Update April, 2015 - our 2015 cruise

Our 2015 boating adventures  have consisted of another trip to Marathon and back to Bradenton.

We left Bradenton on January 25 after replacing the battery charger. Our first stop again was the Crow’s Nest Marina in Venice. We spent an extra day there waiting out bad weather and replacing the port alternator with help from Doug. Doug and Maggie joined us that evening for dinner and they would travel with us to Marathon. We were trying to make a weather window so we pushed a bit. The route followed should be familiar by now. The following day took us to Fort Myers Beach where we topped off the fuel tanks and spent the night at Salty Sam’s Marina.

Jean, Alice and Carol

The next day we traveled through Marco Island and Goodland to the anchorage at Russell Pass. The weather window held and we had a long but smooth crossing of Florida Bay the next day to the new Faro Blanco Marina in Marathon. We spent the next day getting organized and enjoying the pool. Phil and Alice were staying in Marathon in a condo and Lee and Carol were there in their land yacht. We all went to Phil and Alice’s place to watch the superbowl and I played mexican train with Alice, Jean, Maggie and Carol while we watched the game. The third time is always a charm! This was the third time we had watched the Patriots in the Super Bowl while we were in Marathon and this time they won!

Doug and Maggie left the next day and we spent much of the rest of the week with Phil and Alice and Lee and Carol. We also were able to make contact with Tim and Jan and we all enjoyed a trip to Sparky’s for happy hour.

The Gang enjoying Happy Hour at Sparky's

The rest of the month was a blur. We advertised the boat for sale and had several showings. Phil and Alice and Lee & Carol left but we were able to get together several times with friends Willard & Barbara and Tim & Jan. We also had some company, some of which was a surprise.

We received a text one evening from a Maine number I didn’t recognize, wondering where we were. It turned out it was our friends Clare and Dennis. They were staying at the Hyatt hotel which is a part of the Faro Blanco Resort! We spent much of the next day with them touring places they wanted to see again in Marathon and had dinner with them and Lee and Carol the next evening. The next company was Jerry and Nancy, friends from Centerboard Yacht Club. They were on their way to Key West but we had a nice dinner with them at Tranquillity Resort where they were staying.

Friends from The Villages, Frank & Linda were our next visitors. We were out that evening with Willard & Barbara, dining at the Cabana Breezes followed by a stop at the Elk’s club for dancing. We had expected Frank & Linda the next day but they were able to join us at the Elk’s club. A different way to see the activities in Marathon. We spent the next day with them, doing some touring of Marathon and doing an extensive chart review of where to stop on the Atlantic ICW.

The Faro Blanco marina was new. It actually partially opened in Mid January of this year with the rest opening around the end of February. It was nice that everything was new and he staff was great but there were some problems. The finger pier of the slip they initially assigned us to was only 20 feet long, too short for us to get on and off the boat. In addition, it only had 30 amp power where we use 50. Fortunately they were willing to reassign us to another slip which had a longer finger. There also was no pump out on our side of the marina which they addressed in different ways. It was also very pricey - almost twice what the other marinas were charging - and the location was quite a walk from all of the more useful stores in Marathon. None of our friends were staying near there and in fact there were very few boats there and hardly any cruisers.

We decided to move if we could and were able to move to the Sombrero resort, which is near just about everything and is closer to our friends. It is also located in Boot Key Harbor which made it more feasible to travel around by dinghy. Willard and Roger helped us move the around to Sombrero Resort. Our space there, which was on the wall, enabled us to easily get on and off the boat as well as raise and lower the dinghy. The resort is old and has been through several owners and bankruptcies but it has a nice pool and a great location. Willard and Barbara moved their boat to Sombrero a week or so after. We took several great dinghy trips with them and Roger and Laurie, often ending up at one happy hour or another, and had a number of dinners out, golf games and of course trips to Sparky’s.

Another benefit of the move was we were now in easy walking distance of Blackfin resort where Tim and Jan were staying. We had a fun St Patty’s Day again with them and Ron and Janice, did a rib cook off, went to the seafood festival and the Key’s Fisheries for crab claws, played a little pool and golf and of course went to Sparky’s. 

St Patty's Day at Key Colony Inn

By now one must be wondering what the attraction is at Sparky’s. Sparky’s is a pub located on the water in Key Colony Beach. Their happy hour every day features 25 cent wings, 25 cent shrimp and $6 pitchers of draft beer as well as live entertainment most evenings. Its just a fun place to go.

In early April it was time to leave. Willard and Barbara again accompanied us on the trip back up to Bradenton. They had a mishap with their boat Happy Ours and now had a nice Hatteras 42 named Safari.

Safari under way to Russell Pass

The route back should look very familiar by now. We stopped first at the anchorage at Russell Pass and had a quiet evening after a long day. The next day we went to Smokehouse Bay on Marco Island where we anchored again. Willard & Barbara’s dog Scottie was not doing well so we stayed an extra day while they went to the Vet. We walked around quite a bit, did some shopping and had happy hour and dinner ashore. After that, we did a short run to Naples. Jean and I walked around and did a little shopping. Naples is quite nice. We also found a good happy hour at one of the riverside pubs. Willard & Barbara took Scottie to the vet again and we were all saddened that night as Scottie had died.

Cape Coral was our stop for the next 2 days as we relaxed, walked and swam a bit. Then it was on to the anchorage at Cayo Costa for a beach walk and fresh strawberry daiquiris for happy hour. The next day I almost got the timing right on the Baca Grande swing bridge on our way into Venice. To do something different we stopped at the Fishermen’s Village Marina. Doug joined the four of us for dinner and we followed that with drinks on board Safari.

Statues celebrating end of WWII at Sarasota

A short run the following day took us to the mooring field at Sarasota. There we walked around downtown Sarasota and found the Whole Foods. After a stop at a local pub, we headed back to the boats for happy hour and dinner on Safari. Steve made banana daiquiris, Barb did pork and sauerkraut and Steve did summer squash.

We said goodby to Willard & Barbara the next morning and travelled back to Twin Dolphin in Bradenton. We spent Friday and Saturday cleaning the boat for a showing on Monday and then headed home on Sunday after a nice breakfast with Randy and Neem. We did not know this was to be our final trip on Sun Cat. The boat had run very well on our entire trip and we had had a wonderful time with our friends in Marathon again.