Friday 16th
We were on the beach for about 45 minutes all together. Photos were better once the sun actually came up just after 07:30.
Linda was also trying out her selfie stick.
It got better as we went along.
Once the sun was up we packed up and headed back.
We stopped for some breakfast at the IHOP.
Then after a quick stop off at the Publix for a little bit of shopping, be headed back to the apartment.
14:40
The afternoon has been quite overcast so far It's still warm, but as you can see below, the cloud hasn't broken yet.
We are waiting for the captain of the boat we're due to go on tonight, to call us for a starting time and to arrange payment. It's a sunset cruise. But with the cloud at the moment, I'm not sure what we'll actually be able to see!
21:08
We are back from our boat trip to see the sunset. We drove down to 63rd Street, to find Captain Jan on board the Mango Bango craft. It's a smallish pontoon boat that's really well kitted out. Very comfy chairs to sit in. We were the only two on board, so Captain Jan set off out to reach Bean Point which is the northern most tip of Anna Maria.
As you can see, it was a bit windy and this meant that Jan had to keep travelling further out to avoid pitching the boat more than necessary. The sky looked very overcast, though.
Eventually we reached the tip of the island, so Jan cut the motor and we drifted for a while, waiting for sunset. However, there was still a lot of cloud cover, so initially we didn't see much.
Once sunset had passed, Jan turned us around and headed back as it was rapidly getting dark. However, it was at this point that the real sunset colours started to appear.
You can see in this clip below just how colourful the sky became. However, you can also see the other issue, how the boat was tipping about a lot as the waves increased in size.
Eventually, we hit the inshore water and it became much calmer. We tied up at an almost pitch black dock.
We're supposed to be going on a longer trip tomorrow, but we're not so keen now, especially as it looks like the wind will be stronger tomorrow.