Chasing 70

Chasing 70 

– with only an occasional glimmer so far

Working our way south we cruised on the “outside” from Anclote Key to anchor just behind Egmont Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay.  Last year we visited this island which is largely a protected wildlife reserve and state park with the small tip devoted to a Coast Guard lighthouse. This time we arrived on a beautiful Sunday afternoon to join a fleet of large and small pleasure boats enjoying the sunshine and beach. We anchored on the northern end this trip, making a short walk from the beach to the lighthouse and across to the gulf side. Again the weather cooperated and we rested comfortably in calm water watching the massive cruise ships enter and exit the shipping channel next to our boat soothed by the gentle chime of the harbor bell.

From Egmont we headed south on the “inside” using the GICW or the Gulf Inter Coastal Waterway for a shortish run to Siesta Key where Bob met us on his dock to catch our lines.  We have known Bob and his wife Christy since our youth in Saudi Arabia – as Christy said, we all grew up together. They graciously hosted a feast for us and Linda and Pete also friends from our Aramco/Saudi days. We don’t see these folks often, but the years of separation disappear quickly as we rekindle the friendship bonds forged in our shared expat experiences. One of the pleasures of traveling is reconnecting with many of our widely scattered friends and family.  We also have to commend Bob for his help with the dock lines in a heavy mist – ok downpour.  We have actually had to get wet either docking or pulling out only a few times, since we tend to be fair weather sailors – so given the nasty wet weather, it was especially nice to have such competent and willing help to finish the job quickly.

In much better weather we headed south on the “inside”  for Pine Island Sound. Most of the bridges we needed to have open were “on demand” meaning when we arrived they opened on our request. Only one was on a schedule where we had a few minutes to wait.  However, the Tom Adams bridge experienced “an electrical problem” so we had to drop anchor and wait. We were the only boat on our side, but by the time they got it operating there were three sailboats hanging out on the southside. Fortunately, this all happened at lunch time so Steve got to eat in peace. We intended to anchor off Useppa Island and dink over to the famous Inn on Cabbage Key for dinner, but the 25 knot winds blew us into the shallows and the faithful TowBoatUS pulled us off.  We happily tied up at the Cabbage Key Marina to wait out the breeze in comfort. This morning the wind is still howling although less fiercely, so we will head to Fort Myers after a walk to explore the Indian Mounds on Cabbage Key. By the way, the restaurant lived up to its reputation for fine food and exotic décor. We added our cash to the stash (purported to consist of over $50,000 dollar bills papering all available wall and ceiling space) with the wish this is the only time in 2014 we need the services of TowBoatUS!