Venice Christmas (Boat) Parade of Lights

Well, we didn’t get as far as we planned, but it wasn’t because anything went wrong. It was because everything went right!

The kids got on with me at Stickney Point Bridge (a little swinging bridge), after I went through it, and docked the boat at the Casey Key Fish House with Sharon and the Kids’ help. The kids and I motored on down the ICW through Blackburn Point drawbridge, where we met Sharon (who had driven there in the van) one more time. We stopped for a few minutes and continued – Sharon in the van, and The kids and me on the Montego. We passed the Venice Inlet and made our way to Fisherman’s Wharf/Marker 4. During this time, we had found out from locals that the annual Venice Christmas Parade of Lights was to take place tonight. After we got to Fisherman’s Wharf, we found out that we could tie up in a slip for the night for a small fee. So we did, and we are spending the night on the boat here. We had a front row seat for the Parade, which included a “Real Pirate Ship”! I cannot describe how happy we all are to be on this adventure. Since we decided to stay for the parade, we will have an extra long day tomorrow – but the motor is running like a top, the bilge is dry, and I was able to raise both sails this evening. The sails are not in good shape, but we should be able to use them for the trip across Charlotte Harbor tomorrow.

Incidentally, we hooked up with a group with a GIGANTIC motorboat from Missouri – near Kansas City. They live on the outskirts of KC, but keep their boat (and have a lake house) on Lake of the Ozarks. They hauled this boat down to Florida, and will be hauling it back to Lake of the Ozarks in April. They were very friendly and generous. In fact, they hosted a huge dock party, and gave us an unbelievable amount of leftover food.

Time for bed and conserving batteries. Good night all!

–arthur