http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/imras/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from imras en-us Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:06:59 +0000 Tue, 22 Dec 2009 23:06:59 +0000 After wandering around the west coast of Florida we have rented a slip at Gasparilla Marina where Gust O'Wind will wait while we head back to Canada for a small taste of winter to remind us why we are here and to celebrate Christmas with family and friends.We just spent 4 days in our favourite anchorage off Cayo Costa a state park with a protected anchorage good fishing and a spectacular bea http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Port-Charlotte/blog-459717.html It is early December and despite the tropical weather palm trees and wearing shorts every day the signs of Christmas are everywhere.US Thanksgiving was last week it seems that Americans move right into Christmas and lump the 2 together as the holiday season.One of our highlights last week was chatting with an old tug boat captain who lives aboard his converted tug which was moored next to us http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Cape-Coral/blog-457949.html This has been a relaxing stretch for us compared with this time last year when we were driven to head south as quickly as possible 50 miles a day because of the cold weather.Now we are moving when we want to and enjoying the beautiful Florida weather.We spent 5 days in the Dunedin area enjoying the company of friends Margaret and Ted who showed us the land attractions while we were able to ge http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Tampa/blog-455794.html It is good to be back on the water again after a few glitches we seem to be back in the groove of the cruising life.Our first day out Friday 13th we had a great sail down Charlotte Harbour doing 7 knots under just the jib with the wind picking up and the waves building. We reached the narrow dredged channel to our marina destination to discover that the engine was not pumping water so would http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Clearwater/blog-454393.html We're back in Florida the past 2 weeks have been spent prepping Gust O'Wind for another southern sailing season...and blowing the budget in the process. As every boater knows there is nothing sane about boating.. Our favourite analogy is...Sailing is like standing under a cold shower tearing up 100 bills.We launched yesterday but now will have to wait while hurricane Ida decides what she w http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Punta-Gorda/blog-451664.html Bonavista we saw our first puffins at Elliston near Bonavista. They get our vote for the cutest birds going. also really enjoyed the Trinity pageant we followed a group of actors through the town as they played out the history of Trinity. another highlight was a tour of a recreated outport featured in the mini series R http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland-Labrador/St-John-s/blog-422284.html From Gros Morne we drove to the northern tip of Newfoundland and L'Anse aux Meadows the site of the first European settlement Norse in North America over 1000 years ago. The UNESCO site recaptures the struggle to survive in this harsh climate with actors in role with local accents in sod huts going about their daily tasks.On to Twillingate. As there is only one road to the north we had to http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland-Labrador/L-Anse-aux-Meadows/blog-420571.html Not having access to Gust O'Wind this summer has been a mixed blessing it has not been a good sailing season on Georgian Bay so our typical trip to the north Channel might not have been up to past years. The Whytes rented our place again for 3 weeks and we have taken off for the east coast Halifax Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.We'll send along a couple of blogs of our travels over the next http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Newfoundland-Labrador/Gros-Morne-National-Park/blog-418259.html Gust O'Wind is back on the hard for the summer. That is hard for us to deal with winterizing the boat has been a routine in September for the first 8 years this is the first experience of summerizing her.Since our last report we returned to Cayo Costa for 5 really good days to wind up our season. The fishing was successful finally thanks to some good advice from a fellow cruiser from Li http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Englewood/blog-385616.html This is as far north as we plan to get this season. We had a reunion with Wiarton Marina friends this afternoon at the marina. In a day or two we will begin heading back to Port Charlotte for our haulout on March 28th.We had a great visit with Brian and Valarie in Venice they have a CS 34 at Wiarton and also cruised these parts 9 years ago.A couple of recent highlights were finding fossilized http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Sarasota/blog-382546.html Probably the reason we have enjoyed Florida's west coast so much beside the great weather has been the relaxed pace. We no longer feel we have to make 40 or 50 miles a day to get to a destination and if we like a place we stay a few more days.The past several weeks have been a nice blend of quiet scenic anchorages and convenient small city moorings or anchorages. We have been able to avoid http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Punta-Gorda/blog-380466.html We have enjoyed great weather during the past few weeks and have been lucky to have had access to some excellent beaches.The anchorage just north of Marco Island reminded us of a long weekend at Sauble in the summer of course but instead of cars on the beach here it was boats literally rammed up at full throttle. A TowBoat US lurked nearby to pull off those who proved to have been ove http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Fort-Myers/blog-377542.html After 2 weeks in ultra crowded Marathon we decided to head north up the west coast of Florida and both agree it has been the highlight of our cruise so far.A 50 mile day found us in the Little Shark River totally isolated no McDonald's or roads or cell phones or wifi for many miles. The wildlife was spectacular a dolphin almost joined us in the dinghy during one ride. Big rays lept c http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Everglades-National-Park/blog-375281.html There was a lot of satisfaction in dropping the anchor in Boot Key Harbour after 1200 miles we had arrived and did not have to plan the next day's leg.From Fort Lauderdale we decided to go outside to avoid a repeat of the endless bridges we have encountered in this part of Florida. So we had a good look at Miami from the Atlantic then on to Key Biscayne. We have had only one night in a marin http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Keys/Marathon/blog-370382.html Many cruisers avoid this part of the ICW by going outside to avoid all the bridges. Some open on the 12 hour others every 20 minutes others on request or when there are enough boats waiting to make it worthwhile. Yesterday we had 18 bridges to get through and making 30 miles took us all day. Nasty weather removed the option for us to go outside.We treated ourselves to 3 nights in a marina http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Fort-Lauderdale/blog-365699.html The trip south from St. Augustine was warm and friendly to us. We still have to contend with strong currents especially around bridges. The wildlife viewing has been great lots of porpoises every day manatees are now quite common a variety of birds including our first sighting of wild flamingos pelicans are a favourite as they make crash dives to nab unsuspecting fish.We have met up with http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/Melbourne/blog-363010.html After a 3 week trip home to celebrate Christmas with family see previous 'quiet published blog' we are back on the move again. The weather has been great at last high 70's F shorts and t'sSt Augustine is great city to visit by boat the marina is right downtown everything is walkable with lots to see and do in the oldest European settlement in North America. It is a very low profile http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Florida/St-Augustine/blog-360711.html It was a bit of a challenge to get home for Christmas we were in Georgia and our car was in Virginia. A ride with new friends to Savannah followed by a oneway rental to Richmond pick up our car then on to Sauble and Milton for Christmas with family.It was a great family time Pat Claire flew in from Calgary so it was wonderful to spend so much time with our family and especially our new http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/Canada/Ontario/Milton/blog-358494.html Arrived here yesterday after 3 gold star days transiting the sounds rivers and marshes of Georgia. The currents are strong and with 8' tides we have to plan our moves carefully. The chartplotter has a great program to allow us to predict currents and tides in advance making the difference between 20 mile days and 50 mile days.We were kindly invited to spend a night ashore with Lori Jim Lou http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Georgia/blog-352072.html Today we part company with Jim Christine of Baroness after a 3 week buddy boat adventure that brought us to Beaufort SC from Deltaville.Their plan is to sail south to Venezuela transit the Panama then go on into the Pacific to Australia and beyond.They have become great friends we hope our paths cross again http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/South-Carolina/Hilton-Head/blog-350633.html