Captain’s Log: Star date: March 31, 2008

At the end of each month Captain Mark will give me the following statistics to post.





To make the entry of these mundane and anal facts more interesting, please remember that this is the time to note Captain Mark’s ponytail. Our goal here is to determine if there is a correlation between the fuel consumed and how quickly the ponytail grows. Please share your thoughts.

St Pete to Sarasota

After the windy night we were not sure what to expect with the weather when we awoke. What we found was that it was still a little windy and overcast, but storms were not predicted so we hauled anchor and headed toward Sarasota.



As we passed the Sunshine Skyway bridge we encountered an ocean-going freighter inbound to Tampa.

As we traveled down and across Tampa Bay to the Intercoastal Waterway, the clouds went away, the sun shone and the day became absolutely beautiful. Upon reaching the ICW, we found that we had the waterway pretty much to ourselves which was refreshing after the crowded conditions of Saturday. The going was slow and easy.



We have seen many unsusual vessels so far on our trip but never anything like this. We think that he must be a modern day Tom Sawyer.



As we approached Sarasota we could begin to see the gorgeous colorful buildings that line the waterway. The architecture, design, colors and playful beauty of the buildings show the influence and homage to the Ringling Brothers Circus.







In 1919 The Ringling Brothers Circus made their winter home in Sarasota and the city is very proud of their circus citizens.

We stayed the night at Marina Jack which is located immediately downtown. Just outside the marina is a lovely and peaceful anchorage that we would have taken advantage of if we had not been on the hook for the two previous nights. We opted for the marina since we needed water, fuel and a shower/head that I did not have to clean. This was our most expensive marina to date with a fee of $2.00 per foot. However, I must say that it was worth every penny in that it had the best shower and laundry facilities that we have seen thus far.

We had a quick dinner and then headed off to explore the city. We walked all around the downtown area which is full of quaint and unique shops which were all open late on this Monday evening. Every type of restaurant is also available within walking distance of the marina. It was dark when we returned to the boat just in time to watch Dancing with Stars.

Hours on the water: 4.75
Nautical miles traveled: 34
Number of locks: 0
Time spent waiting at locks: 0
Next Destination: Kim & Kathy's House
What we're listening to: The Memory Keeper’s Daughter by Kim Edwards
What we watched: Dancing with the Stars
Lesson for the day: Our next visit to Sarasota will be longer
Obligatory knitting report: Carol Anderson Tunic Sweater for me

Checking out St Pete

We woke to bright sunshine, warm temperatures and a desire to see St Petersburg. We have never been to this city before so we were anxious to see as much as we could today. Since we were anchored in the Vinoy Yacht Basin it was necessary for us to use the dinghy to get to shore. We just did not know what to do with the dinghy once we got there…it seems that while the dinghy itself is of some value, the motor is what most thieves want. So they remove the motor any way that they can, then slash the dinghy and let it sink. We were in luck in that we found a dinghy dock (which allowed us to tie up for a fee of $5 all day) knowing that our dinghy would be carefully watched.



Ashore we headed to The Pier with its up-side-down pyramid building. Here we found several very good restaurants, many fun shops, an aquarium and a winery. We had lunch at the restaurant at the top of the pyramid building which is really the bottom if the building were right side up. It was great to be up so high and to see the local sites as well as the Lolligag bobbing away in the Basin.





Following lunch, we had to go to the winery shop which specialized in all Florida wines for a tasting. Of course, I left with several bottles of wine in hand – after all, who knew they made such great wines in Florida and it is my civic responsibility as a tourist to support the local economy…

The city of St Petersburg very much encourages tourism and has a wonderful “Looper Trolley” that one can take all over the downtown area for a quarter. Mark and I got off and on several times as we came to sights that we wanted to see. Most impressive for me was the Vinoy Hotel. I absolutely love vintage hotels especially ones that have been either well maintained or restored. We walked all through this wonderful hotel and admired the restoration that so lovingly has taken place. I did not even want to ask the cost of a room because this is the kind of hotel that if you have to ask the room rate, you have no business staying there…but I could dream just the same.





