Depart: Venice Crow's Nest Marina 10:00
Arrive: Palmetto / Bradenton Regatta Pointe Marina 3:15
Distance: 45 NM
When I woke, I checked my phone for the current temperature and discovered that the temperature outside at 8:00 a.m. was yet lower than it had been at 4:00 in the morning. The projected temps showed a high at 2:00 of 61. It would definitely be a cold ride today!
We debated our travel plan for today from Venice, Florida northward to Bradenton. Our two choices included the inside route with slow-speed zones and bridges to be opened or the outside route on the Gulf of Mexico. Following our discussion, Clark seemed to be decided on the inside route.
Before we left the dock, Clark called to see if our display unit would be available for pick up today. With an answer in the affirmative, he made a reservation to stay at a marina tonight, so we could collect it.
The owner of the boat Clark helped move last night, "Dolphin", helped us with our lines this morning to help us on our way. Just as I pulled in our last line Clark said, "I think I'll poke the nose out into the gulf to see what it looks like out there." I knew with that seemingly innocent statement that we would most definitely be traveling on the outside today. The wave heights were predicted to be 5 foot decreasing to 2-to-4 feet in the afternoon.
In the Gulf, Clark plugged in a waypoint, and the chart plotter showed the time to our turn off the Gulf as 3.5 hours. Initially, we just rolled over the oncoming waves. In the afternoon, however, when wave heights were supposed to decrease, they seemed to increase in height. With the increase came bouncing and the associated spray. Over and over again, spray shot up over the top of the boat and covered our eyeglasses with salt spray.
Between the repeated showers and the cold wind, I suggested that we move to the warmer and dryer pilot house. Of course, I could not convince him to budge. I stood behind the upper helm chair for over an hour for protection from the wind and spray. Unfortunately, the salt film on my sunglasses made it hard to see the countdown timer to know how much longer we had until the spray might stop.
As soon as we turned to exit the Gulf, the wave impact diminished, the spray and bouncing stopped, and we had a pleasant ride into the Bradenton area. Clark reconsidered the reservation at Twin Dolphins marina that he had made in the morning as being too expensive a place to stay tonight. He called an alternate marina in Palmetto, across the Manatee River, to check on availability.
Once confirmed, he canceled our Twin Dolphins stay. The quoted rate at Regatta Pointe was a dollar per foot less than that quoted at Twin Dolphins. However, the 12% "resort" tax jacked the price up. Given that, we did not save as much, but we still saved with the new reservation.
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| View of Bradenton, Florida from our boat |
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| Park near Bradenton, Florida |
We had ourselves checked in and our lines secured by 3:30. However, when Clark called the repair person so we could come collect our unit, he got no answer and no call back. This was not an entire surprise as Clark was told when they spoke this morning that the person we had to meet was suffering a stomach ailment. Apparently, he went home early today. Hopefully, he will be in the office tomorrow.
While we waited to see if we would get a call back, we took out a bucket of water each and started washing the salt off the boat. Thick salt coated every inch of the outside of the boat. After an hour and a half of washing down the boat, I quit.. Clark, on the other hand, stayed out washing away salt until after 6:00. As he washed the boat, the sun went down, and he got some spectacular shots of the sky.
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| Sunset so brilliant it looks like the sky is on fire! |
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