Day 8. 2nd year. May 28. On to Camelot and MacDonald Islands. Miles. 8.9 Total. 2893

Two boats joined our merry group at the dock at this beautiful location. We enjoyed meeting Patrick and Bella and Patrick and Anna. We wish you many and safe travels. Thanks also for sharing your pets so we could get our dog fix!

After a few chores and chatting with the other boaters, we left Mulcaster Island on a gorgeous sunny day.

Headed to the Lake Fleet Islands, these islands are names for sailing vessels important in Canadian history. The islands in this group are smaller and dotted with summer cottages.

Passing further south, we came to Camelot Island and moored at one of their buoys. The island was recommended by many boaters and the PARC Canada staff.

Bill was in his glory with lots of rocks to climb on. The island is varied in elevation and we had many stairs and steep rock climbs as we walked the paths on the island. The elevation afforded us great views of the surrounding waters and islands.

Couldn’t pass up sitting in the ever present red Adirondack chairs on the island! We see these red chairs behind many a summer cottage.

As we could not run the generator on Camelot Island, we then left the mooring and headed a bit further to the dock on MacDonald Island. We needed to recharge our batteries a bit tonight. The docks here were filled with locals enjoying this wonderful weather.

After visiting with the other boaters, we enjoyed a walk around the island. Compared to Camelot, MacDonald had relatively level ground with dense forests and many very big old trees- oaks, maples, and birches. MacDonald also had cabins which could be rented.

This last tree had such character and provided homes for so many animals in the forest. We couldn't resist taking a. picture of it.

Another full day full of adventure!

Reflections on the Great Loop -

Over the 5 and half months last year and the almost 7 months this year for a total of 351 days, we travelled 6348 miles, through two countries 19 states, traversed over 200 locks to find large cities, small towns, farmland, and vast natural waterways and bays. Our route took us through sites of the Revolutionary War, War of 1812 and Civil War, as well as the history of how America grew along her waterways. Beginning with canoes, rafts and barges people and goods moved through these waters. The sailing sloops and steamships changed these rivers, requiring locks and canals to be built to facilitate travel and commerce. Today it is amazing how much commerce moves through these waters. We developed a healthy respect for the freighter and tow captains and lock masters and harbor masters that keep the system working. We have lasting impressions of early morning sunrises, beautiful sunsets, and moonlit bays, the hospitality in all the towns we visited, the vast undeveloped shorelines

Day 194-195. 2nd year. December 3. On to Redington/Clearwater and then to Home. Miles 15 Total MIles 6021

Slept in again. Was nice to finally catch up on our sleep. Found our morning a bit foggy but promises to be a sunny day once it burns off. One of the boaters attracted a female manatee and her baby with his hose, so we walked over to the next dock to enjoy the show. Manatee are often found in shallow areas this time of year as they like the warm water. They also will take advantage of access to freshwater, especially if a hose is left hanging over the side of a boat. Bill also took some drone shots of Caladesi State Park. We did one last beach walk before we left today, turning north to explore that part of the island. Found a few turbans, an olive, 2 small horse conch and a whelk for our shell treasures today. Sea fog started to come in off the Gulf so we turned around and headed back to the boat. We left later in the day as we had to be close to a high tide to get out the channel at Caladesi. A local boater offered to lead the way to a cut that provides more water so we took

April 2 2022. We cast off our lines!

Day 1. April 2 We cast off our lines at 9:00am on out Great Loop adventure. Our friends, Phil and Aggie helped record our departure. The weather was overcast as we traveled out our canal and into Tampa Bay. As we approached the Skyway bridge a dolphin twice leaped completely out of the water, playing in our bow wake. An omen of good fortune for our adventure! As we ended our Tampa Bay crossing, the sun began to peek out and as we traversed past Longboat Key/Bradenton and entered Sarasota we had ourselves a sunny day. We traveled 34.4 nautical miles in four hours and anchored behind Otter Key, a mangrove Island near Lido Key in Sarasota. There we joined another boat from St Petersburg, FL. The owners were for many years sailors from the Caribbean down to Panama. What adventures they shared! The anchorage sports lots of manatees, dolphin and of course, the osprey who lords over Otter Key. Once settled properly, we took a nap, Will spend the rest of our day with a glass of wine

Crustacean Travels

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