Longboat Key

Yup, that’s us as “race officials” in the first ever Cow Key Channel run.  This zero kilometer race was a fund raiser for the local Sherriff’s animal farm.  A lot of fun for a good cause. 

Being at the Southern Most Point we noticed a lot of “southern speak”.  One of our dock mates at Stock Island was a Georgia Belle who reminded us of Kelly Pickler mixed with a bit of Dolly Parton. 

We had many discussions about her southern lingo and some of the unique expressions Southerner’s use.  Here are some of Donna and my favorites:

I'm as busy as a one-legged cat in a sandbox.

Too poor to paint, too proud to whitewash.

The porch light's on, but no one's home

Well butter my butt and call me a biscuit.

Full as a tick

Y'all or All y'all

Down yonder

Fixin’ too

Bless your pea pickin' little heart!

Deep in the South where sushi is still called bait.

He's about as useful as a screen door on a submarine

He was as nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs.

We will miss our Sourthern friends at Stock Island and waved goodbye as they said "ya'll come back now".

A weather window appeared to open so we left Stock Island Marina Village April 10th.  Initially the seas and winds were perfect and we were anticipating a great day.  Once we rounded the southern tip of Key West we encountered different circumstances.  Winds were gusting to 30 but a steady 20-25kts with quick (4 sec)  5-8’seas.  The weather was not what had been forecast and even the Coast Guard was calling out to boaters requesting sea condition updates. 

After reminding ourselves that the first thing you get rid of on a boat is a schedule, we made a big U turn toward Bahia Honda for anchorage and to reassess.  A good night’s rest and weather that was now as predicted allowed us to pull anchor and head North.   We left Bahia Honda at 1pm arriving at Cape Sable and the Everglades National Park just before sunset. 

Quiet anchorage except for the loud thump that woke us up around 2am.   Upon inspection we didn’t see anything and imagined it may have been a gator since we were in the Everglades. 

Next morning we left the anchorage and made good progress with sail.  Thankfully we had good wind since the Port engine was having difficulty with the raw water intake.  Once we anchored near Marco Island Steve dove the boat and discovered a clump of pine straw stuck in the intake vent. We concluded that the loud thump the night before must have been a gator batting with a pine log (makes for better story).

We continued navigating to Sarasota without event and the water and weather were ideal.  

We plan to stay near Sarasota at Longboat Key Marina for a few more weeks then will transit back to the East coast and perhaps a quick trip to the Bahamas.

Unconditional Surrender statue at Sarasota Bay /Marina Jack’s.  An aluminum structure by Seward Johnson resembling a famous photo.