Florida: Venice to Cape Haze

Day 189
NM Today: 17
NM Total: 3561 (4098 statute miles)

The news last night was all about the weather in this part of Florida and the roof that blew off a shopping plaza in Venice. When we were driving to lunch with Ginny and Matt  yesterday, we saw fire engines and police cars and helicopters overhead surveying the damage at the plaza. We assumed it was wind related damage but did not know for sure until we saw the evening news. At the boat we only experienced the heavy rains, we did not see any damaging winds. The roof blew off the plaza at 11:30, and we drove by just after 12:00. How's that for timing!?

I woke up early today (early for me) and decided to get up and get the day going. I walked up to the head, but not before noticing that the boat was covered in heavy dew. When I got back to the boat, I decided to wipe it down to help it dry out before we left dock. From the heavy rains yesterday, I found that a number of items on the fly bridge were quite wet including the towels I keep up there to wipe off dew, so I had to spread them around the railings to let them dry in the hot sun so they would not go mildew. Pew!

With all the moisture inside the full enclosure on the fly bridge, I had condensation on the outside of the panels (normal) and fogged up windows on the inside (not normal). It took a while to wipe everything down and still it was not entirely dry when I was done, but at least it had a fighting chance to dry out in the sun!

When Clark got up, he walked up to the 'head' and was gone for a very long time. I thought sure he had found a boater friend to talk to. However, I was wrong, he had gone to look in the dive shop to see what they had on hand for equipment. When he finally got back to the boat, he told me they had what I needed for snorkeling, so after breakfast, we walked back there together and did some shopping. Clark bought me a snorkeling kit which included the mask, fins and the snorkel as a set. Now all I need is clear water and some fish. I think I will find some of those in the up-coming weeks.

We left Venice just before noon today. The first thing Clark pointed out to me as we moved along was that we were cruising along beside the bike trail that we had biked on Thursday when we went exploring in Venice.

Bike Trail in Venice 

 We passed under several bridges along today's route. We did not need any bridge openings, but the sailboat behind us did. Since we travel at a higher speed than the sailboat, we passed them and arrived at the bridge shown below before they did.

Bridge Opening on Gulf ICW

We have not seen too many ship wrecks recently, but we saw a doozy today. This not-so-lovely sight (shown below) sits right in front of someone's house spoiling their water view. It looks like this wreck has been here for years!

Wrecked Sailboat on Gulf ICW

The trip to Cape Haze / Palm Island Marina and Resort was quite short. As we approached our destination, we first saw the ferry and, then later, the water taxi as we were coming into port.

Ferry to the Island

Water Taxi Stop to go to the Beach

We arrived at the marina at 2:30, but it took us a quite a while to get up to the marina office to register. First we adjusted our lines to include a fender board arrangement in preparation for tomorrow's weather which is forecast to include gale-force winds until 1:00 p.m. As we tied up the lines a boat went by and a woman yelled to us, "Rumson, NJ?! I was the principal at Deane Porter School there!" How about that for a small world? I did not recognize her, but I got only a quick glimpse as the boat went by and then she was gone.

Before we could take one step off the boat, a woman whom we had spent time with on Lake Michigan at New Buffalo came over to say hello. She and her husband were the proud owners of SnoDaze, but they sold her in New Buffalo. Come to find out, they are the harbor hosts here at the Englewood area. We had quite a long chat as Clark asked questions about navigating options in this part of Florida for our further travels.

When we finally got ourselves organized enough to go register, we were pleasantly surprised by what we found as far as marina amenities. Near the marina office we found a gentleman filling his glass from the free keg of beer provided for guests. As we walked by he apologized for "kicking the keg" as he filled the top half of his glass with froth. For us, this is not a big deal as Clark does not drink beer, and I mostly do not drink beer. (Though the keg said Yuengling, and I might have made an exception had I not arrived too late to partake.)

Once in the office we learned that we can expect free coffee in the morning. (We don't drink coffee.) Alas, the free donuts are not expected as they come from Yummies Donut Shop. Well, Yummies is located in the building in Venice that lost its roof yesterday. I saw the Yummies yesterday when it was surrounded by emergency vehicles and helicopters! (No problem. We are not big donut fans anyway.)

