We left Ft. Myers Yacht Basin early this morning, restarting our Southward journey. Leaving behind many friends, we hope to see them again in Savannah when they come our way. Many boaters turn eastward from Ft. Myers, crossing the Okeechobee Canal and Lake instead of rounding the tip of Florida. Our hope is to go to the Keys, so we continued south down the west coast of Florida, instead. We will travel to Marathon, Florida, and then spend approximately a month there, Lord willing, exploring the rest of the keys, all the way to Key West. Doing the math, we found it would be much more economical to stay at one marina, paying the monthly rate, than staying 1 or 2 nights at various marinas at the transient rate. The Keys have a bus system that runs the whole Keys, so we can travel for $2.00 each, from one end to the other. The marina, Marlin Bay, is also a resort, so we will enjoy the privileges of a nice pool and fitness center, as well, while we stay. The marina will also serve as our prep location for crossing over to the Bahamas, which is our desired destination in April.
We arrived at Smokehouse Bay around 3:30 or so. It was such a beautiful setting with very nice homes and condos on all sides. The mildest of breezes provided the air conditioning we needed for the whole night. I changed a fuel filter after the engine shut off on us in the Gulf today. When this happened to us in June (Chesapeake Bay), it was a MUCH bigger deal than today. Today, I knew what was wrong. In the Chesapeake, I was clueless. Today, winds were 5-10 knots and 1-2’ seas. Then, winds were 30-40 and seas were 8 feet. With the filter system I have on board, I can manually switch filters underway, which allowed us to be up and running within 2 minutes. If I had only known that last summer…. I wouldn’t have the adventure and experience I do now.
These osprey, like many, take advantage of channel markers as homes for raising their families.
A local party boat/pirate ship was blasting music as it cruised around us in the basin. They were having a good time.
This area is great and would make our list as a potential home in the future.
The color schemes reminded us of homes along the Amalfi Coast in Italy.
The night was as peaceful as any we have ever enjoyed. With just a handful of other boats on the hook, we enjoyed plenty of space, even when the wind and tide changed during the night. It was so nice that we wanted to stay another day and explore Marco Island, but the good weather window for traveling dictates that we move on.
We spent these remaining days in Ft. Myers Yacht Basin (marina) relaxing, tinkering, and meeting fellow boaters. Not too different from what we’ve been doing, but this is the longest we’ve stayed in one spot. We have been off the boat for longer, but never have we just chilled in a marina. Kind of like camping on vacation as a kid, we would see people come and go every day or two, while the majority of the folks, who are retired and find the warm weather and friendships enjoyable for extended periods.
Amanda ran into this hunk on the beach one day and tried to trade me for him.
We enjoyed getting to know Tom and Susan Law. They own a nice 43’ American Tug. From Massachusetts, they’ve retired and bought a home in New Bern, North Carolina. They enjoy traveling the coasts of Florida, Georgia, and the Carolina’s. Their soft, gentle spirit and warm hospitality made our time in the adjacent slip most enjoyable. Across the dock, were Steve and Pam. Steve retired from GM, working in the prototype department. He was involved with working on and building cars of the future. A hands-on guy, his old 1994 Grand Banks could easily pass as a new boat. Like mine, she has lots of high-gloss varnished wood on the rails, and transom. Steve is an extremely patient, detail oriented guy, and would have made a great teacher. I had mentioned to him I needed some wood repair work done, but the guy that was supposed to come had fallen through. He encouraged me, telling me I could do it. I was doubtful, but he came over and got me started. Loaning me tools, taking me to West Marine for the right products, and explaining step by step the process, I learned much about bright-work repair and maintenance. Steve’s temperament perfectly describes a shop teacher. He explains, demonstrates, allows me to try, critiques and corrects, and then gets out of the way. Several times per day, he would hop on board and check on my progress. The more progress I made, the more he would explain about the next step. Though my skill set is far from perfect, I’ve learned much about the process and will enjoy practicing the trade of bright-work as time goes on.
