We felt very refreshed after a good and peaceful rest. It was restful just knowing that we had conquered the Gulf of Mexico. We spent the morning working on the boat with help from Scott Whalley, from Whalley Marine Services. Cam and Scott did an oil change and Scott looked at our leaking water pump. The pump definitely needed replacing, and while we actually had a spare water pump on hand, Scott was not able to replace it for us. One of our engine mounts required removal to gain access to remove the pump. This was a fairly big deal and required specialized equipment to do the work. It was equipment we that didn't have. We would arrange to have it done later, and since it only leaked under higher RPMs, we would be safe to run at lower speeds.
We took an Uber to Tarpon Springs and met Cam's cousins, Murray and Vicki, for lunch at Rusty Bellies. It was a great lunch and fun catching up. Then they joined us while we walked the town going to all the tourist shops as well as a dive shop where Heather got new fins (for Christmas!). What a fun afternoon and it was so great to see Murray and Vicki! After they went home, we made plans to connect with Off Leash and Egret for dinner at Hellas Greek Restaurant. It was really good Greek food! One of the appetizers was flaming sheep cheese! It was such a treat that we ordered a second! After dinner, we took the trolley back to Clearwater with Karen and Rob. We were the only ones on the trolley for most of the ride and it was a surprisingly fast run back. It was certainly cheaper than the Uber we took to Tarpon Springs earlier.
As the year was coming to a close, so was our time with our long time buddy boat, Off Leash. For our last day together, we enjoyed a lazy day on the beach, including a picnic, and sand sculptures. Then we each cooked our own meals and had a last supper together on board Off Leash. We originally met in St Joseph, Michigan and started travelling together in Chicago. When we went to Chattanooga, they went to visit family, and then we reconnected on the Tenn-Tom. We travelled over 1500 miles together! It was a bit of a sombre evening, but the night was calm, and the sunset was beautiful. Beside our boats, we noticed an Osprey sitting on a lamp post. Unfortunately, we scared him away trying to get closer shots but it was a treat to see him. On our last morning, Heather and Karen went for a long walk while the men prepped the boats. We got back to the boats around 8 AM and then it was time to say good bye. Karen and Rob brought us a farewell card. It was tough to say goodbye. We had a quick photo, farewell hugs, and then helped them cast off. We followed suit a couple of hours later.
Our plan was to head to Gulfport for fuel and overnight. We heard that it was a cute town with great shops, a nice waterfront, and ballroom dancing. We also hoped to connect with our friends, Terry and Pauline, for the trip to their home in Anna Maria, Florida, where Sea Clef would stay for the Christmas holidays. The GICW was much busier compared to the Panhandle. That was a new experience for us. We have included a picture of a pelican from our travels that day. He is sitting on a channel marker for the ICW. You recognize the ICW markers by the inset gold square on the square green signs, or the inset gold triangle on the red triangle signs. As we neared Gulfport, we saw Off Leash from a distance exiting the Gulfport Marina. We pulled in and secured to the end of a T-head dock. It was 26 C and sunny but felt like 30! Hot!
Cam had a meeting shortly after we docked so Heather biked to the grocery store. She was not happy with the store that she had chosen. She wished she had biked twice as far to ALDI or Walmart, but we made do with what we found there. We were joined on our boat by an Egret who stuck around while we enjoyed docktails. It was getting a little too comfortable so Heather had to shoo it away. Then we decided to follow Terry's suggestion and go to Pia's Trattoria for dinner. It was really good and they had vegan gluten free chocolate cake! Exciting! Then we walked down past all the busy bars to the water front. Unfortunately, all the shops were closed but it's much cheaper just window shopping. We actually found the ballroom dancing, but we were too late and too full to dance. We wished we had another day to explore this cute town and all the shops.
We cleaned the inside of the boat within an inch of her life. Cam had a long online meeting as well. We hurried to try to get our pump out done before Terry and Pauline arrived, but they beat us to it. We were happy to see that they brought their dog Wynston along. We pumped out and then anchored out in the mooring field to have lunch. When we got moving, we noticed lots of dead fish floating on the water and Terry and Pauline suggested that we wear masks. They said it was the red tide that had been affecting the area since Hurricane Ian. Heather could feel it stinging in her throat.
Terry directed us through the entrance and to their house on Anna Maria Island where we docked gently on their new dock. We plugged into the GFCI power and it worked without tripping, which was awesome. You may recall the power troubles that we had been having with new GFCI power towers on previous stops. This was our first big test. We will elaborate on this later. It was time to celebrate with some Prosecco. Pauline had planned a wonderful welcome meal of steak and shrimp for us which they both prepared. Yummy! We ended the evening with a hot tub, and for the first time in a long time, we slept in a bed on terra firma. Such luxury living compared to our boat! Pauline is a fantastic chef with a passion for cooking. She put on two other terrific meals. We had some Haddock on Risotto with ribbons of Zucchini on top. The next night she made gluten free crab cakes. Yummy! On Monday we enjoyed a fabulous dinner out at a restaurant called The Shores. Cam and I both had the Grouper and I indulged in flourless chocolate cake.
We enjoyed a long walk around the island and a big bike ride. Then Pauline took us out to a flea market and some of the local gift shops. We got two shell plates with anchor pate knives. Eventually we will take one home but use the other one at the boat for docktails. By Tuesday, the red tide was pretty bad in the neighbourhood! You didn't have to be outside long before your throat started stinging and your eyes were burning. There were dead fish piling up at the ends of the channels and we saw a lethargic dolphin swimming in front of the porch. So sad!
Terry helped Cam find a great (reasonably priced) mechanic named Diego from Mantis Marine, and our starboard engine water pump was replaced! Yay! Diego also changed the engine filters and the oil on the generator. Cam and Diego weathered a pretty bad storm on the boat while they were working. Later, Heather helped Cam flush the anchor washdown and aft hoses, the generator, and the two engines in preparation for leaving the boat over Christmas.
Terry was very helpful on a couple of other fronts. He recommended a detailing company so Cam was able to arrange for the boat to be detailed and waxed while we were away. He also recommended a company that would bring a tanker of diesel to the house so we could get a better deal on filling our diesel tanks. That took a long time, but it was very convenient for us and it was a good deal.
Getting back to the power issues, the first night in Anna Maria, our boat tripped the power overnight so we were not out of the woods yet. Cam had been talking with Ben Stein, the ABYC electrician from Panbo, trying to eliminate possibilities. The hot water heater was looking suspect. Ben arrived a couple of days later to do a planned installation of breakers at the shore power inlet locations. These will protect our boat from power issues on the dock. Ben also troubleshooted the power tripping issue. As we left to go home for Christmas, all power outlets in the entertainment centre were off as the printer, and AV equipment were suspect of power leaks. We would later learn that the printer was the culprit. Go figure!
While Cam was doing boat work, Heather and Pauline shopped for groceries, cooked, baked, and went Christmas shopping! We had a couple of nights out for dinner, and a night where we cooked for Terry and Pauline. They took us for a quick drive around Sarasota to see the Christmas decorations as well as the Unconditional Surrender statue, which is a 26 foot statue based on a photo of a sailor and woman kissing in Time Square after WWII. We had a really good visit over the course of the week, but it was time for us to go home for Christmas. We left for the airport, and left Sea Clef in Terry and Pauline's care for 2 1/2 weeks. They were not only wonderful hosts, but they kept a very close eye on our boat, checking the power, checking the depth during the super low tide, sending us photos of our boat while it was being detailed, and much more. We truly can't thank them enough! We would be back to carry on in the new year.
Enjoy our photos below as well as our video on this section of our travels called We Say Farewell.
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