Check the Malls....

Not us! We have absconded from our fiscal responsibilities of keeping the nations retailers in business and therefore the world economy...if you want to go the whole hog and take a 'global' view of things.

Instead, here we are sitting in the Salon, where it is a comfy 74.6F, watching the Christmas version of Ice Age:) We rather like those movies.
Anyway....I didn't tell you where we are watching this movie, did I?

We left the dock at just after 7am, this morning, swapping our 'digs' with a 60fter, whose captain dropped by just after 6.30am, to have a wee chat and to find out the details of how to get into the residential canal and take our place at the dock. This boat is getting some work done on it, so we are eventually going to take it's place at the Marina where it normally lives.

However....We thought Boxing Day (day after Christmas) would be a good time for us to go and anchor out for a few days and blow the cobwebs out, so to speak.

Waz had it in mind to go into Pelican Bay, at the bottom of Charlotte Harbor, and turn left before going out into the Gulf of Mexico, along the ICW. We parked there in April, for our first night out on the Loop.

First though, we had to get out of the residential canal while the tide was high enough to allow US to get out and the other boat to get in. We had coordinated with the captain that we would call him when we were out of the channel and safe, with some depths. His boat draws 5ft, and we draw 4ft 6". Hmmm

Well, last time I told you about getting in and out of this canal, I didn't have the photos. THIS TIME I have all the photos. It probably doesn't look as challenging as it actually is!
In April, when we left, we took the first 90 degree turn too wide and grounded momentarily. You will see from the chart plotter how little water we have to work with, in the channels.

Here we are, at just day break, leaving the residential canal.

Looking towards the harbor, up ahead.

 You can see how shallow it is...6.6ft

 We come to the end of the residential canal, and have to turn right. This is the corner we grounded on last time. We are staying closer to the rocks this time around, so Waz went wide to port first.

 WE are about 20-25 feet from the sea wall, which is borderline wide. We weren't churning up sand or mud, so we figgered we were just fine. We were! so far so good.

 still floating and half way

 nearly there....we are going to turn right into the other residential canal, then do a complete turn to set us up to go straight ahead down the channel out into the harbor.

 turning right...we hope it is deeper here...

 We aren't that far from the wall, here, on the starboard side.

 The sun is just coming up...

 You can see the channel out, behind us...

 We are now going north into the next residential canal over, to make our turnabout ..

 We are about to turn in this wider space....

 

Waz starts the turn to port (left)....this photo looking back. You can see that the canal isn't really THAT wide...it isn't, but it is sufficient for our purposes.

 Most of the way around....You can see the new Perspex, on the left. Waz just has two more sections of the pink to replace. What a difference the new tinted Perspex makes:)

 nearly there.....

 almost straight...

 ...and off we go! straight out into the harbor channel. We knew that the first two red markers on the left marked the shallowest portion of the channel....well, we had forgotten that MOST of the channel was shallow! Waz told me he saw a 3ft -something on the chart plotter...I was too busy taking photos! thank goodness.

 This was the only photo I got of the shallows. It looks like we are on land, doesn't it? :)

 and off we go...looking back down the second channel.

 Looking back to the fist canal and the seawall we had just come alongside.

 And we are off.

 In these shallow harbors, you MUST stick to the channels...there just isn't any water outside of them to literally Float your boat!

It had become cooler, the further out into the harbor we went, with a stiff easterly breeze. The water looks pretty smooth here, with just a slight ripple. The sky looks a bit oily.

 We can see the end  of Punta Gorda, ahead of us.

 

 We are now outside the channel that goes into the Residential canals. Only 5ft 2 inches!

 It is getting slightly deeper...

 This was the best of the sun that we saw all day.

Punta Gorda, to the left. Still shallow! We are still in the Peace River.

 Phew...finally some deeper water.

 Taking a right hand turn around the green marker, to go down the Harbor out of the River.

That was the last photo I took for a while. We didn't have far to go to get to our anchorage.
I wasn't too happy about the chosen anchorage....We didn't go in there last time, for a good reason...the entry is rather tricky, and it isn't marked with markers. There are long sand fingers reaching right out into the entry of the anchorage, which is called Pelican Bay. Last time we anchored just off the ICW, opposite Cabbage Key.
The water, by this time, was pretty choppy, and we were almost side on to the receding tide. I went downstairs to secure a few items I had forgotten to place on the floor before leaving the dock.

