We navigated out of Stump Pass without incidence. Calling to check with Boat U.S. about the pass was a smart thing to do. Being on the Gulf was easy. The boat has stabilizers…and the water was like a small choppy lake, filled with crab pots. But, Kelley decided that he was going to go in the Venice Pass because it is a better entrance to Sarasota than Sarasota’s. We feared the officer would find us. Upon entering the harbor and a water sheriff waved at us to welcome us. Whew!

The trip through Venice was uneventful! Yeah.

Isn’t Sarasota pretty? Once were tied up and nice couple came down and told Kelley how pretty the boat was. Turns out they had had an Ocean Alexander that was a bit smaller and missed it.

Kelley called the tax office and asked if he could bring in boat information and get a Sojourner’s Pass for Florida. Off he went on his bike. He figured if we couldn’t then he would ask for documentation that he had tried. But: SUCCESS! He showed the lady what information we had; she barely looked at it; she charged Kelley $58.00 and handed him a piece of paper and a green sticker that expires on Kelley’s birthday this year.

We are thrilled to be here and look forward to a great dinner at Barnacle Bill’s.

Watch out, Venice, here we come.

We went to Englewood Beach and walked around the point and back to the dinghy. After a storm the shelling here is suppose to be spectacular, but, not much there today. The walk was about 2.5 miles and really pleasant.

The ride to the park is quick.

We went to the White Elephant for lunch. Last night there was Karoke. Reminded us of Avalon and the music that plays at the local café that is not always good. Tomorrow we leave for Sarasota. We are going out to the Gulf because we don’t want to go through Venice because there is a Fish and Game officer that has been nicknamed the “Water Nazi.” If you don’t have the correct tags he writes you up…that is after a long lecture about the rights to boat in Florida. He retires in June and the city and boaters are thrilled.

Wind was up in the morning, but off we went. Once we were out on the ICW it didn’t seem as windy. We are in Englewood Beach off of Lemon Bay. We are at anchor and it is a great setting. Tomorrow we are going shelling! We got into the dinghy and toured the inlet where we are. There are shoals everywhere! Even the locals were getting stuck because they weren’t paying attention.

We went for a bike ride down to the lighthouse at the end of the island. There are 7 miles of bike trails from one end of the island to the other. We just kept riding and riding and then I realized that once we hit the end, we have the 7 miles to get back! We did it though. Biking is a great thing to do on this trip. Later we biked into town (a whole 3 or 4 blocks) and went to the local bakery where they make pizzas also. We bought one for dinner. It is 12” in diameter and so is our oven!

We gave a small cocktail party for slip neighbors on Recovery Room. Will and Kay loaned us their golf cart that they had rented and we were thrilled because as we left the restaurant last night it started to rain! On their boat they have friends, Sherry and David. All of them have been so friendly and kind. After hearing that we are planning to do the loop, Sherry asked me if I was crazy or just stupid. Jury is out on that one!