CRYSTAL RIVER March 14, 2009

Staying at a Marina with a professional fleet provides lots of activity and excitement! Staying in Clearwater Marina with a Fishing Fleet in particular provides an alarm clock. At 5:30 the diesel engines roared out of the harbor. That is A.M. They beat both the sun and the birds up! The far dock with the small warehouses is what it looked like when we got up at 8:30 a.m. No boats!

We decide to spend a little time in Clearwater before starting for Crystal River - home. Tom unloads our bikes from the port side of Catrina and leads the way north up the Island. We take back roads when possible to avoid the main drag. Many of the buildings are rentals or high rises but as we get further from the center of town, we see single homes. At the far end we find a bike rack and trail to the beach.


This beach is not groomed as in the town center area and it does not have all the amusements. It is natural and beautiful and well used by walkers.

And here is a walker you should know.


On the land side of Clearwater Island, the houses are right at the water’s edge.


Under the bridge for cars and buses from the mainland is a special bridge just for walkers and bikers.


From the mainland bridge it is easy to find Catrina if you look for our maroon sail cover


We return our bathroom keys, load bikes and start taking off all the lines. Debbie gets help from a fellow sailor to hold one end of Catrina to the upwind side of our slot as Tom backs up. The tide and wind are working against us and moving us toward the boat sharing our slot and behind the center piling.


About 11 as we motor out to the Gulf, we see a family who came prepared to stay a long time on the beach.


I think we have just sailed to Disneyland. Look at what approaches us as we sail out into the Gulf.


It is quite a vessel and moves right along without sails. We should be safe as it is not black like a pirate ship!



About noon we do it again. We hooked a crab trap on our port motor. Tom pulls the motor up and is able to cut the line. The trap and the buoy are off but he cannot unwrap some of the line. So under the boat he goes with knife. That solved, we decide to put up the spinnaker. It takes a lot of adjusting to set up correctly.



Tom works out front hooking up the spinnaker. Debbie raises the spinnaker halyard. Then Debbie runs the sheet (line) inside and Tom adjusts the leading line at the front of the boat. In the picture above you can just see the bikes along the port side.


Starting at Tarpon Springs about 15 miles above Clearwater, the Gulf is covered with crab traps. One of us must be on watch at all times even though we have the boat on autopilot. We also have to look out for the Boats like the Viking Star at Anclote Island.


We decide to run a motor to complement the main sail and spinnaker so that we can keep our speed close to 7 mph. If we hold this speed, we get home before midnight.

While we have it hooked up, we wanted to show you our life support - the Honda Generator. If we did not have it, we would not have TV, Computer, Microwave, Refrigerator (when we run out of propane) or Lights. Besides being very useful, it is very pretty! Our batteries have very little storage area so we use a generator more often than most boats. Or maybe we use our toys (TV, Computer, Microwave, Refrigerator and Lights) more often than other boats!

About 5:30 we pick up another crab trap this time on our starboard motor. Tom says the water is a lot colder! Maybe next time he will wear a bathing suit!

All afternoon the water is covered with little white spots, everywhere. Crab Trap Buoys! Debbie is so frustrated. Sometimes the white spots move and fly away. Gulls! The markers are so close together. Many times, Debbie has to take the boat off autopilot and change course. Tom has set our course far from land (over 10 miles) and at last we have water which rarely is covered with White Markers!!

For dinner we have a gourmet selection of canned food that can be cooked in the microwave. Remember the stove runs on propane. Tonight we have Chili with Beans, Asparagus and Peaches! Meat, CHO, Vegetable and Fruit - Delicious! Colorful! Tasty!

The sun sets at 7:30 and soon we are sailing in darkness.

At about 11 p.m. as Tom predicted, we sailed up the Crystal River (against a strong tide) and into our canal! We almost did not make it and had to plow through (2 feet 8 inches depth in sand) the canal entrance! What a welcome home! Home Sweet Home.

We end the Keys Trip after 40 days and about 800 miles to return home and regroup. Our mileage count is 3,200 miles. Thanks for your interested reading. We will probably return in May or after when we take off on another adventure!

CLEARWATER March 13, 2009

Catrina said goodbye to Cynthia Faye and Venice at 8 and motored out into the Gulf. Unfortunately, the water was mirror smooth and stayed that way most of the day except when a motor boat roared by. In Venice the Sun rises about 8 a.m.



The most eventful adventure happened about 10 a.m. off Sarasota. We caught a crab trap. The boat slowed down drastically. Debbie shut the engines down. Tom disappeared under the boat with a knife. I don’t know what the fishing boat thought when a nude man came up Catrina’s back steps carrying a knife! Sorry, no picture. Mission Accomplished!

After that, the day was quite quiet. We were passed by a Big Black Motor Boat.



Parasailing is becoming popular. A motor boat pulls the “sailer” into the air and then slowly moves him around. When he wants to come down, the boat slows and the parachute moves toward the water. The sailer and then the parachute are pulled into the boat.



We pass under the bridge from the Gulf and go behind Clearwater Island about 5:30 p.m.


The Dolphin Encounter is on the way out.


So is the Thriller.


Clearwater Island can be reached by a bridge from the Mainland.


Our home for the tonight is the Clearwater City Marina at double the price of 5 years ago! We decided to stay one night only. A wonderful shower, dinner on the strip with the college breakers (a reality event) and a boardwalk route home to Catrina.

Did I mention that we have Dinner Cruise Ship at the Shore End of our dock? No one walked in front of us. They debarked 3 boats away from us!

Catrina is docked nexted to a Gemini. We look big!

