12/30/11

A picture of our cruising this winter……..so different than our usual sailing on Persephone......

I took this picture from our “living room”.  The man just 20’ off the beam of our boat is fishing in water up to his knees.  You can anchor most anywhere when you only need 3 feet of water!

Fort DeSoto Park on Mullett Key is now one of our favorite hideaways – and our first stop from the boat ramp in St. Pete.  (Thanks for suggesting Fort DeSoto Patti) 

Our first anchorage here in the park was just off the tent sites and near a kayaking bayou.  People fishing, paddling, and splashing about.  I was amazed at the number of tenters who strung up elaborate Christmas lights.  A memorable way to spend the holidays!

Most noise heard here is created by osprey and other birds.

When living on a boat, maintaining your “sports car” is of utmost importance.  Here we’re helping Patti and her Uncle George patch up her boat-to-shore transportation.

When the work was over we walked a couple of miles to the Fort at DeSoto Park overlooking the Gulf of Mexico to meet up with Bob McClure from Phoenix, NY/Bradenton, FL.  George took the picture of Karen, Jerry, Patti (with Mariah and Sula) and Bob.

And refreshments after the long walk….

Our second anchorage in the park was in the basin by the travel trailers and RV’s.

Protected from wind and waves from all directions.  And, a great place to replace the leaking seals and the shaft on the engine’s water pump.

Patti headed back to St. Pete……

We headed south to find Bob McClure’s place just off the Manatee River.  Bob has been talking about pickle-ball for the last couple of years.  We had to go find out what it’s all about.

Here’s Bob at the Anna Maria Island Community Center preparing for a couple of hours of fast-paced pickle ball.  It’s played on a 20’x40’ court with 2 or 4 players using oversize ping pong paddles (at least that’s what I thought they looked like), a whiffle ball and a net set 2” lower than a tennis net.  (The legend of how pickle ball started – a couple trying to play tennis were unsuccessful due to their dog, Pickles, who kept running off with the tennis ball.  A whiffle ball was substituted and the game progressed from there.)  There is a shuffle board court in the park where Bob lives but he says that’s for old people.

Is there a pickle ball league in your neighborhood?

Bob took us to the Pier for seafood.  The Pier is a metal-roofed shack built in 1911 at the end of this pier.  Excellent mahi and grouper.

The weather has been unusually warm here, as it has been everywhere it seems, for December.  Perfectly blue skies and sunshine.  Temperatures in the 70’s and even to 80 during the day and 50’s to 60 overnite. 

I suppose this is the last post for 2011,

Karen and Jerry Skinner

Aboard “mouse”

PS  I forgot to mention the Salvador Dali Museum in St. Pete!  It was fantastic!  If you’re ever in that area be sure to stop.  Thursday nites from 5-8 the admission is half the regular price.  Be sure to ask for the audio headsets or join a guided tour – a necessity to understand what it’s all about.  I’m going to attempt to load a video taken from our anchorage in St. Pete at night.  The one building I tried to zoom in on is the Dali Museum – a large concrete rectangle with a glass dome squeezing out the middle.