Our plans are written in the sand

Here we sit STILL in Stuart, this is the longest we have ever stayed in one place and though I love it here I am so ready to move on.  We got to Stuart on Jan7th the plan was for 1 month then head on down to the Keys for 2-3 weeks and then over to the Abaco's for 4-6 weeks.

After the month was up I decided to go home for a week to get all the paperwork over to the acct. for taxes along with some other tasks that just could not wait.  So on the day we were to leave Stuart for points south I was on an airplane heading NORTH though not Alaska, it was pretty dam cold in Massachusetts.  As luck would have it it snowed and was also some of the coldest weather of the winter 27 degrees was the high for a couple of days with wind chills of less than 15.  Dam cold!  It was 76 degrees when I left Florida.  So I certainly got my dose of reality which I could of lived very happily without but it was a necessity of life. While home I got to spend Valentines Day with the 2 most important people in my life.  The morning of Valentines Day with my daughter Ashley in Massachusetts and the evening with the hubby in Florida.

Once back at the boat Jim threw out his back and was laid up for a few days then we had some boat issues and had to order parts so that delayed our departure for yet another week.  And since I have to be in a spot to receive mail (taxes) we decided to stay put as the marina is charging us a daily rate of what the monthly rate would be.  So here we sit and here we will now stay for 1 MORE WEEK.  I have gotten e-mails and calls from some of our looper friends asking us where we were and where are we heading and when, we have changed our plans so many times that I shall now say..............

"Ours plans are written in the sand" and it is really windy here!

And look what the wind blew in.......................................................

It was so nice to see our looper friends and fellow New Englanders (sort of)
Gene and Ginny are from NY but keep their boat across the lake in VT.  We had dinner with them at the Sailors Return and got caught up on boating adventures and got some great info on the islands (Abaco's) as they have been over there a few times.  But sadly for us they will not be making the trip this year,  as they have other commitments to attend to.  We hope to see them again in the spring as we he also head north, they were certainly very disappointed that they would not be able to make the island trip this year.

Gene and Ginny on Free 2 Be heading out of Stuart to points North.   Have a safe trip, and we will look forward to catching up with you again in the up coming months.

So here we sit, until Sunday when we MUST leave as the marina will need our slip that is booked for another boat coming in. 

Sunset Bay for 1 more week

The sunsets here at Sunset Bay are magnificent

Our neighbors, it is a beautiful boat, they are heading over to the Bahama's soon we are seeing alot of boats waiting on weather windows to cross over to the Abaco's and beyond. 

These are our friends Pete and Jerri we met them exactly 1 year ago in Melbourne  Fl. they were heading to Stuart for a couple of months.  We also ended up there and became friends.  Its funny, we hadn't seen them in a year but it felt as though it was just weeks.  And as it happens amongst boaters, they loved Stuart so much they now live nearby.  Their boat, The Five O'clock, 1996 Carver 500, is now for sale if anyone is looking for a very comfortable loop boat. 
http://www.boattrader.com/listing/1996-Carver-500-100453158


Below is the 5 O'clock on the hook in Ga.

Jim has changed out the lights on SweetPea, one of those jobs that kept getting put off.  He can finally check it off the list, the replacement is LED strip lights on both port and starboard as well as the galley lighting, deck lights etc.  75 percent of the lighting onboard has been up dated to LED.



WOW what a difference!



The end of another beautiful day in the Sunshine state.



On Saturday and Sundays there is a huge Flea Market in Stuart, it is actually advertised as a nautical Market but there is all kinds of things.  Sid and Evelyn here's a new business for you,  and you won't have to change the name!

We have extended our stay at Sunset Bay for 1 more week, we are waiting on our US customs sticker for 2012 so we can head out and over to the islands in the next 2 or 3 weeks. 



Stuart FL

WOW been here for 10 days already?  Ashley left us yesterday heading back north to the Arctic.  We had rented a car on Friday for 4 days so we could check out the area a bit with her and also we needed to get her to Fort Lauderdale for the flight.  We took a swing over to Fort Pierce on Saturday for the farmers market it is the best one around, actually the best we have been to.  Someone said they read that its the top 10 in the country.  Not sure about that but we enjoy it every time we have visited.  We then did some shopping in a MALL, WOW its been too long.  I will be very happy not to step foot in a Walmart for a month.  Ashley got her eyes checked and needed new glasses and her cell phone has been shutting down so being her birthday that's what she got.  She can see again and won't constantly be losing her contacts on the phone.

