Sailing aboard Links

04 January 2017 | Vero Beach, Fort Myers, Cape Coral, Fort Myers Beach FL
22 November 2016 | Vero Beach City Marina mooring field
01 November 2016 | Puerto Plato aboard Fathom Adonia Cruise Ship
01 July 2016 | Puerto Plato aboard Fatham Adonia cruise ship
26 April 2016 | Okeechobee Waterway
20 March 2016 | Cayo Costa to/from Clearwater Beach
17 February 2016 | Along the Gulf of Mexico
30 January 2016 | Boot Key Harbor
13 January 2016 | Boot Key Harbor
24 December 2015 | Vaca Key
19 December 2015 | Boot Key Harbor
08 December 2015 | Boot Key Harbor
02 December 2015 | Marathon Marina
01 December 2015 | Boot Key Harbor
27 November 2015 | Tarpon Basin at Key Largo
23 November 2015 | Tarpon Basin at Key Largo
22 November 2015 | Tarpon Basin at Key Largo
18 November 2015 | Peck Lake
13 November 2015 | Mullet Creek
07 November 2015 | San Marcos mooring field of St Augustine Municipal Marina

Love the Gulf Coast of Florida

20 March 2016 | Cayo Costa to/from Clearwater Beach
Jill / sunny and calm morning on Pelican Bay
It's hard to believe it's been a month since we were anchored in Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa State Park. Cayo Costa is one of the largest unspoiled barrier islands in Florida along the gulf coast at the northern end of Pine Island Sound and can only be accessed by boat. Locals and tourists enjoy the protected bay and sand spit in addition to the sandy beach along the gulf with hiking trails and primitive campsites and rustic cabins on the island. We enjoyed a wonderful dinghy ride thru the mangroves in the Tunnel of Love that was scenic and very cool! There are so many reasons why Cayo Costa is one of our favorite anchorages!

A month ago, we traveled north along the gulf coast and explored lots of new places with each stop having its own special flair and charm. When we left Cayo Costa, it was a pretty bumpy ride across Charlotte Harbor with wind and seas on our beam (side), but watching dolphins, raising our sails, and seeing car ferries cross the ICW between the boats, we forgot all about how yucky it was earlier in the day.

The places we visited included Englewood Beach, Sarasota, St. Petersburg, Gulfport, Madiera Beach, Clearwater Beach (the farthest north that we traveled along the gulf coast), Longboat Key, Sarasota, Englewood, Cape Haze, and back to Cayo Costa.

We enjoyed a great sail across Tampa Bay and under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge on our trip north, and had a great sail on the Gulf of Mexico and across Tampa Bay on our trip south. Our sails were raised other days, but these were the longest days of pure sailing.

The dolphins always capture our hearts whenever we see them jumping and swimming, especially when they swim near our boat and at our bow. Truly awesome to watch! One morning we watched a raccoon walking along the beach looking for breakfast. It's also exciting to watch pelicans, cormorants, ibis, and all the other beautiful birds as they float in the water or fly overhead.

Some of our special times were when we got together with friends. It was great to visit with Ron and Marilyn in Sarasota, Mike and Cindy in Gulfport, Rich and Sheila and Greg and Suzanne on Longboat Key, and Bill and Linda in Sarasota.

One of the cool things about cruising to different places is seeing familiar boats along the way and at our various anchorages – most often s/v Last Waltz and m/v Dubhe. We started seeing Bob and Monique on s/v Last Waltz in the Ten Thousand Islands and since then we've all become good friends and shared lots of good times on each others boats.

As you know, we've been traveling with a buddy boat, s/v SeaQuest, which is a boat identical to our boat. We're now commonly known as “the Gemini Twins” to other boaters, which is pretty funny. Needless to say, we have the best times with Bud and Jen! Tim and Bud get their captain heads together to discuss our travel plans and anchorages, and first mates Jen and I happily accept their decisions (well, most times). During the day, we mostly do our own things – Bud and Jen like to fish and Tim and I like to walk along the beach - and we all like to explore the areas by dinghy. Almost every evening we get together for dinner and games and there's always lots of food and laughter and good times. Bud and Jen are truly the best boat buddies ever and they're the “salt of the earth”. We'll miss them so much when we go our separate way, but fortunately that's not for another couple of weeks.

It's been fun gathering sea shells and sharks teeth at the various beaches and making pine needle baskets, a craft that we learned in Marathon. We never get tired of looking at the incredible beauty all around us! There are lots of pictures in the web album, so click on the link in the panel to the right to see pictures of our fun trip.

Well, the sun has risen so it's soon time to go exploring thru the mangroves in our dinghy and walk along the nature trails at Cayo Costa State Park.
Comments
Vessel Name: Links
Vessel Make/Model: Gemini 105Mc, Sailing Catamaran
Hailing Port: Taylors Island MD
Crew: Tim and Jill
About: We enjoy sailing and cruising around the Chesapeake Bay and the Delmarva Peninsula on our sailing vessel named Links. Every other year we become snowbirds and spend winters in Florida. We visit wonderful places and meet friendly people everywhere we travel. Life is good!
Extra: It's as much about the journey as it is the destination!

Profile for S/V Links

Who: Tim and Jill
Port: Taylors Island MD