Pam, Steve’s wife, equally gracious, was kind enough to take Amanda to the grocery, as well. They both treated us like…well, like most boaters treat each other: eager to assist, cordial, and friendly. It was my honor to get to know both couples, though briefly.
We didn’t get a picture with Mark & Beth, but did enjoy meeting them, as well. And I admit I want a boat like theirs when I grow up AND when the stock market hits 40,000.
The most exciting thing that happened (shows you how exciting boat life can be sometimes) was the evening the cyclone blew through the marina. We had invited our friends from Vitamin Sea and Salty Dog over for a visit. The winds started picking up, and with the possibility of some rain coming our way, they decided to get on back home (boat) before the storm hit. Two minutes later, the winds were blowing 40-45 mph. Our boat was trying to turn sideways in the slip. Concerned that it might actually hit my neighbor’s boat, I jumped on the finger pier to tighten a couple lines.
I had just finished when BAM!!, I was hit in the head, back, and arm…by a flying kayak! I was stunned, literally, for a couple seconds, not seeing it coming, not knowing what had hit me.
The junk boat with the unsecured kayak on the bow.
The kayak…after it almost took me out. They decided to tie it down here.
The kayak had been lying on the bow of the boat adjacent to us. The people had not bothered securing it to the deck. Based on the appearance of the boat (someone referred to it as a man-made floating reef), nothing else was secure either. The boat is poorly maintained (if I can use that term) by folks who live aboard. Actually, one of their children lives on the boat, and the parents live on the next boat, one slip beyond. Bleeding from the hand, and throbbing in the head, I managed to get back on our boat without further incident. In 5 minutes, the storm was gone, and all was back to normal. My hand throbbed most of the night. I kept it iced, expecting an X-ray and cast the next day. Fortunately, my hand was fine. It could have been so much worse. I was thankful I escaped with a couple scratches and a sore hand.
A little theatre is located across the street from the marina. It’s play season. So, one Friday night, Amanda and I saw a play called, A Gentlemen’s Solution to Love and Murder, or something close to that. A musical comedy, I laughed a little, dozed a lot, and rolled my eyes at some of the disgusting “humor”. Neither of us enjoyed it very much, but it was something different to do.
The stage. I decided to skip a picture of the characters.
We enjoyed dinners out with Greg and Pam, and also with Ed and Kathy. We ate pizza at Capone’s, where they use machined guns (Al Capone vintage) as door handles. We ate burgers at Ford’s garage, where the door handles there are gas pump handles and the cloth napkins are rolled up in a hose clamp. Great meals at both places, with great atmosphere, equal service, and as always, good friends.
This watering pot (and many others) was in a window downtown. Cute…as Amanda often says.
Downtown Ft. Myers has a nice charm and feel
Burgers are their signature dish and I was happy to oblige.
The full moon was a nice backdrop to the festive downtown atmosphere.
Our third and final Sunday in Ft. Myers, we attended First Christian Church one last time. The congregation was encouraged to elbow bump or “chicken wing”, instead of shaking hands or hugging, in an effort to limit the potential of spreading the virus. Most of us were really just starting to understand the seriousness of what was going on, including no longer gathering as a community of believers, for a season of time yet to be determined.
After the service, we went to Taco Fest, across from the marina in downtown, Ft. Myers. The weather was beginning to warm up and it was fun to be outside.
The 4th Annual Taco Fest in Ft. Myers
The Marimba Band added much to the atmosphere, under the overpass.
The music really brings out the best in my bride. She couldn’t keep her hands off me the rest of the day.
Greg & Pam, our Indiana potato farmer friends, from the Salty Dog.
This guy wasn’t so in to the Reggae music.
Really good Reggae band, and I don’t usually listen to that music much.
Honey packing away the Mexican Street Corn.
The last night the 6 of us was together, we squeezed into this picture, on our boat. I lost my nice blue cap a few minutes later when the flying kayak took it off my head.
We wrapped up our stay in Ft. Myers on a Monday night. With Marathon, Florida, as our next destination, we would leave at daybreak Tuesday morning, planning 2 anchorage nights getting to Marlin Bay Resort & Marina.
