Captain's log: 12-27-10 (Day 101)

      The day after the day after Christmas. Hope everyone had a merry Christmas! More importantly, I hope the spirit of Christmas is still with everyone and stays put for the rest of the year!..... Speaking of Christmas, this was the 1st one in 52 years I didn't spend with my mom and dad. My fault though. I moved onto a boat and talked them into finally spending x-mas with my sister in AZ. Good, no great timing though because they are getting record snows in the midwest this year.
     Old traditions broken , new traditions started: check this one out.

Yup, we're on the gulf and fresh (and by fresh I mean live) seafood is only a few steps away.  Seemed like a great idea at the time. Since we all love crab legs. (we've never had blue crabs)...so.....We got blue crabs for everybody (yum) and brought them home to the boat. Now this next picture if you look closely at Paige's face may give a hint where things are going here.

The next step here is supposed to be putting the crab into that pot in the background..... did it make it?

Yes? No, look closely. Those legs are store bought snow crab legs. (back up plan B)
We went to church and maybe it was the Christmas spirit or maybe we are all just a bunch of softies but, let's just say a new Christmas tradition was born. Not eating crabs but .....

Notice the face compared to the cooking picture.

The new tradition:  Releasing Christmas dinner.
It turns out that if we would have bought live turkeys for Thanksgiving there would be about 28 live turkeys running around St. Charles right now.
      The blue crabs ,by the way, had a real will to live. They tried to pinch us every step of the way (thus the tongs). Even after a day in a paper bag (on ice)  they were very happy as they swam back home.
     It's too bad too because I really wanted revenge for having to dodge all those crab pots on the gulf. Come to think of it it's not the crabs fault. It's the fishermen's fault.......Maybe next year we will have the fishermen over for supper.   :)
       Seriously we decided to get the blue stone crab again next year and just release them off the back of the boat because it was more fun than eating them anyway.
      Probably a good thing since these are the only utensils we had to eat them with.

Note from the dog: Christmas is tiring but, I'm not letting that great dane get this present!!

    
          note from the other dog:   It doesn't matter. Look at the Bob "Bitchen" signed hat I got!

It always seems to end the same way with dad and jerzi. Good Nite.

Captain's log:12-23-10 (day 97)

     I know I won't get any sympathy with this one but We went for a pontoon ride with Hale , Janet , Eric, Nikki and kids to the beach. Wind was a little cold and my fingers actually got a little numb. I know they were numb because I used to be a Minnesotan. ( I know, I can hear the violins now) . I thought when I got to Florida I would never feel that sensation again.

It was warm at the dock so I spent the AM varnishing the exterior teak. Can't really see it in the picture but take my word it looks nice!  We moved the boat to a better slip today with a wider dock the old one was barely a foot wide and slightly slanted. The picture doesn't show it well but was kinda scarey for old people like us (me) not Dorene to walk on.

old dock.

NEW DOCK!!!  how perfect is this?...our boat "30Below" from MN.  is parked next to a boat named "No Snow" from Canada...LOL..

     This marina stores up to a thousand boats up to 40 ft long indoors and then retrieves them by forklift when the owners want to use them. This is a picture of a $900,000.00 forklift. (they have 4 of them) Again the picture doesn't show it well( i should have stood by it) the wheels are over 5 ft. tall.

    I actually went on my own blog today for the first time and read it from the very beginning. Thanks to a short memory I enjoyed some of the parts I had already started to forget. I agree, it has been quite an adventure. I also can watch movies a second time and still be suprised at the ending too.  We won't be doing much traveling , at least for the next month, but will still post anything that might be of interest. I know. Some of you are depending on this to put you to sleep...  I'll keep it coming but, probably not everyday. Paige and Lu are coming to the boat for Christmas (with a great dane!) so will probably have something after that!

    Now this next picture is my "still life"  version of a "perfect day".

Interpretation:

      A little work (varnishing wood), A little exercise(walk the dog),  A little fun (shell from the beach), A little good food on the grill, A little wine (watching the sunset).

Good night and Merry Christmas to all! 

