Day 3, Feb 27, 2017

Pulled up anchor at 6:45. As we pulled away, the sun came up and it was a beautiful sunrise.

At 9:50 we entered into the Caloosahatchee River at Ft Myers and got to the W.P Franklin Lock at 1:45 PM. Our 1st lock! Again without Bryan, we would not have had a clue as to how to do it. We tied to their lines and hung from the starboard side as they raised the water level 3'.  At that point, they open the gates and off we go. Then we traveled eastward along the river again. 

Tied up against the Lock wall

Other boats behind us in the lock

 After being on the river for a bit and passing Ft Myers area, it was very calm so I decided to go back to the master state room and continue with my spring cleaning. I had washed down the walls with Murphys Oil Soap and still needed to oil them back up. So I did that and rewarded myself with pulling out my painting gear. Finally. I had started a shrimp boat painting just before we left but hadn't had the time to finish. I set up my easel on the freezer which is the perfect height and stable.

At about 5:30 PM, we arrived at the Ortona Lock but the last lockage was at 4:30 so that was our anchorage for the night.  We tied up to the dolphins right in front of the lock. First in line for the morning opening of the locks at 7 am. One other smaller boat also waiting. There was a fantastic sunset in both directions. 

The purple martins started to fly around by the millions or gazillions! A sign that tonight may be a "try the air conditioner night"!  We also saw a gator cruising by. 

We managed to have happy hour on the aft deck with the sunset and swatting away only a few bugs but heading back inside to cook dinner and turn the ac on!

We have 2 more locks to go through tomorrow before entering the lake. 

65 miles today, 10 hrs 45 min 

Total miles: 151

Day 2 Cruising home

Sunrise in Sarasota

 Left our anchorage close to Ringling Causeway Bridge in Sarasota at 6:50 and traveled about 12 miles down a windy and shoalie but beautiful ICW. Lots of osprey nests on the top of the channel markers. 
Birds all over the sandbars including several roseate spoonbills. 

At 9:15 we left the channel and entered into the Gulf through Venice inlet. We had 2 kayakers sucking up to our wake and paddling along. We had about a 5 hour cruise for 34 miles down the coast in calm waters.
At 2:00, we entered into Pine Island Sound off of Charlotte Harbor at Boca Grand Channel.
Anchored at 3:15 in the ICW between Useppa Island and Cabbage Key.  After anchoring, we decided to launch the dingy that sits up on top. Something we had not done yet and since it was early, thought it would be good practice. That went all well but as soon as we got away from our boat, well we started having motor problems. Both Captain Philips think it is the fuel line stopping the fuel. So, at some point, we need to find a store that carries that kind of stuff that is not too far from our anchorage in case we have to paddle. 

hmmm....
Today's travel miles and time: 55 mile, 9 1/2 hrs.   Total travel 86 miles

Blackburn Point swing bridge was tight!

 One of the kayakers taking advantage of our wake. His friend was on the other side.

 Guess we are TRAWLING...

It was a beautiful and calm day offshore. Not bad for our second time out on it. 

I even got to be Captain for a few minutes.

Sunset at our anchorage tonight

Friday, Feb 24

Last night we said good bye to her previous owners, Bob and Elaine Ebaugh as they came to say their  goodbyes to their Mar Azul. We are ready to head out in the morning.

Sat, Feb 25

Captain Bryan taking us out of the slip with an immediate and tight right turn. 

We weren't ready to do it! 

Within about 3 minutes of leaving the slip, we had to go under a low fixed bridge AND 

the water level is low, so that made for perfect timing of the tide to leave. 

Phew! We had about 1' foot clearance on top and 2 1/2" water depth. 

Bruce and I are on side watch as the bridge opening is TIGHT.

Our maiden voyage shot!

Looks like I have adopted the "boat life" look. 

OMG! My hair is permanently up!

Captain Bruce and 1st mate Bella at the upper helm.

So, on our 1st day, we left St Petersburg at 10 AM, cruised through Tampa Bay south through the ICW into Sarasota, where we stopped about 3:30, traveling 31 miles at 6 mph. It was our 1st day to anchor and after scouting out a couple of locations, we anchored but had a bit of trouble with the anchor and swivel but made a 2nd attempt and success! We thought about going into town as we are very close but had bought 3 fresh snappers yesterday for our dinner tonight. And tonight is our 1st afternoon of relaxing a bit. It's been a long week of moving in, maintenance etc... and not having dinner until very late. So now, it is 5:15 and happy hour on the aft deck. 

