Harbor Happening

A is for Awesome. We formed up and called out our letters: “p”, “G”, “C”, “i”, try again “I” and “A.” Islanders formed the “A” and we were awesome. Chuck and Trudy danced to the music at the top of our “A” while we waited for the plane and helicopter to take our picture, a human “PGCIA” sculpture to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Punta Gorda Isles Civic Association. Islanders went wild to YMCA.

Our Friday remained overcast, chilly and damp upon our return from Solomon's Castle. Our neighbors from Chicago thought we were crazy as we loaded Eagle's Wings for an overnight adventure anchoring in the Peace River with a predicted 15 kt NE wind and dozens of other sailboats for company. I thought so too but Joanne insisted that we join the Harbor Happening! 

We anchored off Fisherman's Village where the US 41 bridges knocked down the waves to provide us a very pleasant if chilly evening. Chuck & Trudy, bundled in sweaters and jeans, gave us ride in their dinghy to the Friday night dock party at Lashley's community room filled with folks from all the boat clubs. Saturday morning warmed up with sunbeams when we dinghied in to join the letter “A.” A photo of our letter “A” made the Sunday paper but the aerial photo didn't. . Hopefully, I can get a copies of the aerial shots someday as most of my photos turned out awful.  See UTube Video.

About six Islander boats anchored out. Most of the power boats canceled as the mooring field east of the bridges was rougher than the sailboat anchorage. What a dumb move installing that mooring field was! But both Dave and eighty year old Harold took moorings Friday night! Harold actually got a ride in and spent the night at home while Dave and Carolyn rode it out all night!

The Saturday's newspaper reported about one hundred and fifty boats anchored out on Friday but I counted only about fifty or sixty. More boats joined us Saturday morning for a memorable Harbor Happening.

 

Photos

Solomon's Castle

Friday awakened chilly and damp, our day for a trip with the Power Squadron to Solomon's Castle located Northeast of Arcadia in a Manatee County Swamp. The castle as is all the treasure it holds is constructed from recycled material, mostly recovered from junk yards. A tour for tourists filled with puns shows what one man, Harold Solomon, can craft combining imagination and junk with a welder. I dare say the transformed junk that fill the first floor gallery rival anything that New York or San Francisco's beatnik art scene has to offer. I found his work interesting. A friend called it hideous.

Photos

Eagle's Wings Fall Cruise North

It's finally cooled off in Punta Gorda - so that means it's "Fall Cruise Time" on our sailboat, Eagle's Wings!  We pulled away from our dock on November 1st, our route being to Venice to join our boat club, the PGIslanders, for the Venice Art Festival and other destinations north.  We loved looking at the spectacular art and Joanne even won a purse in a free drawing.  Lots of club members attended - we had fun "docktails" and a nice dinner at the Crow's Nest.

We then traveled to Sarosota via the intercoastal waterway and spent 3 days there listening to the election results and enjoying the town.  On the way home, we anchored off of Cape Haze and in Pelican Bay.  Check out the picture of Richard.  He founded a rare arrowhead sanddollar.

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving.  My sister, Mary, and brother-in-law, Al, will visit from Indiana.  We are also hosing people from the Ukraine as part of a inbound exchange of the Friendship Force, our traveling club.


Pictures

Lin and Larry Pardey

Before PGI, think BR (Before Retirement) we were Texans. We sailed on Galveston Bay with the TMCA (Texas Mariners Cruising Association), the largest boating organization on the Gulf Coast.

One wonderful day while walking down the dock our commodore's cell phone rang - Lin Pardey called to arrange hosting by TMCA a seminar to be given in our area. So impressed with receiving a call from a famous person, John walked around for weeks with his hand against his ear saying I'm walking down the dock talking to Lin Pardey on my cell phone!

Upon handing me the Publicity function for TMCA, John advised me: if I don't have anything to say, I just make stuff up. Soon after receiving this advice, stories of tsunamis rolling through Offats Bayou, pirate ships ghosting along in moonlight and fair winds that blew us both up and down the bay appeared in local marine publications. Making up stuff works for politicians and it worked for me. People showed up at our monthly meetings just to see who we were!

