Sun., 22-Tues., 24 - Can you say Dramamine

We woke up Sunday morning to find a few more boats had come in including another 42 ft Jefferson. We started on a few morning chores. Toms priority was the head, no it was still not working correctly. Although I was trying to be patient I was ready to order the darn pump myself!  It was windy and the boat swayed but it wasn't uncomfortable.  The couple on the Carol Ann, the Jefferson, stopped over for a visit and we had fun comparing the layout of our boats.  We tootled to the marina on the dink to get bait, check on where we were on the waiting list and check out the area.  Sunday evening the wind changed and the water was pretty choppy but we did OK.  Overnight the weather worsened and we did a lot of rocking. Tom and Peanut were having a difficult time on Monday, both having to spend most of their time up on the aft deck to avoid getting sea sick.  Thank goodness I was doing fine so I could be their gopher. We decided to pull up anchor and check out the anchorage on the inside.  Tom found a couple of spots he felt we could squeeze in between sail boats.  I was very uncomfortable with the close proximity of the boats combined with the intensity of the wind.  I really had difficulty getting us far enough forward between boats so when Tom dropped anchor the wind pushed us out into the channel. Not a good thing so we picked up anchor and tried again.  This time Tom at the helm and I was at the anchor. I had never operated the anchor release before and this was probably not the best time to learn. Tom did a nice job of getting us up in between two boats BUT in my nervousness I stepped on the button to engage the anchor as I used the bar to release it at the same time so of course the anchor had no idea what it was supposed to do and I had no idea what was wrong until Tom yelled.  Now he has to maneuver between boats in the wind to get us back out safely to try a third time. But I',m spent, frustrated and tired of being yelled at so I announced I was done. You know the ol saying sometimes you watch the show and sometimes you are the show.  I was tired of being the show.  Back out of the harbor we went to anchor in rough seas.  Tom and peanut ended up sleeping on the Fly Bridge Monday night and Tuesday morning we headed for land first thing in the morning to get off the rocking boat.  Thankfully about noon on Tuesday we got the call that a mooring ball was available. Did we still want it she asked?  Are you kidding me I thought to myself!!  We certainly do I responded!  Now we would have to fight the wind and catch the mooring ball.  Tom had gone over one row to many so we had to approach the mooring ball from the front. Trusty boat hook in hand I stood by as he edged us to the ball. Capture on the first try and we were secure! Woohoo! Our neighbor yelled over "that's no fun you made it look easy", I laughed as I thought to myself, he should have seen us yesterday!

Saturday January 21st. Cruising into Marathon

Approximately 45 miles to go and we would be in Marathon! An exciting day for us.  Three of us left Little Shark River near the same time, all headed for Marathon. It was nice to have a little company on the water to converse with now and then. The waters were a bit choppy today. The little white caps made it difficult to spot the bobbing crab pots until we were closer than I preferred. I felt like I had the binoculars glued to my eyes all day.  Now in the mode to automatically look for the tell tale lines of crab pots to maneuver through I thought we had the configuration down pat. WRONG!  About 20 miles out of Marathon a new configuration appeared!  Crab pot fields; lots of bobbing pots in close proximity, forming a large square and making it extremely difficult to find a passage through!  Our trail wake was beginning to look as if a drunk was at the wheel.  UGH!  We had used the waypoints suggested in skipper Bobs but as we closed in on the 7 mile bridge I was extremely uncomfortable with the idea of passing under the bridge at a point that was not the designated pass.  Other boats were doing it but I was hesitant. Tom called the marina indicated our position and asked for guidance. The gal indicated that she could not advise but if it were her boat she would go on down to Mosier pass and cut back to the marina. That's what we did.  The mooring field at Marathon City Marina in Boot Key Harbor is on a first come first serve basis and we were required to anchor and come to the office in person to get on the waiting list.  There is an anchoring field inside the harbor but Tom suggested we stay on the outside. It was now very calm and  about 10 other boats were anchored here so we figured it was crowded on the inside. Soon after we were anchored we had a visitor. Jim from the boat Blue Angel heard us calling in and came out to greet us.  We had met Jim and his wife in Demopolis. What a nice surprise to meet them again here.  Soon after we jumped in the dingy and headed for the office.  We were 14th on the waiting list for a mooring ball! The sunset was amazing and the Atlantic like glass. We were actually anchored on the Atlantic in the Keys! WOW, I wonder if other first timers thought this was as big a deal as we do?

