February 13th-16th
We left Bradenton on Sunday, February 13th and headed to Anna Maria Island. We stayed one night at Galati Marina so we could explore AMI. We have been there before, but only by car. It was fun to see the island by walking and taking the trolley from one point to the other (the island is 7 miles long). We had to walk about a mile from the marina to get to the first trolley stop. They have a free trolley that runs about every 20 minutes. We started out earlier in the day but once we got just past the marina, it started raining so we went back to the boat. It rained for a couple hours and then we ventured out again. It was a beautiful sunny day afterwards, but it was windy and cool. We walked on several beaches, but we were able to do a sunset walk at Coquina Beach. That would be our pre-Valentine’s Day occasion…walking hand in hand, watching the sunset on the beach. James can be romantic when he wants to be lol. After grabbing dinner, we headed back to the boat. We didn’t think about it being dark on our way back, but it was. It was dark, windy and cold. And we still had that mile walk from the trolley stop to the marina. It wasn’t too bad though. Until James started making comments like, “I hope there aren’t any gators behind those bushes.” We were walking down a dark road in a residential area with the gulf on one side and the bay on the other!
We left early the next morning because we had to tie up at the fuel dock because they didn’t have any transient slips available. It was low tide, but we had good markers to stay in the channel. Not that it mattered much because we ended up running aground just as we got into the bay. We were clearly within the markers and it should have been 7’ of water. When I say we “ran aground” what I mean is our boat was literally sitting on the bottom of the gulf! I didn’t get too scared until the boat started tilting and James said we were turning over. We didn’t turn over, but it was still scary. The wind and waves were so strong and beating against the boat. We called Sea Tow (Towboat US) and they said they were an hour away. While waiting for them (and praying), the tide was rising and the waves broke us free from the hold. We canceled the Sea Tow and were on our way again. We had planned to head further south to Sarasota and visit with our friends Scott & Sheree Daley, but with the winds being so rough that day, we decided to head back up to St. Pete Beach and find a good anchorage for protection.
We are learning many things about boating in Florida (some with hard lessons) and one thing we have found is that the charts are not always accurate. And believe me, there is a lot of shallow water even out in the bay and gulf! Another thing we have learned is to pay attention to which way the wind is blowing. We use an App called Active Captain for most of our navigating. It also has information (provided by other boaters) about anchorages and marinas, etc. The other boaters provide reviews which include tides and wind protection. On this day, we had 15 knot winds from the north. So, I started looking for anchorages with north wind protection. We found an anchorage in Boca Ciega Bay (between St. Pete Beach and Gulfport) and stayed there on Monday night. It took us about 4 hours to get there because of the weather. We should have been there in about 2 hours. We were exhausted, mentally and physically, so we decided to wait and celebrate Valentine’s Day on the 15th lol.
The anchorage was very nice, but we did get rocked quite a bit from other boaters. That is another thing I have learned on this trip….most boaters in Florida are not very courteous when it comes to creating wakes around anchored boats. One boat came so close to us that we thought he was going to hit us. I am surprised he didn’t run over our anchor line. We decided to go ahead and move closer to the St. Pete side of the bay. The bay is full of crab pots, but we managed to dodge them all. Once we got anchored, we decided to go ashore and get some groceries. There is a dock owned by Dolphin Landing Charters and they allow boaters to tie their dinghy up to the dock for a couple hours while getting groceries, dinner, etc. There is a Publix store right behind them. So off we go in the dinghy….until we do it again…we ran aground in the dingy!!! Guys, I can’t make this stuff up! James said he is ready to get back to the Tennessee River!! LOL It wasn’t too bad, all he had to do was get into the 2’ of 61 degree water and push us to deeper water. You have to be mindful of the water depth even if you are in a dinghy! We got our groceries and had dinner at Hungry Howie’s Pizza. The owner even came out and talked to us for a while. We had a great day and ended it with an evening in the hot tub while watching our boys play (and win) basketball via FB live.
Today, we are planning to head back over to the dock and walk across the street to the beach. It is sunny and beautiful here in St. Pete! It is 70 degrees and should get up to 75 today.
Before I go, I do want to share about the guy who heard our mayday call and contacted the coast guard on January 31st. I received a message on our Miss Tenn-A-Sea FB page a few days ago from one of his family members. She said she had family on the boat that heard our mayday call. Apparently, she was searching for us on FB but all they knew was the name of our boat. She just wanted to let us know they were glad we were safe. Then the Captain’s mother sent the following message: “I'm so glad you are all safe!! He satellite texted me at 11pm that night and briefly told me the story as he knew it. Now it's good to know the details and that everything worked out!! He is an amazing mariner.” The mariner is Captain Carson and he owns a private charter company in Bay St Louis MS called Blackwater Voyages. They said if we are ever in the MS Gulf Coast, they would love to get together for a cruise and meet us. I am sharing his FB page and if any of you are ever in that area and want to go on a sunset cruise…please look him up and let him know you are friends with us!
Anna Maria Island & Coquina Beach
Boca Ciega and St Pete Beach