Palm Island Marina in Cape Haze, Florida

After paying our slip fee, Clark asked what I wanted to do with the afternoon. The pool was beckoning, so we decided to kick back and relax in the heated pool. Clark suggested I bring my new snorkel equipment to the pool to try it out. I am not sure what the folks sitting around the pool thought to see me snorkeling in the pool, but whatever!

For a heated pool the water felt quite chilly, so I had to keep moving to stay warm. Just as I got into the pool another boater entered the water before me. He was very friendly and chatty. As we talked I paddled around and kept the blood flowing so I would not get too chilled. Finally he said he was too cold (he had not moved at all) and left to get in the hot tub. That is when I pulled out the snorkel and mask and used my new fins to swim up and down the pool.

Marina Pool and Hot Tub

We were at the pool /  hot tub for almost two hours including the lovely showers we took afterwards. The hot tub was really hot especially after the pool in the low 70s. In fact the water was so hot that Clark could not get completely into the water. I, on the other hand, love hot hot water and just melted into the warmth! It felt sooooo good to me!!!! While we swam around in the pool or sat around in the hot tub, we were serenaded by live music - a vocalist with a guitar playing a mix of pop and country songs.

Live Music - Guitarist 

 Before we knew it the day was done and we saw the sun set. Whoops! We luxuriated so long at the pool that I forgot all about needing to go to the food store. Clark reminded me when we got back on the boat. The problem was that we only had a few minutes of light remaining, but I was starving. I knew that if we went to the food store before dinner, I would be having my dinner at 9:00 at the earliest which was completely unacceptable!

Sunset at Cape Haze, Florida

We decided to eat dinner and then go to the nearest Publix which was about two miles away. Since it was total darkness by the time we left, we decided we should take a flashlight and walk instead of bike. As soon as I got up to the road, I knew this was a very bad idea. Even so, we continued on our way.

The road was in total darkness with no sidewalks and no berms. We had to either walk on the road itself or on the thick growth of weeds along the side of the road. Since Monday I have been treating my right hand for a nasty bug bite that caused a huge welt to come up on my hand and ooze nasty looking liquids every day since. When I showed it to my ex-college roommate and trained physician, Ginny, she said she thought it might have been a sting from a fire ant. It has been unbelievably painful but now is almost healed.

With that recent history, I was not keen on walking in the weeds and stirring up any more bugs to bite me. The two miles to Publix felt like twice that much. The cars, and there were far too many as far as I was concerned, sped by us too close for comfort. Since the area is quite desolate, I wondered where they all came from and where they were going!

We survived the trek to Publix and picked up our groceries. I loaded the items into Clark's backpack, but it was ridiculously heavy given the orange juice and fresh vegetables I had purchased.  When Clark took a moment to use the restroom before heading back to the marina, I went to the customer service area and asked if there was any way we could get a ride back to the marina. After some hemming and hawing, the manager found a very nice young male employee from the back of the store who generously agreed to drive us.

The drive back to the marina took five minutes maximum. The walk to the grocery had taken us nearly an hour due to the grim conditions. As he drove us back to the marina, he said he would never walk that road even in daylight. He said, "There's a wild boar lives in there as well as all sorts of snakes and other creatures living in the grass by the road." If I had any clue of that beforehand, I surely would have done without my orange juice!

I remembered after he mentioned the snakes that Ginny had told me there were both poisonous and non-poisonous snakes in this area.  Aren't they hiding under rocks at night?? I certainly hope so. I thought all I had to worry about was dodging the far-too-numerous cars. Stupid!! Aw well, we may have been lucky, but either way we survived the walk, so all is well, and I now have my juice and veggies.

We left Publix at 8:30. We were back on the boat by 8:40. It started to pour down rain with lightening and thunder at 9:05. Clark and I are convinced that had we walked back from the store, we would have been caught in at least some of the storm. The fellow who drove us back refused to accept a tip for his time and trouble. He said he believes in good Karma and asked us to pay it forward and do a good turn for someone else when they need help. Wow!

With waking early and then all the swimming and walking (Fitbit got over 11,000 steps today), I am extra tired tonight. I thought I might sleep instead of blogging. Fortunately I woke myself up enough to get the job done, but now it is time to call it a day!