                                                                   Crab Pot Field

                                                       Sunset on the Atlantic from our boat

                                                                    Another view

                                                   A view after the sun went down

                                             A view of the 7 mile bridge from our boat

Friday, January 20th; From Naples to Shark River Anchorage.

Charts were checked and double checked for today's open water travels on the Atlantic to the anchorage in Shark River.  We would be in sight of land but wanted to be sure of our waypoint entry. The weather gods were again shining on us as the water was calm and the sun shining. We filled the 70 mile day watching dolphins play and keeping a close eye out for crab pots.  The highlight of the day was the sighting of two sea turtles, one large, one small. I was excited but then the mom in me came out with an " I hope other boaters are watching as close as we are for these guys" I worry they will get hit.  Tom just shook his head, and added " Is there anything you don't worry about?"   About 5:00 we navigated our way into the entrance of Little Shark River.  Our chartplotter indicated we were right on the mark for the entrance but the markers were somewhat vague. Seeing another boat already anchored in the entrance confirmed that we were on the right track. We hailed the trawler to ask why he had not anchored in the recommended area at the bend in the river. We were worried that it might be to shallow. He indicated that the bend was a little crowded with other boats, so we joined him, anchoring in the entrance as well.  I LOVED this anchorage and want to go back there and spend several days hopefully in the bend.  The river is a part of the Everglades National Park and the natural surroundings made for a beautiful backdrop.  There were dolphins playing, birds of all kinds flying and fishing and an alligator sunning himself on shore.  As we sat on the bow pads and fished while the sun set you could hear the schreeching owls, howls and other wild calls from within the glades. The night was clear and the stars bright. No city lights to obstruct the view. Even now writing about it I can close my eyes and visualize this beautiful and peaceful night all over again.  I caught several fish but none big enough to keep but thats ok as long as I am still catching more than Tom.  We stayed out to enjoy the beautiful night sky until the skeeters came out.

Tom working on the head - Like the position?

Peanut helping me read the charts

Peanut checking the waymarks

A bird drying his wings which helped us see the crab pot

                                               

January 15-19th, NAPLES; A great time was had by all

We arrive at the Naples City Dock and Mooring Field about 2:30 in the afternoon. You are required to pump out your holding tank before you tie up to a mooring field so to the dock we went.  We had quite an audience of tourists who had wondered down the dock so I was happy that the show we put on made us look like we really knew what we were doing.  The marina is in a perfect spot for boaters.  You can walk to Tin City, the old Naples shopping area, the main shopping area on 5th street and the beach. All of the places a tourist would want to see.  A very nice market and West Marine are also within walking distance but stores such as Walmart, publix, etc are not. Only a few hours were spent working on the boat. Most of our time was spent visiting with friends and neighbors who are Naples Snow Birds.  On Monday we spent the day with Pete and Jan. This was a real treat for both tom and I.  We buddy boated with them from Chicago to Tennessee at the beginning of our trip almost four years ago.  They are living on their boat in a very quiet and peaceful marina outside of Naples. Because they have a car we enjoyed an all day tour of Marco Island, Everglade City and Goodland. We were also able to re provision at Walmart and Tom was able to get yet another part for the blankety blank blank head that he has been working on for two weeks!  On Tuesday we took our next door neighbors from Burns Harbor, Cliff and Joice and the in laws of Tom's niece Betsy for an afternoon ride on the gulf.  Both couples are wintering in Naples.  The gulf was smooth and the day warm, a great day for a cruise. The dolphins danced around the boat as we exited and entered the harbor to the Atlantic, which thrilled the gals.  Tuesday evening we had dinner with Betsy's in-laws, Kent and Elizabeth. Wednesday my neighbor Joice and I shopped while Tom worked on the head again.  Late afternoon Tom and I packed a picnic dinner and headed to the beach to watch the sunset. I had a great day, Tom not so good as the head is still not working!  On Thursday we had to leave the mooring ball because you are only allowed a four day stay.  Luckily enough a slip opened up and the kind gals allowed us to move to the slip for the night for the same price as a mooring ball.  It was great to be in a slip with a walkway, electricity and large shower facilities. Peanut was thrilled. As soon as she realized we were tying up to a dock she started to squeal and jump around!  Dogs are so smart.  I had a great night sleep Thursday as I didn't have to get up to turn the geni on in the wee hours of the morning. On Thursday I wandered around a bit trying to find a cheap hair cut, (no luck), and Tom worked on a few of the jobs on his list and then we headed over to Cliff and Joyce's condo for a cookout. The six of us had a great time sharing stories, great steaks, and good wine. 

