SATURDAY JANUARY 2ND

Ross in the engine room checking the oil on Vince and Spike, (our pet names for our twin 350 Caterpillar diesel engines) before we leave St. Pete for Sarasota.






A chilly but sunny morning as we cross Tampa Bay and pass under the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. This bridge is 5 ½ miles long and 431 feet high. Personally I think it’s the creepiest bridge I’ve ever crossed. The bridge deck rises at a steep angle to the highest point. I’d much rather pass underneath it on the boat.

In 1980 a freighter hit a support column during a storm, which sent 1200 feet of the bridge into the water. Six cars and a Greyhound bus fell 150 feet into Tampa Bay killing 35 people. That would definitely make my top 10 list of worst ways to go.

The bridge is said to be haunted and there have been at least 130 suicides and 10 attempts. A Rottweiler dog named Shasta either followed it’s owner or was carried over the edge by it’s owner (gee thanks, master). Shasta survived. The master didn’t. Sad.

Another thing the bridge is know for is the unannounced pendulum swing bungee jump done by a group of daredevils (or possibly idiots?!!). Led by a bartender. Can you believe it, a bartender? Not a physicist, a bartender!! Anyway, they all arrived in a stretch limo, jumped out with their homemade bungees and Geronimo. Well, the bartender’s calculations were a bit off due to the G-force and everyone ended up falling 60 feet into the water. No one was killed but there were broken bones and neck injuries.


A boat we came across. This is what a boat
looks like at low tide, that ran aground at high tide. Wouldn't want to be them!







We arrived in Sarasota about noon at Marina Jack. Very nice place. Our next stop was the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. It isn’t just an art museum but also explains the history of the circus and it’s place in the history of America.

A little back story on John and Mable. John grew up in Baraboo Wisconsin. He and his 5 brothers formed the Ringling Brothers Circus. Mable grew up on a farm in Ohio. John ran the business end of the circus and at one point was one of the 13 wealthiest people in the world. He and Mable loved Sarasota. They built this incredible home here designed after the homes in Venice, Italy. They had a very extensive collection of artwork and built a large museum on their property to display it for the people of Sarasota. There are room after room of original paintings dating from the 1400’s to the late 1800’s , mostly from Europe.

Like many others, Ringling over speculated and ended up losing almost everything. He left the museum to the state of Florida as a way to keep the collection intact. When he died, he only had a little more than 300 dollars in the bank.