Day 238
3075 miles
Our time in Clearwater flew by. We seemed to be busy every day with a combination of things. Boat-wise, it was getting settled in (where did we keep this item last year?), more cleaning and a few repairs. Both of our freezers stopped working and needed freon injections. Our main freezer in the kitchen area also required a new condenser. We were so fortunate to get a small piece of the flybridge canvas repaired in one day. Canvas shops in Florida are overwhelmed with work from Hurricane Irma damage. The first place we called said they are booked until February!
We like being busy with family things. We got to spend lots of time with Jeff and Julie and Shafer and Thomas. And we made it to one of Shafer's varsity basketball games.
My apprenticeship studies continue. Along with the electrical, plumbing and seamanship knowledge I gained on the first half of the Loop, I now can hang wreaths, garland and wrap palm trees with lights. I spent 4 days helping Matt with his holiday lighting business. Since he lives in Florida and we see him only a few times a year, I was happy to work along side Matt just to be able to spend the time with him. He helped us by installing a new pump in our forward bilge, following Greg's instruction. (that would have been a job for me or Mike).
Although we were only there for one night, we could tell our slip at the Clearwater Beach marina was right in the middle of all the action. Across the street was the beautiful sandy beach, all the shops and restaurants were within a 4 block radius, and charter boats of every variety (fishing, sightseeing, dolphin watching, lunch and dinner cruises) left from the marina. But all that action comes with a price, which was congested traffic (both car and walking) and noise. We were more than OK with the move to the Clearwater Harbor (city) marina. Quiet, free parking, floating docks, and just one block from downtown. (I mentioned in my last post that a power issue forced us to move to the city marina). Since boat watching is now a favorite pastime, a bonus at our new spot was being able to sit at the back of True North and watch the parade of vessels that went right behind us, especially on the weekends. The marina sits right on the intracoastal waterway. Big ships, little ships, tall ships, small ships, white ships, blue ships. (my nod to Dr. Seuss).
We discovered that Clearwater is home to a LARGE Church of Scientology campus. Many downtown buildings house the different facets of the organization. The physical buildings themselves are quite beautiful.
Greg and Karen left on November 9th to return home for Thanksgiving and Christmas. That cut the laughter quotient down by half. Amidst all the hard work on the boat, we laugh . . . a lot. Especially Karen and I.
There are two exceptions to our "quiet" stay. The marina borders a city park and Sammy Hagar, from the band Van Halen, was at the park for a concert on the 14th. We were able to sit up on the flybridge and enjoy the performance. Actually, you could hear it from inside the boat, too.
The other disturbance was early one morning when we heard the pitter patter of little feet. Over a hundred birds were running around on the bow of the boat! That was Mike's estimate as I let him get up to check out the noise! We had been dealing with the birds and their poop every day, but this was the first time they woke us up. There were so many birds most nights around sunset, I felt like we were in a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's movie "The Birds.
We were suppose to leave Clearwater on the 19th, but a very kind dock master let us stay through Thanksgiving. We just had to check out, move to a different slip, and check in again.
Looper friends Jim and Mandy Conley from Shell Belle docked at the marina last Saturday. We first met them in Marathon last winter, and saw them again when they stayed at Harbor View Marina in Ludington in July while on their Loop. Since then, they crossed their wake at Green Turtle Bay in Kentucky and are now flying a gold Looper flag. They, like us, are going to enjoy another winter in Florida. Jim and Mandy have been involved in a Looper tradition (like docktails) called Champagne Sunday. So Mike and I hosted our first one, having the Shell Belle crew over for Sunday brunch. We celebrated being on boats in Florida. (Champagne Sunday is really just an excuse to celebrate something and drink champagne or mimosas!)
Josh and his girlfriend Ellynn drove down from Illinois to spend Thanksgiving with us, so there was quite a crowd at Jeff and Julie's as they had most of their kids and extended family - 18 of us. The weather on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday wasn't the best - cloudy, overcast and occasional rain showers. The gray weather meant games and cards took the place of being in the pool.
We were planning on moving the boat to Ft. Myers on Saturday and the weather cooperated. Sunshine and waves under 1 ft made for a pleasant ride for Mike, Josh and Ellynn on True North and I drove the car. (I live on the boat, so it was an easy decision to let Josh and Ellynn have the experience of traveling the gulf waters - crab pots and all!) The one surprise was it took the boaters almost 2 hours once they left the gulf and entered the Caloosahatchee River to get to downtown Ft. Myers, where Legacy Harbor is located. Dozens of small pleasure boats out for the day created a virtual no wake zone for us the entire way. We are courteous boaters, and would never allow our wake to swamp smaller boats, even though they are zipping past us. So that made for a long day as True North left our slip in Clearwater at 8 am, went to the fuel dock at the beach marina for diesel and a pump out, got out to the gulf about 9:30, and tied up on the D dock at Legacy at 5:30.
After thinking we wouldn't know anyone in Ft. Myers (other than possibly other Looper boats), we were pleasantly surprised when we pulled into our slip and 2 boats over is the boat that was 2 slips over from us in Marathon! Joe and his family (including adorable 5 year old Olivia) live full time on their boat and came to Legacy to escape Hurricane Irma. This morning Joe, standing on his deck, laughed and said it was nice to look out and see True North again! Another couple that live on their boat and were our dock mates in Marathon also got out of Dodge because of Irma and are here - Kevin and Christine. I had met Christine last winter at water aerobics and Greg has been out fishing with Kevin. Small world.
We drove Josh and Ellynn back to their car in Clearwater today. They hated to leave as it is another sunny, warm day.
This Thanksgiving weekend we are reminded of our blessings and are very grateful for the little things and the big things.
And the parade begins
You can take the girl out of Michigan, but you can't take the Michigan out of the girl
Colorful dolphin statues around downtown Clearwater
A unique way to slow down traffic as opposed to speed bumps
Birds . . .
Birds . . .
And more birds . . .
This is what they leave behind. We had just washed the entire boat the day before
Self pumpout. A crappy job!
Wrapping trees. I don't get on roofs!
The finished product
This reminded me of sand dunes at home
But this right next to the dune reminded me I was in Florida
Josh and Ellynn at Clearwater Beach
Jim and Mandy
Pizza night!
Coming into Legacy Harbor at Ft Myers
I was following a blog of some Looper friends - Scott and Karen Devoll. They began the same week we did, kept going and crossed their wake in Muskegon this summer, after spending the night docked next to us in Ludington. After two weeks at home, they planned to get back on Last Call and continue looping. A recurrence of cancer for Karen put a hold on those plans. Karen ended all her blog posts with "The Unique and Random Photo of the Day". Until they are back on the Loop, I'd like to keep that idea going. Here is my first
Unique and Random Photo of the Day:
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