Triple Trouble

Our new AC is broke!

Maybe gremlins have infested Bay Breeze?

 

Our sailing friend Terry put it this way; “Everything on your boat is broken, you just haven’t discovered it yet.” ...Seems like a pretty accurate aphorism.

 

Our plans to begin cruising for the next several months came to a sudden halt when our newly installed AC failed, our refrigerator failed, and Helmsley, our trusted autopilot, suddenly quit saying “drive stopped”. All within a day. So instead of heading down to the Keys, we packed up and limped back to our trusted boat yard, Sailors Wharf, for repairs or to exorcise the demons that are meddling with our comfort amenities. Sailors of yore didn’t have these technological luxuries, but we are fair-weather cruisers that depend on these systems. 

Monument to commemorate the first round trip airline flight in 1914 at the St. Petersburg Pier 

 

Fortunately we had a couple weeks of fun adventures and comaraderie before bailing out on our plans. Our friend Terry also postulates “the most dangerous thing on a boat is a calendar” so any plan is always tentative and frequently changes due to weather and attitude of the crew. So now our plan will be to resume cruising from St. Petersburg to the Keys, possibly Dry Tortugas, when repairs are made and we regroup for another set of adventures.

While in St Petersburg we took in culture. We can recommend the Raymond James Museum of Western Art - a very impressive gallery. Though heroic depictions of the old west and stereotypical nobility of the Native American Indian are not exactly our preference, the gallery is a very impressive collection of paintings and bronze statuary. We particularly enjoyed the landscape realism. 

 

And, at the top of any visit’s list, the Dali Museum is a real treat with the foremost collection of Salvador Dali’s works as well as a special exhibition of Pablo Picasso in a building with a most innovative architectural design. And St Pete is always a treat with the Pier promenade, excellent restaurants and, especially, gelato.                  
We think the downtown is a bit like Manhattan with less traffic, better weather and palm trees. 

What an imagination!

What an accomplished painter!

Picasso was an intersting juxtaposition to Dali

 

We motored across Tampa Bay, because the wind (if there is wind) always comes from the direction you want to go. We arrived at Marina Jack’s in Sarasota about 6 hours later. Berthed next to super yachts, Bay Breeze's mast barely topped their poop deck. But a chance to have dinner with Reverend Mike and Linda was a treat as was breakfast with Pat and Judy, at our long-time favorite restaurant, First Watch. 

  

What a treat to visit Pat’s shop built on the foundation of the famed local wooden boat builder George Luzier. Pat and a group of wooden boat enthusiasts use the shop to build and restore Luzier classics. One, a 30 ft sloop is being restored for an educational non-profit aiming to keep the craft and culture alive.

 

Pat and Judy arranged for us to stay at the exclusive Useppa Island Club to meet up with Shoalsailer sister ship, Zydeco. Linda and Michael sailed up from Ft. Myers to meet us there for a couple days to enjoy thepeaceful setting and visit the Useppa Island Museum. The Museum overviews the rich history of the island from the major hub of the Calusa people, though land baron development and the role the island played in the clandestine CIA scheme for the counter-revolutionary invasion at the Bay of Pigs, Cuba. 

Zydeco and Bay Breeze meet up at Useppa Island Club Marina. 

Useppa has a long high ridge that runs most of the length of the island. The Calusa built a community, thought to be a central village in a series of villages along Pine Island Sound. They occupied the area for thousands of years until Europeans arrived and started a cascade of events that led to their demise and final exodus to Cuba when the U.S. took Florida from Spain. Later, the island was bought and developed by wealthy tycoons for its proximity to the extraordinary tarpon fishing of Boca Grande Pass. Baron Collier established a lodge and Useppa became a hoppin’ place. Today the island is an exclusive seasonal retreat with beautiful grounds and luxurious vacation homes. A famed Pink Path transits the island under magnificent oaks and banyans festooned with orchids and bromeliads.

 

 

We enjoyed the restaurant and strolling the Pink Path with Linda and Michael and taking a dinghy ride to explore nearby Patricio Key. This island also has a high Indian midden and remnants of a long-gone, early 1900s homestead. All that remained was a large cistern, being reclaimed by aerial roots of a ficus tree.  Amazingly there were no hordes of mosquitoes and the day was pleasantly comfortable. This island must have been an idyllic setting for the Calusa, with ample seafood to harvest in the shallow bays.

Dinghy landing on Patricio with Linda and Michael 

 

Wading in to the island through mud was the
cost of admission to the spectacular site.

Pat and Judy joined us at Useppa after Zydeco departed to take advantage of favorable winds. Pat brought his 24 ft Luzier cabin cruiser for us to venture to another island with perhaps the highest midden in the area. Certainly, the topography of Josslyn Island evidenced the long and hard labors of the native people to create a high elevation for their village. One basket of shells and sand at a time to make mounds ~12 ft above sea level. Huge gumbo limbos had established an excellent canopy overstory which shaded out the ground cover and made for a less dense coppice forest. The loose soil of shell makes for poor holding for some of the massive trees. Those that were toppled by strong winds create new openings for the coppice community to regenerate.

 

Pat finds a cistern from an old
 homestead

intrepid explorers Lee and Judy 

At some point in the past, there might have been a homestead on the island, as a small concrete cistern was at the highest elevation. We backed off and left when we discovered an active eagle’s nest. Both parents were circling and vocalizing their disapproval. Near the eagle’s nest was the remnants of the native people’s water source, a small mud hole surrounded by a berm. We think it may have been a way to collect surficial fresh water floating on the saltwater table. 

 

Huge gumbo limbos couldn't stand against the wind

The University of Florida Randall Research Center on Pine Island is working to develop a better understanding of the native people of Pine Island Sound.

With an impending weather front, we opted for a short stay at the Burnt Store Marina near Punta Gorda. This is a huge development remote from the other urban areas. The surprising new construction and subdivisions prove Florida is a popular destination and the prime attraction of the natural environment is being displaced rapidly by those who are seeking it. Oh, to reminisce and mourn the Florida of our childhood and worry for the future.

 

We used used our down time at the dock to do some boat maintenance. Lee finished wrapping the wheels with twine to make steering in cold weather a little easier on the hands. She even added a turks head to the head’s up spoke. Marvin polished all the metal to remove rust stains and make the stainless steel shine. “stainless steel is just that – stains less than steel.”

 

Having decided to curtail this segment of our trip due to gremlins, once the front passed, we headed back to Sarasota and Marina Jack’s. After another wind-on-the-nose crossing of Tampa Bay we are back in St Pete to leave Bay Breeze in the capable hands of Sailor Wharf Yacht Yard for service.

 

 

Part of the enjoyment of cruising is being footloose and flexible. It’s frustrating to have problems with the boat but so satisfying when we can diagnose and effect repairs or jerry-rig a temporary fix. With professional techs and our credit card as a safety net, we will be on our way again soon. Looking forward to more explorations of Dismal Key and the Ten Thousand Islands on our way to Marathon. 

 

Thanks for reading, and we will be posting soon as we cast off again.

 

Our computer generated Cubist portraits from the Dali Museum Picasso exhibit.

 

 

Waltz with the Wind - 50th Anniversary song performed by Belle and the Band

ALTERNATE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJA2fcP-r1M

ALTERNATE LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJA2fcP-r1M

 

 

 04.04.2022