Gulfport to Punta Gorda

November 26-December 13

Thanksgiving, 2014

We enjoyed Thanksgiving and the day after with old and new friends.  Our North Carolina friends, Dave and Barbara, invited us to Thanksgiving dinner at Mission Inn in Howey-in-the-Hills, FL.  Barbara's good friend, Shirley, got together about fifteen friends for this event and we were happy to be part of it.  Afterwards we had the chance to visit Shirley’s vintage old Florida home and the attached cottage and gardens in Mount Dora, all of which she has lovingly restored.  Talk about an impressive DIY project!!  We traveled on from there to the home of Jim and Shaula, who are old friends from our Florida boating days and we spent the night there, catching up and reminiscing about the good old days and some of our exciting boating adventures together.


Slightly out of character in our limited
dress-up clothes



Dave and Barbara

We posed Jim and Shaula in front of the pies at Bob Evans
because we couldn't resist the after-Thanksgiving 2 for 1 sale.

Back to Gulfport

We wanted to show all of you what we meant when we commented last time about the funky Gulfport houses.  We have never seen so many cute little pastel homes and we never did get a photo of the house with a huge metal dragon on the roof.

Wine bottles line the front walk with lights strung
inside them.  I'm sure it's quite a sight at night.

One stupendous sunset; like a rainbow of pink clouds

This Winter’s Journey Begins

Cool Change pulled away from the Gulfport docks on December 1^st.  We spent three days slowly cruising down the Gulf Intracoastal, stopping for two nights to anchor in scenic settings.


The Skyway Bridge over Tampa Bay
This is the bridge that was knocked down by a errant freighter during a violent rain storm 30+ years ago.



The city of Sarasota from the water as we passed



A steady hand on the controls

 

The people who live on Manasota Key travel to and from work by ferry.  We waited while two ferries, one from each shore traded sides of the waterway loaded with cars and trucks



Bridge opening to let us and several other boats pass

A beautiful anchorage in Lemon Bay.  We stopped for lunch
and liked the spot so much we stayed overnight.



Rain all around but we only got a few drops

 

Traveling south  this was the scenery on the port side



and this was on our starboard side

 

Settling in Punta Gorda
 
Our intention was to travel to Fort Myers and stay at the city docks for a month but our friends Jann and Gary promoted Laishley Marina.  Punta Gorda, where Laishley is located, is a charming little town, across Charlotte Harbor from the city of Port Charlotte.  Punta Gorda has been around since 1884 but its most recent history is tied to Hurricane Charley, a category 4 hurricane that hit this side of the state ten years ago.  After the 150 mph winds had their way with the town the city fathers and mothers began what they term “urban renewal by disaster.”  The result is a charming rebuilt downtown, within walking distance of the marina, beautiful murals detailing the town's history, good restaurants and a wonderful waterfront hiking/biking trail along Charlotte Harbor.  So we’re settled here for a month and will be here through Christmas and beyond.  Jann and Gary are here and we’ve also had the chance to reconnect with John and Kay, whom we met in Vero Beach three winters ago and who now live in Fort Myers, 30 miles further south.



The view from our back door, Punta Gorda

 

Laishley is a friendly marina, clean laundry facilities and showers,
once-a-week pot luck dinner with the marina residents and
 the bluest water and skies you can imagine.



One of many historical murals around Punta Gorda



A representation of an early Native American Floridian



During a morning walk we found this tree.  It had bright red flowers and pods the size of baking potatoes
hanging from vines coming off the branches.  Identify it for us
 and we'll mention your name in the next blog.

This is a blossom.

Seed pod??

Sewing Projects

Of course, lots of sewing has been going on and, unfortunately, also some unsewing.  On this trip I’ve been trying to finish some projects that have been languishing in my sewing room for several years.  One was to be a Christmas quilt made with 13 different 12-inch blocks I sewed in a class five years ago.  They needed to be set with carefully measured triangles and I thought I had figured out the math to do it.  I got the whole top together and realized it was seriously cattywhompus.  Enter the seam ripper – for hours and hours.  Now I’ve regrouped to use the blocks for something else. Thanks, friend Dottie, for the phone app to calculate weird triangles.

 

An easy fleece hat



A boat dinette is not the best place to maneuver when quilting.



An easy fleece scarf.  The sides are crocheted to make
a braided look.

No longer a messed-up quilt - now reconstructed to make
 a Christmas table runner

I’ve begun to learn a new hobby – pine needle basket making.  My friend Jann is a right hander trying to teach this southpaw how to coil the needles around a base and sew them so they build into a beautiful basket.  Not easy but she is making a valiant effort.



Some basket making; lots of goofing around.  Can you
 tell by Jann's body language that she holds little hope
of Colleen mastering this skill?

Time to repair something!



This is the disintegrating transom plate where the outboard motor mounts on the dinghy

 

The transom plate on the stern of the dinghy is made of some sort of plastic and it needs to be replaced.  A thicker material is needed as the new 8hp outboard motor is gouging into the top of the top of the transom and chipping away the fiberglass.  I found a hatch door made of "Starboard" material at a marine surplus store for $12.  I cut it down to the right size and shape with a jigsaw and then hand sanded and bevelled the sides to the needed shape. 

