It has been an interesting couple of days since the last post. We have the boat up and running and have made it over 130 miles further south in search of warmer weather.

As we left Clearwater Beach we had many mixed thoughts. It was nice to be moving on and continuing the journey, but had all kinds of thoughts about the engines and their performance.

Leaving our home for the last month at Clearwater Beach.

As you can see, we did not have great weather for moving today.

Sunday we planned to only run 50 miles from Clearwater Beach to Cortez FL. We stayed inside and ran the Gulf ICW. We know it is shallow and that the shoaling changes with the storms all the time. This is why you really have to pay attention to everything around you.

The engines are running fine. They seem to be making a little different sound but I am told they sound perfect?? We hope so.

Now for the bad part of the day. Sunday 1/14/2024 was the first time, and I hope last time, that I have ever run aground. We were going by a known shallow area called John’s Pass. The channel is narrow with shifting sands. As you run the ICW you have to make choices about staying in the GPS channel or staying in the marked channel. I have been staying in the marked channel, assuming that the Army Corp has them marked better than Garmin. This time I was wrong!

Ran the marked channel and as you can see in the middle of the screen, I was just out of the GPS channel. The dotted line is our path we traveled. I did not feel like the area looked right, so I pulled her out of gear and was almost at a stop as the bow slowly and softly came to rest on the shoal. I have always been told not to put them in reverse as that can bend the props. So we sat for a minute as I assessed what to do. I had Amy get our stern anchor so we did not go any further into the shoal. As I dropped the anchor off the stern it went down almost 6′. We were leading 4 other boats that day, and I called to them and told them I was aground. One of the shallow draft boats came up behind me and said they were still reading 6′ just 30′ behind me. So we rolled the dice and I put her in reverse, and we were able to back off the shoal. I felt like an idiot for doing this, but I hope a lesson learned about trusting the Garmin and letting shallow draft boats lead in areas that do not look right!

It appears we got lucky and did not damage the running gear. I will wait for clear water to go down and verify, but we ran the engines up across Tampa Bay on our way to Cortez without any vibration. That is a great sign!

Heading toward and going under the iconic Tampa Bay bridge at the western end of Tampa Bay.

As you can see, the weather was not great, but Who Dat handled all the waves just fine.

We arrived in Cortez around 2PM, and boy were we ready for a break after that day. Had to wait for our slip to open for over 45 minutes, but the harbor master felt so bad that he let us stay for free that night. Things are looking up!

Stayed at the Seafood Shack. It was a great evening as the sky finally cleared and we got to see the sun just in time for a sunset.

They had a great restaurant, so we got to enjoy a very late lunch. That led straight into the Packer game, GO PACK GO. Ended up having dinner at the bar as well. I guess I was ready to be off the boat after running aground!

Had a friend from high school who lives in the area stop by the boat for a glass of wine after the Packer game, so it was the perfect end to a long day!

Ken was the point guard on our high school basketball team!

Monday, we headed out by 8:30 am as the weather was supposed to be raining all day and turn into bad storms later in the afternoon. We ran 80 miles down to Punta Gorda in the rain and fog. We made the decision to run outside the ICW in the Gulf for the day to make some time and stay away from the shallow water! We did have to alter our speed a lot to miss storm lines. Also spent the day dodging crab pots. Boy do I love those things!! We will not always get that option, but I think I will take it when available!

We arrived in Burnt Store Marina at 1:40pm. Topped of the fuel tanks, as we have not fueled since before crossing the Gulf in early December. We hope this will hold us until we fill before heading out to the Bahamas.

The weather forecast did not disappoint and the bottom dropped out shortly after getting into the harbor. Heavy rain and thunderstorms the rest of the day, and more for Tuesday as well. Not sure I am enjoying FL yet!

Tonight we hope to see some friends we made at the beginning of the loop. They crossed their wake here in Punta Gorda and now live in the area. We hope to see the area a little between rain clouds today if possible, but we will see.

We plan to leave Punta Gorda tomorrow morning at first light to arrive in Captiva Island before more storms and high winds on Wednesday. We will be staying at South Seas Marina. This is the property that was washed away last year with hurricane Ian. They have the new harbor rebuilt along with three pools and two food trucks. Sounds perfect to us right now. Also can’t wait to explore the area by bike and scooter to see how the rebuild is coming along on Captiva and Sanibel. 

I will post again when we get good internet, which I would guess will not be until Naples!

Hope you have a great week and try to stay warm in the north!