Now, years after Lin and Larry honored the TMCA with their visit, I was honored to introduce them at the Punta Gorda Civic Center where Lin talked about The Compelling Power of Adventure. Rather than ramble on and on listing all of their accomplishments, I opted to relate the story of John with his cellphone and his advice to me and then said that for Lin and Larry, I didn't have to make anything up!




Bull Canyon, Lin's latest book remembers her relationships while building a wooden boat in the mountains. I recommend it to sailors and nonsailors alike.

Outland Hatch Covers

Outland Hatch Covers on Eagle's Wings

Our old hatch covers were falling apart. The sharp looking  navy covers with white piping matched the navy blue bimini but appeared to be expensive to repair or replace.  So when I saw an ad in Cruising World for these Outland Hatch Covers, I decided to give them a try.  So far so good -  Easy to install; easy to remove.  To order, the website provides detailed insructions for measuring your hatch dimensions, but James at Outland has many hatch patterns already so just tell him what hatch you have before you bother to make exact measurments.

Burnt Store And Moss Marine

Our blog is also our diary of sorts. We no longer assemble picture albums. So blogging is the way we assist our memories.  That is what this blog entry is about.

September 15-16.  I positioned us poorly for the start of a friendly IYC race to Burn't Store.  So we started late, very late, but still had a great sail.  Here we are passing the Start Line at Marker One "racing" to Burnt Store. 

September 20 -23 We joined a number of other IYC boats at Moss Marine in Fort Myers Beach.  We left on Thursday to motor (no wind) down to Ding Darling to anchor for the night.  We did  this position ourselves for an arrival at Moss Marine at slack tide the next day.  Was it ever hot on the way to Ding Darling; Joanne & I both got headaches from the heat; Bleu sprawled out on his back on top of the refrigerator and under the galley fan. The generator fired up to power the air conditioner as soon as we anchored. An impressive line of thunderstorms passed to the southeast of us.   

Look at the shoaling in Matanzas Pass on way to Moss Marine at Fort Myers Beach!  Apparently the EPA is holding up the Corps of Engineers from dredging the channel.

Bleu Blessed by Father Jerry

 On October 2nd, Joanne & I wowed the audience at the Civic Center as we provided commentary for our DVD picture and music show on our Austalian Trip with the Friendship Force.   A talk by Joanne on Charting to the IYC Admirals followed later in the week as did a blessing of Bleu by Father Jerry.  I was awarded Senior Navigator at the Power Squadron District Meeting. 

This week we attended an Octoberfest dinner at the Elks Club.  The SSCA GAM is this weekend; Richard is the Assistant to the Associate Facilities Corrdinator. Next Sunday, Richard has the honor of introducing Lin and Larry Pardey, world famous cruisers, at the Civic Center for thier talk, "The Compelling Power of Adventure." More Later.

Photos

Useppa Summer Cruise

A low black sky slowly but steadily marched off the mainland. Lightning induced thunder boomed in the distance.  Wind rose to straighten flags and pennants as rain began to pelt the decks.  Hugh waves rolled... - not -  Eagle's Wings was sheltered comfortably and securely at Useppa's marina. . It was Happy Hour on the dock but a wet walk to the Collier Inn for dinner!

Isles Yacht Club boats (seventeen in all) along with some from the Bradenton Yacht Club filled the marina for the End of Summer Cruise.  The happy bunch of cruisers traded sea stories and enjoyed the activities planned by Cruise Leaders, Erica and Judi.  Lucious margaritas were provided to us at Docktail Happy Hour and freshly baked muffins were delivered to us the next morning.  The afternoon was spent listening to live tropical music by the pool and partaking of a Pig Roast.  Yum!!   Later that evening we gathered on the dock for a BBQ/Pot Luck and Larry Stewart seranaded us with his bagpipes as we watched the gorgeous sunset.   What an awesome weekend!

Standby....











Note - If you mouse over the picture window above, Forward, Pause and Back buttons appear. Click on the Picassa symbol in the lower right hand corner to open the corresponding photo album.

We departed early Sunday morning and caught the edge of a rain shower coming up over Pine Island to the South.  The Chartplotter pictures (above) show the radar returns in dark orange overlaid on the chart. See the return from the rain off Pine Island (Bokeelia). The rain brought wind to briefly increase our boat speed.  But a moderation of our summer temperatures lasted all day making for a pleasant ride home. 


2009 Cruise with PGSC