More sites from the Sunshine State

Hi to all of our followers.  We have been enjoying all the sites and scenery if Florida.  We both thought that Michigan had a lot of lakes and water, but after you have really traveled in Florida in a boat can you appreciate the many waterways, canals, inland waterways, and the beautiful ocean.

This is one of the islands that formed when the tide changed.  We were at anchor just a few boats lengths away.  We were aware that this was shallow but it is always interesting to look out where there was open water when sunset the night before.












We were at anchor on the Manatee River at anchor and we heard this loud noise overhead.  There was this huge flock of birds and the air was black and thick with birds.  Here is a picture of the sky.  Erwin waved his hat and they did not land on our boat but the second picture is the dock on shore near our boat.  Of course, you know if it is up to me I see the unusual and share it.

This is one of the beautiful sunrises we enjoyed while at anchor.

This is one of the swing bridges that connects the main land to one of the barrier islands.  It is only 9 feet tall so we always have to call the bridge tender to open the bridge.  It is a pretty slick operation.

Oh by the way, did I mention that we have purchased a Florida fishing license?  So Erwin has been learning all about fishing in salt water and catching fish.  It takes quite a bit of practice and patience.  I must say though, he sure can make those crab traps work well.  Here is a picture of one of the blue crabs that he caught.

And then-------- we had a feast.  This is our seafood dinner that we took a picture of as we were starting to prepare it in the gally.

We sure did love that seafood.  It was delicious!

Here are some pictures of the great dolphins that swim with us.  They love the wake of the boat and try to swim along with us part of the time.  It is tricky to get the pictures of them.

Pretty cool, huh?













So on that note, I am sad to say that we will not be posting again for a while.  We will begin again in mid January when we return to Florida.  We are very happy to say that we are going home to Michigan to spend the holidays with our great family, extended family, and friends.  Thanks for following us and see you in January.

The Sunshine State

Sorry to all of our followers.  We have been enjoying fishing, the sun, and sightseeing in Florida so we have not spent much time at the computer or even sorting our pictures.

We had a very successful crossing of the Gulf of Mexico from Carabelle, Florida to the Clearwater area.  It took two very long days and the first day we left at 4:00 a.m.  It was scary in the dark looking for the lighted markers, but it was necessary for us to get to a safe place the first day prior to sundown. 

Here is the sunrise on the morning of the first day out on the Gulf.

So here are some of the pictures as we got into the more populated areas of Florida.  They are from the area around the town of Gulfport.  We spent several days in the area resting and relaxing after the Gulf crossing.



We then decided to go across Tampa Bay and go into the St. Petersburg area.  We anchored right in the North Yacht Basin in the heart of St. Petersburg.

Here is one of the LARGE yachts leaving as we entered the anchorage.  This boat was not at anchor but leaving the marina in the background.



















Nice place to sit and no charge when you anchor (except for a $5 fee to tie up the dinghy)

Here is a view from the pier at St. Petersburg.  We walked the pier and visited the aquarium which is at the end of the pier, it was small but a nice change of pace.  The view from the pier was outstanding!

This is the view looking back at St. Pete from the end of the pier.  There is a observation deck at the top which is where we took this shot.

Of course you know Marilyn has to have some pictures of the birds.  This pelican could have cared less that we were so close.  I think he was waiting to see if a fisherman would loose his catch.

Another beautiful bird!

This bird (even though very pretty) was an unwelcome guest in our dinghy.  Lucky for us he did not leave any traces of his being here.



This is the famous Sunshine Skyway that we passed on our way to the Manatee River.


Here is an Osprey perched on one of the green channel markers.

As I said, we were fishing, but this is a stingray that found its' way to our fishing line, not very tasty.

 







Palm Trees, pelicans, white sand beaches - now this is the cruise!

So we are saying goodbye to the river systems and hello to the intercostal waterways.  The next body of water after that will be the area known as the big bend.  That will require some weather windows to cross the Gulf of Mexico.

Here is one of the shrimp boats at Mobile Bay returning from his day of work.  He was at Dog River where we were staying.

We left Mobile Bay which by the way is a very large and very shallow body of water.  We followed all of the markers until we entered the Gulf Inland Water Way or the GIWW.  That is were we knew we were getting much closer to Florida.  Here is one of the first white sand beaches we saw.

Some of the trees looked like sticks, one of the locals explained that those were the trees damaged in the hurricanes.

We were enjoying the change in the waterway and the change in the scenery.  We were starting to see more houses, cottages, condos, and resort places along the way.  Then we entered into an area on the waterway called  the "Grand Canyon of Florida".  It was interesting seeing all of the rock formations this far south which was quite unexpected.

Looking back at the wake from our boat.

