Author: Steve

Captain’s Log Day 3 – 3/2/25

The local trip was successful enough for us to continue heading South. We woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the anchorage. Our lithium battery bank was reasonably charged so we opted to conserve the propane at this point and used the induction stovetop and microwave to make breakfast. And coffee of course!

Art, Kelsey and Andy came over to say goodbye and wish us well. I reworked the dinghy lift straps to better fit our new dinghy, Hula Doll, then weighed anchor to head for Sarasota.

After missing the first bridge opening by 6 minutes🙄 we had lunch waiting for the next opening. If you’re 1 minute late, they won’t let you pass.

The breeze freshened from the north for a delightful, although chilly, downwind sail across Sarasota Bay arriving at Sarasota Yacht Club mid-afternoon. The new circuit breaker was waiting for us, which is a project for tomorrow morning. Thank you Amazon. I washed the boat as she was already pretty salty.

Traditionally when in Sarasota, we go to Tommy Bahamas for their “Million Dollar Mojitos”, but they were flooded from Hurricane Helene and still closed like so many of the places on the beach by us in St Pete. We opted to dine at the Sarasota Yacht Club which made us darn good Mojitos to cure our fix. We dined on the patio overlooking Hula Girl in the marina, who was adding a little color to the place. The lamb osso buco was impossible to pass up as was the macadamia crusted grouper for Alicia. I tried the Caymus Bonanza Lot 7 Cabernet which was pretty good.

Since we’re plugged into shore power tonight I wimped out and turned the furnace on to warm us up a bit after a slightly chilly dinner on the patio.

Captain’s Log – Day 2 – 3/1/25

It was a restless night last night. We were wired from the excitement of the first day of the trip, then about 11pm there was an odd click. I was about to drift off , but figured I better check it out. The circuit breaker for the new freezer tripped. It’s full of about $500 of meat for the trip. After a little debugging it seems the fault was the 30 year old breaker. So I had to move the freezer to a different circuit temporarily. It was another hour or so before I felt like I could trust it would make it through the night and get some sleep. Amazon has promised to have a replacement waiting for us at the next stop.

We went over to a friend’s boat for breakfast and pineapple mimosas. Afterwards, we launched our new dinghy, put the registration letters and stickers on, then named her “Hula Doll”.

We took Hula Doll to Bradenton Yacht Club for lunch, giving Art a tow back afterwards as he had a fuel line crack. Boats are always an adventure!

We had a picnic dinner at Emerson Point with friends and some exercise carrying six or eight dinghies back to the water after the tide went out… oops!

My good friend Kelsey solo sailed Hula Girl 1 down to see us off. Both Hula Girls anchored together. I can’t tell you how great it was seeing them. Andy also brought his boat.

Captain’s Log – Day 1 – 2/28/25

After a lifetime of dreaming, months of planning and work, we cast off today. However we immediately came to a halt as the boat failed to shift into reverse to get out of the dock. Failure to launch. Note to self, when lubing the shifter cable, be sure to tighten it back down. 🤷🏼‍♂️ So after a minor adventure at the dock we left St Pete Beach to meet up with friends at a nearby anchorage. The wind filled in and we had a delightful sail across Tampa Bay right into the anchorage in the Manatee River. We rafted up with my friend Art who docks next to me in the marina, and a couple other boats. We had drinks, everyone brought food then watched the sunset followed by the 7 planet alignment. What a great start to our journey! I believe Hula Girl 1 will join us tomorrow evening!!! That will be so special!

✌️❤️⛵️