Following the Vinoy tour, we walked back to the boat via Vinoy Park. It is so great to see all the flowers in bloom and feel the warm Florida sunshine.



Most fun of all was the Floating Wedding Chapel that is docked in the Vinoy Yacht Basin not far from our anchorage. Having first heard of it from fellow Loopers, I could not wait to see it for myself and there it was in full splendor. It was just as cute and charming as described. What a great idea for a non-traditional wedding…





As the sun went down, the winds picked up to 15-20 mph. The gusts were up to 30-35 mph and we rocked, bobbed and rolled all night. We both love the movement of the boat in the water but we did have some concerns about our anchor holding. The sailboat next to us became unanchored and he began to drag. They were able to get secured rather quickly and stayed put the rest of the night. Mark and I fell asleep awaiting the sound of our anchor alarm which luckily did not sound during the night.

Dunedin to St Petersburg

We were so excited to finally “be in Florida”. It was not until we reached the western shore of Florida that we really felt like we were truly in Florida. The panhandle area of Florida seemed more like Alabama weather to us, but now the temperatures are warm and the wind has become a breeze. So it was with much anticipation and excitement that we left Marker 1 Marina in Dunedin and headed south on the ICW.

Some things in life you just can not plan if you tried and so it was that we entered the Intercoastal immediately behind our friends from Steele’n Time who had stayed in Tarpon Springs for a couple of days. What a treat to once again follow Captain Mike’s lead.

As we headed south through Clearwater, Clearwater Beach, Sand Key and Boca Ciega Bay we saw the beautiful high rise condos and gorgeous homes along Florida’s Intercoastal Waterway. Our friends Eleanor and Harold came out to see us as we passed their home. It was fun to anticipate when we would arrive in their area and the following is the picture they took as we waved to them.



The farther south we traveled the more congested the waterway became. We were quite shocked and dismayed by the behavior we encountered of more than a couple of boats on this day. While the width of the Intercoastal Waterway is often very wide, the actual navigation channel is usually not all that wide. There is certainly enough area for two boats to pass safely but when large boats (50 feet +) ran past us, full out on the throttle, they would create a wake that could toss us into the path of an oncoming boat. There seemed to be no regard for no wake zones or basic boating courtesy. I must say that this is the first time that we have experienced this type of boating behavior to such a degree. We were almost struck twice by boats passing us too fast and hitting a wake that tossed them in our direction. One boat came so close to us that it splashed water into our helm completely drenching our interior – the electronics, charts and helm dashboard were covered with so much water that we had concerns that the electronics could fail. I was quick with the towels and so far the electronics have continued to work fine.



On a fun and happy note, we actually saw a pirate ship. Our daughter Beth is convinced that we are going to be captured by pirates at some point in our adventures – so now I can tell her that we met up with a pirate vessel and it passed us by to capture someone else…


As the day wore on the “day boaters” wore off. We found Tampa Bay with its one to two foot seas to be more our style. Our destination for the weekend is the Vinoy Yacht Basin. This is a wonderful anchorage in the heart of downtown St Pete. As we arrived we found several sailboats already anchored in this lovely location.

Hours on the water: 6
Nautical miles traveled: 37.5
Number of locks: 0
Time spent waiting at locks: 0
Next Destination: Sarasota
What we're listening to: Nothing
What we watched: NCAA Basketball
Lesson for the day: Don't travel the ICW on the weekend!
Obligatory knitting report: Carol Anderson Tunic Sweater for me

A Day Spent with Friends

I let Captain Mark sleep really late this morning as he needed to catch up on his sleep – he needs more beauty rest than I do – and I called our friends Eleanor and Harold who spend the winter months in the area. We were excited to see them and we hoped that they would have time to visit with us. We were very fortunate in that they were available. They came to the marina to pick us up during the early afternoon bringing us the largest and most delicious fresh strawberries. They gave us a wonderful tour of Dunedin, Clearwater, Clearwater Beach, Indian Rocks, and Lake Seminole. We would never have been able to see these places without local guides. The homes are lovely to say the least. For a mid-afternoon break, Eleanor and Harold showed us their home as we relaxed to catch our breath. Then it was off to dinner to a wonderful restaurant that we reached just in time to still qualify for the early bird specials. Dinner was absolutely yummy and I would recommend Rumba Island Bar & Grill very highly. Amid hugs, we said our good-byes and we thanked them for a fantastic day.