We are scheduled to stay here for a couple weeks. Plans for a friend to come visit us here fell through, and Amanda bought a plane ticket to Nashville for a visit with Abigail, from here. I will stay close and let the girls have their time, and take care of some things on the boat. We also have a crew scheduled to come detail the boat and repair some of the bright-work.
February 23 (Sunday)
We looked up a church online and walked to it Sunday morning. First Christian Church feels more like our church than any, since we left home. Just a mile from the boat, we were welcomed to a rather large congregation.
Good music, good preachin’, good day.
We sang music similar to Compassion Christian, enjoyed Communion, and was encouraged by one of the associate pastor’s sermon. I will go back again next weekend while Amanda is in Nashville.
Looking at the men, I’d say they’ve had a rough life.
Sunday evening, we had a covered dish on the picnic tables
with boaters Vitamin Sea, Salty Dog (our friends Greg and Pam who we had
traveled with down much of the river), and Bagus (Bill and Anette), whom we had
met in Stuart last year right after buying the boat. They had just bought their boat, which is
identical to ours, a 39 foot Kadey Krogen.
Banyan Trees on the grounds of the Edison Ford homes
One of two trees survived the last hurricane. They were planted during the construction of Edison’s & Ford’s homes.
No fire sprinklers in original home, but they did have a standpipe connection.
Sculptures like this are scattered through downtown. I was reminded of our family reunions when, as a kid, the old men would sit under the cypress trees playing dominoes.
Sunset from the marina
Feb 24 (Monday)
We joined Ed and Kathy today and toured the Edison Ford
Winter estate. Fort Myers was Thomas
Edison’s winter home for a number of years, until his death. We learned much about his all his inventions
and patents. He absolutely was a
genius. Interestingly, he was a strong
influence in Henry Ford’s life, offering him much encouragement when Ford was
trying to get the car manufacturing business off the ground. We enjoyed seeing the gardens, their homes,
the lab where they did research for an alternative product to the rubber tree,
for tires on the cars.
Our tracking line didn’t follow us all the way to Ft. Myers, for some reason. Our final destination is right in the “V” of the “M” in Myers.
After much debate this morning, we decided to take the chance and head on south to Ft. Myers. While at Uncle Henry’s, we met a couple on a sailboat, Mike and Theresa, who were amazed at our journey. Theresa, especially, had a hundred questions and was very interested in knowing more about the Loop. Mike, I tend to believe, was not nearly so excited about the idea. Nevertheless, we asked if they wanted to take a tour of the boat before we left. They were on board 2 minutes later and Theresa was even more inspired. Poor Mike, I think he will be doing the Loop someday. We so enjoyed meeting them and hope to see them someday in Savannah when they come through.
After a close call with Amanda getting her arm caught against a piling as we were pulling out, we were on our way. The wind was a challenge for me, trying to back out of the slip, and Amanda was trying so hard to keep the boat from bumping. Lesson: boats can be fixed; body parts, not necessarily. Thankfully, it was a minor bruise.
We passed this boat on the way in. It’s like a trawler/sailboat combo. Pretty cool.
The long trip, 43 NM, took us almost 7 hours. The winds ranged from 20-30 MPH. Wave action was pretty minimum, except when we crossed the Pine Island Sound inlet. Three foot waves made traveling a little more interesting. But once again, we enjoyed the stabilizers on our boat. The fins below the waterline hold our boat steady in rough seas and windy weather. It was later that evening, talking with friends doing the Loop, that we were reminded how beneficial stabilizers are. They talked about how much their boat swayed all day and how rough the long ride was. We really never felt how rough the weather was.
We got to the marina about 3:30 and settled into our less than desirable boat spot. They placed us on the wall, adjacent to the bridge. Lots of car traffic (noise) and an endless stream of walkers, runners, bikers, boom boxes, and lookers, walking by our boat on the sidewalk 10 feet from the side of our boat. We requested a better slip, away from all the very close encounters. Tuesday morning, we will be moving to a much nicer slip.
