Happy Thanksgiving, all you Americans.

Yes, it is THAT time of year again.

This time last year we were stuck in Panama City, waiting for a weather window to cross the Gulf of Mexico.  I remember the cold snap with shocking wind chill, and having to turn the heat on inside the boat.

Well, some things don't change. Another cold snap has had us turning the heater on again:) It must be winter in Florida, because one day you are sweating in 86F with 90% humidity, and then overnight the temps drop 20 degrees and we have jeans and sweaters on again.

The ideal temps are like today. 74F inside the salon, but a cool wind blowing outside, which no doubt lowers the temps there.  We haven't been outside much today...being a cleanup day.

We have been waking around 9am, these last few days. I think we have suddenly 'hit the wall', both of us. No real desire to get out of bed, and much desire to snooze and snuggle in our dark lair. Dark because the windows in the bedroom are below ground height, and look out underneath the dock! We do see all those oysters growing on the seawall and the dock legs, though. Not that we would eat any of them!

Waz and I enjoyed a Wally's Ribs dinner, last night. It was the perfect end to a 'Do Nothing' day.

On Tuesday, we went south to Cape Coral to visit with Paula Sue and Todd, from Ocean Breeze. That boat is no safely tied to their new home dock! They had bought their Cape Coral home a couple of years ago, intending for it to be just a Winter retreat. They hadn't anticipated selling their home in the northern climes and relocating full time. Funny how things turn out, isn't it?

On the way to their place we stopped off at two JoAnn's stores to get what Olefin fabric, in Marine Blue color, that we could find. We need 21 yards of it for various projects on the boat. The most obvious one being replacing the Fender covers. This is the same fabric I used to make the Dinghy Cover!

We found enough fabric, coupled with the fabric we have already sourced elsewhere. I think we might just have our required yardage. Woohoo! I can start sewing!

We arrived at Paula Sue and Todd's a little early, around 11.15am. We had arranged to go out for lunch. It was great to re-connect, trade stories and get the .50c tour of their lovely home, just off the Caloosahatchee River, in Cape Coral, before hopping back in the car for the lunch date.

Apparently the Boat House Restaurant is well known, though PS and Todd hadn't been there before. Sitting outside, with quite a breeze blowing, was pleasant and comfy. The food was excellent and the service exemplary!

 The water on the River was VERY choppy, as you can see. This is typical Florida beach:)

Todd giving me the "What is taking you so long' gesture:)

 Paula Sue and Todd knew the waitress, who deserved a medal. She did everything right!

 He deigned to crack a smile...did the Captain:)

 NO! You don't want to fill THAT seat, Todd!!!

We drove around for an hour or more, looking at Real Estate. You think WE are bad...these two are worse!! Seriously!! lol. It is always interesting to see what is on offer in any of these towns and cities, and PS and T had done them all!
We happened upon a Farmers Market, which was a blessing, as I needed eggs (free range, farm eggs...whoohoo!) and a cabbage. I bought both...AND a German Christmas Stollen with marzipan inside AND two German Poppyseed twists from the German Baker.  First we visited the nearby Starbucks...this real estating is thirsty work!

We arrived back at PS and T's house just on 5pm. It is easy to forget, when you are retired and on vacation, that the rest of the world still works for a living, and the traffic was at THAT point in the day...Rush Hour.

Waz and I returned to Pt Charlotte along Highway 41, instead of going back along the freeway Hwy 75.

With a large lunch under our belts, we didn't much feel like a proper meal, so we had a light one. I made Waz a pork sandwich and I finished off my poppyseed twist! yum!

The days go by so fast, don't they?

Here it is, Saturday night, already, and Thanksgiving has come and gone. WOW!

We enjoyed a lovely Turkey meal with Stefie and Len and their guests in the evening. Mia (8 months) entertained all the adults in fine style before hitting the wall and needing a nap. She is very sociable and a real flirt!:) she is also big into jumping!

Friday ...yes, BLACK Friday, we went looking for some clothing at Bealls Outlet in Punta Gorda. Time to get me some size 14 jeans and shorts. I also found two tops I can wear this festive season. At least these ones don't hang on me:)  Mission accomplished! We also went to Fisherman's Village Marina to see if our friends John and Sara had arrived. The office told us they are due on the 1st December. We look forward to seeing them then.

