The Adventures of SaSea Sally!: Longboat Key, Boca Grande,Cabage Key, and Ding Darling Anchorage, FL

Feb 6 - 18: Long Boatkey Club, Gasparilla, Boca Grand, Cabbage Key, and Ding Darling Anchorage near Sanibel

The bridge over Tampa Bay to St Pete

All boats at Longboat were new and shiny


Bob Mustell can you identify this flying bird????? Another shiny boat at Longboat Key Club Moorings

Swimming for Sally!

Hi all! Another update from the SaSea Sally...Departing from St. Pete, Captain Clay set his sights on Longboat Key where we arrived mid-afternoon for orientation at this resort-style marina called Longboat Key Club Moorings. The many other attractions in the area (Sarasota) kept us from capitalizing on the full offerings at the marina. But Sal did manage to swim laps twice in the heated pool during our 5-night stay. And, we took advantage of the morning coffee, muffins and daily newspaper available to us.

Approaching land from water, the shoreline gives little clue as to what lies beyond. Thus, our morning walk Friday morning enabled us to better acquaint ourselves with the area. And a 3-day rental car from Enterprise gave us even more perspective...plus the opportunity to really see Sarasota. The car was a necessity; we'd left our computer with the technician in St. Pete to finalize repair (successfully I might add!), so Clay's Friday plans included a trip north to pick it up, to tour Bradenton, to stock up at Wally World on the way back to the boat.

Van Wezel Performing Arts Center.

Saturday morning found us arriving at Sarasota's farmers market with only fifteen minutes to browse, but we had fun, again more with people-watching than with purchasing. Leaving downtown Sarasota, we drove across the bridge to St. Armands Circle, a development of apparel shops, restaurants, fudge and ice cream shops, etc., again an opportunity to people-watch...and to eat a late lunch at Tommy Bahamas. Good choice! Back to the marina for a chilly swim for Sal while Clay started a flat bread pizza in the oven, we quickly dined and yet again crossed the bridge for the Kenny Rogers concert at the Van Wezel Performing Arts Center. Late ticket purchase put two tickets in our hands and seats located two rows from the back of this theater which seats 1700; but our seat location did not diminish our enjoyment of this wonderful showman with songs so familiar to our generation. Hooray!

Ringling estate on the left

Clay planned Sunday to accommodate a day-long exploration of the Ringling Museum, which is actually an estate encompassing the circus museum and miniature 3-ring circus display, a fabulous architectural wonder John and Mabel Ringling called home, and an art museum. We put in 4+ hours, but saw only a fraction of that which was available for viewing. I loved the circus miniature which we understood took up the same space required of a circus big-top (tent). Dinner at the Columbia Restaurant on St. Armands convinced me that we will be eating more dinners in and less, out.

The highlight of Monday was three-fold. Clay worked via phone with the computer tech to finalize successful repair of our notebook computer, yay! And, Clay and I finally installed the four LED light strips on the fly bridge ceiling, giving Clay a great deal of satisfaction in being able to glow--in living color! Thirdly, we enjoyed a delicious skewered fresh shrimp and veggie dinner, grilled on our Magma boat grill. The key to success was the Cavender's seasoning! Thanks, Randy and Margaret, for sharing!

Tuesday found us cruising to the Crow's Nest Marina in Venice, FL, where, once tied for the evening, we mounted our funky bikes and put a few miles on them touring the town and surrounding area. I was surprised to find the town situated on Tamiami Trail; again, approach by 'sea' is deceiving as to what the land mass has in store!

House with lots of windows!!!

Osprey nest on one of many "SLOW" signs.

Looks like this fuel pump is out of order!

Knowing storms were brewing for Wednesday, we departed Venice bound for Cape Haze Marina in Englewood at an earlier-than-normal hour of the day. Clay had investigated and found Cape Haze to have at-cost fuel and lower-than-average docking fees. Approach was challenging with narrow, shallow access to the fuel dock, but Clay handled it well only to discover that the fuel pump was broken. Backing, stern first, to our designated slip, Clay had much better control of the boat and thus was able to dock efficiently despite the building winds.

