The only thing stranger than the name “Pass-a-Grille” is what that name means. Plus, the story of man who built the world’s longest toll bridge: “Dad” Gandy.

Why do they call it Pass-a-Grille?

Back when “beachwear” covered most of bathers’ bodies, tourists flocked to Pass-a-Grille to stay at the Don CeSar resort.

They were apparently not chased away by Pass-a-Grille’s strange name.

Old maps had the end of a southern Pinellas County island and a nearby passage out to the Gulf labeled “Pass-aux-Grilleurs” — which is French for, of course, “passageway of the grillers?”

READ THE FULL STORY ON WTSP

A few youngsters have been setting sailing records lately. First Zac Sunderland - one of  “less than a handful of people” to solo circumnavigate the globe. How many people fit in a handful? Whatever it is, add another. Mike Perham just completed his world voyage – now the official youngest. Currently there’s more toddlers gearing up to outdo him, but PyratSail is one-upping them all. Major sponsorship has been secured to support the official PyratSail bid to make our own Rumhead the youngest 41 year old to circumnavigate Boca Ciega Bay alone. 

Mariola flaunts her sponsorship graphics on a photo op.

Tampa bay sailing can be challenging, but RumHead is pushing the limits of his endurance, even risking his life,  by taking on the most hostile body of water in the area. Dangers include sharks, pirates and a yacht club with full liquor bar middlemost of the bay.  “I was unsure at first, but how can you say no to a lifetime supply of anti-diarrheal?” said RumHead when asked why he wanted to go. “Circumnavigating Boca Ciega Bay is a lucrative achievement that has tons of P.R. potential. More people have ventured into Pasco County, than sailed Boca Ciega alone.”

Follow  RumHead as his 41st birthday approaches this April. At 4:34 p.m., the exact time of his birth, his epic voyage will begin, etching his name in the record books and Boca Ciega history, forever. In RumHead’s own words, “I just hope I get back before my wife gets home from work, or I’m in deep shit.”

I lay there in the dark, praying that a small wisp of fresh air will find it’s way down to my sweat-soaked face, into my lungs.  It’s hot, the air is still and I feel like I’m trapped in some  peculiar, v-shaped sauna with an assortment of sailing gear. Sweet Joe – anything, a single flap from a butterfly’s wing – please.

This sweltering nightmare of V-berth barbecue took place about 2:00 a.m. at Beer Can Island in Tampa Bay, Saturday June 20th. Along for this adventure was CannonBall and JackKnife, my devoted crew. They had both fallen asleep earlier in the cockpit watching a Rambo DVD JackKife smuggled aboard. I had gone below and figured the V-berth would be the most painful sleeping area, hoping to leave the more choice berths for the boys to divvy up. I was right about the painful part. Mariola was astonishingly hot down below, even though it was actually quite comfortable up on deck. I tried to sweat it out but couldn’t do it. Around 2:00 a.m. I grabbed my soggy pillow and headed topside, determined to sleep on any flat part of the deck. On my way I noticed JackKnife on the starboard settee so I was looking forward to a vacant cockpit seat. There was one! It was much cooler, but the unjustifiably named “cushions” are hard as a rock – not meant for a long-term prone position. The sleep process was: roll on side, sleep until numb, roll to other side, repeat. It’s amazing how long it takes the sun to come up when you are praying (weeping) for it.

Now, all this suffering could most likely have been avoided. About a month ago I bought a really nice 12v Endless Breeze Fan and have used it – the fan moves a lot of air and will run all night on Mariola’s dual batt bank. Problem is, it needs to be setup (taken out of the locker and plugged in) and it’s difficult to aim it on everybody. Mariola also came equipped with a windscoop. This, I had never attempted to setup until this night - not even unrolled it. Both of these anti-heat measures may have made it bearable down below – unfortunately there was no way to use them. The captain had been posioned. I’m not exactly sure who the evildoer was - it may have been both of them.  I felt disoriented, staggering around, having trouble with my hand-eye coordination – those bastards. My margaritas were in no-way “virgin”. Double-crossed again. The sight of me and CannonBall on the bow, trying to stay on our feet, half-tangled up in an upside-down, inside-out windscoop must have given the other Beer Can overnighters a good laugh.

