Run Run, Run Run, Rumaway
A lot has transpired since the last post. The world has changed for everyone very quickly, and life has been turned upside down for us as well. I will pick up from when things were relatively normal, and get to the current state of affairs.
From our stop in Sarasota we continued north to Anna Maria Island, which we have been to before and love, for a couple of nights to enjoy the beach, and the bike riding, and await son Sean and girlfriend Laura's arrival. We had planned on going on to St Petersburg to meet them but it turned out the weekend of their arrival was the Grand Prix Indy Car race, so there was no hope of getting moorage in the area.
While waiting for them, we decided to go back to Venice to have thermostats replaced on the starboard engine as it wasn't properly coming up to heat. Not an urgent job but something that should be done given the time available. That took a half day longer than planned, but it worked out okay as Tristan joined us there. He had been working from home for a week due the impacts on their business, so he figured he may as well treat the boat as his office for a week or so.
We returned to Sarasota to meet Sean and Laura as it wasn't much further for them to drive there rather than St Pete's after their time in Orlando area. We enjoyed a couple of days in Sarasota, with a trip to the beach and a visit to our friend Steve Wilkinson's house nearby for a wonderful afternoon at his pool, and evening dinner. Steve retired from the International Zinc Association last year and he and Sandy bought a beautiful house in nearby Lakewood Ranch.
We then headed south back to Venice, with plans to anchor one night in Pelican Bay. Over these few days, though, the Covid virus implications were getting more dramatic, and Sean and Laura decided to return home a few days early. So we headed back north, via Anna Maria Island again, to get them closer to their departure from Tampa. On our way into Anna Maria, we anchored off the beach on a lovely warm afternoon and swam in aquamarine waters.
At the marina, Sean and Laura took the bikes for a long ride to enjoy the island and saw why we liked it so much. From there we did the run up Tampa Bay to St Pete's where Tristan had arranged a car rental to get them to the airport. We totally enjoyed their visit, especially playing cut throat crib and Laura's Monopoly Deal and crazy dice game! So much fun and unfortunate this precious family time was cut short.
With most of St Pete's closed, there was no point spending a day to see the great museums and art galleries, so we departed after one night, back to Anna Maria, then to Sarasota for one more visit with friend Steve before starting our big trek back to the Atlantic coast.
One very interesting stop was included though. At the marina in Sarasota, we met the broker who sold our boat from the previous owner to who we bought it from. He put us in touch with that owner, who lived nearby in Cortez, and we stopped at their waterfront home on the way back to Sarasota. They really enjoyed seeing the boat, and even had some spare parts and bar supplies left over from the boat which had been in storage and inadvertently didn't get conveyed with the boat on the sale. We had a great visit, and heard that the boat's name was conceived at a "spirited" delivery party.
We had one more visit with our friend Steve at the Hyatt Hotel marina, which offered a great pool. Given the state of travel, the hotel was operating at only 20% occupancy so we pretty much had the pool to ourselves.
We now are on a mission to get the boat north to lay up for the summer. One frustrating development is that due to the hurricanes the last couple of years, insurance companies have tightened their restrictions on absentee boat owners. Whereas last year we could leave the boat as far south as 24N latitude, which meant Myrtle Beach was an option, we now have to leave it above 35N, so we have to return it to Norfolk VA, where we left it last summer. This is about 10 days further north. We could leave the boat south of Norfolk for a while, and return home, but if we can't come back by the end of June to get it up to Norfolk, we risk leaving it uninsured for hurricane season, which I am not willing to do. So we have started our trek north with a bit of urgency.
Our first days run featured numerous dolphin encounters, again, and Tristan got a great video of one of the moments.
From Sarasota to Norfolk, it will be about 1000 miles, and our objective is to get it there by mid-April. Fortunately, we can cut across the state, up the Caloosahatchee River and through the Okeechobee canal system to the Atlantic coast, rather than having to run around the state through the Keys to get headed north.