 

It required a whole lot of hand sanding as I did not bring my electric sander this year - dumb decision!



The new transom plate

OK let's do some more dingy repairs.  Back in Gulfport we squirted a leak sealer ($55 a quart - boat stuff is always very expensive - it looked like milk) into the port side tube on the dinghy.  Some sealant bubbled out and sealed two leaks on the tube where there were deep scrapes from years gone by.  I cut patches to shape from hypalon material in our dinghy repair kit and glued into place on the two leaks.  Hopefully the slow leaks are now permanently sealed.

Patch #1

Patch #2

We have a new navigation tool.

Sorry we cannot get a photo that is not fuzzy.  It is an iPad app that holds Garmin NOAA charts that we can call up and view.   The charts coordinate and display information from "Active Captain", a boating information data bank.   Look closely and you can see green anchors for recommended anchorages,  red icons for marinas, blue icons for bridges, red and green navigation markers, and more.  Clicking on an icon brings up all manner of info on the item.   This has proven to be a great asset aboard. 

A new boat design

We have never seen a flats fishing boat like this tunnel hull model.  It is made in Texas and runs in 4 inches of water.  It will do 65 mph according to the owner who customized it to his needs.  Look at those seats!  He can hydraulically jack up the engine on its transom mount so just two of the four propeller blades are in the water at cruise speed over the flats.

 



Christmas is Coming



Tree decorating on the back
deck in progress

And the result. Ta Da!!



Cool Change is ready with lots of lights but.....






Not as many as this guy, preparing to
enter Sunday's boat parade. In addition to
the lights they later added a giant blow-up polar
bear at the back, a blow-up Santa in camo fatigues on
the front and a snow machine.

 
Happy holidays to all of our followers

Wayne & Colleen

Getting Ready for Winter Travel in Florida 2014 / 2015

November 15-November 25, 2014

Gulfport, Florida

 

Cool Change patiently waiting for Wayne and Colleen to arrive for the winter



Welcome to Florida!

About the time the temperature in North Carolina hit 26 degrees these two birds decided they should head south for the winter so here we are back in the charming little town of Gulfport, located just southwest of St. Petersburg on Florida's Gulf Coast.  It was about 70 degrees when we arrived at sunset.  There are lots of things to see and do here while we prepare the boat for our departure this coming weekend.

There's no place like Gulfport.  This swing had a former life as
a radar arch on a boat.  The rod holders become solar charged lights at night for your swinging enjoyment.
The houses in this little beach town are painted improbable combinations
of colors and you just never know what you'll find in the way of yard art.



"Typical" lawn ornament in Gulfport

MARINA LIFE

Cool Change is currently docked at the Gulfport City Marina.  There are not many amenities here but we like the funky, laid-back community and the weather has been perfect almost every day.  Today's rain is giving us time to get this year's blog underway.  We have seen two movies (Interstellar and Mockingjay, Part 1).  Both were good but, if you don't like movies that leave you hanging, knowing there is another movie to come, skip Mockingjay until Part 2 is released.

ADVENTURES IN SARASOTA
 
Last Friday we drove (by car) down to Sarasota to look over an RV show.  No, we are not ready to become winter landlubbers.  We were looking for clever storage features and found absolutely nothing that we haven't already seen on boats.  We did find a $580,000 RV.  For over half a million you get ornate ceiling and wall woodwork, stone countertops and flooring, bunches of TVs both inside and outside, full sized refrigerator and freezer, stacked washer and dryer and plenty of beds for all of your friends and family.  Unbelievable!

Anyone have a spare half a million laying around?

Lunch was at waterside Marina Jack's.  We recommend it for the view, the service and the food.  In a nearby park you'll find a statue inspired by the photo of the sailor kissing the nurse in Times Square on VJ Day at the end of World War II. The title is "Unconditional Surrender" and at 25 feet tall, it's quite a sight.



Sarasota Bay from Marina Jack's restaurant

Unconditional Surrender
You've got to see this to believe it.

Then we took the bridge west to Lido Key and had a great visit at Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium (mote.org).  The facility is crawling with enthusiastic, well informed guides who could answer all our questions.  We highly recommend that you stop if you are near Sarasota.



Dolphin training

One of many aquarium scenes



Gorgeous big turtle

A manatee, one of two at the Mote



A seat urchin and a cowrie sharing a slice of cucumber
Verrrry slow munching going on

Jellyfish!
 

The seahorse race starts in seconds

poisonous Lionfish that is invading Florida waters

I can't resist adding this.  It's a quilt!

FOOD WITH FRIENDS

Colleen's childhood friend, Marla, met us at Columbia Restaurant in Tampa while she was over this way getting her RV serviced.  The always fresh baked, warm bread and seafood soup are big hits at this 100 year-old plus Cuban restaurant which is a Tampa tradition.