VENICE March 9, 2009

In the morning our overnight home at Cayo Costa Island is Peaceful, Sunny and Windless. We are not sure how far we will venture today as we start up the Gulf Coast. Our neighbor leaves before we do. She looks a little like a PDQ but we are not sure.

We pass a second sailboat as we head to Cabo Grande.

Cabo Grande is at the opening to Charlotte Bay where we dropped anchor on the way down.

We pass the Cabo Grande Lighthouse. The beaches are covered with people.

If you look carefully at the pillings, you can see an Osprey nest with two occupants with many pelicans nearby.


Just past the point as we go out into the Gulf is a beautiful and very large house.

For most of the morning Debbie keeps watch over the autopilot. It gets very warm with no wind and even the GPS and Fish Finder need hats.

About noon we stop at Stump Pass, an entryway into the ICW. Tom starts down the channel when he is hailed by a professional fish guide and told to stop or go aground. Since we were following the marked channel, we are surprised. The captain tells us the markers are out of date to just follow him and we do.


At Stump Pass Marina, we get gas and ice. Last night we used up all our propane which is used to run the stove, hot water and refrigerator. We have the refrigerator on 12 volt but it is not very cold. We decide to switch our food to a cooler for the night.

All afternoon we sail slowly up the coast. At least we have some wind. We reach the Venice breakwater about 4:30.

From the breakwater we look back at the high rises along the gulf coast.

Venice is a historical town with a mixture of new and old. Lovely boulevards are lined with well kept homes and lots of parks and beaches. We pass a small island which we nickname picnic isle.


The river system is like an octopus with many branches including the ICW. Houses front on the water. There are lots of boats. Birds are everywhere.

We continue up one branch looking for the City Dock. Our book says we can park there free for 18 hours. Here are some interesting wood boats.

Catamarans keep popping up .

As we pick out an area, we hear “Catrina“ and look around to see Cynthia Faye. We had hoped to cross paths with Jack and Linda but somehow our schedules did not seem to blend. They left Bradenton a day early and reached Venice 40 minutes before us! We hadn’t even planned to stop in Venice but did.

They caught our lines and as we pulled into City Dock right in front of them. They were just leaving to go bike riding and dinner. If we had been 15 minutes later, they would have been gone. We got our bikes down and joined them for a ride around town. We ride right down the sidewalk in the historic business section. We do draw some comments but everyone let’s us thorough. Jack finds a good Italian restaurant. What else would you expect in Venice?

After dinner we walk on the Gulf Beaches and look for shark teeth. Tom tells us this is the spot that has the most anywhere. We find one! Actually Tom found it. Linda and Debbie go to the breakwater to watch the sunset along with lots of other people. The town looks full and there are many different license plates.

Tom helps Linda and Jack with internet charts on their MAC. It has been great to meet up with a couple we first encountered in Benton Harbor MI as we started our trip in Catrina last September!

COYA COSTA March 11, 2009

Catrina did not leave Moss Marina until after 11 a.m. First, we slept in until many people started arriving to board the Casino Boat. Clomp, Clomp, Clomp. After breakfast, we rode our bikes 3 miles to Topps Food Market to restock Milk, Bread and Cookie!

The Casino Boat did not leave until 10 a.m. It takes a long time to load herds of people right down our dock in front of Catrina's bow. When the dock was finally clear, we loaded our bikes. Debbie put two blogs on the internet. Tom washed down Catrina and filled our water tank. Then we moved Catrina to the gas dock and filled up. Oh, Yes, then we paid our bill!

On the way out to the Intercoastal Waterway, we saw an interesting sight

Two shrimp boats and one sailboat. Next it was under the 70 foot high bridge from the mainland to Sanibel Island.


At Pine Island we have a choice: We can go up the east side or as we decided to do, we can go up the West Side toward Sanibel Island. Our destination is Cabbage Key. On the way there we pass an uninhabited key with a white beach covered with boats.



A Cat. There were so many motor boats, it wasn’t worth counting. An all of them sped by us on all sides with many scantly clothed young ladies. Spring Break Time! No pictures guys!

There were dolphins all around us both today and previously. But today Debbie actually got a picture of two of them. These are not slow animals and they don't pose. But they do smile and laugh at photographers. We also saw a dolphin swimming along just behind a southbound motor boat. Tom tried unsuccessfully to get the passengers to look behind their boat.

We had a number of areas where cables passed under the waterway but we also had a place where lines crossed from Pine to Santibel. Between two poles, the lines were high enough for us to pass under - 65 feet. If you cannot see the line, just imagine. We saw it. The sailboats are 20 footers.

Have you ever seen a very full cruise ship? It probably stopped at Cabbage Key.

Today we passed a sailboat from Vancouver BC named FAFS.

Finally, about 3 p.m. we reach marker 61 at Cabbage Key. Tom calls and is advised to come over in Tigger. We park Catrina between a sailboat and a very large sailboat (two below) on the east side of the waterway.

We take a walk about Cabbage Key and then have a late lunch at the Restaurant. There are no cars or roads on the Key or to it. Everything comes by boat. The watertower is located on the high spot in the middle of the island - 38 feet above sea level. It has a great view for miles. The restaurant has had three owners and was first opened in 1928. Over the years customers have left signed $l bills on the walls. Debbie was there with her parents in the 70’s and Tom was there in 2004. The staff lives on the island and work five days. On days off they can take a launch to the mainland.

When we got back to Catrina the tide had changed and Tom felt we were too close to the small sailboat. We pulled anchor and ended up going north a few miles and moored with Coya Costa, a state park on one side and the ICW on the other side. We take Tigger to the beach for a walk. There is music playing somewhere inland and at night we see about 7 large lights. Ghosts?

And would you believe, there was a cat moored south of us.