Fall Leaves

With great anticipation to visit our dear friends, Betty & Richard, we traveled across the states of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina to Asheville. As we rounded the state border of North Carolina, the mountains appeared in their Fall glory of deep golds, oranges, pink and rose hues!

It's been more years that we can count that we've gazed upon this wonderful sight and felt the crunch of the leaves under our feet.  Check out our pictures below by clicking once under the underlined word - Photos and then click Slideshow. 

Blue Ridge Parkway

From Fall Leaves

Asheville

Arboretum

Dupont State Forest

Transylvania

Blue Ridge Parkway

The Sight

Photos

From Fall Leaves

South Seas

October 15th - North Wind, Sailing South!  Today, we actually tacked down Charlotte Harbor on broad reaches to round Marker 5 and head for the ICW. Although the light wind allowed us only 4 - 5 kts, we enjoyed some time on the water sans motor.   South Seas  lies on the north end of Captiva Island.  This was  Boater Appreciation Weekend;  the rate for slips, normally $3.50/ft for a sailboat like ours was only $1.50/ ft. Saturday evening the marina manager hosted a free dinner of hamburgers, hot dogs and grilled chicken. Free always gets our attention and we enjoyed the spread.  The marina was packed with boaters, especially from Punta Gorda.  Our clubs were well represented and we had fun talking about our sailing adventures.

Before Saturday's sunrise, I walked out to Redfish Pass.  See my pictures at Sunrise at South Seas. 

North to Sarasota

Friday, October 8th - A light notherly breeze floods Charoltte Harbor with cool air. Too light to sail, we motor to Cape Haze to anchor with Caprice & Sabrina for the night.  Joanne & I rode our dinghy over to Don Pedro to walk the beach and swim in the Gulf water.  A Saturday of motoring up the ICW landed us at the historic Field Club.  It's on the national register of historic places; click here for history.  We walked around the beautiful grounds and out to US 41 before dinner at the club.  After breafast, motoring again, we moved to the Sarasota Yacht Club.

The SYC's brand new building sparkles.  In it we found a couple of  Lipton Cup trophys from the 1930s. The Lipton Cup races are held in Southern California so someone went a long way to race.  We walked a  short way to St Armand's Circle to wander through the art gallerys.    

Monday morning,  the crews of Caprice and Eagle's Wings decided to transit Big Sarasota Pass, a  pass of shifting shoals and misfortune for those not armed with local knowledge. One local told us to head 275 M; another prescribed 240 M. Both courses would have run us onto the shoals, clearly visible to us once in the pass..  Information on the SYC website (a 210 M course) proved to be accurate.  Out in the Gulf, we motor sailed under clear skys south to Boca Grande.   Just awesome sailing!

To save about an hour, Caprice suggested we take the swash channel rather than the deep & safe water Boca Grande Pass.  As we rounded Boca Gande in seven feet of water, it seemed like we could almost shake hands with the folks wading off the beach. To starboard, water looked like the rapids on a river.  

We anchored in Pelican Bay for the night and motored home the next day.   All in all, another great adventure aboard Eagle's Wings!

French Picnic



TMCA French Picnic 2006



Warm sunlight filters through the trees surrounding tables filled with French cuisine. Light and shadow play over a champagne fountain. Imagine stepping into an Impressionist painting; you are on the banks of Double Bayou at the French Picnic! Over one hundred people, many sporting berets, were in attendance for the French Picnic the weekend following Thanksgiving. Something like fifty-five boats nuzzled up to the bank of the East Fork; some had arrived earlier in the week to celebrate Thanksgiving but most arrived Friday. Some folks arrived by dinghy from Marker Seventeen...

 

That's how I described the French Picnic in a Galveston Bay Texas boating magazine, Telltales, in the year of 2006. Such memories spurred Joanne to bring thisTMCA tradition to our new home here on Charlotte Harbor.   And so she did. 
The French Picnic planned on Cayo Costa for the first October weekend fortuitously coincided with fall's first cool front. Blessed with low humidity and a pleasant breeze, crews aboard four sailboats, Sabrena,Gioia Sul Mare, Caprice and Eagle's Wings and four powerboats, Egret, Mystic Blue, Rare Indigo and Summer Thunder anchored in Pelican Bay. Stars filled the clear night time sky as water lapped along the sides of our boats. We played with the Goggle Sky Map App on Joanne's Droid X phone - very cool.  Saturday morning,  Joanne & I meandered along the beach  selecting a few sea shells along the way. Of course, we got wet too!   Oh what a awesome weekend!





Look South



Look North



Look West



French Picnic on Cayo Costa



Here are the picnic highlights. Shortly after arrival on Friday, Claudia and Jim Morrow hosted a superb Happy Hour on Egret. Wine flowed and conversation filled the bay.

 

On Saturday afternoon, the friendly park ranger provided taxi service to the picnic site on the Gulf side of Cayo Costa. The picnic tables were set with lace tablecloths and elegant shell centerpieces. The crews brought their French specialties. We uncorked our bottles of wine and sampled the delicious fare. We voted for the best dishes and prizes were awarded.

Our 3rd runner up was Igor Kapuscinski with his two delectable walnut pattees. In second place was Constance Robison with her yummy Beef Bourgeone. The grand prize winner was Jackie Whitaker with her scrumptious chocolate cake.



TMCA French Picnic  





The Ranger let us on the island anyway!