First, without a personal hotspot on our boat, it can be difficult to make daily posts to our blog. We have to depend on either unsecured wifi signals or be able to use a signal provided by a marina/mooring ball field in which we are staying during our trip. At times, we can also use an xfinity/Comcast signal if it is strong enough. We are now at Marina Jack’s in Sarasota and can get up to date.
April 7 – Cape Haze
We have been having beautiful weather the first week and this morning was, by far, the best. How can you complain about low 60’s at night and mid- to upper-70’s during the day, with bright sunshine? To take advantage of the weather and to avoid the volume of boats and people at the State Park, we headed over to the State Park at 9:30 am and much to our surprise, there were no boats at the dock and no people, except for a few residents on the beach. Great time for a walk and, of course, a search for sharks’ teeth. As a result of our three days on the beach, 677 teeth!
We had originally planned to leave that morning for Sarasota, but stayed an extra day to meet up with our close friend, Patty, and her boating companion, Marc, traveling on his Catalina 38. They had been in Pelican Bay for a week and are traveling north to experience the West Coast of Florida. They arrived mid-afternoon and invited us over for her martinis and “niblets” for cocktail hour. As has been our experience with her in the past, this equates to dinner. We also got to meet Marc who has brought his boat down single-handed from Cleveland. Quite an accomplishment.
April 8 – Otter Key
We left Cape Haze early Friday morning on another beautiful day. Because the wind was predicted to build during that night and over the weekend, we decided to spend an overnight behind Otter Key, which is near the Sarasota Yacht Club and Big Sarasota Pass. We have stayed there many nights in the past as it offers wonderful protection from most directions. The wind did build but the water remained quiet. The trip up took about eight hours and we had to deal with an adverse current a majority of the time. Still, it gave Patty and me the time to “catch up.”
April 9 – Marina Jack’s
The weekend forecast for wind was accurate. We had reserved a mooring ball at Marina Jack’s for Saturday through Monday night. It was blowing up to 20 mph when we left Otter Key Saturday morning. We checked with the marina before we left to make certain our mooring ball was empty. While having breakfast in our cockpit that morning, we were entertained by a dolphin who was playing with a fish he had caught just behind our boat. At one point, the dolphin breached and cleared the water just 30 feet off our stern. We picked up our mooring ball around noon and after a bite of lunch, dinghied in, checked in, had a shower, and went to the lounge to watch some of the Masters. The wind continued through early evening and then shifted directions and calmed down during the night. Until then, it was a bit bouncy but attached to the ball, we had no concerns.