Labor Day 2010

Left the house at 8:00 this morning. Went right straight to Anclote Park Boat Ramp. Saw 4 Quaker (?) parrots sitting on a fence right before turning in to the park. That reminds me of the time I was at HES a few months back and saw maybe 7 of them. Anyway, we got in the water nice and easy. Headed toward 3 Rooker Island only to find it was hide tide and the island had no beach! Wow, who'd of thought! Off we went off to Anclote where we'd been two days before. This time we went along the backside of it and had just the best ride yet on our boat! The water was like glass and the entire length of Anclote was just so beautiful. Some day we will go there for the day, though the beach is very narrow. At the end of the island we turned around and traveled the east side of the island. The beach that we'd enjoyed two days ago was gone, save for a small sliver of sand! High tide! So, we anchored in the water where I quickly discovered it made me nauseated, so we pulled up anchor and headed for the small sliver of sand down the way. Had to walk through some thick grasses where I always wondered what I would step in! I couldn't believe how many people had brought their dogs to the beach. Course, the beach was smaller so it may have concentrated the numbers of dogs! Two cute Yorkies running around enjoying themself and it was all fun and games till the male lifted his leg on my beach bag! Naughty! Then a few minutes later, he felt the need to come and lift his leg on my chair! Not nice! His owner apologized and brought me a bottle of water to rinse off any pee that got on my stuff. Joe had a hard time relaxing for thinking of our beached boat yesterday and kept watching it. Plus, there was 7 or so little kids playing right next to us. Having a great time playing with the poor little fish that got caught on the sand when the tide slipped out. So not so relaxing for us, but the weather held its' own and Joe had made us some great sandwiches. After awhile we went for a walk. The tide started to go out so you could see the island forming once more. So many perfect shells. The water washed over the sand and was only 3 inches deep. So clear and warm. So many people just having a great time. More boats came. We went for a swim. At 2:30 we headed back. I drove all the way on the back side of the island. So beautiful. Saw a dolphin briefly. Took the boat in and successfully brought it to the dock fairly smoothly. Stopped at Sam's Club on the way home where we spent the next hour or so cleaning the car and the boat. We just finished when a heavy rain opened up on sunny skies. Sweaty and tired we jumped in the pool despite some thunder in the vacinity. It felt so heavenly we decided to risk a lightning strike to the pool! Having been up since 4:30 for some reason, I am too tired to post pictures that I took today. We are eagerly anticipating a great adventure, yet to be determined, for next weekend!

