We have received a number of e-mails regarding our posts. Several have asked why we start each post with the Lat/Lon numbers. Many of our friends are following our trip using Google Earth (free download at http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ) to track our movements and like to be able to zoom in and see satellite images our locations. The Lat/Lon information allows you to go to the exact spot. Also, you will notice that some friends have made comments along the way. In order to make comments you need to register or sign in. In the beginning we received some SPAM comments that we had to remove and we have since started to review and approve comments before posting. Eliminating the explicit SPAM from wherever keeps the blog suitable for the everyone.

Location: 27.58.35N/82.49.30W Clearwater Municipal Marina. It was a beautiful day with calm seas for our run from Longboat Key to Clearwater. Along the way we saw dolphin at various locations along the way. They swam and played in our wake. Mary saw some good size fish and I saw several flying fish. We ran outside about 15 miles offshore to avoid a large area of shoals just outside Tampa Bay. Clearwater beaches were jammed with sunbathers as we ran into the inlet to the marina. On arrival we filled our fuel tanks at the bargain price of $1.72 per gallon with our Boat US card. Our friend Pasquale Vitali was waiting for us when we arrived. We haven't seen him for a year so we had a nice evening catching up. We had dinner right at the marina at Crabby Bills, went for a walk along Clearwater beach and returned to the boat for the evening.

Tomorrow we have a slip reservation at the Tarpon Springs City Marina. We remember some movies when we were kids where hard hat divers gathered sponges on the sea floor. These movies were the beginning of our interest in the sea and together with Sea Hunt starring Lloyd Bridges on TV sparked our interest in scuba diving. We will have to sample some Greek food while we are there and maybe buy a sponge or two from one of the many sidewalk stands along the waterfront.

Location: 27.26.221N/82.40.798W Longboat Key
We had originally planned to stop in Sarasota but decided to run further to make up some lost time. The photo is taken in the anchorage. For our Florida boating friends this would be a great spot to spend a weekend or more. There are two waterfront restaurants right at the anchorage.

We ran outside today going out at the Venice Inlet ( 27.06.770N/82.28.067W ) and the ride in the Gulf was comfortable. The entrance to Longboat Pass has shoaled in and the channel entrance is now 200 yds south of the charted outer channel marker. Look for the floating green #1 marker and run a line to the original channel green #3. On the chart it should be about 9 feet in the channel. The Longboat Bridge will open on request and then follow the channel to the Northeast and turn south at the GIWW maker LP. Turn South and then turn west behind Jewfish Key.

We wish we could stay another day or two to sample the restaurants but we have to move on tomorrow to Clearwater City Marina where we will meet our old friend Pasquale Vitali from Gloucester, MA

Location: 26.55.007N/82.21.090W
The generator has been repaired. The injector pump failed. The generator is difficult to prime. We went through all the basic troubleshooting checklist including checking all connections, we replace a fuel line and we replace the primary and secondary filters and she still wouldn't run. We later concluded that the injector pump was not doing its job so we decided to replace the mechanical pump completely with a new Westerbeke electric pump. It works great and we are now sitting in one of our favorite anchorages just north of the marina. The electric pump also makes it easy to prime the line and filters in the future. We are going to enjoy the rest of this day and evening and tomorrow we will run to an anchorage just east of Longboat key at coordinates 27.26.221N/82.40.798 That will give us a quick exit on Thursday, out Longboat key pass to open water and north to Clearwater, FL.

Location: 26.52.14N/82.18.38W The photo is compliments of Nancy Brewster. We are finally underway and the boat ran great. Boca Grand bridge opens only on the hour and half hour so we had to pick up our pace and once again Persistence got up on plane. We are fully loaded
for the trip and the boat got up on plane with no difficulty. We made the bridge on time and settled back to our 10 mph pace. We pulled into Palm Island Marina to top off our fuel tanks and we noticed the generator was not running. Tom did some trouble shooting assuming that somehow fuel was the problem. It's doesn't look like fuel and fortunately Marine Max is on site at Palm Island so their mechanic will be here in the morning.
Sometimes divine intervention steps in and Tom was going into withdrawal for not being on the computer all day. He discovered that he left the wireless modem at home. We called Nancy and Gary Brewster and they came to Tom's rescue. Gary stopped by to pick up the wireless modem and Gary and Nancy joined us for dinner at Leverocks. Had the generator started again we would have been long gone and Tom would be looking for a tin can and string to try to connect with the Internet. We had a nice evening with good friends and Tom is online once again.

Departure this Sunday is still the plan. We will leave the dock in the early afternoon based upon the tide chart. The generator has been repaired. As suspected it was the raw water impeller. Thankfully, we keep a good supply of spare parts on board and we happened to have two impellers in stock so there is one left for a future replacement.

We have been busy yesterday and today loading the boat with groceries, water and all the items we will need for the trip. We have another day of loading and final checks and then we will be off the dock heading north.

Good news, bad news.... Persistence splashed today and we took her home. Before leaving Punta Gorda Marina we double checked all thru-hulls and checked all hose connections that were worked on. After running though our check list we headed out to Peace River and once in Charlotte Harbor we hit wide open throttle(WOT). Persistence responded like the good old days, jumped up on plane (okay didn't exactly jump but still moved pretty well for a 30 year old gal) and topped out at 21. On the way home we ran her through the paces. Engine temperature at WOT stabilized at 190 for both engines. The new alternator was doing its thing and all gauges read normal. Punta Gorda Marina did a great job on all counts and I give them a big thumbs up.

About half way back to the mouth of Alligator creek the generator quit. We confirmed raw water with exhaust before leaving the marina. After arriving at the dock I restarted the generator and found no raw water flow. I suspect either an impeller or a broken or loose belt. We'll know when it open the sound enclosure tomorrow and then make the repair.

The bottom line is that Persistence ran well. All repairs made at the marina performed as expected. I'll take care of the generator and we will still plan to leave on Sunday.