Sunset over the Naples Fishing Pier

                                                         

                                                                    Naples Fishing Pier

Sunset on Naples beach next to the fishing pier

The marina office and fuel dock at Naples City Marina

The area at the end of the city dock & Marina. There were shops, restuarants and condos here.

This little fellow sat 6 inches from my foot the entire time I was eating my dinner on the beach.

The condominium complex with shops and restuarants where Clliff and Joyce are staying

They had a great view of the river from their balacony

January 15th - A stressful trip to Naples

We had now officially ran out of ICW to follow and the ocean was pretty choppy 2-3 footers but nothing we couldnt handle. It was another beautiful day weather wise and we were excited about getting to Naples.  About an hour out Tom went below to take a shower.  Soon afterwards I hear sirans, yes sirans! I turned to find a sheriffs boat coming at us with lights and sirans going.  I put the boat in neutral and started yelling for Tom.  Of course he couldn't hear me from the shower, Ugh!  When the sheriffs boat pulled along side I politely greeted him and asked if there was a problem. His response was very official. You did not pay last nights mooring field fee of $13.00.  The city wants to prosecute!!!!!  Now I am really yelling for Tom, still no answer!  Of course with the 2-3 foot waves we are now sideways and rocking badly! You would have thought Tom would have come out to check on what the %#@&;* was going on!!  I apologized profusely and indicated that my husband was supposed to call in and have an extra night put on our credit card.  His response was, well he didn't. I asked if I could pay now. His answer, if you have cash.  I ran below still screaming at Tom. He yells a few not nice words and adds :What is going on?"  I yelled back that the sheriff is after us!  I with my $20.00 bill run back up with Tom behind rapped in a towel! Now Tom is going to get involved, giving me direction on how to get the money to the sheriff as both of our boats are rocking horribly! In an attempt to pull up beside us for the %&#@ $20.00 bill he hit our boat head on!  His response, I didn't mean to do that!  So he has his money but I am really unhappy, as I had asked Tom to call in and have them put another day on our credit card. Yes, they had our credit card information and choose not to just add another day.  Angrily I put the boat in gear to get out of the sideways waves and avoid to crab pots that were directly ahead of us. The problem? We were towing our dingy!  The waves had pushed the dingy up to the boat and the line underneath it. When I put it in gear the rutters cut the line and the dingy was no longer attached and the line it was tied to is under the boat. Soooo, Tom puts on a pair of jocky underwear, not sure why not a bathing suit, and a life jacket. He has a knife in his teeth and goes down to the swim platform. He is kneeling on the swim platform holding on to the boat with one hand and trying to cut the line from underneath the boat with the other as waves are crashing over him.  I really should have gotten a photo of that!  He then re-ties the dingy and I keep my fingers crossed that we can move forward!  All because of $13.00 dollars. We kept a close eye on our gages for quite a while but all seemed to be fine, thankfully.  I went back to driving and Tom went below to wash the soap off.

January 12-15 Fort Myers Beach, the good, the bad and the frustrating!

