Boat maintenance, barnacles & bays

by Ron

We tucked the boat away in Gulfport as we prepared to leave to go back to the tundra in Minnesota for Christmas. But before we flew out, we did some boat maintenance. Ron used his new hose-end wand to actually do a thorough cleanse and rinse out our holding tank which was a really crappy job. We also for the first time hired a diver to clean the barnacles off our boat. We cleaned, did laundry, and even had time to check out the town of Gulfport. This marina actually had loaner bikes, although we preferred to walk.

Diver worked under our boat for 90 minutes scraping at Barnacles. We had the bottom painted before we left which helped with the growth but on the running gear and thrusters, there apparently were some. Guess this is a job that needs to be done once a month. Ron claims he hears the barnacles growing, kind of “snap, crackle & pop” or crackling fire sound. I hear it too but not convinced it is Barnacles. Ron actually spotted a crab scavenging critters or something off the bottom of our boat, now that might be what we are hearing.
Gulfport is a funky little town with shopping and restaurants and although we didn’t spend a lot of time there, we will always remember the many fisherman who lined the pier pulling in nets full of fish. Good Eatin’!

Home for the Holiday

Thanks to my daughter the house was decorated and Santa came with many gifts.
Our secret santa gift exchange consisted of dropping off and picking up our gifts then opening on Zoom due to COVID.
We left MN in the snow, took over an hour to de-ice the plane and we got out just in the nick of time before sub-zero temps came in for New Years.
We traveled from Gulfport across the Boca Ciega Bay, then across Tampa Bay and Sarasota Bay to the Sarasota Yacht Club. Lucky to get dockage through our reciprocity with St. Croix Yacht Club. Pulled in and was surprised to see a fellow yacht club member docked at the end of the pier, Joe and Sherry from “Gala”, one of the boats Ron just happened to christen when he was Commodore. You can see their SCYC Burgee flying on the bow of their boat at the end of the dock. It’s Loop, you just never know who you will run into next!
Party scene at Marina Jack for New Year’s Eve. Invited to share the event with the Clearwater Yacht Club, where we met some new friends and danced to a great band. We were a little concerned about getting back to the boat on Uber at midnight, so we headed out early and took the car service Sarasota offers, OnDemand Sarasota, is a city-run Uber that goes in a limited geographic area and your first five rides are free, definitely an option for us Loopers.
Because of the Fog and not being able to reserve Uber, we did investigate options for celebrating the New Year and this turned out to be one of them. Oh darn! I left my ballgown at home!
We left the Clearwater YC party early so we’d be sure to get a ride back to our boat. Found that Sarasota offers a free OnDemand Car service where your first five rides are free. This is a service that runs all the time, not just for New Years’ Eve. It is meant to offer an alternative to the city buses. So we used this to get back to our boat
This was the party scene at the formal Sarasota Yacht Club New Year’s Eve Party. We had a nightcap across the hall at the bar and danced to Auld Lang Syne since we were the only two in the bar.
We really enjoyed staying at the Sarasota Yacht Club. The club itself has many amenities, pool, fitness center, two restaurants, bars. Their tradition is to fly your club’s burgee when you stay with them.
We headed across the bay to Marina Jack, closer to the downtown area with a beautiful waterfront with its iconic “Unconditional Surrender” giant statue. Met up with some old high school friends who live in Siesta Key. Thanks Dawn and Jay for a great day touring Siesta Key, pointing out the spectacular sand on your beach and sharing your home!

3 thoughts on “Boat maintenance, barnacles & bays”

    1. Hello,
      Great to meet you in the marina in FM. Thanks for sharing your blog, very interesting to read and follow. Stay healthy and safe! See you around the SCYC in MN.

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  2. Great update. We’ve spent a lot of time in Siesta Key and Sarasota is the best town in FL as far as I’m concerned. Siesta Key appears on its way to be just another giant resort place 😦 If you are still in the area, try ‘Jack Dusty’ for relaxed, classy outdoor lunch when the weather is good. – Ken

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