It was cold with a freezing wind. This little fella (heron) was out of the wind, catching some Vit. D!

 We are out on the Breakwater at the Marina at Fisherman's Village, looking back towards the fuel dock. There are lots of gaps in the marina, and we can only think it is because the Loopers haven't arrived yet, or the normal Snowbirds, in their boats. The weather just has not been kind to those wanting to cross the Gulf, in the past two weeks. One other group crossed just after us, and they had a horrid ride, we heard. Not much fun at all.

 Looking back down Charlotte Harbor to the south

 Looking north to the bridge and beyond.

We have been busy doing 'stuff' on and to the boat, and today I even got the vacuum cleaner out again:) Not my favorite job, but it has to be done.

I also got the Sewing Machine out.
First up was some rope chafe guards. I have made these before, and perhaps made them too complex. Today's chafe guards were SIMPLE! I had some red Olefin fabric left over from another job (Windlass cover, before we started the loop), so I used that.
Next up was to cut out and sew the first of the new fender covers. I am making three red covers with blue detail...they look great! Will photograph when we have pumped up the fender some more. Have to find a pump first!

After a long and busy day, we had to go to JoAnn's for more sewing notions, so we decided to visit our friendly Chinese food folks and order dinner. We like paying less than $20 for a dinner that gives us both a lunch as well! now THAT is value for money!:)

Sitting at the dinner table, tonight, we mulled over some of the statistics from our Loop.

We thought some of you might be interested to know some of our stats. on the Loop, this past summer. Bear in mind that we are a 55ft motor yacht/trawler.
We journeyed a total of 5,228 statute miles (4,543 nautical miles) from Port Charlotte, FL, and return.
While we prefer to anchor out, it is necessary to Marina when we need food or we feel the marina is a good place to go out and about and tour other places from.
We spent 50% (exactly) of our nights in Marinas or on a mooring buoy, and the rest at anchor (obviously). Our 'nominal' cruising speed was 8.3 knots, with an average speed of (statute miles) 8.4mph ( 7.3 knots). . Our engine hours for the journey were 624, and Generator was 481 hrs. We used 4,176 gallons of Diesel at a cost of $15,800, with an average fuel cost of $3.78 per gallon. These are the numbers we can pin down so far. There are so many variables on a trip of this nature that it is hard to say that it will cost X to 'do' the loop for any one boat.
So many items are unplanned...like the $3,000 week in Midland, Georgian Bay, waiting to get our bent prop straightened...the cost included marina fees (7days) plus a new anchor (30kg  vs the 20kg we had on board), parts for the raw water pump, the prop. fixing, and haul-out.

Lots of incidentals to take into consideration and I will be interested to see the numbers when I finally get my year end Visa card statement which breaks all items down for me into categories. I love it! Nice to see exactly where we spent our dollars. So, those numbers will arrive in the new year.

More sewing tomorrow. Lets hope it is another lovely day. We took the curtains down to allow windflow and I set up on the cockpit deck...being cooler than the fly deck, which is a bit like a sauna at times.
 Ciao for now, and for this week. We hope those of you in the USA had a great Thanksgiving, and that you didn't get trampled in the Black Friday sales!

Earthbound things and Buying a Car!

Goodness! How easily one slots back into all things earthbound! And how interesting that when we have been somewhere, and return, we feel as if we have never left! Don't we?

Somehow it has all been a dream! or has it?

Anyway, enough navel gazing....We got the bikes off the boat pretty quick smart, as food was of paramount importance. We attached the red cart to the bike, (Waz's, of course) and took off down the road to the local Publix supermarket. Nice to know things haven't changed there!

We had to kind of rein ourselves in on the shopping list...to only those essentials...until we have wheels...of the motor'd kind. It was a heavy enough load, as it was. It is tough riding into the wind with a loaded cart on the back.

