This blog is out of sequence. It should be between the Fort Myers Beach blog and the Everglades City Blog.
Buzz and I left Fort Myers Beach to go to Everglades City. The winds and waves picked up on the Gulf and we changed course and entered Naples, Fla. This is a very upscale community. The picture above is just one of the homes in this area.

We Anchored for the night in Goodland, Fla. This is the moon rising over the horizon. It was a beautiful anchorage. We left Goodland, entered the Gulf and went to Everglades City.

The picture above is another crab boat that is quite unique for this part of the country.

One of the tourist attractions is air boat rides. This is just a few of the many air boats on the river in Everglades City, Fla.

I took the dinghy and went into the everglades. This is a very narrow creek. Approximately 40 feet wide. On both sides are are mangroves. This is quite beautiful.

This is a close up of the root system of the mangroves. It is impossible to walk on the areas they grow in. Beautiful country......

Since my last update there has been a lot of excitement and very interesting sights to see. Buzz and I went into Everglades City. The picture above is on the river, in Everglades City. It is an interesting building.

This is a little restaurant on the river that is very unique.

This is a typical crab boat. Quite a bit different than what we have in the Neuse River. These guys crab for stone crabs, I think. They drop the pots off and leave them for a period of time and then pick them up and bring the entire craab pot back to the fish house and unload the pots and the crab house removes the stone crabs. You can see the full pots loaded on the boat. It is waiting to be unloaded.

Sorry for the double pictures. The top half is crab pots loaded on a boat ready to be carried into the Gulf. Notice the opening that the crabs enter the pot.

In Everglade City there were several thatch roofed buildings. Quite unique.

This is the Everglade City Rod and Gun Club. It is an old home that was converted to a hotel, marina in the 20's. It is a beautiful place. The "Pelican" is tied up along the bulkhead. What a lovely spot.

This is an old gas pump that is along the bulkhead. Very rare to find one of these today.

Duplicate picture.

Inside shot of the entrance to the Rod and Gun club .

Another Pelican just resting on a piling.

The bar inside the Rod and Gun Club.

Lounge area. Notice the aligator skin

This is a shot of the entrance from the street side.

This old truck is in the front of the Rod and Gun Club. The building behind the truck is the local bank.

Yours truly standing in front of the sign that people hang fish they catch. I did not have anything to show, just me. However I did have a snook break a lure off while fishing at night.

I'll do another blog with pictures of the Everglades taken while I took the dinghy for a trip into the glades.

This is one of the most intersting places I've visited. It is old Florida.

We left Everglade City Thursday morning when there was enough light to see how to get away from the dock. Shortly after leaving the dock, I took a marker on the wrong side and promptly ran agound. For the first time in my life I had to wait until the tide went totally down. The boat listed over 15 to 20 degrees and when the tide came back in we were finally able to float the boat again. We were in a place that tour boats, air boats and large ferries taking people to Key West came by frequently and everyone had an opportunity to see what NOT to do when departing Everglades City. I just waived and waited for the water to come up high enough to get underway again.

We did not enter the Gulf, to make the 80 mile trip to Key West until around 2:00. Murhpy's Law worked. About 2/3 of the way to Key West the wind picked up to around 20 knots and the seas were on our beam. I had to change directions and we spent the night, from 1:00 until dawn inside Harbor Key Bank. The anchor would not hold and we had to reset it 3 or 4 times. Finally it had it set enough that we were drifting only slightly and I was able to get some sleep. It was raining, windy and the weather was not cooperating at all.

We got underway to Key West around 8:00 this morning and traveled the 27 miles south back to Key West arriving around 2:00 with strong winds and seas. Right now I've seen enough of the Gulf. I'm ready for calm seas and light winds.

The following blog will go back to Everglade City. I'll show Key West in my next blog after this one, which will be in a couple of days as we are staying here until Sunday or Monday, when the weather gets better to travel north along the inside passage toward Miami. Alex Badger will be joining us Saturday afternoon for the trip through the keys north. That's going to be fun if the weather will cooperate.

