We had thunderstorms all night but the rainy gray morning cleared
in mid-afternoon to blue skies, fresh breeze and comfortable 70’s. Dodging
showers before lunch, we walked to the marina office and explained Active
Captain to the dock master. It‘s surprising how many marinas are unaware of this
wonderful website that shows navigational information for most water areas in
the U.S., continuously updated by the boating members. We use it constantly for
the latest information on bridge heights, anchorages, marina details and
navigational hazards along our route. It’s generally superior to
quickly-outdated guidebooks.. The dock master was pleased to see Sweetwater Landing
had two favorable reviews…. we’ll add a third.
After lunch we studied charts, & plotted our last two
days cruising north to St. Pete. The unfamiliar area is very congested and
shallow with many islands & inlets. Friends have warned us about one bad
leg with an especially narrow and shallow channel called the “miserable mile.”
They warn “don’t go through on a weekend.” So, we’re making it on a Saturday!!
I also flagged all our bridges and possible anchorages on
our paper charts. The trip should be two 60+ mile days however the weekend boat
traffic may make for slow progress. If there are just too many weekend-crazy boaters,
we’ll anchor for an extra day.
The day was, in hindsight, pretty lazy but Louie and Mike
got in quite a bit of Frisbee and stick throwing, not quitting until sunset.
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| Picture of Active Captain flagged with information about the area. |
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| Clearing evening sky. |
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