The ICW from Punta Gorda to Fort Myers Beach was narrow and slow but the scenary continues to fill the time well.  The ICW ends near Fort Myers so we were again using our charting skills along with the help of two friends who were riding with us for the day. One of them from Fort Myers.  As you approach Fort Myers the ICW connects with the Ockeechobee Waterway.  Certain that we were not going that way I put in waypoints to take us across a bay and into Matanzas Harbor to the mooring field.  The water was wonderful and the sun warm so our friends were sunning on the front deck.  All was going well until we realized there was a problem with our approach. The bridge ahead was fixed and to low and the water color was changing, not a good sign for depth.  Our friend from Fort Myers indicated we were going the wrong way to go under the bridge. A quick recheck of charts while in neutral indicated my flaw in planning.  We were supposed to follow the path toward lake Ockeechobee then turn off into a marked channel behind Estero Island.  Sooooo,  we turned around and and corrected the error. Even thought the charts showed enough water I was thankful we caught the error BEFORE we hit the shallows, and a little unhappy with myself for the misguided plotting.   We were excited about Fort Myers beach for two reasons, we had not been there before and we had a guide with a car!!
There were two sections to the mooring field and the first was filled because it was close to the dingy dock.  We ended up quite a ways from the dingy dock but away from the noisy bridge traffic.  Our first stop was Bonita Bills, recommended in Skipper Bobs book.  A couple was providing the music at the bar/restaurant and it was great.  It was definitely an over 60 crowd, filling the dance floor and overflowing to the area around their tables. We had a ball watching and dancing with people our age who were having so much fun. We were excited, a great start to our visit we thought!  We enjoyed our guided tour by car provided by our friend and I especially enjoyed the fine art fair that we attended but that's where the good ended.  The mooring field is run by Matanzas Inn and it it was definitely not a priority for them. Most of our questions, including those about the area could not be answered. Tom and I walked down to Fort Myers Beach, only four blocks away, then took a trolley down to the end of Estero Island and back. No one seemed to want to give out friendly information and the people on the city trolley were not very nice to each other. When we got to the end of the island the driver announced it was the end of the road. I smiled and explained that we were just riding round trip to see the island. He quickly retorted with a "well you gotta pay again", so I jumped up to put our fifty cents in again.  Our plan to move on to Naples was delayed by a day because one of our kayaks broke loose and floated away overnight.  We spent the next day hunting for it by dingy throughout the area but had no luck.  While making one last ditch effort to find it we ran out of gas in the dingy. Now we are trying to row against the current and a good wind to get back to the boat! Happy campers we were not! Another couple saw us struggling and towed us back to our boat.  Needless to say I was upset about the kayak loss. Alas all ended well as our good friend John surprised us with a new kayak he found on craigs list! 

                                      Passing Fort Myers beach on our way to the mooring field

                                                                           Fort Myers

Sunset from our mooring ball at Fort Myers

January 10-12 Punta Gorda

Our stay at Punta Gorda; As we approached the mooring field we came upon about 30 small sailboats in the area we had to cross. There were several larger boats with them as well as smaller runabouts.  Thankfully they passed by before we arrived. We were the only boat in the mooring field which surprised us for thirteen dollars a night.  It was a short dingy ride to the marina dingy dock and the marina was buzzing with activity.  A few of those one man sailboats were coming in. some with an escort boat, now I was really curious. There were sailboats tied up all along the small dock, lots of people, and several large tents along the shore. Obviously it was some type of regatta, I thought but why do so many of the boats have escort boats?  We found a small spot and tied up.  As we passed the sailboats they had names of countries on the side of them and there were wheel chairs at the end of some of the docks. The marina was hosting the National Para-Olympic single man sailboat races!  How awesome is that?  I was really excited and in awe of the strength, agility and attitude these men and women had.  I was also impressed with the ingenuity that went into the retrofitting of these boats.  One morning we witnessed one of the sailors in his wet suit scoot off the dock and into the water and proceed to scrub down the outside of his boat. It just goes to show you that you are only as handicapped as you allow yourself to be!
We tootled around Punta Gorda on the free loaner bikes the marina had, checking out the downtown area and fisherman's village. Fisherman's Village is filled with shops and resturants. It was an enjoyable stay, the staff at the marina are wonderful and everything is in walking distance or a bike ride away.

                                            One of the sailboats competing in the Paraolympics

                                        Be sure to look closely at the adaptations made for the sailors

                                                All the flags from the nations competing

                                                One of the bridges that we had to wait for

                                                 Waiting for the swing bridge to open

                                                      All by ourselves in the mooring field

                                                                 The USA team boat

                                                        A competitor and his escort