historic place of business of Wefings in Apalachicola (Wefings Marine is now in Eastpoint across the bridge).</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Historic building formerly housing Wefings Marine Supplies, established 1909.<br />Wefings has deep roots in Apalachicola!</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We walked along Water Street, where there were quite a few boats along the creek, including a couple of shrimp boats.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Up the Creek Raw Bar was right up Water Street from the shrimp boat. The restaurant is upstairs, and has inside dining or dining on a covered deck.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">We chose to sit on the covered deck. At Up the Creek, you order at a counter, and they bring you the food, you get your condiments at a little condiment bar, and if you want more, you go back to the counter and order some more! We started out with a dozen raw oysters with lemon juice and horse radish, which were great, but not enough! So I had a fried flounder basket and Patty had the crab and lobster bisque and a side of hush puppies. I also had a couple of IPAs from the local brewery a couple of blocks down the street, which was also very good!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">While we were walking back, Barrett called to ask if it was good time to FaceTime, and by us, it is always a good time to FaceTime with Barrett and little Romy! So we sat on a bench in front of the Post Office downtown, and had a wonderful few minutes of FaceTime! It was a good thing that I had brought our Verizon Jetpack in my pocket, since our T-Mobile phones (now singular, more on that in a second) have zero service here. We bought the Jetpack back in Savannah, and it has been a lifesaver, since for most of the way since Savannah the only service we have had is T-Mobile WiFi with our iPhones connected to the Jetpack!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">Patty had taken the Anker PowerCore and a lightening cord to dinner, since the battery in her iPhone has been failing. Well, she won't have to put up with that battery any longer. While getting on board via the walk-around, somehow the iPhone got pulled out of her pocket with the lightening cord, the iPhone came off the cord, hit the walk-around, and went kerplop! I watched it happening as if in slow motion, feeling powerless to do anything to save it! Now Patty's iPhone sleeps with the fishes, and we have to find some way to replace it! I texted Marc Grove, and he will see if he can find where we might be able to replace it, but we are thinking it will probably be one of the larger cities down the west coast of Florida. Marc's comment was spot on: "Her T-Mobile iPhone works as well at the bottom of the marina as it does any place else around here!" </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif;">On the bright side, Marc and Anita invited us for brunch tomorrow, and we are really looking forward to that!</span></div>
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8072435998414593526.post-65924060911483964902017-10-21T11:22:00.000-07:002017-10-21T11:35:12.857-07:00Apalachicola!<div class="separator" style="background-color: white; clear: both; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-align: center;">
<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">This blog will chronicle our (Pat and Patty Anderson's)</b></div>
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<b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">cruising adventures </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">on </b><b style="color: blue; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif;">the Great Loop!</b></div>
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<u><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">DAY 203 - October 20, 2017</span></u></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We got up fairly early, and it was low tide when I took Baxter to shore. There was a whole lot more beach than there had been yesterday afternoon. I paddled around the corner from where I had previously landed Baxter, and there was a sandy beach with a picnic table, and it was a fair distance from the marsh grasses, Baxter was a happy camper!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The run to Apalachicola was 46 miles. We saw no alligators along the way, which makes exactly zero alligators we have seen except for the one baby gator back in the basin at River Forest Yacht Basin. Not that we are anxious to see alligators, but I thought for sure we would see some as we got close to Apalachicola! The ICW opens into Lake Wimico, and the outlet of Lake Wimico is the Apalachicola River.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We came down the river, and then made a sharp right turn up Scipio Creek to go to the Scipio Creek Marina fuel dock. This was challenging, as there was a lot of wind and current! But we got to the fuel dock, and filled the tank. For our entire cruise from Mobile to Apalachicola, a distance of 274 miles over 40 hours, mostly running at 2,400 RPMs and ~7 - 7.5 smph, we took 66 gallons of gas, for an average of 4.15 smpg and 1.65 gph. So far, we have traveled 4,905 miles in 772 hours of running time (engine hours, includes hours waiting at locks!). When we cross our wake, we'll do a wrap up on the vital statistics!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">We called Marc Grove, and he gave us directions to one of his slips at the Battery Park Marina, which is Apalachicola's municipal marina. We are in Slip 64. The slips here are the piling and fixed finger pier type. We got in OK, and have six lines, three on each side. We are bow in, so we have to use the walk-around to get on and off, but we just don't feel comfortable backing in with the outboards. This makes it interesting for Baxter to get on and off! We have been putting him in and out the front center opening window to the bow, then putting him on the finger pier. So far, he has not jumped or fallen off!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">This marina, we were told by the fuel dock attendant at the Scipio Creek fuel dock, is also known as the "Ten Foot Hole" by locals. The fuel dock attendant thought it was because it maintained a constant depth of ten feet - but if you Google "Ten Foor Hole," you will find another meaning for the term, which is probably not appropriate for a family oriented blog! Not sure where I read it, but I recall reading that it was formerly a barge staging area - don't know that for a fact though. I don't think many transient boaters stay here. The police chief is the dockmaster, and many of the Active Captain reviews say that even though they called the phone number for the PD, nobody came down to the marina to collect! There are no showers, and the restrooms in the Community Building in Battery Park do not have mirrors, soap dispensers or paper towel dispensers. But for us, free is a very good price! </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">The boat ramp is very active though! Marc launched a very nice Twin Vee catamaran to go out and shoot some promotional video, I assume for the Wefings website.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Reaching Apalachicola is a really a milestone for Loopers! Most wait here for the weather window to cross the Gulf of Mexico, either to Steinhatchee (shortest route) or Tarpon Springs (longest route). Most Loopers depend on Eddie's Weather WAG, a forum on the AGLCA site, for go no-go advice, Eddie is telling us that Thursday is our day:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: black;">For those Loopers who are ambling along the beaches of the Panhandle, mark your calendars for <span class="aBn" data-term="goog_223520980" style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(204, 204, 204); position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">October 26</span></span><sup>th </sup>(<span class="aBn" data-term="goog_223520981" style="border-bottom: 1px solid rgb(100, 100, 100); cursor: pointer; position: relative; top: -2px; z-index: 0;" tabindex="0"><span class="aQJ" style="position: relative; top: 2px; z-index: -1;">next Thursday</span></span></span>). It looks like King Neptune may tire of thrashing about in the Gulf by then, opening up a weather-window for us to cross the Gulf. </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">So Wednesday afternoon, we will motor the short distance between Apalachicola and Carrabelle behind St. George's Island to anchor there for the night so we will be ready for a 6:00 a.m. departure for Steinhatchee! This is about a 78 mile cruise, so at about 7 smph, we are going to be on the water for close to 11 hours, out of sight of land (this is the only part of the Loop where we will have been out of sight of land). From there, we think it will pretty much all be downhill until we cross our wake in La Belle!</span><br />
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Pat Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06491402874850334892noreply@blogger.com4