This picture paints a much prettier view of the marina than it actually afforded. We were glad to leave this spot for another slip.
The entrance to Uncle Henry’s, well off the ICW, was tricky. The dockmaster could see us from his office and told us every turn to help avoid the shoaling coming in.
Our short ride today was only 10 NM. Boca Grande is a town made up of lots of “old money”, so we were told. Our friends, Reggie and Gwen, from Apalachicola had given us places we must go when we arrived, so Amanda made sure we kept her promise to them. Arriving here late morning, we rented a golf cart and traveled to the south end of the island, gawking at the houses and beautiful beach.
This guy kept an eye on our boat while we were golf carting and exploring Boca Grande.
Banyan Trees on Banyan Lane. Apparently, newlyweds get their pictures taken here.
We killed a couple hours, returned to the boat, cleaned up a bit, and then headed back to downtown for our 7:30 dinner reservation at Temptation Restaurant. With a name like that, I was sure there would be babes dancing on the tables. But instead, it was just a nice pricey restaurant. We enjoyed crab cakes and their signature pan fried snapper dish.
I didn’t do so great on the mural behind us at Temptation.
From there, we carted to the Pink Elephant and enjoyed their signature drink, The Hummer. Ice cream, coffee liqueur, and some other ingredients foreign to me, made this a delicious dessert drink. It was, by far, the best thing I tasted all night long. It wasn’t strong (with alcohol) and I would have absolutely had another, if it wasn’t so expensive. It was probably a good thing that it was expensive. Where they get the name, I dont know. But as tasty as they are, it’s my bet that after several, you’d be doing a lot more than humming.
I could enjoy one of these every day, if I wouldn’t get fat, broke, and end up in a rehab center.
We also met sort of a celebrity while at the Pink Elephant. Macy Kirkland, whose father was co-founder of the Kirkland Stores across the country, and her brother, were sitting next to us at the bar. She was sitting beside Amanda and turned to her and said, “Is your name Lauren, by chance?” After clarifying her name was Amanda, Macy said she had to ask because apparently her brother thought Amanda was an old girlfriend. They were a pleasure to meet and we talked (Amanda and Macy) quite a while. Macy was very evasive in defining what she did for a living. Amanda later stalked her on the internet and learned that her family has been very philanthropic, especially supporting Habitat for Humanity. Her home is in Nashville and apparently she manages the estate and philanthropic efforts of the family foundation. She could not have been a kinder, more genteel person. It made the end of our evening a pleasant experience. Wish we had gotten a picture with her, for bragging rights, but we didn’t know she was “somebody” till later.
We carted back to the marina about 10 pm and turned in for the night. Lots of wind is forecasted for tomorrow, so we will determine early tomorrow whether we will risk the travel to Ft. Myers.
We opted to ride “inside” to enjoy the calm waters and see more scenery.
Today’s cruise was 29 NM. Weather was 75-80 degrees and we operated from the pilot house.
Many bridges we can squeak under, but this one would have removed about 2′ from our 22′ high mast.
We found a good anchorage spot among a few derelict boats. After I completed Amanda’s hair coloring (look out Tina, I’m getting good at this), we jumped in the dinghy and boogeyed over to Englewood Beach. There, we tied up at the White Elephant Pub dock and enjoyed a cool beer and met some upstate New Yorker snowbirds. It’s always a pleasure to meet these folks and they are always so enamored by our southern drawl and our adventure. Afterward, we strolled over to the beach and then back across the street to the Sandbar Tiki & Grille.
I picked this babe up and took her home with me.
Abigail always takes pictures like this. This one doesn’t make any sense to me either.
Englewood Beach sunset
We didn’t eat dinner, but found it to be a much more family friendly atmosphere. They had a band ( a bunch of old geezers like us) playing old tunes of the 70’s. Grandparents, parents, and kids were all dancing while many played corn-hole and other beach activities. Most were waiting on their food. A lively place, everyone was enjoying.