Our start has been good and we transited the entire river, canal and lock system, which is 5 locks, and lake in two days, and are now in Stuart to start our run up the ICW tomorrow. Saw dozens of alligators in the canals, and likely many more there that we didn't see.
Will keep you posted every week or so on our progress, but the trip north won't be as leisurely as we enjoyed last year. Fortunately, we have Tristan with us for the next week, at least, to help us put in long days.
This is certainly a good place to stay "socially distanced" so as long as we can secure food, water and fuel, we feel very comfortable spending this remaining time on the boat.
From our stop in Sarasota we continued north to Anna Maria Island, which we have been to before and love, for a couple of nights to enjoy the beach, and the bike riding, and await son Sean and girlfriend Laura's arrival. We had planned on going on to St Petersburg to meet them but it turned out the weekend of their arrival was the Grand Prix Indy Car race, so there was no hope of getting moorage in the area.While waiting for them, we decided to go back to Venice to have thermostats replaced on the starboard engine as it wasn't properly coming up to heat. Not an urgent job but something that should be done given the time available. That took a half day longer than planned, but it worked out okay as Tristan joined us there. He had been working from home for a week due the impacts on their business, so he figured he may as well treat the boat as his office for a week or so.
We returned to Sarasota to meet Sean and Laura as it wasn't much further for them to drive there rather than St Pete's after their time in Orlando area. We enjoyed a couple of days in Sarasota, with a trip to the beach and a visit to our friend Steve Wilkinson's house nearby for a wonderful afternoon at his pool, and evening dinner. Steve retired from the International Zinc Association last year and he and Sandy bought a beautiful house in nearby Lakewood Ranch.
We then headed south back to Venice, with plans to anchor one night in Pelican Bay. Over these few days, though, the Covid virus implications were getting more dramatic, and Sean and Laura decided to return home a few days early. So we headed back north, via Anna Maria Island again, to get them closer to their departure from Tampa. On our way into Anna Maria, we anchored off the beach on a lovely warm afternoon and swam in aquamarine waters.At the marina, Sean and Laura took the bikes for a long ride to enjoy the island and saw why we liked it so much. From there we did the run up Tampa Bay to St Pete's where Tristan had arranged a car rental to get them to the airport. We totally enjoyed their visit, especially playing cut throat crib and Laura's Monopoly Deal and crazy dice game! So much fun and unfortunate this precious family time was cut short.
With most of St Pete's closed, there was no point spending a day to see the great museums and art galleries, so we departed after one night, back to Anna Maria, then to Sarasota for one more visit with friend Steve before starting our big trek back to the Atlantic coast.
We had one more visit with our friend Steve at the Hyatt Hotel marina, which offered a great pool. Given the state of travel, the hotel was operating at only 20% occupancy so we pretty much had the pool to ourselves. We now are on a mission to get the boat north to lay up for the summer. One frustrating development is that due to the hurricanes the last couple of years, insurance companies have tightened their restrictions on absentee boat owners. Whereas last year we could leave the boat as far south as 24N latitude, which meant Myrtle Beach was an option, we now have to leave it above 35N, so we have to return it to Norfolk VA, where we left it last summer. This is about 10 days further north. We could leave the boat south of Norfolk for a while, and return home, but if we can't come back by the end of June to get it up to Norfolk, we risk leaving it uninsured for hurricane season, which I am not willing to do. So we have started our trek north with a bit of urgency.
Our first days run featured numerous dolphin encounters, again, and Tristan got a great video of one of the moments.
From Sarasota to Norfolk, it will be about 1000 miles, and our objective is to get it there by mid-April. Fortunately, we can cut across the state, up the Caloosahatchee River and through the Okeechobee canal system to the Atlantic coast, rather than having to run around the state through the Keys to get headed north.
Will keep you posted every week or so on our progress, but the trip north won't be as leisurely as we enjoyed last year. Fortunately, we have Tristan with us for the next week, at least, to help us put in long days.
This is certainly a good place to stay "socially distanced" so as long as we can secure food, water and fuel, we feel very comfortable spending this remaining time on the boat.
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