Thursday 16 April 2020
We got the anchor up about 0815 as the winds
were picking up from the north in the wide open part of Sarasota Bay where we
had anchored. The weather continued
snotty with low overcast and on and off rain as we exited the bay and followed
the ICW between Bradenton and Bradenton Beach and entered Anna Maria
Sound. The Cortez bridge gauge looked
just a little too low to risk going through, but it was a scheduled lift bridge
due for a lift five minutes after we got there.
A few miles on we passed safely under our last bridge for this trip and
will raise the mast tomorrow preparatory to getting underway on Saturday morning. Tampa Bay was very rough for the few miles we
had to transit along its southern edge before we turned up the Manatee River
where we moored at Twin Dolphin Marina on a tee head. The entrance to this marina is very odd with
a restaurant bulkhead a very short distance inside the marina breakwater entrance, hardly
a boat length between the two ends of the entrance and this bulkhead making entry and exit a tricky process. Likewise, there may not even be a full boat length
from this tee head where we are moored to the outer breakwater making our exit another difficult
proposition. With a strong NE wind pushing
on our port bow when we moored, tying up he boat was simple enough. With a south wind at 6 MPH predicted for our
currently planned departure time on Saturday, our departure may be not be too
tricky, but we may just have to back out of here. My review of the forecast wind and sea
conditions indicate that a Saturday/Sunday crossing of the Gulf will be best;
so we told the marina that we would be here for only two days. We got off the boat and walked through part
of downtown Bradenton, a very clean and neat looking place but deserted on a
Thursday afternoon due to the COVID19 crisis, to the nearest post office to take care of some business
and then dropped by the Pier 22 Restaurant in the center of this marina to pick
up a dinner order. After we get into
Carrabelle and are moored, we will probably just want to collapse for the rest
of the day before beginning the cleanup and packing; so we have tentatively set
Tuesday morning for Chip the owner to come pick us up and take us home.