   

Captain's log:12-21-10 (day 95)

This is our back yard for the next month. Notice the lack of snow. I'm not trying to rub this in to you guys left behind up Nort but I just can't get over this Christmas music drifting across the harbor. It's just not right...it's just great!  Sorry.
      I'm writing this on 12-20 but I'll probably post it tomorrow so what I'm about to tell you is happening tonight but it is really last night which you will read tomorrow which is starting to get confusing but, since all the chores (at least my list) are done I thought I'd write tomorrow, today so then yesterday will really be tonight. (I think I'm bored) Maybe it's time to get a fishing license.
       We've been invited to Hale and Janet's for supper and the football game. Dorene's Vikings are playing my Bears. Could we be growing apart after 32+ years? Maybe they just need someone to make fun of while the vikings do whatever it is they do.
      Did you notice that in my back yard picture there is a sailboat being towed by Towboat US? I thought sailboats had sails. I'll probably get comments on that one if there are any sailors in the crowd.

Do you remember the self uncorking wine bottles? Well today we discovered that the remaining bottles were growing small plantations of multicolored yeast. So this is me washing each bottle and repacking. We gotta drink faster. Way too many bottles to unload.
   
Note from the Dog: That's not the worst of it. Notice the marinated Kibbles and Bits bag in the corner. Ya , that was my favorite stash and now it smells like wine. I'm a tea totaler. In fact I will eat anything and I do mean ANYTHING... except alcohol of any kind.
 
   

Last night which was two yesterdays ago when you read this We had an early Christmas with Paige and Lu and his family. We made Swedish meatballs from scratch, pie and the whole bit. Since our grandbaby has four legs guess who got presents?

Yup. Jersey's lucky day!

And that's a wrap.

Captain's log: 12-20-10 (Day 94)

 The next section of this adventure should probably be titled "From Water to Wheels". We are realizing that 3 months is not long before we have to head north. But we have no wheels or place to live once we get there. Some idiot sold our house. No, you are a genius. Idiot...genius...Idiot...genius (Dr. Jekyl Dr. Hyde).
Seriously , genius wins today especially given the fact I have decided to be a Packers/Bears fan. No more purple for me!     So... If anyone has a motor home they want to get rid of send me a note.
      Random thought: The last city we were in , Venice was a beautiful place but, I got to thinking it should probably be called the "City of No" . There were signs everywhere but, one in particular near down town/beach area was a bilboard size sign with no less than 16 smaller signs saying: No bikes, No skateboards, No fires, No loitering, No glass, No motorized vehicles, No dogs, No swimming, No fishing, No camping, No alcohol!  There were more No-No's but that last one was a deal breaker. No fun, No way!
       Went to Paige and LU's yesterday for an early Christmas but, more on that later.

Captain's Log: 12/16/10 (Day 90)

Could this be 30 Below's final home port for this leg of the journey? We went from Venice to Gasparilla today. Water color went from creamy blue/green to Mississippi brown back to creamy blue/green. We are within 30 miles of what we thought our final destination (Fort Myers Beach) was going to be for this year.      Hale and Janet met us for supper. Since they also met us at our very first stop in Trempeleau, Wi. back on Sept. 18 we thought it must be an omen that this should be the other end of our adventure. We'll see. It is a beautiful Marina but, we still have about two months before we have to make our way back to Mn./Wi. (by wheels, not water).

Interesting dismanteled railroad bridge near the marina we are at tonight.

This one is for my son. Drew, remember that other life you could have had? The one your dad either ruined or saved you from. The one where you went to work in a suit and tie and dreamed of week-ends for 30 years and then retired. Instead of the one where it's sunny all year, you surf, swim in the ocean, climb mountains, bike the U.S. etc.etc.  Well we passed it today on a canal near Venice. The Jeld Wen window company!  Hey, coulda been you buddy.
      Ok. Those of you reading along with this blog might remember my little description of the various marina showers I have used (or not used) along the way. The Venice showers added a new twist. I was taking a shower this morning when...What was that? Was that a chirp? Was that lightning? Did someone just take my picture? That's kinda creepy. Better get the soap out of my eyes and see what's going on here. Oh, just a fire alarm with flashing lights and lots of noise. Gotta make a decision here. Run outside naked and live or stay inside and burn. Hey, it's a shower, I'm wet , how bad could it be? I compromise and dry off very fast and check for smoke. None.... Poke my head out expecting fire trucks. ...None... so leave calmly. The harbormaster says to me, "They were testing the fire alarm system. Did that get you excited?"  I say, "No.".....What did he mean by that exactly?    Seriously looking forward to my shower in Gasparilla.
      I have another theory on the fire alarm. Down here a 50 year old is a "young buck".... Did I see one of those octogenarian chicks run/walking away from the showers?
                           Relax, it's just a theory.
   