So, with all food put away...oh, this was Sunday, by the way....dinner got made and eaten, dishes washed, dried and we settled down to answer mail, and sort ourselves out. The boat looked a bit like a storm had gone through it...as it always does when we have been at anchor for a number of days...in this case for 6 nights.

We get so used to being at anchor....that we don't want to dock, anymore. Its a strange place to be, in your head, but it means giving up your independence, when you dock...anywhere. It means having neighbors....whether in a Marina or a residential canal.

Sorry...more navel gazing!

So, we couldn't rent a car until Wednesday. That meant we were busy.

We washed the boat on Saturday afternoon. Somehow knowing that would be our last opportunity, weather-wise, to do so...how right, THAT was!  Good to be sitting in a clean boat, however! Well, on the outside! don't ask about the inside...yet! Manana!

We have made lots of lists with all the THINGS we have to do, before March. Not pretty, but we must do them...and prioritize.

First up was to buy a vehicle. This has not been an easy decision. It meant we had to do some longer term planning than we felt comfy with.  What we didn't want to do was pay another $2,800 some, to rent a car for 5 months. We paid a pretty penny last year for a rental, and felt that it was money not well spent...however, we had no other option then. We do now!

We booked the rental car for 9am, from Enterprise. It was the only time we have been told, by Enterprise, that they couldn't pick us up (we are only 3 miles away!)...So, Stefie volunteered to drop us off at around 8.30am, bless her.

We drove up I75 to Bradenton, just south of Tampa, Fl. arriving at the car dealership mid morning. I had had an online conversation with the agent (salesman), Mike, after seeing this vehicle online, and reading all the details. It is a 2004 Honda Odyssey van with 51k miles on the clock. Apparently it has been used only in Florida, being owned by Snowbirds as their 'local' car. It has run less than 5k miles each winter for the past 10 yrs, being a one car owner. Lucky?? I guess!

Mike took us around to look at the Van, on the lot, and I also wanted to investigate the Honda Pilot and the CRV. Both turned out to have much less interior space (which is necessary for us) than the Odyssey. So, we negotiated on the Van. I hate this process... I like to give my best figure...cant be bothered with the too-ing and fro-ing! Anyway...we have to play the game!!!

The car price included all the taxes, fees et all which added another 2 grand to the price...Aieee!!!

We only have a certain amount of money, and that is all...short of winning the lottery. We negotiated down to what I was prepared to pay...and Waz volunteered a little more for the registration. Never having owned a vehicle (in the past 10 yrs) in the USA (previous vehicles had been leased) we had to buy new plates...this is VERY expensive! Crikey!


At least we have the plates, now.

Sorry...no opportunity to take photos...we were rather focused on the purchase of the vehicle!

So...the car needed to be detailed....and we volunteered to go for lunch while that took place.
IHOP was next door to the car dealership, so we went there...famished! Ordering took 5 mins (it was the deciding what to eat, that took the time) and once the food arrived at the table (oh, I did send the hash browns back...I had seen my meal sitting under the heat light for about 10 mins, and they were cold!), we tucked in. Problem arose when we smelled a nasty smokey smell. Looking up, we could see smoke billowing from an Aircon unit above the hostess station. It got worse...the smoke....and then we saw sparks coming out too! aieee!!! We dropped our cutlery and walked out with our hands over our mouths and noses...all that smoke!..choking and still belching from the aircon vent.

What blew us away, was that people in the dining room kept eating (one joined us outside) and the manager opened the previously locked emergency door to vent the smoke. At no time, while we were there, did anyone order the rest of the patrons outside, despite the fire in progress.

We went back to the dealership to collect the car...Now clean on the outside! They didn't bother with the inside, however.

On the way out the driveway, to come home, we noticed two fire engines with lights blazing, next door at IHOP...ha! What took management so long to summon them>? It had been at least 20 mins before we heard and then saw the engines coming down the main road.:)

So, Waz drove the new car home and I drove the rental...back to the rental agency. No further need for it, though we had it booked until the next day.

Oh, did I mention that it was FREEEEEEZING on Wednesday???? It barely got above 50F, it seemed. We had our warmest jackets on, not to mention the other layers.

