Fort Myers, FL to Clearwater, FL

Total Miles Traveled 1883.2

Unfortunately we have had to postpone our adventure to the Chesapeake Bay area until next year.  The decision to hold up at Fort Myers for a couple of weeks shed more light on the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic and the fact that it was probably going to get worse before getting any better. 

We enjoyed our stay at our friends dock, about 11 miles from downtown Fort Myers.  We had power and water at the dock and about a mile from a grocery, CVS, and a Dollar General.  I rode the bike in once to pick up a couple of things but our friends David and Barbara took us to the grocery and a farmers market before we left, okay now we have to reset the fourteen day quarantine clock. During our stay we waxed on the boat, changed the oil and filter on the generator, and watched the gators swim about the boat looking for a handout.....or a hand.

Moni turned this wine bottle into a decorative water bottle.

We were also amazed at the fishing skills of the local marine life.  I can’t believe they can catch a fish this size, but also swallow it whole!  It will catch the fish, keep shaking it, dipping it in and out of the water, then with one quick jerk, gets the fish straight in line with its neck, then gulp….okay maybe a couple of gulps to get it all the way down.

We departed Fort Myers on Friday April 3^rd and cruised 48 miles to Punta Blanca Island.  We normally travel on weekdays to avoid the weekend congestion of boaters but during social distancing and many businesses being closed, we didn’t see much difference. 

Our friends Mike and Jan on m/v Trust Me left Key West and caught up with us at our anchorage.  They had a battery charger fail and I have a spare, so they were going to use our spare until their new one could be shipped to Mobile.  We were going to raft up together but as they were pulling alongside of us a Florida marine patrol boat followed them in and informed us that the social distancing rules in Florida required boats to be anchored at least 50 feet apart?????  The rules also say no more than 10 people on board, so we can’t raft up and stay on our boats but a pontoon can have 10 people on board?  Oh well, it’s a new experience for everyone.  The officer said we could exchange the needed part, but would have to anchor apart.

We had some unexpected entertainment while anchored here; we had five Manatees swimming around our boats all afternoon.  We have only seen two here during previous anchorages so this was a real treat.

Back Stroke?

 They liked my anchor chain and bridle for some reason.

Moni caught a couple of Puffer Fish?  When she caught them they were the size of a catfish but when we took them off the hook, wow!

We weighed anchor April 6^th and cruised 53 miles to Sarasota.  We had to pass through eight bridges but only two of them had to open for us.  We anchored close to the Ringling Bridge and Mike and Jan continued on to visit family near Gulfport, FL.

On April 7^th we cruised 57 miles to an anchorage at Clearwater Beach, FL. This is a well-protected anchorage and with possible scattered thunderstorms predicted for the next week or so, this will be a good place to wait for a Gulf crossing opportunity.  We were treated to a “Pink Moon” the second evening we were anchored.

Tadaaa!

Mike and Jan arrived from their visit at Gulfport yesterday, looks like we’re complying with the 50 foot rule.  Now, if we go to the Clearwater Beach Marina, we can be in a slip next to each other without being 50 feet apart. J

It looks like we may be here a couple of weeks, waiting on calm waters in the Gulf before we can move north.  Our preference is to cross in three days instead of a 22 hour overnight crossing. 

Key West, FL to Fort Myers, FL

Total Miles Traveled 1725.2

Our one month reservation at Stock Island Marina Village turned out to be eight weeks.  We just can’t think of a better place to spend the winter…….so we have made reservations for two months next year.

The only downside to this marina is its location between the Key West International Airport and a Naval Air Station.  If the wind is blowing from an east or west direction, the air traffic fly’s over the marina, luckily the planes don’t fly before 7 a.m. or after 9 p.m...  The fact that the Key’s are a narrow band of islands running east and west, I don’t think it would matter what marina you are in, the planes would be flying overhead.

We were able to get the dinghy out a few more times and had a great time on the water with our friends.

 Notice Bob passing around the snack tray, what an awesome group!

We left the sand bar and cruised 3 or 4 miles to a Tiki Bar for lunch at Cow Key.

It hasn’t all been fun and games; we have knocked out a lot of projects during our stay.  When we purchased our boat, it had a clothes washer but not a dryer.  I bought Moni a dryer for her birthday and we installed it above our washer.  You gotta love that Amazon!

We really enjoyed visiting Key West; most places have happy hour specials for food and drink so we usually go downtown four or five times a week. 

One of our favorites...The Green Parrot

 Roosters and hens roam through the restaurants and bars.

Music on the street occasionally.

I had to put this on the blog, these two guys, 70's something, each wore the others sock and shoe.  If it means something, I don't want to know.

We found our favorite Ice Cream shop.

Fixer upper?  Two blocks off of Deval Street, the lot this place sits on is probably worth a half million dollars, houses go for around a million dollars here in old town Key West.

