Happy Father's Day

Unfortunately, Mike and I have the hospitals this weekend. So no boating. We did aquire a nice laptop (at a great price--thank u Gail). Next time out we should be well connected. Stay tuned. More later.

Smooth Trip Home

Up anchor near 9:30 this AM.  Ran the genny for the A/C.  Caught several fish this morning before we left, no keepers.  We saw a very large snook under the dock--same one we saw a small alligator under last weekend.  Gail caught a few fish on her sambiki rig--too funny to watch.

We hope to have our fish finder (depth sounder) module replaced this week.  It seems odd to be running around without knowing how deep we are running.  We have only traveled in familiar waters at this point--and will stay that way until we are fully equipped to explore new places.

The most fun is just watching what is going on around us.  We walked to the beach and found these osprey.  The dinghy was the mode of choice to get back into a protected pocket where the manatee were so close Gail thought that they may "snot" on us.  Of course, we stopped on the way back home to fish.  The best fish I caught was in our own canal as I was cleaning up the boat.  Gail saw Jacks in the canal and I pitched a gold spoon--1 cast, 1 16 inch Jack--fun!

We will likely stay at home the next couple of weekends, but may try some day trips.

Arrived yesterday. Bunch of wind, with the usual big water in Charlotte harbor. 2 to 3 footers with a number of 4 footers (frequently back to back).  Took us 90 minutes to travel the 8 or so miles from Ponce Park to marker 5.  After making the corner, we decided to try to run on plane, and it worked (slow speed, 17 to 18 knts) just enough RPM to keep her on plane with the trim set mostly nose down.  It turned our last 6 nautical mile trip from 1 hr to 20 minutes--it was rough, but both my kidneys survived.  Gail rode in the back where it was much smoother--but she did see some salt spray.

Pretty warm during the day, but if the breeze continues (as it usually does), it isn't bad.  We took the dinghy about and caught a few fish (1 keeper trout).  Great sunset.  Only 8 boats in the harbor Friday night--we had 119 last weekend!

We ran the genny all night, had to add some fuel near midnight to keep it running for the A/C.  Much nicer than the warm, humid Florida June weather.

Coffee out at anchor always tastes a little better than at home.

Yes, it is an alligator.  No, they aren't suppose to be in salt water.  The ranger says that there are 3 "little" ones living in the end of the inlet for the ranger staff.  This one was between 3 and 4 feet.  We saw it again later in the weekend.

Stay tuned, more later.