Boca Grande to Ft. Myers’ Yacht Basin (marina)
Day 177–February 21
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.
We look forward to a couple weeks here.
Happy St Pattys day. Love keeping up with yall. The rest of the world is starting to have a glimpse at what a Hurricane feels like. Crazy. Keep safe and healthy!
NIck
Happy St Pattys day. Love keeping up with yall. The rest of the world is starting to have a glimpse at what a Hurricane feels like. Crazy. Keep safe and healthy!
Nick
To you as well my friend. Sounds like a weird holiday in Savannah this year. We’re trying to stay upwind of the virus here in Marathon. The grocery looks like a Y2K Hurricane event. Absolutely crazy. I hope that everyone is overreacting.