A boat club arrived from Miami several weeks ago, they were all go fast, high horsepower boats, were heard there were going to be 50 of them.  If you look close in the background, they had their own tanker arrive to fill them up with fuel.

Finally, a great weather forecast for the Atlantic and Gulf sides of the Keys, with predicted wave heights of a foot and a half or less.  The only challenge was to convince my better half it would be no problem at all setting out on an 80 mi Gulf crossing on Friday the 13^th.    As luck would have it, we cruised 83 miles to a protected anchorage at Little Shark River without any problems and awesome cruising conditions.

Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean on our departure.

Cruising the Gulf of Mexico after going around Key West.

We cruised from Key West to Marco Island with our new friends Randy and Cara on m/v Passages, they are from Ottawa, IL.

On March 14^th we cruised 67 miles to an anchorage at Marco Island.  We anchored here a few days and visited our good friends Merrill and Jan that have a condo nearby.  We spent two days visiting with them and had a great time!

Approaching Marco Island, we're 10-15 miles out and the Gulf is almost flat!

If I had a reason not to be a sail boater, this would probably be one of them, this guy is climbing his mast to either replace his anchor light bulb or some other malfunction.

This guy has a huge waterfront spread, according to the writing on his Tiki Hut, I guess he want's everyone to know it doesn't suck to be him?

The weather has been perfect for cruising, especially on the Gulf.  On Tuesday, March 17^th we cruised 64 miles to Fort Myers, Florida.  We usually stay at a marina here but with all the issues regarding the Coronavirus, we decided to anchor across from the city behind Lofton Island.  We have friends at two different marinas here, and another with a summer home so we took the dinghy over to visit everyone.

We found the anchorage to be full of crab pots, I usually put out 100 foot of chain when we anchor, it was a little difficult finding a spot that we could swing 360 degrees without drifting over a floating marker.  I sat on the back deck one morning and watched this guy run his traps, a one man show and he worked his butt off.  

Our friends David and Barbara “m/v Miss My Money” live about 11 miles up the Okeechobee Waterway from Fort Myers.  They have purchased an empty lot a block or so from their house and have installed a dock with power and water.  On Friday, March 20^th we arrived at their dock and have decided to stay here a week or two to monitor the Coronavirus pandemic.

The boat in front of us is Cat Daddy, a PDQ cameraman that we met in 2016 while doing the loop.  Unfortunately Rafe isn't here, he's back home in Texas.

David and Barbara stopped by in their Volkswagen Thing to see if we needed anything.  David restores Volkswagens when not cruising.  We met them in 2016 in Charleston when they were on their second Loop and spent much of our time crossing Canada with them.

 We don't get lonely though, we have a friend that stops by when you least expect it.

 David and Barbara also have a pontoon boat so we cruised the canals for a couple of hours to look at the houses and boats.  This was a really cool sail boat we passed moored to the homeowners dock.

Our original plan was to cross Florida along the Okeechobee Waterway to the east coast, then head north spending the summer on the Chesapeake Bay.  The seriousness of the Coronavirus nationwide may alter our plans.  All of the beaches, restaurants, and most businesses have closed in this area and we are hearing of marinas up the east coast are closing until further notice.  Since our main purpose for cruising the east coast and the Chesapeake Bay area was to visit the small towns and historical sites, this may not be an option when we get there.  We have reservations at the Capitol Yacht Club in Washington, DC the first week of July and there are no indications that the Coronavirus will not continue to be an issue.  We’ll decide in a week or so if we’ll continue east or turn around and head back up the river system to the Midwest.

Key West February 2020

Greetings from Key West!  

Moni and I celebrate our birthdays in February and when you get our age, you need the whole month to celebrate.  We’ve really had a great time with our friends here.  We have taken several dinghy rides on the Gulf and Atlantic sides of the Keys.  The highest danger of exploring the Keys in a dinghy is running aground.  The water is very shallow until you get a quarter mile off shore in most places.

Our nephew Ollee is in the second grade and has asked us to be a part of his Flat Stanley Project.  Flat Stanley is a book by Jeff Brown and according to the book, Stanley was a normal boy, but one night a bulletin board fell on him while he was sleeping.  When he woke up, he realized he was flat as a pancake.  Since Stanley is flat enough to be sent in an envelope, he is mailed to places all over the country, so Stanley traveled from Indiana to Key West to see new places and report back to Ollee’s second grade class, with pictures and stories about his adventure. 

We have had a lot of fun with Flat Stanley and were surprised how many people we have met that knew all about him.  The project was started in 1995 by a third grade teacher in Canada and features paper cut-outs based on the title character of the 1964 children’s book.

 Chickens are not caged on Key West or Stock Island

 Flat Stanley visits the sharks at the Stoned Crab Restaurant

 And an iguana hiding in the mangroves

We are quickly approaching the end of our stay here, and will be heading north around the first of March.  This year, instead of heading up the rivers to Grand Rivers, Kentucky, we are traveling across Florida, up the east coast and exploring the Chesapeake Bay this summer.