    

Captain's Log: 12/10-15/10 (Day 85-89)

     Sorry for the gaps in posting but, we have been hanging out at our friend's dock in Palmetto for the past week. Partly waiting out some windy weather and partly loving the freeloading life. We have really enjoyed spending time with Tony and Pat,but you know the old saying...Friends, family and fish... well you know it. So as difficult as it was we untied the dock lines and headed out this AM.

This is Floridians idea of a bad day. A few clouds, 30 degrees in AM and 65 in the PM.
      Today was relatively calm but even so we had to go a short ways accross the bottom of Tampa Bay and the 2-3 footers on our beam were enough to knock over our little Christmas tree and a few things in the cabin. Once on the ICW things calmed down.
      Our new bridge enclosure kept us nice and warm (green house effect) Probably should have done that while we were still in Minnesota.
     The water in Sarasota Bay was a beautiful blue/green and once again the dolphins were seeking out our boat to play in the stern wake.

This is off the back of our boat. He/she stayed with us for 10-15 minutes until we had to slow down for a low bridge.

These are two bridges we had to have open for us today. One was 9ft and one was 14ft. We are about 18 ft high. What you can't see on the swing bridge is the bridge master has to stand in the center to operate it. So she is basically stranded on the bridge until we get through and she closes it.  So I can't resist this one.... Dorene is the one who called the bridge and then they stop the cars....So I can say for a fact that my wife can still stop traffic!!!!

Here we are in Venice (not the Italy one). We are parked about 100 feet from the gulf. Straight ahead of us is the inlet from the gulf. I had second thoughts about spending the night on open water to the gulf . I'll let you know tomorrow if it was a good idea.

more dolphins off the front of our boat.
       
       Looks like tomorrow night, if we like the marina, may be the one we will stay at until we pull the boat and come back to WI. Then what?  I've heard some of my followers have been reading my blog late at night when they can't sleep.. Seems I'm a narcotic... Don't worry you insomniacs if I run out of pictures I'll just start discussing the meaning of life. We'll get you to sleep somehow.
    
    
 
  
   

Captain's Log: 12-8 thru 12-10-10 (Day 82-84)

     Another sign that we are pretty far south (besides the palm trees, dolphins, manatees, 70 degree weather) is that the eagle sightings have been replaced by osprey sightings. A little less regal than an eagle but definitely more bold. They will perch right next to our boat and not move when we go out to take a picture. In fact They turn their head as if to say "no wait , this is my good side".

You can't tell the size from this picture but they're big but not quite as big as an eagle. He was right off the front of our boat and posed for a few pics before moving down the canal.

     Cool! Huh?
  
Pat and Tony, our gracious hosts borrowed their car to us today so we could visit Anna Marie Island. I guess I shouldn't be suprised that with a name Like that it was a "girl" place. Not much for a guy to look at except the beach. No, wait, it's winter so no bikinis so....not as bad as Fair hope though because at least there was a hardware store to hang out at.  Come to think about it. I could have something here. Dog island was a pile of sand. Great place, no stores. Stay away from "girlie" named islands!
     I was just interupted from blogging by Dorene with a boat emergency.  She came up from the front storage hatch and says , " We have a problem here. It's wet in the front of the hull."  Now for those not living on a boat , that's not like a wet basement (I've had that) your house is definitely not sinking, unless maybe you live in Stockton. Anyway she had my attention.
     It didn't take long to realize that what sounded like an emergency was really just a great opportunity. On close inspection the mystery fluid smelled somewhat like bread, no more like yeast. For those that know our provisioning priorities you may remember that we started out with over 100 bottles of wine aboard. Well with the heat I guess the bottles are now deciding which ones we drink first. I hope we can keep up! Was that another "pop" I just heard?
  
   Note from the dog:   Maybe It's that stuff they're drinking but, look what they're making me wear now.