Storms hit around 6 p.m., rendering the next day bright and sunny but with ferocious winds that would challenge any boat and any boater. Made for awfully cold temps as well. So we stayed put as did most everyone else, still with no fix to the fuel pump. An early Valentine dinner took us 'next door' to Leverocks, a local restaurant with a good reputation.

With the fuel pump fixed by mid-morning Friday and winds calm, we gassed up and departed for a lovely overnight anchorage which we shared with 2 sailboats. This was our first attempt at anchoring since Christmas, so we were encouraged with the ease of setting and then retrieving the anchor the next morning.

Saturday morning dawned and with it the resolve to break out the Nordic Track Skier (Sal) which died after 20 minutes of cardio. Bummer! Fixable, we're sure, but parts are in LAMO and we aren't! Double bummer! We pulled anchor with ease but were some 60 minutes late leaving our anchorage, the tardiness defined by the fierce winds which built into a crescendo by the time we reached our destination, Uncle Henry's Marina in Boca Grande.

With sights set on slip 38, Clay finally 'eased' (tongue-in-cheek) into slip 42, give or take on each number with the help of a dock master, dock hand and first mate Sally. It was not pretty! But it was successful! Dock master informed us of 35 mph winds with gusts beyond that. Lesson learned: shoulda stayed put at anchorage. But with plans to meet friend Larry Butterfield, our movement was dictated by plans rather than by weather. We're learning!

Larry Butterfield and the Admiral

Clay and Larry lunched in downtown Boca Grande after touring the area, a trip down memory lane for Larry whose folks had vacationed at Boca. Sal then joined them for dinner at Boca Grande Marina and a short tour of the highlights of Clay's day sights.

Clay and Fiji brother Larry Butterfield

Calm winds ushered the SaSea Sally out of Uncle Henry's harbor Sunday morning; we followed the harbor channel which snaked its way to the main channel, then crossed to Gasparilla Marina where we met friends Jan and Barb Moore for sub sandwiches and an afternoon of conversation on the fly bridge. Mid-afternoon we were joined by friends Mark and Becky Mather who stayed to accommodate a provisions run to Publix and then dinner at Waterside Grill adjacent to the marina.

Barb and Jan Moore visit

Pier and south end of Boca Grand Island

Friend Larry reappeared Monday morning for an overnight cruise to Cabbage Key, a short distance accessed only by boat/ferry where no cars or motor vehicles traverse the native terrain. It was a step back in time of sorts, a visit to the island where we hear Jimmy Buffett got the inspiration (I think that's the tale) for Cheeseburger in Paradise; funny there was no cheeseburger on the The Inn's menu--only a hamburger for $12.99 to which you could add cheese for 50 cents+/-.

Building in Boca Grand Park

The novelty of The Inn's interior was US dollar bills taped to every available surface--walls, ceiling, pillars and posts--on which contributors had written dates, names and various sentiments. Larry contributed; don't remember that Clay did.

Classic boat we later saw at Legacy Harbor in Ft Myers

Dock at Cabbage Key

Donatello's hole!

Larry pointing to "his" dollar bill

Larry, Sally and Clay

Gopher Tortoses

Paddle boarders at Ding Darling Preserve

The literature of the area touted tortoises, and on the grounds, we found turtle holes, each in a roped-in area and sporting a name plackard, "Myrtle," "Donatello," and "Raphael" to name a few. Not once did we see a turtle though. A Tuesday morning 'nature' walk through tropical vegitation found us looping the grounds immediately behind the restaurant--still no turtles--then witnessing the ferry's arrival with staff members of The Inn and the marina unloading for the day's work. We departed Cabbage Key mid-morning backtracking to Gasparilla Marina for Larry to disembark; en route, the playful dolphins performed for him, presenting a prime photo-op. We delivered Larry to his car, filled our water tanks, then made our departure toward Sanibel and dropped anchor for an overnight outside Sanibel Marina at a location called Ding Darling.