We arrived at the entry to Pelican Bay, and Waz slows right down, while we discuss what is meant by the instructions in one of the cruising books we have. I had to go below to the bathroom (of course), which left him at the helm to make the decision as to where to go into the bay. We could see through the Bino's that there were at least 5 yachts in there, which gave us hope...mostly they draw more water than us! What we couldn't see, because of the chop, was how far out the sand fingers went, into the entry.
While I was perched on the loo, the engines went into reverse and I could feel us going backwards pretty rapidly.
By the time I got back to the fly deck, he was out of gear and wondering what to do next.

We weren't too far from our favorite anchorage at Cape Haze, going north. We turned around in the middle of the narrow ICW, and as we turned we were surrounded by dozens of feeding Dolphin. It was truly a remarkable moment. They weren't interested in us, of course, so I went downstairs to the cockpit deck to try and get some photos. They aren't good ones...too many dolphin all around us and hard to decide which group to photograph!

 

This is the best photo....I counted at least 20!

 Can you make out the fin in the middle of the photo?:)

 More, out there.

 Can you see them?

 The chart shows pretty much the whole story...we came, we saw, we tried and rejected the attempt.

We crossed the harbor opening and motored north along Boca Grande Bay, along the ICW towards Cape Haze.

We called the Boca Grande Bridge, which is under contruction, and ascertained that the swing bridge opens on the hour and half hour. We initially accelerated, and then decided that we wouldn't make the half hour opening, and so we slowed to just 6 knots. We did spend 15 minutes marking time, waiting for the bridge to open. It opened on the hour, at 11am. We hadn't had any breakfast or food still....so the nuts came out....the bag of nuts!:) We did make coffee before taking the electric cord off the dock, however! Some things are very important, to start the day. We had anticipated being at Pelican Bay by mid morning, but of course, things changed!

 Don't you love it when people go out of their way to get into the spirit of things? This Christmas tree put a smile on our faces. Bridge under construction.

 At least they could open the bridge wide for us this time! When we came south, in November, we had very little room to negotiate the opening.

 Looking back.

Finally....You can see that we have been here before. Our favorite little anchorage and it was clear of any other boats. Yay! Putting down the anchor, we were so happy to be here again.

We enjoyed an early lunch and sat on the fly deck, getting sleepier and sleepier. We both put our heads down for an hour and snoozed. I guess Christmas had worn us out! Also the early morning...6 am starts are not normal for us right now.

I made some requested cinnamon pinwheel scones and we sat on the fly deck, at just after 4pm, and ate them along with a pot of tea.
However....while we were sitting minding our own business....the neighbors went out in this boat (below), and later returned. What they didn't do was tie the boat up. They drove it onto the boat lift on the left side, and left it there. They walked away.

Not long afterwards, the boat slipped backwards and out into the water, coming our way. We tore downstairs to get the dinghy off to retrieve the boat, but the owners saw what had happened and did their best to get the boat back....fortunate for all concerned.

You can see that the boat lift looks broken on the right side, but later they put the boat back on the lift and all appeared well...and tied up!:)

Just about this time, we had a 46ft Hunter yacht join us and put down anchor. It was the usual time that folks would come in for a night time anchorage, so it didn't surprise us. Just before sunset they took their anchor up and made their way back the way they had come...curious!

So, here we are on our lonesome, which is rather nice:) We wont outstay our welcome, but will move on on Monday, some time. We have to watch the tides, if we are going back up the harbor and into the Village Marina to dock.

We will probably be at the marina for the 1st of the year, and have been warned about the fireworks nearby. I promise to take photos...with the tripod, this time.

Ciao for now...it is 9.50pm, and time for bed.

Yes, Dorothy, There ARE hills in Florida!

I think we must have been up and down most of them in the past couple of days...seriously!
We used to think that the only  hills in Florida were the Trash Mountains, but motoring inland (in the car) towards Ocala, we actually went up and down hills to get there and back:) Quite something, I have to tell you!

And, you ask, why were we there?

We had gone north from Port Charlotte, to spend the weekend with our Aussie friends, Diane and Richard, whom we met while we were all tied to the marina dock in Grafton, Illinois, awaiting the receding of the swollen Mississippi River waters. Someone had told us that there were Aussies in the Marina, and of course we had to go and find them so that we could give and receive the normal greetings/hard time that is so common amongst those of us from Downunda.