Can you believe this? BELLS by my ears! Don't they know how sensitive a dogs ears are?
      
     While we have been mooching off our new friends we have gotten some things done. I got the generator running again. We also got a front enclosure made for the flybridge so we don't have to freeze up top anymore. What's that?... This boat is not going back to Minnesota. Oh well . It's a nice sunroom anyway.
    

Another note from the dog: (Santa parade at St. Petes)
      You won't believe what I had to do for these beads!

    
    
   

Captain's Log: 21-7-10 (day 81)

     Small craft advisories out for the bay today. Wind should be to our back so we are going anyway.  This was our sunrise today.

So we are off the dock successfully heading out into Tampa Bay and we get a call from the marina. "Hey you guys didn't pay for the laast two days." Dang, they cought us! Could try to out run em but at 8 mph better pay the bill. Seems when we told them we were staying an extra 2 days they didn't just add it to our credit card like we thought they would. Put Dorene on the phone and in a few minutes we're all good.
       Tonight we are staying at a dock behind a "loopers" friend's house on a canal in Terra Ceia Bay. Very nice!

Tony and Pat went way out of their way to help us out. They came over to St. Petes and Tony rode with us acting as navigator across the bays to their dock. The bay was a bit windy. Got to surf down some 3-4 footers. Fun!
     While we are here we have scheduled a canvas person to come and build us a windshield for the flybridge. We've made it this far without it but continued cold weather is predicted and it will be nice. We hope the part for the generator will show up by Thursday. Maybe do some wood varnishing till then.

Another shot of the canal that we are on tonight from our boat.  Goodnight.    
 
   
  

captain's log: 12-6-10 (day 80)

     The wind is finally settling down some so will probably cross Tampa Bay tomorrow to Mark and Sylvia's for a few days. We are supposed to have a generator part waiting for us there so hopefully get that up and running again. This week I guess they're having a cold snap down here. Everyone is bundled up in their parkas and boots. (I'm still wearing flip flops) .To all you midwesterners it's like a nice day in October,not bad.    It's kinda funny they are actually giving windchill factors on the news. 45 degrees/feels like 30. Nobody's getting frostbite but I guess it's a big deal to them. Heck I'm going out on the bay tomorrow but I'll be carefull not to hit any ice fishermen....

What's wrong with this picture?..... Look closely...looks like snow... blooming flowers? Snow is actually cotton or something.

Another Lotus sighting at the St. Petes Marina. No, it's not Bruce's. I think the count is up to 4 now. Never seen one in Minnesota. Wonder why.    

Day 78-79 continued

This probably falls in the catagory of WTMI (way too much information) but as I was showering today I realized I probably should have done a picture documentary of all the Marina showers I've used thru five states. . . You really didn't know where I was going with that one did you?
    What brought this to mind was as I was showering this AM I was facing someone else and not that far apart either. I thought , why did they do this? and the only thing I could come up with is they were trying to save on the length of pipes. Thus brought to mind the wide range of shower facilities I have been in the last 80 days. ( perhaps a book title? 80 days around the head/shower) .   From the high end where there is tile, mirrors, heated towels, and a ladie handing you towels. At least I think that was what she was there for.  To the other end of the spectrum where I think the shower was part of the owners house and so dirty that even I wore my shoes into the shower and kept one eye open while showering. (should have had no more tears shampoo).
     Actually there was one that I took a look in and decided I could go another day, or two, without a shower. Seriously there was a giant mouse hole cut into the door. I thought maybe for a cat or something. I asked the owner what it was for. He said , "I dunno it was there when we got the place" This was also a place where he had stepped on and killed a water moccasin snake  like it was nothing. I'll share the shower with some people but not snakes.
     Anyway back to today. St. Petersburg had a Santa parade and festival complete with farmers market and a snow hill for sliding.

  
       Miss Florida.