Beer Can Island (actual name is Pine Key) is an o.k. little drinking destination up near the Big Bend Power Plant in Tampa Bay. It was about a 5 hour sail from our homeport of Gulfport. The water was not the nice turquoise color you find out at Egmont and the crowd seemed a little more power-boat, power-drink oriented.  Partner that with the every-10-minute-cargo-ship and you don’t feel as detached from the mainland as you hoped. I will probably not go back here, but it was still a fun exploration. Something that had to be experienced. Even though the forecast for the weekend was extreme heat, the air was breezy and comfortable out on Tampa Bay. We just need to figure out how to pump it down below – or make deck sleeping more comfortable. The best part on the way to Beer Can, sailing across the bay. We deployed Patches and drug behind the boat. The water was great and there was only one minor incident.

Live and learn, I’ll be more prepared next time, and more diligent when it comes to lime flavoured refreshments.

[View with PicLens]

1234...678►

This weekend the crew is planning an invasion of beer can island in Tampa Bay. An early morning departure from Gulfport City Marina should allow for an early afternoon arrival at the island. Crew will be CannonBall, Jack-Knife and yours truly. Looking forward to the getaway. Grillin’, drinking and maybe a little treasure hunting. If you are in the area, keep yours eyes peeled for the PyratSail Flag. Stay tuned for pics and vid from the adventure. Will also be testing out the new SPOT finder website/tracking. Yo-Ho!

This weekend brought great temps, light wind and clear water at poplular Shell Key – a great little refuge that forms the south side of Pass-A-Grille.  This is the pass that  takes us out into the Gulf of Mexico, but this weekend was all about spending a little bit of time by the island. Our original plan was to take Mariola, our 32′ Morgan in close, jump out and walk the island. But the wind and current would only let us get close enough for an Olympic swimmer to make it to the beach. It didn’t matter though, the water was warm, beer and tequila were on the boat and it was easy to just take a dip off the stern.

The crew this Saturday was my wife, her mother and her aunt. The picture-perfect island framed by the green Gulf water was the perfect backdrop for a day of chilling out on the boat. This was one of those days that you remember for quite awhile. It would have been fun to make it to the beach and do a little beach combing – but the laziness in the air kept us lounging in the cockpit. Next time, we’ll bring Patches along to dinghy ashore.

[View with PicLens]

Friends and fellow sailors, Antony and Kathryn setout last week for an 8 day voyage down the West Coast of Florida on their 30′ Catalina, Bliss. From Tampa Bay to Port Charlotte, they experienced strong winds, sunny days, pleasant marinas and quiet anchorages. Here’s their story with pictures as told by Antony:

One of the benefits of being shackled to my computer day after day is that every so often I get to make friends via the internet. Thanks to a few referrals through SailMonster.com, WhaleWhisperer, a sailor from Monterey California, contacted me about possibly going sailing with her and some family members.

The email conversations began with Marie (a.k.a WhaleWhisperer) planning a trip to Tampa Bay and chartering a sailboat for a day sail with friends and family. She was looking for a local experienced sailor to help her out. I fit the criteria of local, so I offered to go along. The more we talked, the more my rum head realized that I had a perfectly good boat sitting in a slip down in Gulfport waiting to go. I suggested she skip the charter and we take Mariola out for a day of easy sailing on Boca Cieg Bay - it ended up being the heaviest conditions I’ve had Mariola in to-date.

The winds on Saturday, March 28th were 35+ Knots and gusting. Weather was reporting sustained at 40 mph when we left around 10:00 a.m., but ol Mariola can take it. With about 1/3 of the jib furled out and my T-shirt acting as a staysail, we zipped back and forth across the bay. Okay – FLEW across. It was a great time and great sail – WhaleWhisperer knows her stuff. Her parents John and Ginny had been left windless on previous sail outings and this one made up for it. Seriously!

After a couple hours of sailing we dropped anchor near shore and had lunch below. Marie brought awesome California style pasta salad to share, along with a special bottle of rum for the capn’.  The day was a little to tricky to open the rum so we enjoyed great food, super company, a few beers and then headed in. It wasn’t long before we were back in the slip and Marie was sporting her well-earned (hey, she survived a trip on Mariola) PyratSail hat. Special thanks to SailMonster.com for bringing us all together.

