Monday, February 22, 2016

Back in St. Pete

We had a very nice 3 day journey to St. Petersburg, with stops at Useppa and Venice along the way. The weather was very pleasant with sunny skies, mild temps and flat water the entire way.  We were once again able to hook up with friends Dan, Juli and Jerry at Venice, and enjoyed a nice dinner aboard Ghost Rider (take-out from Crow's Nest....excellent meal!)

Dolphins in the Bow Wave
The boat ran well, although we are still challenged with an overheating stuffing box (prop shaft) on the wing engine...pretty sure we'll need to disassemble and repack that thing since the adjusting nut changes are having no impact whatsoever.

On the first day's sortie we also had a fun encounter with a pod of dolphins who enjoyed playing in our bow wave as we exited the Caloosahatchee River enroute to Useppa.  Michelle captured part of that via cell phone video, here's a YouTube link:  Dolphins at Play.

We are currently lying at St. Petersburg Municipal Marina, juggling work with boat duties and some tourista activities.  Martin & Steph are also moored here aboard Blossom, and it's great to be spending time with them as well.  We'll be here until the end of the week, then heading back home to Fort Myers to tend to some administrative chores.