PS Nancy, you have terrific parents!!

Tarpon Springs

We were so wired when we arrived in Dunedin and got settled into our slip that we both knew that we would not be able to sleep – so there was no use even trying. Instead we decided to take the mass transit bus to Tarpon Springs to see the sponges. The bus stop was within walking distance of the marina and the trip was only about twenty minutes away.

Mark and I have become quite fond of riding the mass transit systems when we come to ports along the way, especially if the marina does not have a courtesy car. It certainly is cheaper than renting a car and it allows us to sit back to watch the people. Most of all, the buses always take routes that we would never take because we would know to take only the major thoroughfares. This way we get to really see the entire town and we get a sense and feel for the area.

Our friends from Steele’n Time were docked in Tarpon Springs so we stopped to chat with them and to arrange future travel plans. They chose to “go around the bend” when we chose to cross diagonally from Carrabelle. We compared stories and it appears that each way was a fine way to travel and it is just a matter of preference.


Then it was onto the sponge capital of the world. One must start the visit in The Sponge Museum where we watched a very informative video all about sponges.



I must confess that prior to our visit to Tarpon Springs, my knowledge of sponges was limited to Sponge Bob and his friends. After the video we made our way up and down the main street of sponges.



Just about every kind of tschatzkah known to man was available to us – the tackier the better – and if it was in any way related to Greece, then it was available by the hundreds. Of course, I could not leave the area without purchasing a sponge and some wine. The sponge I purchased was large enough that I cut it into several very usable pieces so that Mark does not have to wash his body with the same sponge as he uses when washing the boat. The wine I purchased was not Greek, but from a local Florida winery. We had dinner at a wonderful dive/bar/local hangout in Dunedin and were asleep by dark.

THE Crossing

Finally, we have weather window that looks great for our crossing so we double checked all of the systems and our navigation so that we were sure that all was in order. This is probably the most dangerous part of our trip thus far. What makes it dangerous is that the Lolligag does not go very fast therefore it would take us approximately 20-24 hours to cover the 153 miles to Dunedin, Florida by going diagonally across the Gulf. We do have the option of going “around the bend” as it is known if one travels around the panhandle of Florida. Mark and I discussed all of the options and we really felt we wanted to make the diagonal crossing. We both have plenty of confidence in the boat and I have total confidence in Mark’s ability to captain the boat and his navigational skills. All of our electronic navigation equipment is replicated by three as well as having multiple copies of all the hard copy charts. In addition, when we make a trip of this nature, Mark always manually plots out the course on the charts in case the electronic systems should fail for any reason. So with all that being said, we were ready and even very excited to start our journey across the Gulf.

One area of concern is the crab pots that are everywhere as one approaches the western coast of Florida in this area. Mark wanted to make sure that we had daylight as we approached these crab pots which are seen as early as thirty miles off shore. Therefore, with the Lolligag’s speed and the miles to be covered, we left the dock at Carrabelle at 2p. This gave us approximately five hours of daylight and time to get well into the Gulf before the sun vanished. Between 8p and midnight, IT WAS DARK out there, but at the same time it was really cool. We could see stars like we have never seen before as well as the Milky Way. At midnight, an almost full moon came out to what seemed to be almost just for us. The moon then lit the way very well for us during the remainder of the night.

The following is a slide show of what it is like to make this journey. If you can play it really fast on your computer it is almost like a movie.

This was sunset.






This was sunrise.





This is Mr Auto Pilot driving the boat while Mark takes a break.



I am doing what I do best.



We both truly enjoyed making this trip. At times it was boring, but when we would think about what we were accomplishing, we would become excited again.

