Sail Eagle'sWings - Punta Gorda Life: 2018

Friday, December 14, 2018

Punta Gorda Holidays

The Isles Yacht Club Lighting of the Fleet - its a fun nautical tradition when fellow boaters decorate their vessels and bring them over to the club. At the stroke of 6 p.m., everyone illuminates their boats at once. It's a breath-taking event and so much fun. Before Thanksgiving, we began the prep for our design - different colored stars that flicker on and off - and an extra big blue star to represent our boat name - Indigo Star! We invited friends to come aboard for the festivities. We went through lots of home-made Christmas cookies, snacks and liberal glasses of wine.

Indigo Star all lit up!

Aerial drone view of the Yacht Club with boats in background

We also attended a lovely Christmas Ball at the club and a Christmas Concert.

Joanne and Richard enjoy the IYC Christmas Ball

Unfortunately, I (Joanne) injured my left ankle and broke a bone in my foot. It was a stupid accident - I tried hopping over the last step of our lanai area and landed on a soft spot in the grass. Crack! I heard a bone break and have to wear an air boot for 6 weeks until everything heals.

On December 11th, I ran the Change of Watch for our boating club, the PGIslanders. I created PowerPoint slides and gave tribute to all those who helped me during the year I was Commodore, 2018. It was well attended and everyone welcomed our new Commodore, Ron V. Hurrah!

Monday, November 12, 2018

Fall Cruise to NoWhere

The Cruise to No Where Group

Our boating club, the PGIslanders, scheduled a cruise to NoWhere. So, where is NoWhere? Well, the cruisers decided to go north. We packed our boat, Indigo Star, and headed to Venice Yacht Club where we spent a pleasant evening. The next morning we pulled into the Bird Key Yacht Club and met our friends on Friday, November 2nd, in Sarasota. We decided to have dinner at Owen's Fish Camp, a neat little place in downtown with a backyard that featured a country band and campfire. We could hardly believe we were in the city! What a fun place with delicious seafood!

Us at Owen's Fish Camp

The next day we walked downtown Sarasota, met for a movie, A Man with a Gun, a new Clint Eastwood flick and then had dinner at Marina Jack's outdoor venue overlooking Sarasota Bay. The group decided to leave the next day and we agreed we'd anchor our boats off Emerson Point in the Manatee River near Bradenton. Those who went with us were Steve and Kathy aboard s/v North Star, Dave and Dede aboard s/v Kai Lani, Gene & Sue aboard s/v Yorkshire Rose and John & Ann aboard s/v Living the Dream.

Emerson Point anchorage was lovely and we fired up our dinghies, landed on the park-side dock and walked all around the lovely area admiring the waterside views, plants and foliage. We enjoyed a happy hour with snacks aboard s/v Yorkshire Rose.

Under the Sunshine Causeway Bridge

The next day we continued on to the city docks at St. Petersburg. It was fun going under the beautiful Sunshine Causeway Bridge - and we snapped a few pictures in the area. The group decided to walk around the neat downtown area and after discussion, we went to a wonderful Italian restaurant. The next day we explored the historic pink Vinoy hotel and had drinks in the lobby. Just beautiful! Steve told us about a wonderful new western art and sculpture museum called the James Museum. We decided to tour it and everyone agreed it was first rate. We really enjoyed the docent tour and admired the unusual art and sculptures. After happy hour on our boat, we dined at a local Mexican restaurant.

Indigo Star at Bird Key Yacht Club, Sarasota

The next day, some of the group decided to go onto Clear Water while others wanted to go back to Sarasota for another club cruise to Marina Jacks. We opted to cruise down Tampa Bay to the beautiful Tampa Yacht Club. We spent two days there enjoying the pool and scenery. We decided to take an Uber to downtown Tampa. Here we enjoyed the beautiful River Walk and took a free trolley to Ybor City. This historic city was founded by Cubans and a novel cigar factory was established there. Gradually other ethnic groups came here and flourished. We enjoyed walking the area and Greek food at the Acropolis.

Sunset off Emerson Point from Indigo Star

I head from my "old" boss, Roger Hanlon, who was in Tampa for a conference. We had a wonderful visit and caught up on the Squid Lab personnel. Roger has a new book out and was excited about a recent article that he authored in Science.

We headed home with a stop at the Field Club. What a wonderful 10 days aboard Indigo Star!

Monday, October 22, 2018

Blessing of the Fleet at Isles Yacht Club

The crew of Indigo Star salutes the IYC Officers - Richard steers & waves on top!

Last Saturday we participated in the Isles Yacht Club (IYC) Blessing of the Fleet. This involved decorating our boat, Indigo Star, with flags. Note the large TEXAS flag that was a retirement gift to Joanne. This special flag flew over the state capital in Austin.

We formed a circle with 16 boats (who are Yacht Club members) out in the harbor. We then formed a line and passed by a reviewing area. We saluted the IYC Officers while being announced. Then suddenly a canon went off - and our boat was blessed. The whole thing ended with a wonderful dinner at the club with music and dancing.

We were grateful for our PGIslander and yacht club friends who came aboard to help - Ken & Mary Eitenmiller, Mark & Bev MacMahon, Bob & Annette Sanders and Peg Williams. Thanks to everyone involved!

Saturday, October 20, 2018

Commodore & Vice Commodore Cruise to Useppa Island

This year I'm Commodore of our boating club, the PGIslanders. I wanted to run a "special cruise" to a destination that the club has not been to in a while. Useppa Island is a privately owned paradise island and it is not easy to get in there! On October 12th, 30 PGIslanders headed down there on 11 different vessels. We cooked blueberry pancakes aboard our boat, Indigo Star, played bocce ball, croquet, went in their gorgeous pool, beach walking and concluded with dinner at their historic Collier Inn. What a fun time with a great group of boaters! Check out some of the photos below...