This is Pelican Pass on the Island of Lacosta, which is between Sarasota and Ft. Myers. There approximately 40 boats anchored in this state park. I saw two other "Loopers". Below is the sunset, which was quite beautiful.

I left Pelican Pass on April 24th heading to Ft. Myers. I finally hit mile 0 of the Gulf Intercoastal Water Way, at Fr. Myers. I made a turn into the Gulf, which was quite choppy, and then turned into Ft. Myers Beach. I saw more boat traffic in this short run than any other place along the trip. The high winds and choppy seas did not keep people from boating. I'm at Ft. Myers Beach Marina and will be here until Buzz Hansen joins me on Monday. I have had a busy afternoon. I changed the engine oil and filter, changed a fuel filter to the engine and the fuel filter to the generator. I also washed the Pelican.

There are hundreds of boats in this immediate area. This is a picture of an Osprey sitting on top of a mast to a sailboat. This is a first for me.

This is a shot off the stern of the Pelican. The building to the left is Bonita Bills and just to the left of that is Doc Fords Rum Bar and Restaurant. Bonita Bills is totally open, everything is served on paper plates and you pay when you place your order. They have a good breakfast and good sandwiches. Live music. A real laid back place.

Just under the bridge are 70 plus mooring balls and there are lots of boats just on anchor. All shapes, sizes and conditions. For a boat lover this is quite a sight to see.

Across the waterway from the marina is a high end bar that also has live music that is quite loud. It can be heard very clearly on the Pelican.

This is a picture of Ft. Myers was I was on my way to Ft. Myers Beach. The picture below is Ft. Myers Beach. I did not get a picture of the Gambling Ship that docks just across the waterway before you get to the high end bar.

This is a pelican sitting on a piling just across from the "Pelican". I shot the picture just as it was flying away.

Buzz and I had planned to leave Monday, however the weather does not seem to want to cooperate. I expect it will be Tuesday before we depart for Everglade City. Therefore it may be a couple of days before I update the blog again.

Later,

Carl

This is a boat that was at anchor when I stayed, at anchor, at Long Beach. It is a steel hull, approximately 50 ' long and the name is THATSME. This guy came in, from the Gulf, dropped anchor and fished until dark. He left shortly after sunrise and went back into the Gulf. I like that boat and it's name. If you will notice he has planners to help stabilize it while underway and at anchor, if the seas are rolling. This is almost as pretty as the two girls I saw clamming today that were topless and one was bottomless also. Shortly afterward I ran aground, wonder why??? As I indicated earlier my next stop is Sarasota. I have a friend, that was a Legal Administrator in Raleigh 10 to 15 years ago, that now works in Sarasota. I called him and we had dinner Wednesday night. I stayed at Marina Jack's, which is a high end and quite expensive marina in Sarasota. The Sailor and Nurse Statue is just outside the marina.

This is a picture of the entrance, by car, to the Marina. Real class act.

This is the dock I was on. No other boats like the Pelican. However it was amazing how many people stopped by and wanted to see her. She is quite an attraction, even among the big dogs and I want to add has been DAMN GOOD TO ME on this trip.

After leaving Sarasota I went through another canal that was similar to parts of the Erie Canal.

Tonight, Thursday, April 22, 2010 I am anchored just off Manasota Key at Englewood Beach. This is a pretty place and I've fished this afternoon. I caught a couple of sea catfish and a snoop, I think that is what it was called. It pulled good and I let it go.

Just as I was getting ready to do this update a couple of dolphin came swimming by and splashed the boat.

The picture below is a 34' Marine Trader that is anchored next to me. Check out the dolphin fin.

As I've said over and over, this is a great trip and I'm have a fantastic time.

