Day 10 – Bradenton, Fl (Twin Dolphin Marina)

Day 10 – Sun 8 Oct 2023
Docked – Bradenton, Fl (Twin Dolphin Marina)

Sand Key bridge

After a comfortable rest, it was a somewhat cool early morning for Bud’s walk around the property. He still tried to go everywhere he shouldn’t, which is his M.O.

skyline on the beach near Clearwater

We got underway at 0800 and headed mostly south with a north wind. It kept the small waves astern of us but let the diesel exhaust odor linger more than I expected. For once, we had a tidal current that was helping us most of the time so it appeared we might reach the marina before their 1300 arrival time, for which they penalize you $50.

Pirate Ship from too far away at Johns Pass

We discussed lunch options and Diane thought hot dogs with my special sauerkraut (sauteed onion slivers, cooked apples, and caraway seeds) sounded good. I agreed and we anchored in a spot on the north side of our bay crossing for 40 minutes for me to prepare it. It has been many years since we anchored for a lunch break, and it was nice.

Not uncommon sight along the ICW

Underway in the narrow channel, we had to endure numerous small craft zipping by us at high speed, mostly passing us from astern, which is better. Finally, we reached the open bay and had another ship conflict in the same spot as before. It was not hard to avoid the ship and we soon reached the mouth of the Manatee River where we had to fight the ebbing tide until reaching the marina.

Diva Di at the Twin Dolphin marina

They generally expect you to have no help at the dock, which was fine for us. After tying up, we plugged in the electrical cord and got no power. It took a bit of fussing and a visit by the marina staff to find that the circuit breaker tripped in the dock’s main panel. They have the newer breakers demanded by code which are not “friendly” to some equipment on older boats.

marina pool

After disabling the ground wire on our boat’s galvanic isolator, all was well. At that time, Tom came over from F dock to welcome us. We agreed on 1630 as time for us to visit with them, so I got us checked in, took a nice shower, hit the pool for a short while, then cooked the shrimp, and we headed over. Diane enjoyed her tome alone with Bud.

Teresa, Tom, and Diane aboard the PDQ41, Tamerlane

They recently traded in their PDQ 34 (like ours) for a PDQ 41, which is huge by comparison. We got a tour of their lovely new-to-them boat and then sat on the expansive flybridge with drinks and snacks. We have only been together a handful of times in perhaps 5 or 6 years, but they are terrific people and very easy to be with. Teresa served a delicious chili in the main saloon and then we walked back to Diva Di and called it a night.

Bud was eager for a trip off the boat, but you exit the dock through a locked gate right on the waterfront promenade and it was still too full of people for his liking. We will remain here another day and night and then move a short distance to the Bradenton Yacht Club on Tue.