What pleasure it was to meet others like us...not just from the Antipodes, but 'our kind of people' as the saying goes. They departed ahead of us and we seemed to miss each other by only a couple of miles (sometimes due to human error...but we aren't going to publicly shame anyone here:)) before finally catching up at Dog River Marina in Mobile Bay, Alabama. We were again left behind by them, only for us to pass them when they were holed up in the bay before our Ingram Bayou anchorage. We had spent time close enough to dinghy to each other's boats, but for some reason this wasn't known until afterwards. But these things happen!

We did actually take a look through the bino's at the boat sitting at anchor, and say something like "By gosh, that looks like Richard and Diane's boat"...but we didn't go into the bay to find out for sure...just reading about it days afterwards! duh!

Anyway, I digress per usual.

We had been told that we might like to visit them in their home (where they have lived for the past 26-ish years), and took this past weekend as the opportunity to do so.

They live just out of Tarpon Springs, which was our first port of call (literally) after crossing the Gulf in 2013, December. We didn't know them then, and they were not on the Loop yet, at that time.

Going back to Tarpon Springs in the car, was a totally different experience, although it was nice to revisit the Sponge Docks in the Old Greek part of the village. Like many tourist towns, there are fudge and ice-cream shops, and in this case the cafes served fabulous espresso/ latte et al, and the greek pastries are to die for. YES! we did buy and eat pastries. Except that mine was much too sweet and I left half of it. That was lunch, by the way....blech!:)

Sorry, I didn't take photos of the pastries...I think Waz did, but if you got back to the blog of last years visit, we did the same thing...yet...even the same café...and pastries for lunch. That would have been at the very beginning of December, me thinx.

We did go down to the waterfront to dine out with Richard and Diane for an early dinner, on Sunday night, and we walked the sponge docks then.

Sponges harvested from the Gulf of Mexico. This dates back to when the first Greeks arrived in the area.

 The traditional sponge dive boats were all along the waterfront.

 Christmas is everywhere, of course.

 Shrimp boats, much like all the others we have seen in the Gulf States.

 A statue dedicated to the early Sponge Divers.

Hand rolled Cuban Cigars for sale.

Sunday, we decided to go looking for a decent coffee, which we found directions to on the internet, as you do, and this funky shop..or should I say this shop with the funky artwork was opposite. Of course we had to investigate....and then further down the road was MORE stuff to look at...as you do:)

 If only Pigs COULD fly!:)

 Mom, these are for you!....(she loves chickens:)

 And I have a thing for Flamingo...

 One could find something to love here?

No, Richard is not a gift...although he really is, in so many ways, lol. He was very patient while the rest of us tootled in and out of the antique shops. This mauve throne rather suited him.

 I had to take a few pics inside for future reference. I LOVED this old door!

 ...and what home in Florida is complete without an Alligator skull?

 21 green bottles made up a 'chandelier'

 and bathtubs in abundance. We really don't need to be putting NEW things in our houses...plenty to recycle here.

We had gone out for a tiki-tour of Tarpon and surrounds, all of us, and enjoyed the rather flat light and warm day in the process.

 Looking out towards the Gulf of Mexico from Sunset Beach, Frank Howard Park. The light was fascinating...this was mid afternoon.

 The beach park is typical.

 Instead of going back to the house and THEN going out for dinner, we decided to have an early dinner at  Rusty Bellies. We enjoyed the mainly fish meal, looking out over the mangrove islands that make up the channel into Tarpon Springs docks, just down the road.

 This shrimper boat is owned by the restaurant and is parked right outside. We motored past this restaurant on our way up the channel to the marina at the end in 2013. It was challenging getting past all the moored shrimp boats at the time, then.

 Indoor and outdoor eating at the restaurant. Just a little cool for our liking.

 One of the boats moored nearby

 ..and looking a little further down through the mangrove islands on the main channel

 a better view is taken from the restaurant.

Well, it is bed time. I didn't sleep that well last night, so Im a bit tired and need my own bed, I think. I hate that feeling of being an old codger and needing my own...sheesh! Must be the creaky old body that carries me around:(

Tuesday tomorrow, and prep. for Christmas, I believe. We will see. I will need to get some food to tied us over the Chrissy period...but not going to buy a lot.

Ciao for now...and if I don't get to say so before Thursday...Have a fantastic family time on Christmas Day, and don't forget to be very thankful for ALL your blessings, this season.

Mele Kalikimaka (Hawaiian for Merry Christmas)