SW Florida - Punta Gorda to Marco Island

After a month at home for the holidays, we were happy to be back in Florida even though the weather here was cold by Florida standards. However, after experiencing the below normal weather in NC while home, anything above freezing was an improvement.

We flew back to Sarasota on January 9th, was picked up by Ron and Marji at the airport, spent the next few days at their beautiful home in Punta Gorda and was joined by another Looper boat – Rick and Betsy aboard “Rick and Roll” – that we have traveled on and off with since Canada. We have really enjoyed Ron and Marji’s hospitality and friendship but we needed to continue our journey south. We departed Punta Gorda on January 13th and traveled a short distance to one of the most beautiful anchorages we have experienced in Pelican Bay. The weather finally warmed and we spent an enjoyable afternoon on the beach and was able to capture these pictures of the sunset.

From Pelican Bay, we traveled to Ft Myers Beach for the weekend, where we walked the beach, shops, and took in a Motorcycle fundraiser “Bikers for Babies”. On the 18th, we moved to Naples where we stayed on a mooring ball for 4 nights. We enjoyed the shopping in Naples, did a lot of walking, took in the boat show, and just relaxed! From Naples, we made the short trip to our current location on Marco Island. Here we took out our bikes, and traversed the island to the “lagoon”, the beach and shopping. The marina has wonderful facilities, including a pool, which we enjoyed on one of the hotter days.

We continue to be amazed by the playful dolphins as they "frolic" in our wake.

Tomorrow we will continue our travels south in search of warmer weather - we are only 80 miles from Key West and plan to make a few stops on the way at Everglades City, Little Shark River, and Marathon before arriving at Conch Marina next weekend. For the entire month of February, we will become honorary Conch Republic citizens before heading north closer back to reality.

Home for the Holidays!

It is hard to believe that our last posting was over a month ago in late November.  At the last posting, we were in Clearwater for Thanksgiving after crossing The Gulf and were preparing to travel to Ron and Marji's house in Punta Gorda and travel home for the holidays.  Below is a recap of this voyage.

Some of our most favorite pictures since leaving Charleston in April have been of the dolphins and how playful they can be as they swim beside the boat.  This picture has to be one of our most favorite of the entire trip taken as we traveled down the Gulf Intracostal Waterway south of Clearwater.  This one dolphin was swimming alongside "Still Busy" for a few miles as Pia took many pictures.  Finally, the dolphin came out of the water for this pose.  Neither of us realized how good the picture was until we downloaded pictures later that evening.  One more reason we enjoy being in Florida!

Our first stop since leaving Clearwater was the downtown marina in St. Petersburg where, for the first time on the trip, we were boarded by the US Coast Guard for an inspection.  As Jack was going through the safety checklist with the "Coastes", Pia took this picture(she was quite impressed with these Guards?).  Fortunately all was in order and we were on our way quickly.

Leaving St Pete, we next traveled to Brandenton Beach on a near perfect weather day to spend a few days on the beach and discovered this sand sculpture of Christmas cartoon characters.  As the sun was setting over the Gulf, this next picture was also made on Brandenton Beach.

From Brandenton, we traveled to Marina Jack's in Sarasota to a great marina downtown within walking distance of many sights and restaurants.  As part of our sightseeing adventures, we visited the Ringling Mansion, a beautiful home and museum built by the founders of the Ringling Circus.  This picture was taken from the patio that overlooks the bay - yes that is Jack on his Blackberry!

We continued our trip south and, after a one night stop in Venice Beach, arrived at Palm Island Marina, just north of Charlotte Harbor, in a hard rain that "trapped" us for two days.  Although the weather was wet and cool, Pia took the opportunity to clean "Still Busy" from the dingy.  It is not always "wine and cheese"!!!!

So, we departed Clearwater on November 29th, traveled down the Gulf Intracoastal to St Pete/Sarasota/etc. and arrived in Punta Gorda on December 6th.  We spent the next few days with Ron and Marji (shown here beside their pool) at their beautiful home,which included a dinner party with friends by the pool, before flying home on December 9th to Charlotte for the holidays.  While home, we celebrated Christmas and New Years Eve with family and friends and will travel back to Florida this Saturday on January 9th.  The final 2 pictures below are Pia and Stella on Stella's first Christmas and "The Crew" at our home for a New Years Eve party.  Although we have really enjoyed our time at home, we are ready to get back on the water and continue our journey.  Our plans are to depart Punta Gorda next week, take 2 weeks to travel to Key West with plans to spend the entire month of February in the Keys (in search of warmer weather).  We will keep everyone updated on our adventures via the blog over the final 3 months of our trip and look forward to hearing from you.