Florida
11 April 2015
and the end of cruising
A week of hard work had the boat looking as good as the day we set sail on this great adventure. The sole received two coats of varnish, the gallery counter tops as well. The deck was sanded, primed and painted. The topside scrubbed and waxed with poly glo. All exterior teak recoated. And let's not forget cleaning, cleaning, cleaning.
There is a large boating community at the Marathon municipal mooring field and we sold some items no longer needed on the morning net. Time to move on.
Leaving Marathon we sailed and motored when the wind died, anxious to reach our final destination. The entire trip to St Petersburg never saw over 40 feet in depth. The wind was light and seas settled so we didn't worry about finding a protected anchorage we just anchored of of lovely beaches at sunset.
In Fort Meyers Beach we picked up another municipal mooring ball. We enjoyed two wonderful evenings with friends we had met when we first started cruising, Ed and Benia, who just complete the Great Loop. We also had a gentleman fly in from London to look at our boat which resulted in an offer and we are currently in negotiations. When our week was up we moved on again.
First night after we anchored, we set up chairs to watch the sunset and had a distinctive green flash. The sun must have known it would be our last unobstructed sunset for some time and bid us a nice farewell. Our second night at anchor was spent at Egmont Key just at the out most edge of the entrance to Tampa Bay. This is where it all began on October 13th, 2009.
For our remainder aboard, we are at the St Pete municipal marina. A lovely spot downtown with a trolley to take us shopping and to museums. There is also a trolley that can take us to the gulf beaches and we might go visit my old condo complex and friends there. Saturday morning is a large downtown farmer's (and more) market. We are two blocks from a movie theater. Four from a supermarket. A perfect location for friends and family to visit and for us to prepare for our departure date.