Boat trip to Stump Pass

Our friends from Alabama are visiting us in Florida. 

Today we woke up to a beautiful day, so after we had a walk and a swim, we made lunch and took the boat out.

 

The water in Lemon Bay was calm, the sun shone, and we even saw dolphins occasionally.

We pulled the boat up on the bay side and walked across to the Gulf side of Manasota Key



where we set up a camp for our picnic.

Jesse was our captain for the trip back.

 

Boating on Lemon Bay to Stump Pass

Monday we took the boat out for one last boat ride of the season.  It was a perfect boating day: warm without being hot, and sunny with occasional relief from a passing cloud.

Lemon Bay is about a 20 minute idle speed ride from the dock.  It's a nice ride, where we can look at houses and yards and all the boats and docks along the way.

Many mangrove islands dot the channel and cover more than half of the edges of Lemon Bay.

Captain Ron

That tiny fin is from one of the dolphins we saw on the bay.

One man's idea of "idle speed" - required for the vicinity of the bridges.

One of the resident pelicans watching for a fish.

Oh oh - sailboat being towed

This one took advantage of the light breeze.

So did this one

Lots of kayakers in the channel behind Stump Pass

Paddleboarders braving the wake from passing boats

Parasailing above the gulf

One of many osprey nests on an uninhabited island

The spit at Stump Pass had a lot of boats even on a Monday after the season is over.

On a calm day, we ventured out into the Gulf for a ways.

We pulled up on the beach on the bay side and then walked across to the Gulf side

Waves gently rolling in - Water Temp is up to 70 degrees already.

Back in Florida

We decided to take it easy today after our drive from Georgia yesterday.  Dick started a new jigsaw puzzle, and is already making good progress on that.  However, the lure of the sunshine and warmth outside got us out before noon.

 Taking a little break on our walk along the bay.

One of our favorite local parks, Lemon Bay Park, has trails through the woods and along the bay.

On a warm sunny day, lots of boats are out on the bay.

Mangroves are kind of like Banyon trees - they keep sending out roots to create more Mangrove swamps. 

The Mangroves are wonderful habitat for many birds and animals.

From the raised walkways, we strolled along the bay through the Mangroves.

A Hike through Lemon Bay Park on Christmas Day

The trail through Lemon Bay Park is a couple of miles in length, starting with a paving stone area around a butterfly garden, where native plants are nicely labeled.

Lop-Sided Indian Grass

Milkweed

Muhly Grass

Porterweed

Red Pentas

Gaillardia and many more!

Benches are located about every 100 yards so you can stop to watch for birds and wild life.

Oak trees form a canopy over much of the trail.

We spotted this tortoise on the side of the trail about a mile in.

Ferns filled one whole section of the trail.

Spanish moss and palmetto plants

This Pine burl looked like someone had carved a bear head on the tree.

At one point, a side trail took us to this beach on Lemon Bay.

Boating on Lemon Bay

Although it has been warm and sunny, it has been breezy, so we have put off taking the boat out.  Over the weekend, it was calm, but weekends are so busy on the waters that we decided to wait until Monday for our boat ride.

Fran and Patti, Glen and DeeDee and Ron and I headed out for Venice.

We always see birds on the mangrove islands, but I have never seen so many brown pelicans in one place.

I think the schools of mullet in the canals are what caused so many birds to be congregated here.

The canal between Englewood and Venice was full of mullet fishermen of all kinds.  These guys were impressive in their ability to throw an eight-foot diameter net into a perfect circle and then drag it up full of the heavy fish.

We pulled into "Pop's" for lunch and then to the fuel dock to fill the boat.  It was a great day for an outing in Lemon Bay with friends!