Day 246: - Madeira Beach to Palmetto, FL
Day 246: Wednesday, December 28th: It's interesting how the facilities vary from one marina to another. This is the office/store for the Madeira Beach City Marina. Very modest:
While Bill was taking a few pictures this morning, this stately Great Blue Heron obliged by landing on a boat just a few feet away. Click!
This is a fairly small marina with very few transients. Integrity is all snug in her berth:
Of course there are the ubiquitous condos along the shore:
We got underway and headed for Palmetto on the shores of the Manatee River. There were the usual drawbridges and they were on a schedule for opening. That backs up traffic; we had to wait for these fellows to clear:
Just west of Tampa Bay we turned south and took a shortcut. As we cruised, the Sunshine Skyway came into view. Those black dots on the bridge are cars. The bridge is huge and Tampa's version of the Golden Gate:
Just before entering the Manatee River we passed these parasail enthusiasts. There are two people up on the sail. They seemed to go up about 1000 feet:
A few short miles up the river we came to the Regatta Pointe Marina in Palmetto, FL. Palmetto is across the river from Bradenton. This marina is huge, housing some 350 boats plus all the amenities.
We were happy to discover that several other Loopers were here including our friends Connie and Rick aboard Cori and Stef and Roy aboard Dream Catcher V.
We had a delightful supper aboard Cori and caught up on our various activities since we last saw them in October.
Back on Integrity we debated whether we would stay here for two nights, a week, or a month. It is a nice area and marina.
Position tonight: N27 30.647 W082 34.472
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