The photo was taken on Thursday morning...a few degrees warmer, thankfully, and instead of 4 layers, I only had three!:) including but not limited to, my Kiwi Merino sweater.

The car dealer told me the car color is the same color as my eyes! Pale green/blue.

 

 

So, on the way home we went via the Bank for business. Couldn't do what we wanted, so would have to come back tomorrow with more info.

We had had enough, by then, so we just went home.

 

Thursday morning we had a few items on the list to complete, starting at the German Butchery. Remember those Kielbasa and Italian sausage we liked so much...put a bunch of them in the freezer, for out travels, back in April!!! The bank was next on the agenda, and we were able to achieve our goal there.

Next up was Home Depot....found some cleaner for the brown mustache on the boat...we hope.

Sam's Club, we found fruit, wine (celebratory!...we have a couple of visits to make) and a couple of other small items. I am always amazed at how much it costs to visit Sam's, lol.

We filled the van up with gas, at Sam's....the lovely dealer only put $20 worth in the car!

 

Staples for printer ink and paper...and then home...that was enough for one day.

 

Today we had to go to Venice (Florida) to visit my bank for more serious matters. We sorted all that out, got some lunch at the supermarket (sushi), visited BAM (Books A Million), which we love...always good to spend time in a book store!! and did some other Christmas shopping at Marshalls.  We had forgotten that we needed to get all our NZ parcels in the mail before the end of the month.

 

I spent  1 1/2 hrs wrapping all the goodies up, when we got home...while Waz took a nap!:) ...it is all ready to go to the P.O tomorrow.

 

Amazing how it can wear one out, all this driving and shopping and urgent business.

 

Thank goodness I had made a large cole slaw yesterday...we ate fish and slaw for dinner, after I had finished the Chrissy prezzies wrapping. No energy to do anything else.

 

So, here we are again...

 

We have been watching Netflix reruns of a series called Reckless, set in Charleston, Sth Carolina. We love the series and are sorry it is finished...arghhhh! Now what do we watch?? Big Bang Theory?? lol.

 

Ok..that's it!

Im off to enjoy a cup of tea. Ciao:)

 

 

 

 

 

'Home' is the sailor, home from the sea...

I hope you know the rest of that poem!! (just in case you don't......and the Hunter home from the Hills!)

Leaving our lovely anchorage at Cape Haze was tough. It was to be an especially early morning, as we had to have a high tide to go into the residential canal to tie up. Without that tide, we are stuck in the sand! High tide was 8.47am, but we wouldn't get there till almost an hour later.

I obviously have some salt spots on the camera lens...I took this pic looking back to the keyhole we were anchored in...6.15am-ish.

 Looking to the left (port) as we came back out into the ICW to continue south towards Charlotte Harbor. The sun is just coming up, as you can see. There is a little, light wind, as evidenced by the ripples on the water.

There was another Looper boat that parked with us last night...that is the AIS target in the keyhole. They left about 20 mins after us. Our goal was to make the Boca Grande bridge before 7am, when they would start opening on a schedule. Before 7am, they open on demand.
What we didn't know, was that the bridge is undergoing repair...hmmm.

We hailed the bridge and requested the opening. It was a little slow, so we marked time for five minutes. Then the bridge stopped here....We asked if that was as far as she was going to open...Yep! came the reply. Hmmm.....Back up the boat and take a sideways stab at this narrow opening. There was more wind going against us, at this point (see the water!), and we were being blown towards the sharp end of that open span. This is a no wake zone, so we were down to idle speed...Waz decided we would be blown into the bridge if we didn't give our baby some porridge so he upped the revs a few knotches. Of course we got through the narrow opening, and it wasn't until we were on the other side that we realized the extent of the opening problem..aieee! We hope no boats larger than us, would be going through there!

The span couldn't be opened further because of the scaffold on the center prop...it was kind of in the way!

Out the other side and between the narrow span of this defunct rail bridge, and out into the continuing ICW, southbound.

 Rising sun

We finally turned off the ICW into Charlotte Harbor. You can see it still isn't very deep:)
Boca Grand is to our stern (the Island) and we now have 2 1/2 hours of motoring up Charlotte Harbor to our turn off to the residential canals.

