Dan and Gena's life - on a boat, in a camper, and wherever else life takes us !!: 2021

Friday, December 31, 2021

Ft. Myers, Florida Doyles' dock 12/12 - 01/09/2022

Ft. Myers, FL David and Barbara Doyles home dock 12/12 through 1/9/2022

As I mentioned, friends Dave and Barbara Doyle had heard we needed a place in Ft. Myers to leave our boat during a trip home for the holidays. They contact us. We had met them in Cheboygan, Michigan in May when they had sold their boat, Miss My Money. They said they had vacant dock space and we could leave the boat there. What a relief! Not only was the price they charged us very minimal, but they would be home to check on the boat while we were gone. As it turns out, that ‘checking on our boat thing' was very useful – they had a strong wind storm, 33 mph, that caused our front of our bimini to rip out of the boat. Yikes! Dave took some straps and tied it up so no further damage was done. He sent us pictures, so we'd know what to expect. We’ll have to repair that when we return.

The first night we were there, Ft. Myers had their Christmas boat parade – it went right by their house! Dave and Barbara had us, another couple whose boat was there, and a neighbor couple to their house for drinks and snacks and to watch the boats. What a treat!

We had met these other people in a previous year – we remembered them when we saw them! We enjoyed their company while we were there – they had a loaner car and took us a couple of places, including dinner one night. They also drove us to a great place for lunch and to the airport for our trip home! Boaters are the greatest people!

We had been complaining that we had been in Florida for weeks and had not seen one alligator! Well, there is one gator that lives in the canal where the Doyles live - we had been there 3 or 4 days and still had not seen him. Finally, we got a call from our neighbor boater – “Come outside – the gator is just out there!” So, now, we have seen one alligator.

Just a sample of the boat parade - much prettier in person!!

Ft. Myers Beach, Salty Sams Marina, 12/10 - 12/12

Salty Sams Marina, Ft. Myers Beach, Florida 12/10 – 12/12/2021

Coming down the ICW into the Ft. Myers area, my navigating skills were brought into good use! We have taken to using an app called Aquamaps on my tablet to supplement the Garmin GPS display at the helm. This helps, since I can drill down to get more detail, look further ahead for anchorage and other destinations. I’m still learning, but I recently learned that I can actually plot a course, and save it, to give Dan guidance on things to look for in our cruising. The waterway into Ft. Myers/Ft. Myers Beach is VERY busy, not only with boats, but with the various channels into various destinations. I was able to save us some time and frustration by having the routing information easily to hand. To get into Salty Sams, we had to go past the main channel into Ft. Myers. There were so many marinas there! We did manage to find the marina and got into our slip – they actually had some good dockhands to help, unlike most places we have experienced on this trip!

A few words about docking… Although I had some training (4 years ago!), I have had very little practice and NO confidence in docking. Those slips look SO narrow! Dan has lots of experience and confidence and even he has had problems on occasion – especially in windy or with strong currents. But, we have gotten pretty good in our partnership with docking. One thing that helps tremendously is our ‘marriage savers’, wireless headsets with which we can talk to each other in a normal voice. Dan needs to know how close the boat is in the back, where he cannot see. I tell him that and also any other guidance that feels right, and I have fenders and lines ready to deploy. Usually, I can hook one line to a dock post or cleat, tighten it up, then can jump onto the dock to finish up. We don’t really need any help. When there is help, I find myself cautioning them “Don’t pull on the boat – Captain is very capable of placing the boat where he needs it!” The wise and experienced dockhands will just hold the line until the boat stops moving, then secure it. Young and inexperienced dockhands tend to jerk on the lines to try and move the boat where they think it needs to go…

There are quite a few boats on this journey who are being piloted by a single person – I am in awe of them. I can’t for the life of me figure out how they do it all – docking, locking. Not to mention, they have to do all the planning, deciding where to go, making reservations. And, then there’s provisioning, cooking, laundry – all chores that Dan and I share.

Back to Salty Sams – there are TWO restaurants there, both with live entertainment and Happy Hours every night! Fortunately, we were located some distance from them and couldn’t hear the music from our slip. We tried both restaurants, and enjoyed them. We also had the opportunity to visit with another friend, Linda Brack, from our church back home. Linda has a very nice condo there in Ft. Myers Beach where she lives for six months a year. Linda drove us out to the end of Captiva Island, to her favorite restaurant there, where we had a delicious lunch. We enjoyed checking out all the beautiful homes on the way there and back.