On Monday we took off for Fort Lauderdale and spent the night there, check out the area, had dinner then the best ice cream ever at a place called Jaxson's Ice Cream they should know what they are doing seeing they have been in business since 1956.  Sometimes it seems like a small world, we stopped and had lunch at this place located in a strip mall as we were walking along who did we run into but Rich and Carol on SaltNSand sitting at a restaurant outside eating their lunch.  They have their boat in Fort Meyers and ours in Stuart and we run into each other in Fort Lauderdale.  It was nice to see them once again and they looked like they were thoroughly enjoying themselves, after all, they are city folk.  Myself, give me a small town!  I have also discovered in the last year that I don't like traveling by car much anymore, maybe it has something to do with traveling at 9 mph verses 65mph.  Cars and traffic make me very nervous.  Anyway, Ashley flew out on Tuesday and we headed back to the boat.

Another funny thing happened this week.  One night I was on the AGLCA site and I noticed a post from a new member, very new, hours old actually, so I post somewhere that I had charts for sale if anyone was interested, well let me tell you I got hammered with e-mails, the 1st one were these NEW members, Tom and Christine, I e-mailed them with some of what I thought I had but told them I needed to gather all the charts up and figure a price.  And being there is going to be alot of weight, I would not ship them, so they would have to be picked up somewhere along the way.  The next day Tom and Christine show up on the dock, turns out they live right around the corner here in Stuart.  We spent a couple of hours with them talking about the loop of which they will start in September, they are now the new owners of about 30+ pounds of charts, cruising guides assorted boating book etc. they have their boat in the Alton/Grafton area and will begin from there.

So now Ashley is gone back home and I am sure the Dog, (Barkley) is happy to be home again as well, though Ashley said he loves the kennel we send him to and we appreciate the flexibility and patience that Sarah has shown us with our somewhat unpredictable schedule.  The boat is much more lonely without Ashley but it has gotten much bigger! 

So now Jim gets to tackle a few projects while we are here, the first being the Vacuflush we have been down to 1 head for more than a week and the parts he ordered have arrived, what a lucky man!  Then we have had a problem with the shower so he needs to check into that as well.  So tomorrow is laundry day for me a good time to be off the boat. 

Here are some photos of our time here.................to be continued

Downtown Stuart

The boardwalk that takes you from the marina into town

The mooring field

The dinghy dock 

marina outside lounge area where you can BBQ on an enormous grill or pick up a game of cards or domino's with boaters.  Cocktails meet and greet twice a week.

on the wrap around porch

Pitcher plant I bought in Fort Pierce

Ashley and I in Fort Lauderdale

a bit cool and breezy

Just another Stuart Sunset

SweetPea crosses her wake in Stuart FL

Jan 7th at 3:30 we entered Sunset Bay in Stuart Fl where we started the Great American Loop.  It took us 10 months and 7 days, 5556 miles,  we traveled through 17 states, 110 locks, and brought us through Canada.
WOW what a trip!  SweetPea handled the trip better than we could of dreamed and the captain handled her beautifully.

We all toasted our completion as well as Sharon and Ken's  (Dockers Inn) who crossed their wake a couple of weeks ago.  Also joining us is Steve and Jean Purdy (Suncat) who are veteran loopers, they did the loop in 2006. We had met Jean and Steve about a year ago at River Dunes in Oriental.  

5556 total miles traveled on the loop, 7255 miles total since we left Massachusetts on

10-9-10.

This will be the resting place for SweetPea and crew for about a month or until we figure which way to go next.  Bahama's ? Keys? or both.

Sunset Bay 

Moving on toward Stuart

Well I know this looks innocent enough....Mike cleaning his bike?  BUT actually, on Tuesday morning we woke up to 25 kt winds and maybe stronger though the night, that's when Mike went outside and found his bike was missing!  Yup, you guessed it, it got blown off the dock and into the water it went.  My sources (Ashley) said he fished it out with a boat hook. 

