FULL CIRCLE - CRITTERS OF LAND, SEA AND SKY

The 2nd installment of our 2014/5 season wrap-up we will dedicate to the wondrous birds and animals of land, sea and sky!  We have seen sooo many neat things since our arrival in Florida.  Unfortunatley many of our sightings are just great memories we carry with us as we were were unable to snap a picture in time.  

LAND - We still saw even more alligators and we think a crocodile too, both on and off land!  We saw them walking and swimming while taking walks near our marina, from our dinghy when we were out and from our kayaks, wow!

Baby alligators, aren't they cute!

Taken at Charlotte Harbor Environmental Center

Snapped this one from my kayak yikes!

This guy was lurking in a backwater area of Cayo Costa.

Saw many tortoises on Cabbage Key.
This one is heading down into his house!

They were so big and prehistoric-looking!

This little family was hanging out in Shell Creek.

What a balancing act - I think this is one of my favortite pics!!

SEA - If John said it once, he said it 20 times, "this water is just teeming with life".  We saw creatures we had never seen before.  Every day was a new adventure, literally.  Many of them were hard to capture on "film" so don't have as many sea pictures as we would like.

Our Manatee encounter was amazing!  We were in Marley in a small bay in Cayo Costa State Park and we spotted a few.  John turned off the motor and we were just drifting.  Next thing we know there are 4 of them rolling around and bumping into us.  We think they were mating - whoops!  Apparently we got a little too close and SPLASH, we got really wet.  It was so cool!

And then there were the less common animals we came upon...

Portguese Man-O-War jellyfish - very venemous!

Morning Snook feeding frenzy.  
A view over the side of the boat.  Above is late Febraury.  
Below is 3 weeks later in March.  They grew fast!

Never tired of the constant companionship of our dolphin friends!.  

Manta rays were everywhere south of Pine Island.  
John even saw them jumping through the air out of the water!

SKY - We enjoyed seeing the birds that we normally see in Wisconsin wintering down South (just like us) such as the Sandhill Cranes, Loons, Mergansers, Egrets, Herons and Wood Ducks. But what was really cool for us was being able to see other birds that we have never seen before in such a variety of settings.  

A heron making his home on the North
 end of Gasparilla Island.

Sandpipers are everywhere.
I never tire of the way they run along the water's edge.

A Limpkin we saw while kayaking on Shell Creek.

Pink Spoonbills near our friend's home in St. Petersburg

Way cool Ibis on Cayo Costa.
Have never seen one with feet and a bill this red!!!

While this is just a lowly Kormorant,
it was really interesting to watch him take "down" this snake!

Thought he was having a problem, but then...

down she goes!

Again, there was so much more that we saw but aren't able to show you.  

Every day was a learning expereince.  I think that is one of the things we love about being in Southern Florida.  

More to follow...stay tuned!

FULL CIRCLE - PART 1

As of a week ago Wednesday, we are back home at Cedar Shores Lodge.  What an incredible journey this entire trip has been!  Thought I'd try to recap the highlights from the last few months to bring everything "full circle".  As I went to pull pictures to do this, I realize I am biting off more than I can chew.  So much has happened that I can't possibly get it all into one post so you'll be seeing a few more before we can wrap things up.  Speaking of wrapped up, that is what Free Bird is right now.  We put her up on the hard in a boat yard in Port Charlotte.  

Free Bird under wraps

This is how she will be tied down with the hurricane tie downs after we leave.

Summerizing a boat is different than winterizing one.  We got a lot of opinions as to what to do and not do and then it was up to us to decide how far to go. We draped mesh tarps over her, not to keep the elements off but to reduce the the amount of sun that hits her decks.  We left a couple of air dryers running inside, buttoned her up and bid her farewell.  It was 90 degrees there the 2 days we were doing this work.  We were ready to be done with it and just hope we did it all right.  We paid the boat yard to "anchor" her and use hurricane tie downs to secure her.  And luckily we have a couple of fellow boaters we know who live nearby who have said they will check on her from time to time.  

We really need to start our "full circle" with THE PEOPLE OF FISHVILLE. When last we left you, we were getting used to "liveaboard" life which is much different in a marina versus picking up and moving from place to place every day or two.  When we first arrived, it took awhile to get to know everyone's names and what boat or mate they belonged to.  

We have come to really value the sense of community that Fishville (Fisherman's Village) has afforded us.  There was constant activity, not only on the docks and the common areas, but on the shopping/dining/condo pier. There was always music playing, sirens blaring or motorcycles harleying (yes, I just made that up!), boats coming in or going out, fellow boaters fixing or cleaning things...you get the idea - it was just a busy place.  

Among us Midwesterners from the likes of Ohio, Michigan, Indiana and Minnesota, we were joined by East Coasters from Pennsylvania, New York, and Massachusetts as well as our Canadians crews hailing from Ontario and Nova Scotia and beyond.   We definitely miss our dockmates and all the happenings there such as the docktails, potlucks, morning coffee, Friday noon cookouts, the girls theater outing, shopping, dining out, music nights, anchoring out together and the Super Bowl party.  There was always someone to lend a helping hand if you needed it whether it was taking a sail down, look for a lost boat cat, giving advice on a maintenance/improvement issue or just the sharing of ideas. We met each others friends and families when they came to visit which was a lot of fun too.  (Some of them even thought my sister Leslie was my twin, she was a big hit on the dock!)  Now that we are home, we appreciate this group even more and are looking forward to staying in touch over the Summer and our eventual return this Winter.