They interviewed a little girl and she said she had never seen snow before. I wanted to step in and say , " You still haven't. It's 65 tons of crushed ice cubes. It looked more like a giant margaritta.
     Tomorrow may cross the Bay to Palmetto , Fl.
  

captain's log 11-28 thru 12-4-10 ( day 72-79)

OK Sorry. I have been neglecting my posting duties. I just thought that a week in Clearwater describing us doing our laundry would not be that exciting for anyone.
  We left Clearwater Friday Morning. And after a week it feels good to get moving again but, at the same time roots start to grow and a place gets comfortable and it gets harder to leave. Sorry to all my english teachers . I think I just used too many "ands" there.
     Now that we are on the intercoastal again the tides are a little higher 3-4 feet. This results in a tidal current most of the time we are traveling. The "current" thing is hard to get used to because unlike the Mississippi river half the day the current is with you then it's against you.
    So we decided to go to St. Petersburg next. A 35 mile stretch but 4 1/2 hours.  Didn't think much about it before we left but Tampa Bay ended up being almost as rough as the crossing was at some points. The bay is shallow and it doesn't take much wind to whip up some pretty good waves. To make the nerves a little tighter we decided to get lost half way across the bay. I had looked at the chart earlier and decided we needed to turn at red marker "2" and green marker "4".  When we got there Dorene found the markers and we turned. Very shortly the depth went from 15ft. to 4ft. We had to stop and re-evaluate our position. I remind you we are way out in the bay at this time. After rechecking the chart we found they had put another  red "2" and green "4" about another mile further. Who picks these numbers anyway?    The reward?.... a sunrise in a new harbor.

A bonus at this marina was the St. Petersburg boat and sail show was also going on this week-end. Maybe not so good ,you know look at a few million dollar boats and all of a sudden your palace doesn't shine quite so much. Oh well we just added up the fuel bill so far...shouldn't have done that ...ouch!   The cheap old boat is looking a little more shiny again.

Another big bonus ... guess who was at the boat show.  .. Bob "Bitchin" and his wife Jody. What ? You don't know who that is? He's one of the reasons we are on this boat. He publishes the magazine "Lattitudes and Attitudes" which glorifies the boating lifestyle. In his words when we met him. " Ah another life ruined"
    A life ruined? I think we are even I got an autograghed hat. (mine blew overboard)
   
   

H ey, is that a halo over my head? or is that my miners hat?

Proof. It's the magazine guy!!!!    
      Bob hired the Eric Stone Band and gave everyone at the show free pizza and beer. Good time,but I'm tired so write more tomorrow. Goodnite.

Captain's log:11-26-27-10 (day 70-71)

     Making the crossing is alot like "prom" in high school...without the dance....without the great meal... without the limo ride.... for that matter without the , oh never mind. It takes a couple days to recoupe that sleep deprivation.  Because of that and the fact that boaters don't really live by the traditional clock anyway, we are having Thanksgiving today at Paige's and Lu's. (her first turkey)

I had a better pic but it was censored. I guess there are some things that you can't show , even with a turkey.
        
       Welcome aboard Denise and Paul from Minn. Let us know how your crossing goes. If you have any questions shoot them our way. After all we are soooo experienced now.  I guess we have quite a few people along with us. Dorene keeps getting comments on her facebook which she will occassionally share with me. She has 100's , no l,000's of  "friends" .   If I did facebook, I'd probably have about , I don't know.....3.....it seems to be a girl thing. I've noticed about a 95-5 ratio of girls to boys.....love the feedback though.   Least I know I'm not just sending this off into cyberspace for nothing..
     Well, ...the rest of the day will be devoted to eating, not writing.........


Note from the dog----I really didn't like this Great Dane of theirs (Jerzi)....but once I bit her in the chest and hung on like a "leech from hell"  I think she got the message.....I maybe small, but  I need big space.  This is a picture of me giving her my "I'm mean and dangerous" look.   

To me it really does look scary but, Paige (and everyone else) just crack up laughing whenever I make my scary face. I hope the picture is big enough so everyone can see it is really, really, really scary.      
  
Won't be back to boat until Sun. So see ya'lls then there then. (That's a Norwegian gone south)

Captain's log:11-19-10 thru 11-23--25-10 (day 66-69) "The Crossing"

      Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

         Did someone send out the Coastguard?   We made it! The reason I ask is, guess who boarded our boat welcoming us to southern Florida. We were fatigued to beyond "cranky" and sure enough they spot our Minnesota registration and on come the blue lights . Their first question: "Do you have weapons on board?". Good question because I , of course, wouldn't use one but Dorene might have. (She has spent some time with "Pistol Pattie" you know).   I actually didn't mind because except for the drugs (just kidding)I knew I was almost compliant. Actually I was inland compliant but needed flares for off shore. No fines just get em before we leave port again.
     OK, now for the actual crossing.... for those in a hurry here it is...We started the engines and 23 1/2 hours later we shut them off.



