The first stop is a marina with pump out and fuel service. What a relief to have our boat bathroom restored!

Our plan is to head south to Venice Beach and stay at Crow’s Nest Marina. We have two options for our route. We can stay in the intracoastal or head out to the Gulf and motor a couple miles offshore. The advantage to the Gulf is we can go faster and weather conditions look favorable. Two hours to go and we experience a problem. Port engine seems to lose some thrust and a continual screeching alarm sounds. We look at each other like “WTF, over” and scramble like keystone cops. Bring throttle back to zero and Alan heads for the hatch to the engine room. It looks like a horror movie with red fluid sprayed all over. Red fluid = transmission. We move both transmissions to neutral and power down both engines. The alarm stops, hallelujah! Alan restarts the starboard engine and there is no alarm. Sigh. Well, this is why from day one we had a dual engine requirement for our boat. If one dies, we have a spare. I call the marina and tell them we will be coming in on one engine (less maneuverability) and a little later than previously stated. Two engine boats have one on each side. Single engine boats, the engine is in the center. So we are using significant trim to make up for our thrust being only on the right side of the vessel (via the starboard engine). Marina is very understanding and refers us to three mechanics.  Alan calls while I take the helm, dodging crab pots. After some discussion on what happened with the mechanic, it could be simple or complicated to resolve. Alan and I are convinced a new transmission will be needed. (translation, big $$$) The mechanic finds the smoking gun which is a split O ring. He replaces it and with some minor testing believes this will remedy the issue. Audible sigh from both of us as this is an inexpensive repair! Mechanic says we dodged a bullet and likely responded quickly enough to avoid major damage to our transmission given there was no fluid remaining. We docked at the “long dock” just inside the jetty (entrance from the Gulf). They are rebuilding this dock after the storm damage 6 months ago so we have water only and NO power which means we run our generator for power. 

A long time friend of mine spends part of the year in Venice and we are able to connect with her and her husband. It is always fun to catch up with old friends. We pick up where we left off at our 45^th high school reunion last year. They show us around the area and we have a nice dinner together.

It is time to launch our dinghy with our new davit system and take her for a spin.

Everything works as advertised and we motor over to a small island.

After washing the exterior we put her TX registration sticker and numbers on in preparation for our free Coast Guard Auxiliary safety check. Met a great Coast Guard rep who put us through the checklist and we passed with flying colors! If we are ever boarded by Coast Guard, we are more than ready! Classic overachieving nerds! 

M/V Good Karma, who arrived in Panama city just as we were leaving, catches up with us. I have been texting them for the last several days sharing information about our travels. It is so nice to finally meet in person and share “war” stories. This marina has a nice restaurant and a tavern. We grab a casual dinner and enjoy a pleasant evening. They head out and have shared what they have encountered since we will be following in the same direction. Hop scotch is a frequent boating game as everyone has various preferences with marinas, anchorages and their own schedule. Just to make matters more adventurous, I break out in head-to-toe hives. I am fairly certain it is from prescription medication. We uber out to Publix grocery store to get a few items and stock up on antihistamines, calamine spray and cortisone cream. I stay in A/C since any heat only exacerbates the situation. We finalize our planning of our next trip legs and prepare for departure.