Spring Vacation

We planned our Spring vacation to be on Moosetracks and much like a snail we took our home with us on this trip. Unlike before this trip we had nothing really to take to the boat as living aboard it's all already on. We planned a week only this year as we have several commitments during 2011 and need to keep a little vacation in hand. So it was we left Friday night May6th for Fort Myers Beach (FMB) and the mooring field there. We had a good start sailing down Tampa bay, but all wind died as soon as we got out in the Gulf of Mexico. So we motored most of the night. In the morning we the wind picked up and we managed a good 8 hours of sailing to reach FMB by midday. We had 3 nights there on a mooring and did the usual things like bus rides to shops, a few bar visits and visiting other boats as they passed through.

Shrimp

The next stop was Pelican bay on Cayo Costa, unfortunately the wind was not having it and we motored the whole way. We planned 3 nights there and were happy to find the usual peace and quiet of the nature reserve ashore and in the anchorage. We enjoyed my birthday celebration here and would like to thank everyone for their cards, email, text and facebook well wishes, much appreciated. Devin managed to catch 3 trout whilst we were there but they all went back due to being under sized for a sandwich. We did find this large shrimp hiding in our dingy one morning and now know why they are such good bait, they are huge and look delicious!

We planned the last stop at Longboat key. We had a gorgeous sail from Cayo Costa to the entrance of Longboat key and had a blast with Moosetracks topping off at 7+knots for a good while as the wind picked up. We stayed 2 nights and again visited a few boats and chilled out.

Longboat Birds

Still a kid at heart

We also had a great 3 day weekend when Memorial day rolled around. We decided on going down to the Manatee river and chilling out on the hook near the state parks. We causally mentioned it to friends and when we got there 3 other friends boats were near us. We had a early visit from Oliver and CC who had brought their boat and Jet ski down. We have not seen Oliver for a while and it was great fun to catch up with them. Then we caught up with our dock neighbors; Scott, Jada and Victoria on their Morgan 51 then Rick and Katrina on Kokomo both out for the weekend to sail.

Emerson Point Park

Now we have settled back nicely into Moosetracks and are enjoying the extra social life that being on a dock provides. It's amazing how few people you interact with living in a house versus a boat. Also being in downtown St Petersburg is very exciting and gives us a lot to do. We have enjoyed movies in the park and seen a concert from the anchorage off the town parks as well as the open markets on Saturdays. The to-do list for Moosetracks is also picking up now we are aboard. We have noticed our fridge running a lot so an immediate project is to beef up the insulation and install the new speed controller and thermostat controls. Next we have to cover the boat and look at cooling the interior for the upcoming summer. The list of upgrades/jobs also includes adding a new wind generator, re-finishing the teak toe rails, installing new ground tackle and then new canvas on the bimini and dodger.


Fair Winds to all.
Devin & Liz.