Sunday January 17, 2010

Venice to Palm Island Marina in Lemon Bay

I woke up before dawn. It was Sunday. I made a pot of coffee. And waited for the sun to rise. One the sun was up, I walked over to the marinas courtesy bike rack and borrowed an orange courtesy bike to ride the two miles into Venice and find a catholic church so that I could attend Mass. I arrived in Venice at 8AMand found the Epiphany Cathedral. It was located on Tampa Ave, just off the Main drag. The Mass schedule was 7:30AM and 9:00AM. I decided to attend the 9AM liturgy and had time to find a local resturant and eat breakfast. I was directed to the Ntino’s. A local establishment that served good food at reasonable prices. The recommendation proved to be correct as most of the folks in the place were old. Lots of old retired couples having a Sunday breakfast.

I arrived at the Cathedral at 8:59AM. As I walked in the door, I was met by the priest saying Mass. He was the youngest priest that I had ever seen. The must have been 29 or 30 years old! I asked him if I could take his picture. He said sure. I snapped the photo of he and the deacon. Once the photo was taken I found a seat in the back of the church. This young priest was a very dynamic speaker. What a great role model for young and old. I paid attention as he delivered his homily.

After Mass I returned to the marina. Checked in the courtesy bike at the community bike rack and prepared Water Mark for another day on the water. The really big Hataras that were tied up next to me during the night had moved on. Water Mark was the only boat in the Marina.

At 11:15 the GPS had been programmed to take us to North Captive Island. At 11:15 I tossed off the dock lines and followed the magenta line on the GPS head south down the Intracoastal. I planned a short day. With a stop at he end of Lemon Bay to provision the boat for a land fall at North Captive Island.

The last marina heading south out of Lemon Bay is Palm Island Marina. I pulled up to the gas dock and purchased $5.15 worth of fuel. The harbormaster directed me to a slip close to the swimming pool and hot tub. I tied up. During the process of securing Water Mark, I was greeted by a guy wearing a Detroit Lions T shirt. He notice the State-of-Michigan courtesy flag flying from the starboard spreader. He told me that he had attended Eastern Michigan University. After college he left the state for a warmer climate. He set up residency in Punta Gorda. We had a beer and talked football. I had forgotten that the playoffs were in progress. Al was traveling with a group of boaters from Punta Gorda who were on a weekend trip. They had their TV plugged into the marina video system and were watching the football games.

I had a bowl of clam chowder at the restaurant and headed back to the boat and went to sleep.