Hours on the water: 21
Nautical miles traveled: 153
Number of locks: 0
Time spent waiting at locks: 0
Next Destination: SLEEP
What we're listening to: Hollywood Station by Joesph Wambaugh = Very Good
What we watched: The water and each other
Lesson for the day: Take a chance - you might just surprise yourself.
Obligatory knitting report: Carol Anderson Tunic Sweater for me

Four Days in Carrabelle

The wind and the waves were such that we waited four days in Carrabelle for them to subside enough so that we would be able to cross the Gulf of Mexico from Carrabelle, Florida to Dunedin, Florida. During this time we set out to explore the village of Carrabelle. We found several fun things. First we located the world’s smallest police station. The story behind this police station is a cute one. In the early 1960’s, Carrabelle’s police phone was located in a call box that was bolted to a building. When the telephone company planned to replace a phone booth in town with a new one, the Carrabelle police decided to put the police phone in the “old” phone booth. However, problems soon arose when people started making unauthorized long distance calls on the police phone. Eventually, the dial was removed from the phone which solved the unauthorized phone usage issue, but by then the notoriety of the phone booth police station was such a big story that people began attempting to steal the entire phone booth itself. One tourist actually asked a townsperson to help him load the phone booth into his truck so that he could take it home to Tennessee. However, the theft was averted and the original phone booth is on display today.

Next we found the most enchanting retro luncheonette and ice cream parlor. We are always in search of ice cream but this little restaurant was just darling. Walking into it felt like we had stepped back to our childhood in the late 50’s and early 60’s as it was furnished and equipped with original and authentic booths, chairs, juke box, malt mixer and all types of soda and beverage signs. If modern equipment is used by the cook and proprietor, we did not see any.

Grouper fishing is a big industry here and we were able to see some the catch each day. We were able to watch as the fishing captains would filet the fish for the clients who caught them. It was really interesting to watch how quickly and efficiently they cut up the fish. Of course, the pelicans and seagulls are right there to catch the fish remains that were tossed back into the water. Now a funny aside to this situation was when Mark was cooking bacon outside the boat on the pier (I don’t want bacon grease all over the inside of the boat so he has to cook it outside) and pelicans flocked to literally hover over and around Mark as he cooked.







In case you were wondering what it is that I do when Mark cooks...

2 Johns and Crown Point, Indiana

Captain Mark and I fell in love with Crown Point the first time we arrived in the county seat of Lake County, Indiana to register to vote way back in 1972. We knew that this was the city in which we wanted to raise our daughters. We loved the original red brick courthouse on the city’s square, the city pool where our daughters and I spent entire summers, the wonderful public library, football and basketball games on Friday evenings, cakewalk fund raisers for the band/orchestra which were held in THE high school parking lot, the fact that we knew that our girls could ride their bikes safely anywhere in the city and that if the girls did anything wrong that as parents we would be informed by someone within the hour…yes, Crown Point was and is a wonderful place to live.

However, just like Wisteria Lane, Crown Point, Indiana has a deep dark side that it has been trying to ignore for more than 70 years. There are people in Crown Point who are very proud of this fact and others who have spent their lives trying to make it go away…Now, once again Crown Point, Indiana will be in the headlines and another John will be responsible for airing Crown Point’s dirty laundry. Johnny Depp is in Crown Point this week to film his current movie Public Enemies (based on the book by Bryan Boroughs) on the very site and in the original buildings that his movie character John Dillinger once inhabited and from which he escaped. How appropriate that Johhny Depp would be chosen to play the role of John Dillinger. Both are named John and both are "characters" loved for their lifestyle outside of the norm.

On March 3, 1934, Crown Point etched its name forever in the history books as the infamous bank robber and FBI "Public Enemy #1" John Dillinger escaped from the "escape-proof" (as it was dubbed by local authorities at the time) Lake County Jail which was guarded by many police and national guardsmen. Dillinger apparently escaped using a hand-carved wooden gun blackened with shoe polish, although this was disputed by some witnesses. Dillinger further embarrassed the city, as well as then-42-year-old Sheriff Lillian Holley, by driving off in her brand new V-8 Ford. The press augmented her chagrin with such headlines as: "Slim woman, mother of twins, controlled Dillinger as sheriff." Incensed, Holley declared at the time, "If I ever see John Dillinger again, I'll shoot him dead with my own gun. Don't blame anyone else for this escape. Blame me. I have no political career ahead of me and I don't care." Furthermore, Sheriff Holley made certain the Dillinger name would have no standing in Crown Point up until her death in 1994 at 102. Due mainly to her efforts, there is no mention of the "Great Escape" to be found anywhere in the city, save for a brief mention on a National Register of Historic Places plaque outside the old Sheriff's house.