Anchorage at Ringling Causeway Bridge at sunset.

Life is good

Still in St Petersburg! But getting closer!

We have been extremely busy getting the boat ready to depart. It is taking us a little longer than we thought but we are getting closer. We have spent several full days with Bob (previous owner) giving us orientations to what he had done to her under his command. Bryan arrived late Monday and 

we feel much better having a qualified Captain on board for our departure and virgin voyage. We have been boating for many many years but not on anything like this.

It took us a while to load "our stuff" and for me to find a place for it all. And you know me and my allergies, so I've been doing my cleaning thing. Bryan has been a godsend to have here with us as he knows what to do next. He and Bruce have spent the last 2 days changing oil and filters and injectors and things that I don't know about.... yet. And they are dirty boys! Meanwhile, I am still settling in and making it our "home".  Bruce ordered a fuel truck to come to the marina and we loaded about 370 gallons of fuel to add to the ??? still in the tank. 

Bella is making progress too. We got her a "potty spot" but she seems to only like it to be in the bow of the boat! I bring it to the aft deck and she just looks at me and at the grass just about 10 feet away but as soon as I take it to the bow, she does her thing. So, I guess we all will wear life jackets when Bella needs to potty when under way. We have had 6 positive pees (sorry for the details and I will spare you the details of how I got her to start!) but that's a BIG deal from what I understand from cruisers. So, she is doing good and gets special treats when she uses her potty spot. 

Tomorrow is laundry day at the marina and major boat provisioning day food wise though I've been doing my thing provisioning it to make her ours. We do have a washing machine on board but I think I will take advantage of the marina laundry facilities and the big bathroom and maybe even dry my hair. These boys eat and drink a lot after a long day's work! And they both like to cook so I welcome them in my galley though there is only room for 1! But I will gladly step out! 

We have already had our first set of visitors and I sadly regret that we didn't take photos! Roger and Kathy Tatum from N Carolina just happen to be in the area and dropped by yesterday with their friends. The Tatums used to own a DeFever 44 as well and we got a lot of advice from the on many of the boats before purchasing. 

Move in day

Taking on fuel

Bella looking at that perfectly good patch of grass just over there!

On February 17, 2017, we became the new owners of the Mar Azul, a Defever 44 Ocean Cruiser/Trawler.  Being on or close to the water has always been a passion of ours and after moving to S Carolina and living on a deep water creek that could safely house a trawler, we decided to just do it. Now or never! This has been something Bruce has wanted to do for a long time. I am ok with it, actually more than ok and I know that taking this time out to follow a dream will be worth it. We don't know yet where she will take us or when but just getting her to her new home will be a great adventure.  This trip will be invaluable to us in our learning curve as we learn to handle something larger than our 22' Grady White, (which is for sale!) This is just a little bit larger.... little bit. Bryan, our personal and private Captain will assist us on the trip from St Petersburg, FL as we cross the state of Florida and up the east coast to the Toogoodoo Creek, which is just off the intracoastal waterway on the north side of the Edisto Beach and south of Charleston, SC.

We started looking (instead of dreaming online for years) at trawlers last summer while vacationing in the Northwest where there are LOTS of them. Then last fall, we started the serious "looking" and we made some trips down to Ft Lauderdale, Miami, Ft Myers, St Petersburg, FL then up to Murrell's Inlet, Myrtle Beach, Little River, Southport and New Bern NC, then back down to FL!  The trips allowed us to figure out what we thought we wanted was not right at all! After we decided that a Defever 44 would fit our wish list and visiting with the few available on this side of the US, we found a new listing online, so back we go to St Pete, FL! And the rest is history. We had some great little trawler shopping trips, visiting with family and friends at the same time.  The Tatums in NC, ex Defever owners and Captain Bryan in FL were a great help in our decision making!

The Mar Azul was owned by Bob and Elaine Ebaugh in St Petersburg since 2009 and they had some wonderful adventures traveling the blue waters with her. We hope to someday let her take us back to some of the waters she has already traveled. We are changing her name but more on that later. We will slowly be making some changes to the interior as well as we make her our second home.