Monday, January 2 - St. Pete to Bradenton

We awoke to another beautiful sunshine-y day!  Steve, from Sanctuary, took a picture of our three boats with the Don Cezar Hotel in the background.  (We are in the middle.).  The two boats on either side were planning to stay another day and explore St. Pete Beach since we had such great dinghy access, but we opted to head on South.

We untied, pulled out and retraced our route out of the inlet, or mini-harbor, or whatever the correct term is.  As we rounded the island roookery, we ran aground!  Evidently we came in on high tide and were leaving on low tide.  This tide thing surely complicate boating!  We called Boat US Tow (we have unlimited service) and asked them to come pull us off.  We settled down to fish and relax, and sweat, and smell the bird rookery, and about 30 minutes later we floated off - just as the Boat US Tow got to us! Needless to say, we followed hm out to the channel to make sure we didn't run aground again!

We couldn't begin to count the birds in the small island rookery)

Navigation in this area is challenging.  There is no map for me, and the chart plotter for Danny doesn't always show the Intracoastal Waterway.  So we took the long way around St.Petersburg and into Tampa Bay.  We opted to skip sight seeing in Tampa and St. Pete and turned south.

There was lots of fishing boat traffic, and lots of wind and waves.  We still cannot determine wave height, but the swells must have been two feet.  We saw a very large yacht, and the first tow and barge in a long time.

LARGE TUG, SMALL SAILBOAT

Our goal was Edmont Key for our anchorage, but the wind and waves were still high and the island didn't offer  much protection.  It looked like an interesting island.   Part of it is a bird sanctuary, and we saw a sightseeing boat with people swimming along the shore.  We headed out again, but this time against the waves so the ride was better.  We need to get the propeller fixed after our crab pot encounter, and Bradenton seemed to be the best pace for that, so we headed south again.  Our friends Karen and John are anchored at a marina, but knowing we may need our boat hauled out tomorrow, we decided to anchor out, then head for the repair facility tomorrow.

SOOO, we had a pretty short cruising day, but an exciting one.  The Manatee River heading into  Bradenton, is very pretty, and we loved getting here in time to enjoy the sun and the breeze.  We fished a little bit, but no bites.  In case you haven't figured us out, we are way more about the experience and not much at all about the schedule!  We want to enjoy The Loop, not set any speed records.  And it is such an awesome lifestyle.  Y'all buy a boat and join us!