We traveled to a town called Fort Walton Beach.  The City maintains a free dock for boaters like us.  You have water and electric and can walk into town.  Very nice and handy.  One of the local folks even gave Erwin a lesson in casting a bait net.  This was exciting for us as he has a fishing license for Florida and we would be very happy to learn more about this salt water fishing.  Here is the sunrise at Fort Walton Beach.  It looks like those post cards that you used to get from your grandparents in far away places.

We traveled to the town of Apalachicola which is at the mouth of the Apalachicola River.  This is primarily a fishing town.  One of the main industries is the oyster and shrimping.  Here is a picture of an oyster man.  Check out the pile (yes the brown heap next to him) of oysters.  They have huge rakes that they rake the oysters or harvest them with.  This particular area had a least 30 plus oyster boats in one area.

I don't think I would want to be in very rough water with a full load of oysters.

Here are some of the oyster man working close to each other.

Here is a picture of a tow and barge going up the Apalachicola River at sunrise.

Then we traveled on to Carabelle which is a charming Old Florida area.  Not all the condos and high rises that you see in a lot of areas.  This town is known for the shrimping and of course fishing.

This is one of the many birds nests that you see along the waterway.  This is one of the day markers in the water.  This could be for an osprey or other large birds.  These are not twigs, but branches of trees.

When you live in the north and you start to see these beautiful palm trees you actually feel warmer just looking at them.














And now for the wildlife portion of the trip.  I was walking along the marina and saw this group of birds sitting on this cement pier.  What do you think?

It looks to me like the little guy is tricking the pelicans into thinking there might be something down in the water to eat.  He knows he is much quicker and faster, but those pelicans are pretty big to tangle with.

This large, long legged, long beak, is an Ibis.  He is a very good fisherman.

Hey, do you see anything up there?  Huh, huh, I think there might be something over there, look, look.  I would sit up there, but it is tough with these long legs.  I don't have those webbed feet like you.

Hey, I remember you, do you remember me? 

Don't even think about it, this is my piling and don't you forget it!

Ships, bigger ships, busy, busy, Mobile harbor

Well, I have to type in bold print to explain that everything in Mobile Harbor is gigantic.  Our boat seems to have shrunk into a peanut.  There are so many things to see as we cruised down the harbor.  Both of us were taking as many pictures as we could and still pilot our little boat.  Lucky for us, there was very little barge and tow traffic as we came in on Saturday which typically does not differ from the week days on the water.

This is the beginning approach of this harbor.  The smaller boat in the middle of the picture and to the left is actually 39 feet long.  This will give you viewers an idea of the size of the harbor and the ships.

The skyline is full of cranes of many types and sizes.  The cranes load and unload the ships. 

This is one of the huge buckets on a crane, if you look close you can see they are unloading coal and the bucket is dropping a large load of coal from the ship.

This is one of the smallest towboats we have seen.  As he approached our boat, we could not even see the tug, only the barge.  There are two workers on the bow of the barge communicating to the pilot where to move the barge!!!!

This is one of the dry docks for the larger ships to go in for repairs.

Can you imagine trying to assist a captain or piloting a ship into this tiny slot so the ship can be repaired???

This is one of the fleets of tugs that assist all of the large ships in the harbor.  They also escort the ships in from the ocean.  I loved the colors these tugs have chosen.

Here is an up close look at one of the tugboats.  I am trying to convince Erwin we should purchase a tug and convert it to a pleasure boat.  He explained that I would have to win the lottery or have a rich relative.  Hmm, neither of those options are very appealing to me.

Here is another fleet of tugs you can compare to the other fleet.

Here is one of the large ships that was in the harbor when we passed through.



This obviously is one of the many international ships in the harbor.


This is the view of the profile of the ship pictured above.

Here is a ship that some of you might be familiar with, the Carnival Cruise ship.  Check out the number of floors on this puppy.  I can not imagine being on the water and seeing this HUGE ship coming at your boat.

Here is one of the numerous cargo ships that we saw.  These giant cranes load these railroad cars.  Yes, those are railroad boxcars that they pick up and stack on the ship.  OMG, if the sea is rough at all I am told that a railroad car can roll off the top of the stack.  They actually float and become a hazard for the smaller boats as they float at the top of the water.  I feel this is a very good reason not to cruise overseas in the oceans.

We saw this crane pick up and load a boxcar in just a couple of minutes.  It does not even appear there is hardly any time between loading each railroad car.

Then after being fascinated with the back crane loading the boxcars, I realized that there were actually two cranes loading at the same time.  Check it out.

As we were leaving the harbor this shrimp boat was headed back in.  As you can see, the birds were well aware that the catch was good that day.

This ship was coming into the harbor down the channel as we were leaving the bay.  We were surprised that the ship did not have a tug as an escort as they typically do.  It maybe they actually had to get closer to the harbor before the tug assists.

Another type of ship, very different than the ships we have seen in the Great Lakes of the Sault Saint Marie locks.