[View with PicLens]

Ross and Kay, along with their two children, have embarked on their epic voyage to the Florida Keys aboard Lola, their 25′ Oday. You can experience the journey LIVE! They have taken the PyratSail SPOT locator with them and it is transmitting position updates about every 10 minutes.  Follow them here on the SPOT Public link.

Ross and Kay are planning on returning on or around the 12th. Ross will be reporting in every so often via cell phone. Stay tuned here and in the forum.

Wow – I’ve been working a lot lately on my “day job” projects and have fallen behind. PyratSail was forced to take a backseet to a little bill-paying, but I’m catching up. Brace yourself for a few rapid-fire posts. Beginning with – The Holiday Inn SunSpree.

The SunSpree is an amazing tropical oasis at North end of The Sunshine Skyway. It has two beautiful pools and a small beach right on Tampa Bay. Sailmonster had a bingo party/get together there the weekend of the 21st and everyone had a lot of fun along with a bit of rum punch. Me and Cannonball brought Mariola around from Gulfport and stayed at the SunSpree docks – cost was $1.50/foot for the night. Not too bad for the use of the pool, towels, ice, facilities, etc. Best part of bringing the boat over (only about a two hour ride) was that we were flagged down by a broke-down powerboater while leaving the marina. We gave him a glorious tow back to the Gulfport Marina boat ramp. That’s one for the sailors!

Once we got to the SunSpree and started enjoying the pool and Bingo, it didn’t take long for the rum to really start flowing. We all had a bunch of fun. Most of the crew retired around midnight or one, but a few of us stayed up until 6:00 a.m. This included me, CannonBall and WildTurkey.

It’s A HOT Tub

You see some strange things around the pool after midnight. From local security guards ”chasing” ganja scented teen-agers across the hotel grounds to a horny couple trying to get it on in the hot-tub. Unwilling to take-on (or possibly join) the ganja kids, we elected ourselves spa-police and put a smack down on the spa lovin’. I just felt mischeivous – could have been my approaching landmark birthday, the rum, or flashbacks of aggravating my younger brother, but I was determined to mess with the hot tub lovers. Hey, I was in that spa earlier in the day - so were a lot of people. It’s gross enough already without adding more genetic material to it. Yuk.

After going over to strike up conversation, taking a picture with Sailmonster in the background (we said he’d never seen a hot-tub before and wanted his pic with one), all three of us decide a full-out assault was needed. We stripped down to our underwear/swimwear and got in – the lovers immediately got the hell outta there.  Victory was ours, and that’s pretty much where we stayed for the rest of the night, talking politics.

Click image to see SunSpree Gallery.

Thanks to everyone that put on a great party. The SunSpree is a new favorite getaway and it’s very close to home. Hope to be back again. See some videos of the ‘ol blue jug, a Sailmonster party intro and a skillful grapeshot by Cannonball.

It happened out there boss. This Super Bowl weekend the Admiral and I took Mariola to Longboat Key, following our friends on Bliss. Now, if you’ve read some past posts, I’ve been working like crazy to solve some starter and alternator problems on Mariola and by Wednesday, before the trip everything was working the way it was supposed to be. That lasted about 5 minutes.

At Moores in Longboat Key

We show up at the dock Saturday around 10:00 a.m. with loads of food, blankets and, of course spirits. It doesn’t take long to stow everything and make ready to cast off. I turn the key, light up the system and reach nervously for the start button - the Daltons one slip over on Bliss are watching……Mariola responds immediately and fires right up! This cruise is going to be a cakewalk. I have decided I want to top off the diesel so we motor over about 200 feet to the marina fuel dock. Bliss heads out into Boca Ciega Bay to wait for us. Five gallons of diesel and three bags of ice later, I now confidently reach down to mash the starter button and begin our great adventure. Nothing – AAAAAHHH!!!!  Down into the cabin to remove all the engine covers and investigate, pull out the spare wire and jump across the stater. It fires up. Two days of hunkering over this diesel and I still have to start it like this. Gremlins 1, hapless captain 0. I’m sure I’ll score some points later…

PRESS ON, PRESS OFF

Maybe I can tinker with the switch/wiring while The Admiral steers across the bay. We meet up with Bliss and motor on to Structure C. Talking back and forth with Bliss on the handheld VHF while crossing the bay, I notice the battery is almost dead. Strange for a device that sits on the charger when not in use. Admiral runs below and produces the spare battery that is more dead than the first one. Gremlins 2, Capt. 0. Still have the regular VHF down in the cabin – awful hard to hear it with the diesel chugging away.

