Day 103: Sunday, December 16, 2012

Port to Port: Longboat Key to Roberts Bay

Underway: 8:00 am      Motor Off: 2:45 pm      Miles Traveled: 29      Stayed At: Anchor

Mile to Mile: We are getting a little soft here in Florida. On the rivers, a 29 mile day would be a treat. Now, with less daylight and more traffic and bridges and civilization, 29 miles seems like a long day. We did take a short break and tied up along a wall across from Nokomis Beach and enjoyed a few minutes getting water and peeking out at the beautiful white sand beaches along the gulf. A nice break in an otherwise routine day. We are starting to get used to more boat traffic now that we are in New Florida. It’s a big adjustment over our experience over the last several months. The scenery is different too – lots of big houses and huge condo complexes just about everywhere you look.

Navigation is pretty easy. Just keep between the green and red markers and all is well (usually). You don’t want to stray too far out of the narrow channel though since most of the bays and channels making up the intracoastal are extremely shallow – 2 to 5 feet deep at low tide. Even in the channel, a stray shoal can show up unexpectedly causing the depth finder to beep its shallow water warning. It’s a continuous challenge to stay focused, keep on course, find the next marker, watch out for oncoming and overtaking traffic and enjoy the ride. (And did I mention all the crab pot floats?)

We anchored for the night in Roberts Bay near a public dock and dinghy beach at Venice Florida. The anchorage was well protected and quiet. After a quick dinner of beef tips and rice, we had a relaxing evening, read and enjoyed a pretty sunset. We could have fallen asleep at 7:30 pm (being outside all day in the wind, sun and fresh air does that to you) but we forced ourselves to stay up to 9:00 pm. We can’t get too soft can we. What would Jess and Sarah think?

In Passing: Ringling Bridge, Bird Key, Lido Key, South Coconut Bayou, Mangrove Cut.