Shells were everywhere on the beach.
Grandma dancing with her grandkids.
We puttered back across the shallow dark bay to our boat, had dinner, and called it a day. We are enjoying the shorter travel days and the warmer weather. Glad the rivers and long cold days are no longer a part of our routine. Tomorrow, we head to Boca Grande (Uncle Henry’s Marina). Amanda has more plans for us there.
We spent the day in Sarasota. Amanda, Ed, and Kathy went to the Ringling Museum. These pictures show the museum and the magnitude of the circus, in its heyday.
Summary of the Ringling history
The train car where Ringling rode.
Wishing this for you!
One of many wagons
Shoot the man from the cannon!
Miniatures by the 1,000’s
Such detail. Mr. Howard spent 50 years making all these.
The food tent
View of the miniature circus from above.
This is not an orchid, but a bloom from a tree.
While they enjoyed the museum circuit, I took the long ride to the phone repair shop, with hopes my phone (dropped last night) had one more life left in it. With my new bicycle (first new bike since college), I excitedly took off on the first 4-mile leg of the day. A reasonably bike friendly town, Sarasota offered a good number of dedicated paths for most of my trip. However, the majority of the paths were along highways with pretty fast traffic, so I stayed on sidewalks everywhere possible. Forty-five minutes and 2 burning legs later, I arrived at CPR (Computer Phone Repair). I had to leave the phone as there was one ahead of me. This provided the window of opportunity I had unsuccessfully tried for several times before. Just 3 ½ miles further was Sak’s Fifth Avenue, local retailer for David Yurman jewelry.
Side note: while we were caring for Amanda’s brother in Pine Mountain, her Yurman earrings mysteriously disappeared. For 2 weeks before we left his home, we looked in every pocket, shelf, and anywhere they could have possibly been misplaced. I gave her those earrings more than 20 years ago and we were both sick they were not recovered (at least yet).
With water bottle and backpack, I took off on my shiny new bicycle to Saks’. I passed by a Walmart and bought a lock for my bicycle. The kind lady in the customer service line allowed me to “hide” the bike at her counter while I went to the bicycle department. They weren’t keen on my riding it to that department. In a jiffy, I resumed the journey and soon arrived at air conditioned retail luxury. Ms. Maria lead me to the David Yurman section of the jewelry department, and soon I was holding almost identical earrings to those recently lost. She gift wrapped my little box and I was soon headed back to CPR. A side trip to Tijuana Flats provided a quick chicken salad and chips. The bad news, my repair guy had doubts for my old phone. If repaired, he was afraid it would not hold up long. Feeling like I was living out the season finale of Chicago Med, I told him to pull the plug on my old friend, and show me the new phones (reconditioned). Almost 2 hours later, life returned to normal. I can, once again, determine where I am, how to get to where I want to go, call an Uber, talk and text, get the weather forecast for tomorrow’s journey, and gloat over my grandchildren’s pictures. I did have one retro moment today. I actually wrote down the directions to the repair shop on a piece of paper (some of you will remember paper…some of you probably remember writing).
No more than finished at CPR, and Amanda called me on my new phone, wanting me to Uber to St. Armand’s Circle and meet the 3 of them for an early dinner at The Columbia. Cuban cuisine, we had a Cuban sandwich and 1905 Salad. Sangria was the beverage choice of the day that Amanda and Ed enjoyed, while Kathy and I turned our noses up to it. A good sandwich and an outstanding salad, we called one more Uber to get us back to the dinghy dock before dark. Neither of us have lights on our little boats, so we were a little panicked about making it back on time. We crept along together and, with the lighting all around the basin, made it safely back to the boat.
Thrilled (I think) with the new earrings, I wished Amanda a Happy Late Valentine’s Day. They will have to do, until the day, if and when, the old sentimental, treasured earrings show up.
Tomorrow, we leave Sarasota and head further South.
We had another relatively easy day, only 28 NM. The weather was beautiful, seas calm, and the temps pushed 80 degrees. The scenery was beautiful; with more porpoise escorts, waterfowl, and the green waters over white sandy bottoms.