I had the opportunity to know Mrs Holley and work with her on several civic committees during our years in Crown Point. She was a stern, stoic, no-nonsense woman who lived most of her life trying to play down the Dillinger debacle and its embarrassment to her and the city of Crown Point. She made many philanthropic contributions to the city of Crown Point, most notably the donation of the funds to restore and perpetually maintain the four clocks atop the original Lake County Courthouse. Each time I was in her presence, I would look at her and try to imagine her strength. She became sheriff due to the fact that her husband, who was sheriff at the time, was killed in the line of duty when serving an eviction notice to a local farmer. He was shot point blank in the face. As often was the case back then, she was appointed to serve out her husband’s term in office. However, she was no figure-head or anyone’s political puppet. Of course, it did not help her credibility when she was photographed with "prisoner Dillinger" in a pose that was very unprisoner-like. What she was is a woman in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mrs Holley would forever pay the price for this picture. I loved our life in Crown Point, knowing Mrs Holley and yet I am sure that I will be one of the first in line to see Public Enemies when it arrives in the movie theatres next year. We all have a dark side that we try to hide…

Apalachicola to Carrabelle

Captain Mark and I privately conspired to kidnap the M&M group from Indiana to make them permanent Lolligag crew members. But at the last minute we decided to return them to land so that they may enjoy a much deserved relaxing vacation in Florida instead of swabbing decks aboard the Lolligag.

We have both found it absolutely amazing that we have only seen one other Nordic Tug since leaving Chicago – this other tug we met was within thirty minutes of leaving our slip in Burnham Harbor on the Chicago River as we both waited for the Amtrak Bridge to be lifted for us. Since then, there have been no other Nordic sightings. We are always delighted and proud when people comment on our boat and its name. I don’t think that we will ever tire of showing off our boat to anyone who wishes to come aboard or ask questions about her. Since we think that she is “cute”, we do not have any problem when others comment on her “cuteness” or her resemblance to Little Toot.



Our trip today to Carrabelle was a short one. We traveled in the large open area of St George sound. During this time we had another fun encounter with a tow pilot. I hailed the tow pilot to ask permission to pass his vessel. He replied affirmatively but told us to smile as we did so…he was so taken with our boat that he was snapping lots of pictures of the Lolligag. He had never seen a Nordic before and was totally enchanted with our “little rig” as he called it.

As we approached Carrabelle the wind started to pick up. Watching the weather reports, we knew that we would be staying in Carrabelle for several days until the wind subsided so we settled in at the Moorings Marina.

Hours on the water: 3.5
Nautical miles traveled: 26.5
Number of locks: 0
Time spent waiting at locks: 0
Next Destination: Dunedin, Florida
What we're listening to: Hollywood Station by Joseph Wambaugh
What we watched: NCAA Basketball (of course)
Lesson for the day: Always smile, it is fun to be cute!
Obligatory knitting report: Carol Anderson sweater tunic for me

Ahoy Mates!

Not all aspects of being delayed in our adventures are bad. In fact, we are finding that exactly the opposite is proving to be the case. When we left Chicago in September, we knew that our dear friends Mark and Mary would be making their annual trip to Florida in March so we have been doing everything possible to convince them to join us while they were in Florida. We were delighted to realize that our delay allowed us to be in their neck of the woods during their vacation. Their son, Ethan and Mark's father, Delbert, also joined us for morning boat ride around Apalachicola Bay.













NOW, I have to ask...does this face look like someone who would take an innocent/naive girl from the big city of Chicago and corrupt her with moonshine?