 It wasn't cold...much! Had to take a selfie on our last journey for about 6 months. We look a bit like penguins!lol.

Two hours later we are about to enter the VERY shallow canal into the residential canals.  We have figured out how to do this efficiently...get to where we need to be, that is. The canal straight ahead isn't the one we want to be in...that's the next one to the right.
Getting there involves us going straight ahead into the first canal to the middle of the channel, doing a 180 degree turn (didn't I tell you this before??) then a 90 degree turn to port to get around the sea wall...all the time hugging the sea wall (made the mistake of NOT doing that coming out, last time) and then another 90 degree turn to port to get into the HOME canal. Phew. Waz had me reading out the depths while he concentrated on the turns and where we should be in the channels. Then it was time to put the ropes down (I had previously, in Cape Haze, tied the ropes back on the starb'd railings ) for our berthing.

 Coming in off Charlotte Harbor...

I wasn't able to take photos coming along the sea wall coz I was too busy watching the lack of water under us, lol....However, we made it around the last corner, and down the home straight.

The neighbors down the canal came out to see us, and waved:) Nice to be back!!!:)

We already had three ropes on by the time Stefie came out to greet us. Fresh out of the shower, she hadn't expected us so soon:) so she was a little embarrassed that I was taking her photo while in a state of disrepair:) (only she was bothered by it!).

WOW! We are home!! wooohoooo!!!!

 

I had been a little weepy, on the way up the harbor. It hadn't really sunken (no puns intended here!) in that we had finished. I guess I hadn't considered crossing our wake 'finishing', but more that when we finally docked at Len and Stefie's that we would finally be complete...or have completed our Loop.

 

We have talked about getting out on some weekends and going to anchor out somewhere with friends off the loop who don't live so far away. We will have to consider this, just to keep our hand in and give us time out. We have a busy schedule ahead of us, for boat maintenance etc, and will need to observe weekends, we think. Otherwise, we tend to just work all the time and then wipe out.

 

Just going back a day...

We had woken on our first morning (second day) in Cape Haze to the sound of snorts. This usually alerts us to Dolphin surfacing, but this was different. These snorts were different, which immediately had us searching the water close by for Manatee:) We usually see them from a distance, but these snorts and the large wallowing bodies on the surface, were very up close and personal. Of course each time I went to take a photo, the bodies disappeared under water, so alas, no photos!:(

 

Then the Dolphin came in for their normal fishing expedition. They had been in to do the rounds, the night before. I wonder if they were the same ones? There had been much tail splashing near the sea wall, so we figgered they were catching something there, and then the whirlpools started. If you have ever seen Dolphin catching fish, you know how a few of them create a whirlpool to corral the fish, and then they swoop from below. Fascinating to watch first hand.:)

Took the dinghy off the boat for an outing. It was cold with the wind against us, but we wanted to get off the boat and get some idea of the neighborhood, which we like...the neighborhood, that is...oh, and getting off the boat... for a Tiki-tour!:)

 

We decided to go across to Don Pedro State Park, one of the parks on the Barrier Island opposite us. Getting there involved us tiki-touring through a residential canal, under a bridge (that takes you onto the island we are parked next to) and then around the island, into the ICW, across that into a Manatee Zone, where we went between the mangroves, watching Osprey fishing (delightful!) and on to the dock at Don Pedro State Park.

 

That's one of the Dolphin doing the rounds of the keyhole anchorage.

I like to take photos of 'Untide' when we leave her somewhere. This is for a couple of reasons...1. We know where we left her, in case of trouble...well, all kinds of trouble, actually! I am sure you can figger out most of that! and I like to show where we have been, as it were:) This is the Keyhole at Cape Haze.

...and this is the residential canal that leads off the Keyhole and down a rabbit hole...just joking! Those folks coming towards us in a dinghy, were off one of the boats that anchored overnight. They were gone when we returned to the boat after our Don Pedro assignation.

Some idiot planted a large Ficus next to the sea wall! duh!

 Coming out the other end of the canal. As you can see, an overcast day. What you cant feel is the cold wind!

 There is a demi lune on the other side of the island, where lots of nice but ordinary homes  cost six arms and five legs.