Our next stop is at David and Barbara Doyle’s home, where they have invited us to put our boat at their dock for the next few days and then for our trip back to Michigan. What a great benefit!

Visitor to the dock!

Linda Brack with us at the restaurant

Delicious dessert - shared by three of us!

This was the fun restaurant

Cayo Costa - beautiful anchorage, 12/8 - 12/10

Cayo Costa, anchorage near Captiva, Florida

We enjoyed a beautiful anchorage in this bay, bounded on one side by the Cayo Costa State Park, and an island, just off the ICW. When we arrived, there were already quite a few boats anchored. Just minding some shallow spots as we entered, we had plenty of water and plenty of space. What a great place to put our dinghy to use! The state park is fairly rustic – cost is $2 per person, on the honor system. On the one side, there are the docks, and about a mile across is the Gulf with a lovely beach. We started to walk, then were picked up by their tram. It’s a great place for families, with camping in tents and cabins. In the bay itself were 2 or 3 unnamed islands – nothing on them, just beach, crushed shells, and not even much in the way of vegetation. They were perfect for beaching the dinghy – from the shore, it sloped gently down for about 4 or 5 feet, then dropped off quite a bit. Pull the dinghy up on shore, and the motor can stay submerged! People were there with their dogs – perfect place for them to run.

We stayed there 2 nights. The boat O’Tug pulled up the second day – another of those folks that we meet and re-meet as we traverse the Loop! We took the dinghy over to Cabbage Key, about 1.5 miles. Turns out we should have gone over to the ICW and up their channel – we ran aground twice, not as big a deal as on the Kittiwake! But, since I had on my Crocs, I hopped out, to pull us off the sand bar. Dan lifted the motor, and I could easily pull the dinghy until we were clear….until the next time! I ended up absolutely drenched. I do believe that the gentleman sitting on his cockpit at the Cabbage Key Marina must have enjoyed our show.... As we have said many times, "Sometimes you watch the show, other times you ARE the show!"

We had a nice lunch, apparently where the Cheeseburger in Paradise was invented. We enjoyed watching the gopher turtles and ducks on the lawn.

Fabulous sunset!

Gopher turtle at Cabbage Key

Outdoor dining area at Cabbage Key

Indoors decor - LOTS of dollar bills!

And, then there's the bar...!

One of the islands in the bay

Our dinghy beached on the island

Closeup of our dinghy - new motor this year!

Gulf beach in the State Park

Sign to greet visitors

When there's fog there, oh my!

It comes in slowly, and then...

Can't see ANYTHING!

Well, actually, we could see this one boat!

another beautiful sunset

shows all the boats in the bay - lots of room!

Venice, Fl. Crow's Nest Marina 12-4 12/8

Venice, FL Crow’s Nest Marina 12/4 – 12/8

One of my favorite cities in Florida, Venice did not disappoint. The Crow’s Nest Marina is another one that has a lovely restaurant on site. We enjoyed the marina, and met several other Looper folks who were there. One couple had the identical boat to the Kittiwake. It’s always fun to see what other people have done to the boat as compared to your own changes. This couple only overlapped their stay with us there by about 24 hours, but they did take advantage of coming on board to see what changes/enhancements we had.

Here, we also re-met with Clarke and Rosie on Alegria! Venice had their Christmas boat parade, and their boat made the perfect viewing stand! Don't know when we might see them again, since they're going through the Okeechobee Canal to Stuart, Florida, and leaving their boat there for an undetermined amount of time. They will have finished their Loop at that point, and haven't decided what to do next - either another trip on the boat or sell the boat and return to Texas...or something else!

We made good use of our e-bikes here – the Crow’s Nest was over a mile from downtown, so it was just a fun ride. Venice is beautiful, and their downtown has lovely landscaping, nice shops, and restaurants. I had spent time there in the past visiting with my first husband’s aunt and uncle who had a condo there.

One fun day we went to Snookhaven, a not typical Florida place. Actually it is typical Florida, but it’s OLD Florida. It’s an old fish camp, right on the Myakka River. They serve barbeque and beer. While we were there, they had a band called Bandana (play on Santana!). The band members were our age and older! And, they played OUR music, from the 60’s and 70’s. It was fun listening to the music and watching all the old people dancing their hearts out on the dirt dance floor.

I was able to take advantage of being close to the beach, and took several morning walks. I like to walk along the water, keeping a sharp eye out for good shells. Once I’ve walked for a while, I like to just sit and be quiet, listening to the waves. Heaven!