Day 107
We left our transient slip at Clearwater Beach Municipal Marina at sunrise on Sunday morning, 12/27/20, which was about 7:20 am (we’re on EST over here). The weather was calmer than the previous days and the sun was shining brightly. As the Skipper helmed from the flybridge, Gilligan ran around like a headless chicken, untying and pulling in the bazillion lines that must be used when tying Legacy up to a fixed dock slip with pilings instead of fingers. Once all those lines are in, they must then be flaked for storage, which is also a work-out and time-consuming. After the lines, the fenders must be removed and stowed. I was exhausted before we even got out of the marina! For the first part of the morning, we cruised about 8 miles outside in the gulf (rather than in the ICW), where we had a 7-knot beam (hitting us on the side of the boat) wind and 1-2 foot waves. Thankfully, the waves were coming mostly at our stern, which made for a smoother ride. Right off the bat, we got to dodge crab-pots, as they seemed to be everywhere and all around us. In between crab-pot watching, we enjoyed more sea turtles and dolphins along the way, which always does my heart good. The temps were warmer, but still chilly enough to be bundled up with the flybridge zipped-up.
Along toward noon, the winds died down and the waters became smoother and their trademark emerald green color was brilliant. Waves were down to 1-foot or less, which is heavenly for cruisers. We listened on radio channel 16 to the Coast Guard trying to help a distressed vessel whose crew spoke only Spanish. The Coast Guard dispatcher repeatedly requested any mariners in the area who could speak Spanish to please help communicate, if at all possible. We’re assuming everything worked out because we soon heard Spanish being transmitted over channel 16. Steve and I officially declared today THE DAY OF CRAB-POTS, as it was impossible to sit back, relax, and enjoy a leisurely cruise out in the ocean when surrounded by these evil contraptions just patiently waiting for us to run over them and damage Legacy’s stabilizers, rudder, propellers or hull!
Mid-afternoon, we came in off of the gulf and re-entered the ICW via Roberts Bay in Venice, FL. Once again, we were in smooth-as-glass waters and enjoying scenery on both sides of our boat. When we started to approach Circus Bridge in Venice, where the Tamiami Trail (Highway 41) crosses over the ICW, I commented that bridge looked too low for our boat to safely pass underneath it. Steve double-checked the charts and then decided to hail the bridge-master on the radio and request he raise the drawbridge for us, since there was only 20-feet of clearance beneath it. The bridge-master was very polite and, after he waited for all vehicle, bicycle, and foot traffic up on the bridge to clear, he raised it right up for us. It was our first time passing underneath an open drawbridge aboard Legacy!
As we cruised down the ICW, we got to see a lot of Venice, passing the Venetian Waterway Park, and just east of Historic Downtown Venice. We passed Country Club Estates, and passed the Venice Isle and Sandalwood Park neighborhoods. Knowing these parts were some of our friends’, the Wehrles, old stomping grounds from when they lived in the area and owned a sailboat, I continuously texted them pictures and videos asking if anything looked familiar, and they confirmed it did. 😊 Further down the ICW, after cruising just inside Caspersen Beach to Manasota Key Beach, we came to the Manasota Bridge, where we requested another drawbridge raise for us to safely pass under.
We arrived at our planned anchorage in Lemon Bay, in Englewood, FL, at about 4:30 pm. Steve noted that Legacy would spend the night in really shallow waters, but estimated that even at low-tide, we should still remain above the bottom. Low tide was the next morning, so we held our breaths as we checked the depth meter when we woke up, but we were good. Still had ½ foot underneath the keel, and the tide was slowly rising. We were golden!
Position: N 26° 56.918, W 82° 21.649
Distance traveled: 87 SM
Total distance traveled: 2156 SM
Total marina nights: 89
Total nights at anchor: 17
Locks today: 0
Locks Total: 27