Tampa to Manatee River

We’re off to the Bahamas! And we have a rainy day today, with lots of time to reflect on our trip so far.

WAITING OUT A COLD FRONT

After checking the weather, we decided to wait out the week in Mt. Dora. We had some errands to run and a few items to buy for our inventory before we left, anyway. After waiting out a cold front in Mt. Dora on the couch and binge watching the first season and a half of Game of Thrones, we headed back to Tampa with Clark’s parents on Saturday the 23rd. We took them out for Mexican food at Margarita’s Mexican Restaurant, then took a quick trip to the store for some produce, and said goodbye before going to the boat for good. We finished inventorying all our food–over 500 line items in Emily’s Excel spreadsheet. We’ll have lots of delicious meals on the boat, and hopefully zero waste.

CROSSING FROM TAMPA TO MANATEE RIVER

The crossing to Manatee River was cold and windy. Emily was glad for her big rubber boots to keep her feet warm, and we were happy to discover that since they are a size or two too big, they fit Clark, too! A dolphin swam next to the boat for a small part of the trip. It was so close that Emily could almost reach out and touch it:

It was c-c-c-c-cold getting here!

BIMINI AND DODGER ARE UP

After anchoring, we put up the Bimini and dodger. We decided it will also make a good greenhouse for the containers of greens Emily is planting to supplement boat food.  The canopy keeps out the rain and too much sun. We ate outside for a couple of meals, while it was warm.

Relaxing under the Bimini and dodger

HIKING AND BOAT REPAIR

On Monday, we took the dinghy ashore and explored Emerson Point Reserve. We spotted an armadillo and a rabbit, along with lots of birds.

Emerson Point Preserve

An armadillo that Emily carefully stalked until it was a foot from her feet

Rabbit sighting

On the way back to the boat, we discovered two tiny holes in the dinghy. Clark patched them up inside and out with some J.B. Weld. It worked great, and the boat stayed dry on our trip back to shore the next day. We also discovered that the carburetor in the dinghy engine was “gunged up” as Clark says, and so we removed the 8 hp carburetor and replaced it with the 10-hp carburetor we had on board.

A RAINY LAZY DAY

Today is Wednesday. it’s very rainy. There was a very windy storm last night, and we lost a solar panel from the front of Temptress. Luckily we bought 2 more before we left, and they have grommets to tie them down more securely. We also fixed the fan belt in the engine, and got the water maker working. Things are looking good for the trip.