Colleen and Marla
  Lunch is Sangria, fresh-baked bread and seafood soup.
Yum!!!

Sandra and Frank, our former neighbors from Orlando, also met us for supper at Snappers on Treasure Island.  We enjoyed a tasty meal.  It was so nice to catch up with them and they've supplied us with enough restaurant recommendations to last for several months.  We checked out one of them, Mad Fish, last night and enjoyed early bird shrimp scampi and salmon.  But we can't leave this area without at least one more visit to KC's Korner Restaurant, a modest little place a few miles north of our marina.  We've only had breakfast there but their prices are good, service is fast and friendly and the food is delicious.

Mad Fish
Thanks, Sandra and Frank

Not fancy but worth the visit

So, have we done nothing but eat?  Not quite.  Colleen has spent many afternoons sewing, mostly Christmas gifts, so we can't post pictures yet.  I've also visited a local quilt guild, Suncoast Quilting Circle, and was welcomed with open arms by Nora who immediately invited me to sit at her table.  On the way across the room a pair of sisters, Joyce and Sue, also offered a friendly welcome and, at the end of the meeting Anne invited me to lunch with a group.  I couldn't do that but it's so pleasant to always be able to find quilting friends, no matter where we go.  Wayne has been - well, when you read on you'll see he has not been loafing around.

Colleen's quilting "nook" is well established

This past weekend we traveled a few miles west and saw a sand sculpture contest, "Sanding Ovations," on Treasure Island. A few pictures will be worth a thousand words.



Colleen's favorite sand sculpture




The first place winner, called "Love Never Dies" by Jonathan Bouchard
In-the-making, two skeletons embracing, half-buried in the sand as if they have
just been excavated



Second place winner. Pretty gruesome, huh?

REPAIRS and UPGRADES

As usual there is always a list of repairs and upgrades when I get to the boat.   One of these tasks started at home with the making of a new table for the aft deck where we eat many of our meals.



Installing the legs and wings aboard Cool Change

 

The table building started at home with the cutting of the wood and the glue-up of the pieces.  This was a month long process.  I used several woods -  ipe (the darkest wood)  was left over from a deck railing at home, oak that was left from a home remodeling 25+ years ago, mahogany that I found floating in the Atlantic while fishing 30+ years ago, and poplar and sapele which I purchased.  (I would never throw out an expensive piece of wood).  The anticipated cost was to be a modest $100.  However, $400 later this is the result.



 

Table with wings up.

Sunbrella fabric cover that I made to protect the finish.
Also made a padded cover that fits with the wings extended when it becomes a work table.

For the second time I replaced the timer module inside the icemaker that resides on our aft deck under the sink.  Still not working properly.  Still drips water into ice bucket that then freezes the ice cubes together.  Oh well, I will look for other cures.

This is the front vent for the icemaker.  Mud daubers go in here and build nests that clog the cooling fan.  No more!  I hot glued a piece of window screen to the back of the louvers.

Every year we need to reseal the canvas top over the flybridge.   We cannot get to the top so we roll on the canvas sealer from the bottom where it completely saturates through the fabric.  It stops the drips where the aluminum bows rub the fabric and stops splatter-through in heavy rains.  It also water seals the fabric of the zippers.

 OK let's replace two of the four deep discharge batteries that power our inverter to make 120 volt AC electricity when we are at anchor so that we don't have to run the diesel generator.  Two are four years old and at the end of life.  They weigh 94 pounds each.

Getting them from the car to the boat is a chore in itself. Getting them up these five steps onto the deck is great fun too.

The batteries mount below the platform where that red tool box sits.
Five more steps down into our salon and then lifting them down four feet and into place.

And.....I had to first reverse this process for the two batteries that I removed.  Actually three batteries - I removed one wrong battery and got it all the way to the back deck before I realized my mistake!

Another task. We needed a more convenient outlet in the galley area.  The photos below show the start of the process.

Our dinghy loses air and becomes limp after a day and a half.  The cure is shown here - dinghy sealant - $55 per quart.   Only the port side tube is leaking.  The dinghy was hauled ashore, with much effort and help from boater neighbors, deflated, the sealant squeezed in, and re-inflated.  Then Wayne rolled it over 360 degrees every 30 minutes for 2 1/2 hours.  It was not just rolled over, it was turned 20 degrees or so and held, 20 degrees more and held. That continued until a complete revolution was achieved.   A 30 minute break and then start again.  Oh, and he also stood the boat on its bow and then on its transom so that the sealant was spread throughout. 



Hold it right there for 3 or 4 minutes, then move a bit and repeat

Last year I knocked the flagpole from its base and caught it as it bounced at my feet on the swim platform on its dash for the sea.  The cure for that is a stainless pin and keeper that I installed.  It was found that the bronze flag base was quite difficult to drill into.  Patient persistence finally got the job done.

 
More to follow as we get out on the waterways next Monday.

We hope that you all have a Happy Thanksgiving.  Remember that we love to hear from you!

Colleen and Wayne