Crossed Lines and Fingers

Day 247  |  St. Petersburg to Sarasota |  5.6 Hours  |  34 Miles  

Barry and I like to depart early in the morning. Get up and get going. Today, however, we had to wait until after low tide which occurred at 9:30. I took advantage of the VERY low tide and waxed the side of our upper deck while standing on the finger pier. Barry topped off our water tanks and packed away the hose. At 9:30 we started our departure checklist and got to the starboard bow line that we couldn't get off. The sailboat in the slip next to us had come in just a few days ago and their white bowline was on top of our black one. Normally, that's not a problem, but today the low water had their lines so tight we couldn't get ours out. It took both Barry and I working together for about five minutes to get us loose. We waved goodbye to Miss Utah, exited St. Petersburg Municipal Marina into Tampa Bay, and made our final pass under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

The wind was stronger than predicted, consistently blowing 20-25 knots on our beam and keeping our Looper burgee stiff. While the wind had little affect on Crossroads, we had to keep the pilothouse doors closed on an otherwise gorgeous day to eliminate the cross-breeze from ripping through. We had two bridges that needed to open for us and we adjusted our speed to minimize waiting. No point rushing up to the bridge and having to stop in a stiff breeze. The Coast Guard was out on patrol, still keeping a presence while working without pay. Roseate spoonbills were in the trees. Dolphins popped up all around us, but never followed along. This little bird let us come within a foot of him and didn't try to move.

As we neared Sarasota, we began to recognize areas that we had explored while docked in Palmetto. We went by both Robinson Preserve and Ca d'Zan. We passed under the Ringling Bridge and turned into the Marina Jack mooring field. The first ball they assigned us was occupied. I grabbed the second ball on the first attempt only to discover that it had two short docklines attached to the pendant -- but too short for us to get cleated on our bow. We had to first remove the existing lines and then attach ours; no small feat with our bow seven feet above water. Finally we got everything tied off. A smll consolation is that we now have two new short docklines to add to our supply. I watched as a crew installed three new mooring balls around us. Before we knew it, the sun was setting and the Sarasota skyline was glowing a.

Shown below is our view this afternoon from the mooring field, and another one Barry just took with the almost-full moon rising high in the sky.

Tomorrow we will travel to Venice where we'll meet up with some friends from home. We're looking forward to seeing them and hope the weather cooperates. Another cold front is due to pass through on Thursday, bringing more wind and rain. Our fingers are crossed.