Ashley got this great shot!
Finally on Wed morning the winds settled down so we could take our leave from Venice, we had hoped to leave on Monday but the strong winds prevented that so we got off the dock bright n early ( 10am ).  Our destination for the day was Burnt Store Marina.  We got there around 3 and pumped out and fueled up SweetPea and had dinner in the restaurant there.  What a nice meal we all had, we could of spent a week here just in the restaurant but it was just a 1 night er, the next morning we we were off again to Legacy Harbour which is at the beginning of the Okeechobee waterway and we also knew we would find some loopers there we had not seen in awhile.



A beautiful sunset as seen from happy hour aboard Something Special at Legacy.  We were joined also by ErikaLin and
 Salt N Sand.




We all went out for dinner at Joe's Crab Shack somehow the only picture I got was of Sid, he may be the most photographed looper of the year!



Can't have too much of a good thing so the next morning (Friday) we were off again leaving Legacy. 
Since we were held up for a couple of extra days in Venice we were now behind schedule.  We were expected at Stuart Friday but it looks like Saturday now and we are a bit eager to get there as this is where we started our LOOP last February.



Below is our day in pictures on the Okeechobee.

Looks like a fun island tiki hut and all.

One of many of the beautiful homes we passed during the day.

Looky looky what we saw.

MOO

We started the day in a Manatee zone SLOWspeed and the Environmental Police leading the way.  Once we got the chance Jim was moving at a" high rate of speed"I was surprised that at 18mph our wake was this minimal.  Gee sh that's smaller than a Sea Ray at half the speed.

We got to Moore Haven around 3pm it was cool traveling but once we were docked it was warm.



I couldn't get this picture where I wanted it ...at the beginning, but anyway this was a nice day we spent on Monday in Sarasota.  Thanks Jeff and Linda .  See you in a few weeks Mike and Miss Nell.



Longboat Key and Venice FL then its decision time again

We finally left Treasure Island (Johns Pass) a couple of days after Christmas heading for Moore's Stone Crab House where if you eat in the restaurant you may spend a FREE night at their dock.  Such a deal so off we went... the photo above is the Sunshine Skyway Bridge as we make waves down the west coast.

Here we are docked at Moore's for the night with NautiNell very nice dock and the meal was GREAT!

Sunrise over Sarasota from  Longboat Key

NautiNell all lit up for the holiday's

Sarasota skyline

OK this has got to be the winner of best courtesy car of all Marina's. pretty nice ride for a trip to the laundry mat don't you think?

Great NO Parking sign, yes we parked in front of it to get this picture.

Sunrise in Venice WOW I got 2 sunrise shots in 1 week a new record I believe,  ya ya I know sunrise at 7:30 am makes it much easier.

So as I had mentioned we are in Venice for a few days, NautiNell will be here for an extended stay as Miss Nell has a new grand baby and will be going to Dallas for a few days.  And Venice is the home of our friends Jeff and Linda who very recently completed the loop.  The picture above is our New Years eve on Snake Island a small island that the locals claimed for themselves and meet here to party, have cookouts search for sharks teeth etc.  Venice is the sharks tooth capitol of Florida betcha didn't know that!  When we got to the island which we had heard about from Jeff, there were no fewer than 50 people here.  They have a pretty cool set up too, fire pit, hammock's, grill, picnic tables and even an out house for the ladies. 

The only way to get here is by boat, finding a parking spot wasn't too bad though there were about 12-15 boats there when we arrived.
A great time was had by all and it was a nice way to ring in the new year.
 So while we have been hanging out here in Venice we have been trying to decide which direction to take from here.  The choices are to continue south down the west coast to the Keys!  Or, head on down to Fort Meyers and take the Okeechobee Waterway which cuts across the whole state and brings you out in Stuart on the east coast of FL..  The decision has been made, we will take the Okeechobee to Stuart!  This is where we cross our wake (where we started our loop), we will remain in Stuart for 1 month and do some sightseeing by land.  And try and decide where to go next?  South to the Keys? or East to the Islands? Stay tuned!