Sailing Adventures with Beth and Mike

Day 5 – Time to head back (sigh). Since we had to motor anyway, we decided to head up the ICW to Tampa Bay rather than heading out to the Gulf and then up. The ICW is much harder (I think) because the channel is quite narrow. You constantly have to watch your depth or you can suddenly find yourself in 2 feet of water!

After the ‘boat shutdown’, we headed back to the house. Steve did the grocery shopping and the rest of us took naps – exhausted from all that lounging around the boat! Dinner at Catch 23. After dinner, a glimpse into the photos Beth and Mike had taken – they made us a CD of all the pictures! It was great fun having them come to visit!

Here's glimpse into the trip:

Day 4 - …we stayed for another day! Since the wind was now coming from the north, we took a day off (quite unusual for us). Steve ‘pottered about’, Mike made kielbasa scrambles for breakfast, I made more pickles, and we all enjoyed a beautiful sunny day.

We took the kayak over to the restaurant for lunch (Steve, Mike, and I) and brought back lunch for Beth – who wasn’t into kayaking. Steve tested the water a bit and we decided a new ladder is in order – he was also a pro with the paddling. The evening consisted of a paella dinner and dancing on the deck.

Day 3 – Longboat Key. The wind would have been fantastic for heading south today, but it was terrible for heading north tomorrow so we decided to make a short hop up to Longboat Key.

Seafood fajitas were cooked en route, with much lounging around on deck and reading. We came under the bridge at Longboat Key and managed to stay in the channel all the way to the anchorage! After anchoring, we inflated the blow-up kayak and Mike and I prepped it for a test drive. Steve said I couldn’t go on it without a life jacket. Definitely have to be careful stepping onto it, and you get a very wet bottom, but otherwise it’s lots of fun. We went over to the little beachside restaurant, had a drink, and brought back appetizers for Steve and Beth. (Steve did go out for a trial run and agreed to a ‘real kayak’ – yippee!

Mike made dinner – 2 kinds of kielbasa from California and very spicy fried potatoes – they were very good with sour cream.

Longboat Key is a fantastic place to anchor so…

Day 2 - Sailing with Beth and Mike

Day 2 – Manatee River to Venice. Beautiful sunny day with the wind pushing us south. Beth sat on the rear deck all afternoon just enjoying the view out to sea (think big sunburn!). It was a bit wavy coming into Venice, but once past the entry rocks the water calmed right down. We had been to Venice last year so had no problems making our way to ‘our’ spot – head down the channel, into the ICW, into another channel, make sharp right, head up into the wind…and SQOOSH, right into the mud. Oh no, we were aground!

After a great deal of engine reversing and moving people from one side of the boat to the other, Mike (what a hero!) walked the anchor so we could try winching the boat off by pulling against the anchor. We watched march out anchor on his shoulder and with every step sink lower and lower, moving slower and slower, as the anchor (and chain) got heavier and heavier. That shifted the boat around a bit, but we were still stuck – time to call Towboat US.




A tiny little red tugboat arrived (it looked like it should be in someone’s bathtub) and pulled us off the shoal in about 3 minutes! After finding out that the inn was full (there were no slips at the Crow’s Nest Marina), the nice man from Towboat US took us back to ‘our’ spot and helped us anchor in a less muddy location. Don’t know if it’s true or not, but he did make us feel better by saying the anchorage was shallower than he had seen it in years.

A deck dinner with wine and grilled Mahi-Mahi was well deserved and enjoyed by all!

Sailing with Beth and Mike - St. Pete to Venice and Back Again

Beth and Mike drove down from Alabama / Atlanta to join us for a few days of sailing.

Day 1 – Made it out of the slip! We cruised down Tampa Bay, it was a bit blustery after going under the Skyway Bridge. After an easy (that’s a first!) trip up the Manatee River, we anchored in our favourite place – a little cove on the edge of the river right next to a state park. Cocktails on the deck with Steak ala Florentine for dinner down below. Beth and Mike settled into sailing nicely!

Twenty Years from Now...

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.
- Mark Twain

Wishing Away the Present

This isn't just about waiting to go sailing, it's about really enjoying what we're doing when we're doing it. Over the next year, we'll get ready to go and do a lot of planning and preparation for the sailing trip - but we'll do a lot of other good things too! We need to capture and enjoy the present, as well as looking forward to the future.

Weekend Recap – Thursday night in London with Steve, we went to the Cross Keys for dinner, ate in the restaurant rather than the pub, but had a really nice meal.

Friday Steve was up early to go to Newport and I took the 9:46 to Preston. The train was cancelled at Warrington due to a gas leak, but David was kind enough to come down and get me there rather than at Preston. Made it up to Highcroft in time for my conference call and there were chicken wings there! Steve made it up at around 8:30 and after the restaurant / eat in debate, we had a lovely leftover chicken cacciatore in the dining room.

Saturday we had breakfast at the market and then did the shopping. Went much smaller on the cheese so we wouldn't feel so bad about throwing it away. And finally found something that the market didn’t have, onion powder – although I think if we’d gone off our usual track we would have found some! Wrangled a trip to Clitheroe out of Steve to visit the great wine shop there and pick up a bottle of J. Lohr and a ‘spring case’. Steve headed off for a latte and I had a rummage around Dawsons, a house ‘stuff’ shop. Loads to look at and lots of things that don’t require power (very good for the boat). Found a yogurt maker so will be giving that a try next weekend before we cart it over to the US. Then back to the house for Steve’s nap while I tested out a new bread recipe (note to self, do not put lots of honey in a sweet roll, it boils over and makes a huge mess of the oven!).

While we were in Florence, we had the most amazing meal. Bissteccia ala Florentine is a t-bone steak, extra thick, for two – very tender and very tasty. I found a recipe online and we gave it a try. It was delicious and has definitely made the list!

On Sunday, after a wait for it to warm up a bit, we went for a motorbike ride. Over to Hurst Green, through Waddington and on up to Settle for a bite. Steve had a monstrous Cumberland sausage sandwich and although they weren’t serving breakfast, they were serving bacon and egg sandwiches! Nice leisurely ride back (more new roads), a bath and a nap for Steve. I worked on the Mom and Dad trip reservations, placed the Tesco order for next weekend, ordered a book, and surfed the sailing blogs. Steve made a wonderful red snapper with tomatoes, onions, peppers with mayo (who knew?) and creole seasoning cooked in tin foil for dinner. Enjoyed with a bottle of J. Lohr and lots of sailing talk.

Up at 4:30 Monday for my trip north to Glasgow and Steve’s trip south to London...