A Nice Time in The Gulf of Mexico

Motor Vessel Orinoco rests in the water at Tarpon Springs awaiting a lift to install rebuilt props

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Leaving Tarpon Springs on high tide at about 12:30 PM, the Orinoco sets out to sea on a course of NW to the Panhandle of Florida.  ETA of 2 AM or so through the lighted East Pass to Dog Island and the Intracoastal waterway to Mobile.

 Water everywhere and no land in sight as we churn up the calm blue/green waters into the night.

 Sun sets flashing the sky overhead in shades of orange in contrast to the changing color of the blue water and plunges the boat in darkness on the magic carpet of the sea.
Hello, Moon a welcome light to see in the darkness.

j

 The Intracoastal is quiet and peaceful as we head to a rest for the night after all night in the Gulf.

 Maggi is enchanted with dolphins as they splash and swim along side the boat and jump to her barks.

We spent a peaceful night at Pearl Island in Panama City and liked it so much, we decided we needed the rest and stayed another night at anchor.



Navy ship passed us in the choppy waters of a bay in the Intracoastal near Panama City.  It looked like a dive boat with trainees.




Now at Ft. Walton Beach, we rested a day and had a huge thunderstorm as we were securely tied to the city dock.  It certainly cleaned the salt off of our boat but we rocked and rolled in the wind.

Across Florida to Tarpon Springs

Goodbye to Loggerhead Marina and Stuart and our good friends there as the Orinoco leaves to cross the Okeechobee Waterway to the Western side of Florida.  Beautiful waters as we lock through the St. Lucie lock on the way to Indiantown and the big lake Okeechobee. It was a beautiful trip and sunny with adequate water as we floated through the Port Mayaca Lock on the east side of the lake and then followed a heading to the channel around the lake to Moorehaven, tied up and had outstanding Mexican food down the street.
Maggi loved to walk along the waterway on the path in the morning before we left heading West on the Caloosahatchee River.  Some critters were watching the little dog bark on the foredeck of the boat but I made sure she didn't go for a swim.

big hungry alligator awakes to the bark of a little dog

j

 Markers on the waterway keep us on course.

Poor abandoned wooden boat sits by the river
waiting for someone to bring it back to its former glory








We continued on the waterway to Ft. Myers, dropping anchor between the bridges for the night.  The next morning we set out to Useppa Island home to fancy vacation homes but nice place to anchor and watch the dolphins feeding in the evening.
The next morning we visited the Cayo Costa State Park that was named for the Cubans who had fish camps here.
Maggi and I took a nice hike through the jungle of trees before getting back on our little dinghy to head back to the mother ship.  People laughed at the dock about our name, One Ringhy Dinghy.

Later that night we left to go out to the Gulf through Boca Grande pass to journey out to Tarpon Springs due to arrive about 2 AM. 


Sunset on the Gulf as we enjoyed calm seas toward the north.

We arrived and tied to the dock at Tarpon Springs Yacht Service Sunday afternoon while we await to get our boat picked up and props sent back to the prop shop.
We do like Tarpon Springs and enjoy being here. Maggi was happy to get off the boat for awhile and walk on the land.

A month in Stuart Florida at Loggerhead Marina

The Orinoco and crew are on the move again after a fun time with friends in Stuart, Florida.  We enjoyed the friends from the Royal Marsh Harbour Yacht Club in the Bahamas and now half of them spend winters in Stuart, FL.
Peggy and Terry have
great hats for our St. Patrick Day

 Judy Law and Fred Reed
friends for 9 years in the
Bahamas and here in FL

Three times a week Patty participated in water aerobics with Judy Law as the instructor.  We had a nice heated pool there at the marina with a hot tub also to soothe our tired muscles.  Patty also walked every day with the Maggi 2-4 miles.  So a good month of nice weather and physical activities to get in shape.

Very good seats thanks to my friend Kim.  Close to Molina.

Robert and I went to two Spring Training Baseball games in Jupiter and the Cardinals won both times.  My friend Susan Carastro who is a veterinarian and owns several clinics in the area got an appointment with one of her vets who is a dermatologist.  Maggi developed a skin irritation and scabs but found out it was a bacteria and she got some antibiotics to clear it up.  Thanks to Susan who is an air racer with her mother every year.  Last year the Three Musketeer Air Race Team beat them by a few seconds for the first time ever.
Old abandoned wood boat of the the side of the
Caloosahatchee River on the way to Ft. Myers from Moore Haven.







We saw several alligators along the river beside the low banks in the bushes.  Maggi stayed close to us on the boat.  We also saw many beautiful dolphins close to Ft. Myers.