        For those interested in a bit more description and a few pictures read on:

Ready and waiting in Carrabelle.
      After much discussion with the other boaters (no lack of opinions) I decided two captains had nearly the same plan as me so I would follow the slower boat to keep up. (boaters and Chiropractors both very independant and hard to get a consensus) When It was finally time to go, the boat I was going to follow ran aground and had to wait for high tide to get started. Omen? Oh well, followed the second boat whose route I liked better anyway.

Here is 30 Below giving the lead to Rambler heading out of the channel.

Rambler and Seamoore heading out to the gulf. Our view for the next 24 hours.

Hey !  Wait a minute didn't you guys say you were going to slow down to our speed?  They eventually did and we kept up all night.    Now you might want to notice how smooth the water is.... That is just the gulf having a little laugh. We were still behind the barrier island, Dog Island.
     Now you'll notice on the next pictures....oh ya there aren't any. That's bcause of two reasons. The spray would have ruined the camera and we were just too darned distracted by the "Big" water. At least big  by our standards. Ya right ! 2-4 foot seas . Who is measuring these things anyway? The Jolly Green Giant.
     To make things worse we had to run for 2 hours with the swells to our starboard beam. Now to prove that this was not just my imagination I'll have Moka the sea dog make a comment here... Oh that's right she was too busy tossing her cookies to say anything.  Now here is where you are going to be glad I didn't have pictures. Ever try to clean up puke that won't sit still?  Even Dorene who is usually pretty good at this kinda stuff just handed me the rag and looked the other way. Is that a new shade of make-up you are wearing?
       Meanwhile, I'm loving the fact that the boat is actually handling the waves as it was built to do. Nice high bow. Could be a little higher. Had some coffee and a pasta salad.  Not bragging here, just don't get sick, I am the "Chemo Warrior" (that one's for you Drew). My turn is coming. Did I mention I am afraid of the dark?   For some reason I thought maybe I could do an overnight passage all in the daylight.

This is the view from the back of our boat as we sailed away from the sunset.

This is the view at the exact same time from the front of our boat. Did I mention it was getting dark? In a short while that flag you see on the front of our boat was no longer to be seen. It's either the definition of stupidity or faith. Flying into the darkness expecting that nothing will get in your way. And  yes 9.1 mph seems like flying when all you hear is the splashing and all you feel is the up and down.       
      The swells did finally settle down after a couple hours but there were definitely some serious second thoughts about our sanity when dogs are puking and we only have 21 and a half hours of this to go.
      The highlights of the night: -Large sea turtle, I at first thought was a military mine, but it didn't explode
                                             - Dolphins jumping near our bow. It was dark,...I think they were dolphins...
                                                ya had to be dolphins...settle down imagination.
                                             -The nearly full bright red moon rising...imagination settle down it has to be
                                               the moon . Yeah ! some light.
                                             -Venus!! incredible. almost as bright as the moon. Sorry pictures in the dark
                                               don't work well on our camera. You will just have to do a crossing of your
                                               own to see this one.

         
     Waves and long shutter speeds don't mix. That's the moon but the black is a good representation of how dark it was. With that said here comes the best part!!

   
    SUNRISE and DAYLIGHT again! Isn't that beautiful? No wait that isn't the sunrise that's the light at the end of the tunnel. And if you look real close you can see the boats we were following all night and Venus but she was much dimmer by this time. Also by morning the sea was as flat as a pond, just as predicted. Tomorrow it is supposed to be rough again. Very thankful for the weather window and everything else that went right.
    

We split off from our other boats and continued on to Clearwater and Paige and Lu. The other boats went to Tarpon Springs.  So there is the skyline of Clearwater. Just drive in and go to sleep. WRONG!  It should be called Crapinwater, Propsnagwater, anything but Clearwater. Can you say crab pots. 1000's of them between us and sleep! Two hours later we make it to canal entrance. Finally almost sleep time....No wait is that the Coastguard?