February 5, 2014 Pelican Bay anchorage

Siesta Key Beach

We left the Sarasota mooring field around 10:30 am which was perfect because the fog began lifting around 10.  The day before we took the dinghy out the inlet to Siesta Beach.  Lots of people and perfect weather.  Water was around 73 degrees.  And I wonder sometimes why we left WI?

Sunset at the Sarasota Mooring Field

We had a few sunsets worthy of tropical sunsets too!

 I toyed with the idea of going on the outside (out to the Gulf versus traveling on the protected waters of the ICW) to Venice but Field Trip was not comfortable doing that so we traversed the ICW the 18 miles to Venice.

We had several bridges that operate on a 3 opening per hour schedule so we tried to time our arrivals with that in mind.  We had 4 bridges on the route to Venice, 2 of which opened on demand.

I had called the Castaway marine early that at morning to reserve two spots for us for two days but they mis-understood and had us reserved for only a single night.  Jeff and Judy from "Just Fakin It" were at Castaway and we were anxious to spend sometime with them since we had cruised with them for several months down the river system.  Don and Carole, other friends of ours, live in Venice  but they were off on a cruise until the 9th so we missed them.

We tied up to the lay along wall which is almost an extension of the breakwater at the Venice Inlet.

Met some great folks Bob and Carole.  They are sailors though but we like them anyway.  Also met Dennis and Carole who are on and MT 40 from Racine.  Wisconsin people abound!



I took a walk along the Venice beach before we organized ourselves to leave.  Left at 10:30 again.  Must be a magical departing time for us.  Southern Cross (Bob and Carole) headed out before us but ReUnion (Dennis and Carole from Racine) left about the same time we did.

It was an uneventful journey, warm and tranquil.  But again it seemed we were traveling a well defined ditch.    Once we entered Lemon Sound the channel was bordered by broad stretches of water.

Lemon Bay

We arrived at the anchorage and since we were in the lead at that time we cut in after Red Marker
26 and anchored in 6-7 feet of water.  Perfect.

We took the dinghy down and eventually took it out and ran over to Stump Pass beach near Englewood Beach  We beached the dinghy on the banks of the little sound and we walked Englewood Beach for a little while before heading back and collecting our anchor mates for some cocktails aboard our boat.  We took them back to their boats after a few hours, ate dinner and then off to bed.




February 5, 2014

Our boat viewed between the posts at Pelican Bay

Woke up to a cloudy sky..  We were planning on anchoring in Pelican Cove so left Lemon Bay around 10:30 and after a few hours of mundane travel through the ICW arrived at Peilcan Bay.  The entry directions were rather precise and we did find some shallow areas, but managed to drop the anchor in a perfect spot.  What a great place.  Its well protected and wildlife abounds.  Cayo Costa State Park is right across the way with access to the Gulf

Rays gliding along the beach

We took the dinghy into the park docks and walked about 3/.4 of a mile to the Gulf where we found rays, leaping into the air and trolling the shore in groups.  Mary tried to swim but wasn't comfortable with several rays eerily gliding by her legs.

We walked back to the dinghy after a while and lo and behold Dave and Joanna were there!  They had taken their runabout over from Pine Island to see if we were here!  What a great surprise.  Wonderful friends!

They came aboard for as drink and then left to head back to their rental on Pine Island.  We’ll be heading over their tomorrow.

I dropped by ReUnion anchored next to us for a drink and he showed me some strip 12DV LED lighting which is something we've been looking for lately.

Hope the rain materializes tonight but right now its really dense fog with all the anchor lights glowing in the dark like ghostly orbs.  Very quite and peaceful here.