Tuesday 5/5/09 thru Saturday 5/9/09 Tuesday thru Friday we did a host of boat chores. Tourist got 2 new batteries, a new flag, washed, oil changed, oil & fuel filters changed, strainers cleaned and to top it off we made a trip to the flea market! It was nice to get back to Legacy and visit with the few remaining boaters who were still there. Some went home for the summer, others start travelling in their boats this time of year since the winds usually die down making for a more comfortable ride. For us our chores are done and it's time to start heading home.

Saturday we pulled out of Legacy at 7:52 am and headed down the Caloosahatchie. It was a nice ride since not too many of the weekenders were out yet. We picked up the GICW and headed north past Sanibel and Captiva Islands. Once we got to Charlotte Harbor we turned to the Gulf and headed out Boca Grande Pass. About 2 thirds of the way out a boat hailed us on the VHF and said there was a whale ahead of us. Sure enough, right in the middle of the channel. We tried to take pictures of him but not very successfully. He was about 30' long and was just lazily swimming in the channel. Every once in awhile he would exhale and shoot water into the air. Pretty cool!

The seas were calm and we cruised offshore up to Clearwater avoiding the traffic of the GICW. The vhf was humming with reports of boats on fire and people in the water. The Coast Guard was busy. When we came into Clearwater we spotted our first pirates of the whole trip. We had to wait for them to pass and hoped that they wouldn't fire on us. We made it safely into Clearwater Municipal Marina. Fueled up and tucked Tourist into a slip for the night.