We crossed the ICW and entered the Manatee Zone. You can almost see the signpost! Waz knew it was there, but I had obviously missed it, as we came past the first time in Untide.

 I love Mangroves...sounds weird, but they are home to the most amazing eco-systems.

 The birthday boy almost cracked a smile:) He hates being the subject of all my photos:) But he doesn't take any of me, so you are stuck with his mug, I'm afraid.

An Osprey on the wing. We counted 5, actively fishing, at 3.30pm.

It was snail pace motoring through the little lagoon to the dock at Don Pedro Island.

The challenge for us was...no dinghy dock...so we had to put our bums on the dock first and hoist ourselves up. For me this was a bit creaky...my misspent youth has caught up with me, physically!

 It was cold by the water, so we kept our gear on. Waz is contemplating the clear brown (tanins) water under the dock.

The sign said "Welcome to the REAL Florida". We are a little perplexed! We thought the REAL Florida was populated by folks wheeling their oxygen tanks....I jest, of course, but this vegetation, if in fast is what most of Florida USED to look like...well, it still does, really. Scrubby!

The State Park has a pavilion for shelter from the hot summer sun, and rain when it does (if it does) and on the other side is the Gulf Beach.

The ubiquitous Grills and picnic tables were there. Also the trash cans. I guess people cant be trusted to leave with what they brought?

 The sign says...Nature Trail.

We are at #2., but this shows the whole area including how close we are to Charlotte Harbor.

 

 

As usual, dunes are protected, so we walked on the boardwalk to the beach on the Gulf side of the island. We were very glad not to be out on the water this day, even though we would be going with the swell and tide.

A sand piper was actively fishing

and these two Pelicans looked like two old men having a slow walk and conversation:)

A group of people were fishing from their pontoon boat. I rather like the social aspect of having a pontoon boat...they fit many people...this of course is cause for the Captain to snort in his teacup!:) In my dreams, right! lol

 Going back the same way...the color is much better because you might have noticed that the sun has come out and the sky is now BLUE!!! the wind was cool still, though.

 On the way back to Untide, we passed this home with lots of toys. We thought they should have had a few more...what do you think??..enough engines on that fishing boat?? why not add another!!:)
Ok, just being silly!

 

 This will do it for us...especially the hammock under the palm tree!

 Can you see us??? This was taken from the middle of the ICW...but we weren't going back to the boat just yet...Other residential canals beckoned and we just HAD to go look and see if there were any houses for sale...or vacant lots that looked like we might own it! Just joking! We can dream, cant we? Not quite ready to be earth bound, me thinx.

 ..and then we decided it must be Tea Time somewhere, being 4.30pm, and we had our tongues hanging out for such things.

We heard an Osprey going crazy, vocally, and looked up to discover why...here is why! A Bald Eagle is sitting in the Osprey's tree!...well, that's what it looked like! Osprey settled for a branch nearby and continued to chirrup and squark.

 

And so we had our cup of tea, Waz took a short nap, and I set about making him a yummy dinner for his 61st Birthday.

We had some apples that had passed their best, so I made an Apple cobbler (crumble, to the kiwis) with them, and for dinner I made a Taragon Chicken Fettucine with lots of parmesan on top. It was very yummy, and there was enough left over for lunch for Waz the next day.

The crumble was served with lashings of sloppy whipped cream, of course:) By now, dear reader, you should know that almost everything comes with lashings of whipped cream. We did find, at our last supermarket visit, that cream is a bit more expensive, in Florida than some places we have been:(

 

 

So, dinner was consumed, the dishes washed and put away, and we settled in for our final night at anchor for a long while.

I had to include at least one sunset photo in this blog post. I took this our last night in Cape Haze. 

 

Well, first  I have to show you the cobbler...THEN the sunset!:) 

 

 

Here it is...our last sunset at anchor for 2014

 

...and that dear friends, is THAT. We are home and tied up (not Untide, anymore:( ) but happy to be here and enjoying sleeping in a little...emphasis on the little...it will get later than our normal 5am wake-up, I promise:)

Ciao...I will update periodically.