Anclote Sandbar 1st Day out

Out the door by 9:00 followed by a quick stop to Publix to grad a sub for lunch followed by a stop at the trailer hitch guy to see why our light weren't working and we were on our way. Joe did well putting the boat in water at Anclote Park and we were soon on our way to the sandbar. The water was so smooth, and there were beautiful tree topped islands along the way. Soon enough we saw the sandbar that was to be our destination. Thinking we might explore first, I suggested we first go to the left of the island to check it out. It was low tide so more sand was exposed and there were only a few other people there so we figured we set up for the day here. We quickly realized that we'd forgotten you need two anchors to stabilize your boat or it will end up on the beach. First lesson of the day! We proceeded to set up our chairs, cooler, and umbrella and I headed for a float on the water. Joe went to the other side of the newly made island to see what it was like. A short time later, we realized that not only did it smell bad there, but there were all these pesky little bugs biting us. Probably due to the large, green clumps of sea grass left behind when the tide went out. We took one look at each other and decide to pack up and head to our original destination! Don't you know that in that short amount of time, the boat became stuck in the sand! A good Sam helped us push it into the water and we were on our way! Less than one minute later, our boat died right there in the middle of the gulf! We looked at each other. Enough gas? Dead battery, bad gas? What could it be? We sat there as others around us jetted about and towed laughing guests on inner tubes. We looked at each other again. Could this really be happening our first solo day on our new boat? I started to wonder what is the phone number for Sea Tow and cursing myself for not writing it down before we left. Is there still such a thing as Directory Assistance? How long will we have to sit in this boat waiting. The waves were starting to make me nauseous. At least we had our Publix subs. Then I thought, let's call Captain Larry. Maybe he will have a quick fix. Something we wouldn't know about. Sure enough, in no time at all he had us going! The emergency stop must have been disconnected cutting the engine. I never saw Joe so happy as when that engine started! Off we go! Second lesson of the day! If your engine dies, check the emergency stop connection! As we approached our next stop this really cool fish, probably 7 inches in length, popped out of the water and skidded on his tail down a straight line for nearly 15 feet before going back under the water! It was so cool. Never saw anything like that! Anyway, it was hard to find just the right spot to park the boat for all the other boaters out there. Finding just the right place we zipped in and anchored and I was approached by a familiar looking woman who turns out to be a teacher who was a former coworker. We barely recognized each other with our sunglasses and bathing suits on! We met her family and we had a great chat. We told her husband that we only had one anchor and he said just put the bow on the sand and if it beaches later we will help push you out! Sure enough, a short time later we were beached for the second time in a day. Lesson 3: boaters are terrific people who help each other out when needed! So great! Everyone waves to you as though you were a personal friend. We are bonded like families! The sand bar was just beautiful. The tide went out all day. Tons of prime shells, tons of people all there to have a good time, everyone friendly and happy to chat. One particular chattering new friend was a young woman who told us all we need to know about camping on the island. (The next great adventure after this one for us.) Suddenly around 4:30 the majority of people left. It was so peaceful. Just us and another couple who visited us while we watched to see a boat much larger than ours that was beached, waiting to be towed back to sea. Apparently, this is a rather common occurrence. At this point, the sun that eluded us most of the day came out, and treated us to some rather spectacular cloud scenery. I took several photos. Reluctantly, it was time for us to head back. I really didn't want to leave, but we knew we had to stop to Walmart for new tail lights, and a second anchor for our next outing on Monday, Labor Day. Still a bit tricky getting the boat back on the trailer at the end of the day, but once again, some fellow boaters came to our assistance. Looking forward to the day we can pay it forward to some other newbies!

The Next Great Adventure!

Everything since April 2004 has led to this moment. Moving to Florida, building a house, finding me a job, curiosity to explore the waterways of Florida. We were limited since we couldn't tow anything with our 4 door sedan, so one day we came upon an inflatable kayak at Sam's. Perfect! FIts in the back of the car, ready to go at a moments notice. We took it out and ventured around Pine Island, navigated the alligator infested Hillsborough River, enjoyed the cold, crystal clear spring waters of the Weekie Wachee River, and set it out at Honeymoon Island. We loved being on the water and watching all of nature, but after two seasons of use, I am no longer physically able to paddle a kayak. So shortly after purchasing a Honda CR-V, we put a trailer hitch on it and began shopping for a boat! We've bought a boat! So excited! Bring it on!! Can't begin to count how many hours were spent on Craigslist looking for the right boat for us. Saw lots of boats in not great condition, and seriously considered purchasing a jet boat or a pontoon. Limited by a few factors such as, 1. It needed to fit in our garage, and 2. It couldn't cost too much money! So last Saturday we happened to drive by Love Honda Sports in Homassassa and there it was. Only boat on this lot of ATV's. It was the Love Honda owners boat that he'd bought for his daughter 4 years ago, and it was barely used. We inquired about it and I liked it quite a bit, but I didn't want a center console and said so all day long. Well, the next day we were back in the area after work to see a pontoon only to find out it was the same one we'd seen the day before and decided it wouldn't fit in our garage! Not happy! Work all day, drive all the way up there, not fun. So, I said, lets go back and see that boat from yesterday. Well, after everything we'd seen, it really was a cute little boat that was clearly barely used, well built, and would fit in our garage but, was more than we were looking to spend. So we gave a low ball offer, which was turned down and not countered! Going home, I said to Joe, I want that boat and I want you to make it happen! Lo and behold, the next day Joe called me at work to tell me it was ours! Two days later, Thursday, my friends' husband (Captain Larry) took us out on it for our first ride and some terrific tips, hints and safety lessons! It was great! Our minds were a buzz with the fun that we could have with our new toy!