Pressing on in the wind

Mike awoke to a thunderstorm at 5:30 am this morning and was alarmed to find our boat facing the opposite direction from what we'd anchored!  When Brenda woke up at 8 am, she found the boat in fine shape!  

Marv's weather reported the day would have continued winds, worsening in the afternoon. After plotting our course for the day on the Ipad's Aquamap program, we prepared for bringing up the anchors to take off at 8:45 am and get across Port Charlotte Bay before 1 pm.   It was 10:45 am before we actually left our anchored area.  After following the steps in the Mainship manual, checking the breakers, rechecking the engine, and a whole bunch of other "stuff," we called the former owner who took us through the steps and helped us get the engine started.  It was an easy fix:  press a button!

And so we began our day.   We rocked and rolled through the waves and wind across Port Charlotte.  We used our radio system to make two calls to bridge masters with requests to be let through 2 bridges.  We spotted dolphins and watched pelicans dive for dinner.  We thoroughly enjoyed the leisurely cruise around Venice Island, a quaint town where our Long Lake friends Abby and Jerry Fiat spend their winters.  By mid-afternoon, we heard on our radio system Coast Guard warnings of potential danger to boaters due to high winds in the Sarasota, St. Peter and Tampa bays.  By 5:30 pm, we had cruised 35 miles and--taking the Coast Guard warnings seriously, anchored near White Beach in South Sarasota Bay in a protected area.

When we are actually "looping," such windy days like today will most likely be our days to explore and learn about the towns and areas for which we are visiting.  But we're not looping yet!  We are on a mission to get "Velsignet" to Demopolis.  And so, we will continue to press on.

This is the beach along the island cover where we anchored for Monday night.

Mike is at the helm.  We are approaching a bridge that we easily can pass under.

This is a bridge we went under in Venice.

We like the water tower of Venice!

Another scene in the Venice area.

Location: 111 S Orange Ave Suite 200W, Sarasota, FL 34236, USA

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