We’re through Structure Ca around 11:45 and Bliss sets sail, so do we. The wind is all over the place, really flukey, and chilly too. For the heck of it, I mash the start engine button – it works. I’m not going to dignify this with a score count. It’s rough in the channel, I’m reaching my redline for frustration and the wind is jibing us, throwing us and chaffing my butt even more. I bring up the option of turning back but the look of disappointment on The Admiral’s face changes my mind. Bliss also gave me some calm, encouraging words over the hard-to-get-to VHF so we keep going.

Side-note: After some harrowing experiences in perfectly working vessels, I’m very apprehensive about going to sea in something that’s malfunctioning. A lesson Papa RumHead taught me while growing up in Ohio – always make sure your stuff works BEFORE you go.

Our micro-flotilla travels out Pass-A-Grille, into the Gulf and down to Egmont. It’s cold, the wind is dead out of the South on the nose and we decide to head into Tampa Bay and motor. Before long we have motored through Anna Maria Island causeway, Cortez causeway, and find ourselves tied to the dock outside of Moores Restaurant.

WHEW, MADE IT

This is NOT The Call of The Sea

After some of the biggest and swear-to-baby-Jesus, best tasting raw oysters we have ever had, it’s back to the boats for more food and drinks. This little bay is amazing. Quiet except for a few kyakers mucking about. Appetizers and cocktails are served on Bliss and then it’s over to Mariola for steak and tuna on the grill, dinner in the cabin. A couple of rounds of Pass-The-Pigs were played and then the rest turns into a blur. All I remember is that is was a hell of a lot of fun. I do remember the cabin lights getting dim, messing with the battery switch and thinking I set it back to the house battery….

Next morning, after a beautiful sunrise, coffee and banana/chocolate chip bread from Bliss- we’re ready to head back. The faithful starter button in mashed and I’m met with the familiar sound of failure. Dead Jim. Antony comes over to help and we determine that both batts are stone dead. He lends me a battery and I still have to jump the starter - starter button is still on strike. On top of that, while checking the oil after breakfast, I noticed black engine oil sitting in the normally clean pan under the motor. This is new. Gremlins – oh hell, I’ve lost count.

It really is beautiful down in Longboat Key and I hope to return soon with a boat that doesn’t cause so much vein popping in my head. The water is very clear and I feel like I’m in The Keys. Truly a beautiful place. As we pull away I think I definitely will return – or maybe won’t be able to leave. Marooned here forever. So back into the Gulf we go via the single span Longboat pass bridge. It was a beautiful sail home even though it felt like Bliss was holding our hand like some little kid sucking his thumb, hiding behind Mom. Many thanks Bliss.

TO SUMMARIZE THE THORNE I CALL MARIOLA

Here’s a crap-out list of items from this weekend – not including me.

• Starter push switch or some unknown wiring problem
• Handheld VHF radio batteries
• Stuffing box leaks like crazy when motoring – not while sitting
• Mystery oil under engine on way down, not on way back – WTF
• My new watch stopped
• Both boat batteries went dead, think only one was switched on – this could be wrong because of all the rum. Gotta make sure though, and get more rum
• Camera battery went dead prematurely

At this point, if somebody came around with the right amount of $$ they could most likely walk away with Mariola and Patches - it wouldn’t take much $$ either.  My time could be used to finish building my Penobscot 14 - a gaff rigged sloop with no electronics. The Admiral is against this, but we’ll see how long the sting of these problems fester in my head. This bigger boat ownership thing is turning into one of those love/hate relationships – Mariola and I haven’t talked since Sunday.

See the full gallery of pics from this trip.

UPDATE: Video from the trip.