Cruise to Blind Pass Englewood

We finished off the month of August with an early morning drive to Blind Pass.  It is a lovely beach at the end of Manasota Key past Englewood Beach.  The water was loads of fun because it was more stirred up than usual.  We had a great time ducking the waves and floating over them!  At this time of year, arriving early is the way to go.  We left around 11 am when the sand began to heat up.  It's been a hot summer here.  We've been told that it is the hottest summer on record in Punta Gorda.  

Truly Amazing Cruise

Our friends, Joe & Lisa, own a beautiful catamaran called Truly Amazing.  Lucky for us, they decided to run an Isles Yacht Club cruise and we jumped on the first leg of it. We motored off shore on a beautiful calm sea through Big Sarasota Pass to Bird Key Yacht Club.  We had a wonderful time there cooling off in their pool with hamburgers poolside.  Later that evening we split a meal in the club.

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Arlene, Mike, Joanne, Richard, Lisa, Joe, Linda, John seated in middle & Debbie

Early the next morning we headed to Venice Yacht Club to meet our friends and some new folks - Arlene & Mike on a beautiful 2019 vintage 40 ft Beneteau Swift Trawler and Debbie & John, who graciously rented a nice pontoon boat for exploring the shallower places.  We also caught up with Linda & Gary aboard  m/v Wein on Water.  We had a very nice happy hour on Truly Amazing and a nice shrimp dinner outside by the Tiki Hut.  The weekend flew by - hot, hot, hot but we cooled off in the pool and had a great time with everyone.

The group continued onto Tampa Yacht Club and other stops.  We headed home after 3 days.  Lots to do at home and 3 days out on the water in August is our limit!

Check out the pictures below.

Joe, our cruise leader

  

Lisa, Joe's Admiral

Linda chilling out

Joanne, grateful cruise participant

Arlene, Debbie & Lisa enjoy Happy Hour

      

Venice youngsters learn to sail

Sarasota Big Pass

A Beach Outing to Venice

Yesterday we took an easy 30 mile drive to Caspersen Beach in Venice.  The water was warm and clear - such a lovely summer morning.  We swam all morning long and left at 11:30 a.m. before it got too hot!

Ice Cream Social with our Friendship Force Club

Joanne volunteered to coordinate our club's annual Ice Cream Social.  This year, with the Covid Pandemic, we decided to have it in Ponce Park where we could be outside and socially distant.  It was a fun Sunday afternoon and Mom (age 99+) also was able to participate.  Check out the photos!

Feeding the Poor

Richard confers with Joe during Food Giveaway

Richard has been District President of St Vincent de Paul for almost 3 years now (his term is up October 1st).  During the Pandemic he communicated  electronically (on Zoom and similar platforms) with Joe Sabatino (past leader) and with our county representatives on how to best help the community.  One way was to coordinate county-wide food distribution to those hurting during this stressful COVID time.

Cars lined up to get food

On July 24th, Richard played a huge part in the USDA Farms to Family Food Box Giveaway at Franz Ross Park. There was a lot of coordination done with local business and our county.  For example, Cheney Brothers provided a delivery truck, the Public Works Department set up traffic cones and the Charlotte County Sheriff's Office provided a deputy to direct the flow of people picking up food.  There were approximately 1400 boxes of food distributed.  Each box was 15 lbs and contained a collection of meat, dairy and produce.  I, Joanne, was so proud of Richard's collaboration that helped so many people in Charlotte County.

Summer Boating to South Seas and St Charles Yacht Club

Along mangrove islands

It's July in Southwest Florida - very hot - during COVID time and we decided we needed to escape on our boat, Lickity Split, for a few days.  Off we went to a beautiful place, South Seas Resort, on Captiva Island.  It is a lovely marina with 3 close-by pools overlooking the water.  We rose up early and began our journey by 8 a.m.  Our new boat cruises nicely at 25 mph.  By 10:30 a.m. we arrived in time to plug into the air conditioning and take a nap.  After lunch we headed over to the pool.  We were surprised to find so many extended families (parents, kids and grandparents) there!  We found lounge chairs a few feet away and tried to stay away from the fray in the pool.  It was nice, but did make me (Joanne) a bit uncomfortable because we are trying to stay as socially distant as we can.  After a few hours, we left and had a lovely dinner - just a trolley ride away - at Doc Fords.

Happy Captain Richard

Joanne enjoys beach

Next day, we got out early again and rode along picturesque mangrove islands to our next destination, St Charles Yacht Club.  We had a nice swim in the pool (no crowds!) and a lovely dinner on their screened porch overlooking the marina.  All in all, it was a great respite.  We are so glad we purchased Lickity Split last December because our boat is a great way to escape Covid and enjoy our surroundings. 

Reminder to social distance!

Flag flying from Lickity Split

Sun Sets at South Seas

Bleu enjoys the boat - lots to explore!

Celebrating the 4th in Covid Times

Our Commodore, Mary Yeomans

It's challenging to celebrate holiday times being socially distant.  We did our best.  Our first fun time with the PGIslanders was a 3rd of July Event at Ponce Park.  Most everyone donned masks even though there was a nice breeze under the overhang of the picnic area.  We enjoyed fried chicken, potato salad and cookies!  It was fun chatting with our boating friends and hearing about what everyone has been doing to stay busy.  We agreed that this was a memorable 4th and discussed 1976 Bicentennial memories.

Karen Clark

Richard with Tim Crimmons

Me, Joanne, with Flower Centerpiece that I made

Nancy Crimmons with Marilyn Jorgensen

John Jorgensen

 On the 4th neighbors invited us to a BBQ on their outdoor lanai.  Greg cooked a rabbit on a spit, which was very good.  We also had the traditional hambergers and hotdogs with all the trimmings.  I made peach cobbler with vanilla ice cream.  Yum!  It was a nice quiet event and we are grateful to celebrate with them.  Later that evening we watched the fireworks from NYC on television, the first time I can remember not going to see fireworks in person.  Our little town cancelled them.

The masked pig welcomes us

Charlie, Brian & Richard 

Our neighbors, Greg and Charlie
make their political affiliations known

Recently, our town council voted on a "mask wearing" ordinance, which was very contentious.  We are glad that reason prevailed and that now everyone must "mask-up" inside in public places.  The COVID is spreading throughout Florida and the numbers increasing, much to everyone's dismay!