Our last look northward at the Sunshine Skyway bridge as we turned and sailed our vessel southward.
These guys reminded me of Heckyl and Jeckyl, my favorite cartoon characters, as a kid.
Sunny warm days and clear Gulf water…ahhh.
We arrived mid-afternoon in Sarasota. For the first time on our adventure, we decided to stay on a mooring ball. In this beautiful basin, there are approximately 100 mooring balls.
Sarasota basin. Our pretty (to us) boat on the mooring ball.
We see the skyline of Sarasota and probably 60-70 boats. The mooring balls give you a piece of mind that anchoring does not give, plus there are no worries about the swing of the rode affecting other boats, which could result in bumping another boat.
We took the dinghy to the marina office, paid our rent for the night, and then walked the streets like we do in every other town we visit. After walking 3-4 miles, we rode the dinghy back to the boat, stopping by Vitamin Sea for a short visit before dinner on the boat.
The bridge to St Armand Island
I got a peaceful, easy feeling, and I know it won’t let me down.
Today’s trip was to Bradenton. Rather windy and rough, we enjoyed the beauty of being out on the open water in the middle of Tampa Bay. We got an up close and personal view of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and then turned into the Manatee River, heading to Twin Dolphin.
Sunshine Skyway Bridge
Twin Dolphin is the home marina for our friends Dave and Penny, whom we met in Canada when they were on the Loop. With our interruptions, they continued and crossed their wake here a couple months ago. We had the chance to visit with them several times, including dinner at Pier 21, the marina restaurant, along with Ed and Kathy of Vitamin Sea. We continue traveling along the Florida coast with them.
Another highlight of the stay was the people who keep their boats on F Dock. Our next door neighbors were Dave and Julie. They own a sweet 41′ Tiara cruiser. Dave, a retired site contractor, and I enjoyed talking the life of subcontracting and how fortunate we were to have many good clients that were the difference in having a positive career, versus how many others struggled to survive. Everyone was so friendly, and as always, enamored by our adventure. Most of these folks are “stay home” boaters, using their boats as “floataminiums”. They are amazed how we pick up and go every day or two to another location. They’ve never tried it so they don’t realize how easy it is. Another couple, Ed and Cynthia, who own a huge Kadey Krogen. They have traveled extensively, especially in the Bahamas. They gave us a tour of their gorgeous 52’ ship and gave us lots of pointers and encouragement on how to do the Bahamas. It was great meeting all these fine folks. Truly, boaters such fun folks.
On Sunday, Becky, one of our neighbors, saw that we were going to walk to a church we had found on the internet. She graciously offered us a ride in her car, so we accepted. Bayside Church is modeled much like Compassion Christian. Multiple campuses spread over this whole area. Though I wasn’t crazy about the music, the sermon was spot on and the humility of the folks we met was so, well, humbling. It was good to be gathered with other believers in corporate worship. I have missed that as we often watch our services online, since we are hampered by the lack of transportation.
We said goodbye to Dave and Julie and Becky and Warren, our F Dock neighbors, Sunday afternoon. The morning we left, I felt like we had been welcomed to the neighborhood. Tomorrow morning, we continue southward to Sarasota.
We enjoyed a couple days here in a well-protected marina. Charlie and Holly Taylor came over to visit us from Sebring and we enjoyed catching up with them, hearing about their new home that is almost finished.
Dinner here with Charlie & Holly was delicious. Don’t ask me why I didn’t think to get a picture of everyone.
This guy almost skimmed our mast as we were pulling out of the marina.
We met Denny and Reggie, whose dirt house is in St. Louis. They brought their boat down to visit with kids and grandkids. They are well-traveled boaters, having made the trip to the Bahamas many times. Denny coached me on places and routes to take, while Amanda reconnected with Birchie, who we had seen in Clearwater.
From St. Petersburg, we head to Bradenton, where we will catch up with Dave and Penny, and meet a number of great locals.
