Palmetto, FL to Englewood, FL (not quite)
Friday the winds blew a consistent 15-20 mph which left South Tampa Bay a little choppy, but the skies were clear and the temp was in the low 80’s. We said our goodbyes to neighbors and friends and pulled away from the dock at 10:30. Boat traffic was heavy on the ICW for a Saturday, with boats traveling from many places—some as far away at New Brunswick, Canada. As we neared Marina Jacks in Sarasota, the skies became hazy with the heat and Bob noticed some problems with the port transmission. We dropped anchor just off of the ICW and he went down below to take a look. Everything looked ok, but the transmission seemed to be slipping at higher (cruising) speeds. After some discussion, we decided to go back home and get it looked at. No sense in getting stranded farther from home and end up spending money to stay in a marina while it gets fixed. (Note to self: Never leave on a boat trip on the weekend when all the service yards are closed.) So around 1:00 we turned around and headed north. A boatload of babes in bikinis screamed by as we neared the opening to the Manatee River.
Bob suggested we anchor out for the weekend as long as we were already out. What a great idea! No sense in trashing the whole weekend. We took a slow ride back and dropped anchor at DeSoto Point around 4:00.
We spent the afternoon watching boats traveling up and down the Manatee River. Lots of sailboats came into the anchorage to spend the night. A seaplane made numerous take-offs and landings on the Manatee River to keep us entertained.
Bob cooked a wonderful dinner of steak and lobster on the grill for our first night of vacation. We enjoyed our evening watching the sunset after taking Auggie to shore. It would be a quiet evening at anchor. Stay tuned.
