28-10.595N
82-47.385W
Anchored, "Power Plant Anchorage"
Anclote River
Near Tarpon Springs, Florida
Sunday, February 27
Thanks to the wonderful support of first mate Chichi, John is spending his
64th birthday today, at anchor. He feels that she still "needs me"
and will still "feed me."
Since arriving at St. Petersburg, (see below), our lives have been touched
by illness. During a movie at Muvico in St. Pete ("Finding Neverland")
Chichi experienced disabling dizziness commonly called Vertigo. Doctors
at St. Anthony's hospital treated the illness, and she was fine for a few
days, but dizziness has returned three times since, causing us to schedule
a medical review in Tampa for March 7. We believe the problem emanates
from the inner ear. Between these incidents, we were able to visit Egmont
Key at the mouth of Tampa Bay, home to a state park, light house, and pilot
boat base. The state park is built around the ruins of an old fort
utilized during The Spanish-American War.
After leaving Egmont, we sailed past the heavily developed areas around
Clearwater, and into the Anclote River, from which we hope to move tomorrow
to the city marina at Tarpon Springs.
Sailors have no permanent homes or schedules, and always are subject to outside
forces, such as weather, family developments and illness. The absence
of a permanent plan, or a sailing strategy, is itself a source of anxious
uncertainty, because events at any time can cause complete changes of life
style. Our plan had been to tour The Gulf Coast states to New Orleans,
then sail south to Mexico by mid April. We optimistically hold to this
plan, while knowing that events can change everything.
27-48.540N
082-37.760W
Anchored
North Basin (Vinoy Anchorage)
St. Petersburg, Florida
Sunday, February 20
Our uneventful motor sail from Apollo Beach brought us to one of the loveliest
and most comfortable anchorages we have experienced, just off the down town
area of St. Petersburg.
On arrival, we found our friends Laura and Pat Collins (s/v Amo). Within
fifteen minutes of securing our boat, they joined us for wine and cheese.
As a result of the odd occurrence that many wealthy St. Petersburg residents
collected the works of Salvador Dali', the city has constructed a museum
of some of his largest and finest efforts. This is the most impressive
museum we have seen in years. His ability to present double images
is astounding.
Unfortunately, a bit of illness has burdened Pachamama. John had
a one day flu last Sunday, and Chichi has been experiencing significant
dizziness. All is well now.
27-46.69N
082-26.32W
Docked
Private Home, Apollo Beach, Florida
Saturday, February 12
Relationships lead to relationships:
Dave Macy commissioned this boat for Cabo Rico, and made several warranted
repairs during the first year. Then, he and his friend, Tim Parmentier,
were our professional crew on the Newport-Bermuda-St. Marten trip. (See
log, November, 2002.)
Earlier, Dave met Neil Parmentier, a born Dutchman and naval architect.
Their interests are similar. They both enjoy mechanical work,
and they both love to sail. Neil and Judy's son, Tim, sailed
with Dave several times, for fun, and for deliveries.
Bottom line: Neil and Judy invited us to dock at their home in Apollo
Beach, a perfect setting for repairs, because of the skills of both men,
and because of the fine work room Neil has in his garage. If a took
or spare part exists, Neil has it. So, Dave, John and Chichi have worked
continuously since arrival here Thursday:
1. Leak under forward sink
2. Install 2000 thousand flush system on both heads
3. Install Plexiglas cover over diesel control panel
4. Clean sanitary hoses in aft head
5. Clean forward holding tank vent system
6. Evaluate forward head sanitary hoses
Tim visited us Thursday night, and last night we hosted Neil, Judy, Dave,
and neighbors Pat and Laura, for dinner. Pat and Laura own a boat,
and plan to take off tomorrow for a week on Tampa Bay, weather permitting.
