Captain's Choice blog: Sarasota

We waited for the tide to start rising Saturday before heading over to Marina Jack's and were secured by 1 p.m.. When we got there the first thing I noticed was the sailboat that was next to us was the one that had radioed a mayday call the day before because they had grounded their boat. It was good to see that all was ok and the boat did not suffer any damage. Looper boat Moon Shadow was here and we were looking forward to hearing about their whereabouts since we saw them last. As we went to check in you couldn't help notice the size of the yachts in this marina, WOW! We found out later that one of the yachts was 112' long...he upgraded from a 65' yacht and he was a creator of several TV shows. Normally boaters have "two footitis" (always wanting a bigger boat but only buying a slightly larger one)...I guess "two footitis" doesn't exists with yachts. We also met a gold looper who did the loop in a 48' boat and fell in love with Sarasota, so when they finished the loop they bought a 70' yacht and live in Sarasota for 6 months and take the boat to Massachusetts for the other 6 months. The amazing thing is they move it in 7 days along the east coast.

Speaking of falling in love with Sarasota, what is there not to like. I have had the privilege of coming here for years with a few of my best friends because one of them has a condo here. Mark has never been here so it was fun to show him some of the places I have been to. It's funny how different it is to explore the city from a boaters perspective. The marina is located right downtown, a whole foods is only .5 miles away, Publix just a little over a mile, St. Armand's Circle 2 miles, beaches on Lido and Siesta Keys less than 5 miles away and restaurants. There are so many restaurants within walking distance, it would take you months to visit all of them. We started out Saturday night at Caragiulos Italian Restaurant, I am definitely going to recommend this one to my friends when we come back! Monday night it was Mattison's City Grille (a favorite when we are in Sarasota).
On Saturday we were treated to a Christmas parade down Main St. It was fun to watch and helped get us into the Christmas spirit. The towns/marinas also have boat parades and all of the boats are decked out with Christmas decorations...only problem is it looks like we will be in the wrong marinas on the days of the parades. Being from up north, these 80 degree days are easy to take, but it doesn't feel like Christmas at all.

Salt life vs. No salt... We have to say when it comes to cleaning, the "no salt" of the great lakes is much easier than the salty gulf! Captain's Choice needed a thorough cleaning, which she got on Saturday! We stayed here 4 nights, 2 at the marina and 2 on a mooring ball (a mooring ball floats on the surface of the water and is anchored to the seabed). It's like being anchored but much more secure as the mooring balls in Florida's better marinas are hurricane engineered and a less expensive option than the marinas. Most marinas have a dinghy dock and you can use all of their amenities while moored.
The weathermen were right with the high wind forecast for Monday and Tuesday. Also rain forecasted for Tuesday, it was a grey day and we did get thunderstorms, a great day to get "rainy projects" accomplished and read a book.
We are off to a couple of anchorages on Wednesday.