Later,

Carl

The picture above is a pretty rainbow, that did not show up well in the photo, over Clearwater.
The pictures below are of Clearwater Beach and Clearwater. This area is very heavily occupied.
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I'm leaving the Gulf Intercoastal Water Way (GIWW) and entering Tampa Bay. I'm going to St. Petersburg, Fla. In 1774 or 75 I worked for Grampion Marine and trailered a 23' sailboat to St. Pete. Boating Magazine did an article on the boat. I have not been back since. Things have changed so much I did not recognize anything from the 70's. The picture below is the bridge crossing Tampa Bay.

I'm tied up at St. Pete Municipal Marina looking out into Tampa Bay. This is a cruise liner that came past while I was there.

The next several pictures are of the bay area that the marina is in.

I left St. Pete this morning and am crossing Tampa Bay to connect with the GIWW. The following pictures are of the Tampa Bay Bridge. It is quite a structure. This bridge is named the "Skyway Bridge". In 1980 a ship hit a Coast Guard buoy tender and 23 coasties died. Five months later a bulk carrier (ship) hit the bridge and 35 people, that were on the bridge, drown. The Skyway Bridge is 15 miles long, the pass through span is 425' high at the top of the two cable towers.

Tonight I'm anchored in a little cove just off Longboat Key. That is just south of Bradenton Beach and approximately 8 to 10 miles from Sarasota. I'll stop in Sarasota and visit a friend Wednesday evening. Sarasota is the home of John Ringling, the founder of Ringling Circus

Later,

Carl

There has been a lot of water under the keel since I last did a blog. The picture above is the island between the sound and the Gulf Of Mexico. I'm on the Gulf side when I took this picture. It is around 10:45 AM on Friday the 16th.
If you notice there are houses on this island. A lot of retired people build homes on the islands and some life there full time. Now they are real sand lovers.
I left Carrabelle, Fla around 10:00 on the 16th to make the crossing to Clearwater, Fla. I had to wait a couple of days to get the right weather picture to make the trip. Buddy, at the Marina told me I had 2 days at the best. So I decided to make the trip straight to Clearwater, instead of going to visit several, out of the way, water communities and taking 3 days to make the Clearwater trip.
When I went into the Gulf it was a little bouncy, but it soon layed down and I traveled east for 20 miles or so and then turned south. At the most I was 40 miles off shore and traveled 167 miles before stopping.
The picture below is the first marker entering the Gulf.

Around mid day the wind died and the Gulf became very calm as the picture below shows. I never touched the wheel once I got into the Gulf. The Autopilot ran the boat all the way to Clearwater Municipal Marina.

Just before sunset I noticed Dolphins coming toward the boat from a couple of directions. Before it was over there were at least 30 Dolphin swimming beside and around the boat. What a beautiful sight. The following pictures are not great but were the best I could get. They were jumping out of the water and running right next to the hull, almost touching it.

The icing on the cake was the sunset, with the Dolphin playing.

After the sunset, they continued to swim along with me. What a beautiful sight.

The next picture is the sunrise this morning just off the cost of Clearwater Beach. I actually arrived at the Clearwater Municipal Marina around 10:00. Once I got here I crashed for an hour and then washed the salt off the boat. Last night was an interesting journey for me. It was a very dark night with only a sliver of moon and quite a few clouds. I had to trust my GPS to navigate the boat in the right direction, the Radar to show me any objects that were in the water ahead of me (There were quite a few shrimp boats anchored along the way) and of course the Autopilot to steer the boat on the right course. The wind, for the most parts, was relatively low and variable. I truly could not see what was ahead of me, partially because of the lights from the instruments in the pilothouse. If I was going to be do a lot of night traveling, I would have to make some arrangements to handle the light from the instruments. I actually put a towel over everything to see if it helped with my visibility, and it did.

(JOKE) I have my first health issue. After cleaning the boat I walked down the street from the Marina. Well, Clearwater is a vacation spot. I truly did not realize ladies swim suits were sooo small. WOW. I sunburned my eyeballs because I couldn't blink for watching the scenery. I might stay here a while. I truly am having a great time and seeing all types of scenery.

Later,

Carl