Wednesday music nite indoors

A couple of our cast of characters

Typical docktail evening

One of our lovely Canadian dockmates, Olga

Gary & Judy who have our sister ship

Music nite moves outdoors

Ladies of the band

Suzi our keyboard goddess

The leader of the band

A few of the female crew!

The brain trust?

Gotta love Susan, and her shirt!

Next installment of FULL CIRCLE will feature more of the other adventures we had in the last few months of which there was plenty.  Stay tuned!!!

YES, WE'RE STILL HERE!

Greetings to all from cold, yes cold (will be near 32 tonight) yet sunny Florida. We have had a few requests to provide an update and let you all know we are still alive and well.  

Since arriving here in Punta Gorda on Dec. 8th we traveled back home via rental car, spent the holidays with family and friends and made the journey back down in our own vehicle arriving back here on January 4th.  

The marina life is good.  Almost our entire dock is live-aboards and we have meet some great folks from all over.  The Loopers have all gone farther South and we are settling in with our dock community.  

We have been out sailing only a handful of times, twice overnight and a couple of day sails taking out visitors.  We have had quite a bit of company including old high school friends, MN friends, siblings, nieces and nephews and dock mates from our Quarterdeck days.

We have been taking in as much flora and fauna as we can get in, still enjoying our share of gators!  And Molly is turning into a great boat kitty, she is taking to it like a duck to water now.

We've had some challenges as well as I made my first trip to the ER.  My back decided to fail me and I ended up with a surprise trip to the hospital.  Good news is I was only in for 4 hours, bad news is that 22 years after my back surgery I apparently have severe degeneration and am not as invincible as I thought I was.  Am very much on the mend now and feeling much better.  Just have to accept that aging is part of the deal and I have to be smart about how I choose to move.  We haven't been able to play tennis and my bike riding is out for now but we are hiking and I was able take a spin in the kayak.

We are looking forward to doing some more sailing to our South through some of the islands and down to Fort Meyers in March.  It has been a windy month and we are hoping temps and winds cooperate so we can spend more time at anchor soon.  We will post some pics as we traverse farther South. 

Our plan right now is to pull Free Bird out of the water early April and will head for the big boat in Door County (otherwise known as Cedar Shores Lodge) mid-April.  

To all of our friends up North, be well and stay warm!!! 

Christmas Greetings from the Crew of Free Bird!

A Sailor’s Christmas Eve…

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the boat,
Was that wonderful feeling of just being afloat.
The stockings were all hung in the galley with care,
In hopes that King Neptune soon would be there.

The crew was nestled, all snug in their beds,
While visions of shore leave danced through our heads.
Dressed in our nightclothes, some topped with a cap,
We all settled in for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the foredeck there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bunk to see what was the matter.
Away in a flurry, stuck my head out the hatch,
a view of King Neptune I was hoping to catch.

The full moon shone so brightly, it had a sweet glow,
spreading white light on the objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should there be,
But a beautiful boat pulled by eight snow white manatee.

I heard some crashing, some thrashing and knocking,
I knew then for certain that they must be docking!
Who was at the helm? I’ve seen him before.
Could it be King Neptune, I couldn’t be sure!

Donning a red cap fringed with foamy white trim,
Wearing a red Speedo which covered but a fraction of him!
I was shocked and astonished but what could I say?
I’ve also been known to go boating dressed exactly that way!

He grabbed a big bag, a huge bulging sack,
And with a loud grunt it was up on his back,
He said “My name’s Neptune and my friend I can tell,
you might like some things to make your boat look swell.

 Prepare to be boarded sir, your vessel I must check out,

A good captain are you? There must be no doubt!”
He sprang to the deck, got down below just as fast,
Inspected it all from the bilge to the mast!

“You’ve got a fine ship here, of that I am sure,
perhaps a new anchor to help keep her secure?
Or maybe some new lines, a sail or a fender,
I’ve got many items here, even a tender.

Take a look in the bag, there’s so much to see,
don’t take that rum though, that’s there for me!
 How about a fishing pole with new lines and lure,
there’s other things too, some a tad bit obscure.”

As quickly as he came, he was back on his boat.
Revving up his team of manatee, he was eager to tote.
“There are many more stops we have yet to make,
I must leave you now, we won’t leave a big wake!”

“Merry Christmas” he called as they cruised through the night,
To watch them pull away was an incredible sight!
I am sure you don’t believe me, as not many do,
but don’t doubt me Matey, I tell you it’s true!

Perhaps next year in the right place you’ll be,
to witness King Neptune and his boat-sled at sea.
Believe in this tale, you have nothing to lose,
The worst they will say is you’ve had too much booze!

We share this story with you for a most special reason,
To wish you and yours all the best this holiday season!

Merry Christmas from the crew of Free Bird!!