Between Sarasota and Bradenton, we went aground near an out-of-position
marker, requiring a call to Tow Boat U.S. to pull us off. From grounding
to release was only 45 minutes. We moved on to the Manatee River near
Palmetto, anchored one night, then left Thursday for Apollo Beach, a five
hour trip turned four hours thanks to a fast moving current.
27-19.833N
082-32.854W
Anchored
Off Bayfront Park, Sarasota, Florida
Sunday, February 6
Sarasota continues to show a wonderful face to John and Chichi.
Since our arrival, and our visit with The Stanfords, we have seen a play
"West End Horror," that applies Sherlock Holmesian technique to the murder
of a theater critic. Suspects where H.G. Wells, Oscar Wilde, and
George Bernard Shaw. We saw the play through the kindness of Jeff
and Debbie King. Jeff is a private investment advisor, like John,
and they have spent many productive hours together sharing both business
and investment ideas. Debbie is a surgical recovery nurse at St.
Vincent's Hospital. They own a condominium on Long Boat Key.
The play was presented at The Osolo Theatre, on the grounds of
the John and Mable Ringling Estate, that also includes The Museum of Art,
The Circus Museum, and The Ca d'Zan, which translates to "House of John."
The Art Museum is world class, made even more attractive during our
visit by The Ansel Adams traveling exhibit that we had seen previously at
the Eiteljorg in Indianapolis. The best part for us is The Circus
Museum that both memorializes and elucidates that form of entertainment.
John particularly remembers the movie, "The Greatest Show on Earth,"
that was filmed in Sarasota by Cecile B DeMille. Jimmy Stewart played
the clown.
On Saturday, Sarasota holds a downtown Farmers' Market. This one
was special: the 25th anniversary of the first Farmers' Market. Among
the musical groups along the way was a Barber Shop Quartet, octogenarians
for sure, who, on request, did Lyda Rose, and told us that they visited
Indianapolis twice for the national Barber Shop convention. On their
last visit, more than 8,000 singers gathered on Monument Circle to sing
under the direction of a leader who was lowered from the roof of the "AFNB"
building.
Good ol' Enterprise helped our visit. The weekend automobile rental
was only $9.99 per day. Thank you, Enterprise.
Wednesday, February 1
The most satisfying experience of cruising or traveling is a visit
with old friends. Bill and Judy Stanford are true friends. They
were next door neighbors in Indianapolis, prior to their move to Sarasota
perhaps eight or ten years ago. We have visited them twice in their
beautiful Bird Key home, including at the millennium, December 31,
1999. At that time, Bill was an active member of The Bird Key Yacht
Club. This month he ends his one year term as Commodore. For
them both, this has been a wonderful experience.
Laughs and nostalgia, perhaps even a tear or two, lubricated by excellent
wine and food, compose the nature of our lunch on board.
Batteries are wonderful, but imperfect, with limited life.; The
lives of our four 105 amp AGM batteries ended at Venice. Leaving
Gasparilla, we had fully charged batteries, having been attached to shore
power for more than a month. While underway, the batteries, of course,
looked fine, as the alternator kept them pumped up. However, within
two hours of anchoring at Venice, they crashed from 13 volts to 11.50 volts,
thereby declaring massive weariness and hopelessness. With gratitude
for the wonderful American distribution system, we replaced them within
24 hours, while docked at Crows Nest Marina. Now we have more power
than ever, hopefully enough for another three years, or maybe, with luck,
a bit more.
The cruise to Sarasota was uneventful. The arrival was terrific.
We fell in love with Sarasota during our first walk along the shore.
This is a clean, dynamic town, with more culture than anyone can consume,
although we plan to sample as much as we can before Monday. The list
is amazing: Sarasota Film Festival; Ansel Adams traveling exhibit;
Bernadette Peters and David Copperfield; Johnny Mathis; The Ringling museums
and estate. The central library is one of the best we ever have seen.
Small restaurants abound, and the ugly arches are away from down town.
The relatively new Ringling Bridge is tasteful and attractive. We
will have more to say about Sarasota.