We spent last Friday doing very exciting things since we had a car – laundry, mailing packages, buying charts for this side of Florida, and grocery shopping. The weather was very interesting while we were out and about. The sun would be out, then it would pour rain for 5 minutes, the sun would come out again for a little while, and the cycle would start all over again. Fortunately it always rained while we were inside!

We had a dinner reservation at the yacht club Friday night and were quickly invited to join a group of members who were also having dinner there. It was a lively group and fun to socialize with people from all over – I don’t think any of them were originally from Florida.

We returned the car Saturday and asked for a ride back to the yacht club. The driver was picking up someone else and wouldn’t be back for at least 20 minutes, so the agent said she would have an Uber driver take us back. She called for one and less than 5 minutes later he showed up. It was our first experience with Uber, but probably not our last. It’s actually one of the first places we’ve been where there has been Uber readily available.

We spent the afternoon doing boat things and trying to figure out an itinerary for the next few days. We discovered that the marinas we were interested in were going to be closed on Christmas Eve and Day – time for plan B. I was eventually able to come up with marinas for both days, but we’ll be tying up on our own both days (no one to grab lines for us at the dock) and will be tied to a fuel dock on Christmas Day.

Our friends picked us up Saturday night and took us to their home for dinner. Steaks on the grill, sautéed scallops, good salad, and plenty of wine, along with good conversation made for a very enjoyable evening.

We were awakened by a large thunk this morning – it seems there was an unusually low tide because of a full moon, and our lines got so tight they were trying to pull out the pilings they were tied to!

We only went 22 miles today to Clearwater Beach Marina. When I looked at the map of the marina, I realized we were just a 5 minute walk from the beach, so after we got settled in we took a stroll over to the beach. As we headed down the dock there was a pelican standing on the dock. It just looked at us as we walked by and seemed totally unconcerned when I took a picture of it.

It was cool enough on the beach for a jacket, but that doesn’t keep people from enjoying a beautiful sunset.

Tomorrow we head across Tampa Bay to a marina on Anna Maria Island and still warmer weather – tomorrow is supposed to be mid to upper 60s – it’s almost warm enough for shorts and sandals 😄