Tuesday, January 25, 2011

82° 33.473’ W

27° 17.232’ N

Grand Canal

Siesta Key, Florida



Storks



Entering Grand Canal



Almost there!

O'Brien's home

We had a short 15 mile trip moving the boat from Longboat Key to the Grand Canal! We cruised the distance without any problems until we confronted a low fixed bridge without height markings. Our charts showed a bridge at its location but nothing else. We entered the canal at low tide without any current. After assessing the height I moved the boat to the center of the narrow canal and quickly removed the running lights. We cleared the underside of the bridge with a couple of inches to clear. Our friends Joan and Tom had made arrangements for us to dock on the sea wall between their home and their neighbors’ Frank and Lyndon.




Backyard



Moor $tuff docked in the canal



Barb and I had no idea of the location or what type of amenities we might experience. There was sufficient water under the boat and there was adequate space for us to squeeze between two other boats. The homes are beautiful, the dock and hook up is five star, and our hosts are over the top gracious!



A major storm roared across Florida within hours of arriving, with damaging winds and rain squalls that lasted all night long. We were in a protected canal with the Gulf of Mexico a quarter mile to our west and the Roberts Bay a quarter mile to our east. With all of the violent weather that every one was experiencing we gently rode out the storm in the Grand Canal!

Our schedule is flexible at this time, and we are not sure of our departure date.