Fort Myers Beach to Naples, Florida

We leave Fort Myers Beach on Monday morning.  The marine forecast for the end of this week does not look good so we plan a short two night stay in Naples.  Soon after we enter the Gulf, we hear something on the marine radio that we have never heard before....a mayday call.  It is very chilling.  The radio becomes eerily silent, business as usual stops after the call. The radio is silent with only the voice of the Coast Guard and those mariners who are able to help.   Looking out to our northwest, we see the reason.

Obviously a boat in distress

Approximately 3 miles off of Sanibel Island, a 68 foot pleasure craft motor yacht  is completely engulfed in flames. We are about 6 miles away;  too far to offer any immediate assistance. Fortunately for those on board, another boat in the area rescued the passengers from the water. We believe they only suffered smoke inhalation but their yacht is a total loss.  It  makes you realize how vulnerable you can be in a very unforgiving body of water.

It was an eventful morning on an otherwise absolutely beautiful Gulf trip to Naples.  According to the Florida Cruising Directory, "Naples is a beautiful city, long a winter retreat of the rich and one of the classier destinations."  As we leave the Gulf of Mexico and enter Gordon Pass, the description pretty much stays true.

nice

nicer

We arrive to Naples Boat Club where we will stay for two nights.  The marina is not too shabby either.

100 footers

This our slip??

Whoops, no, we are in slip 34.  Easy mistake!

Naples is great.  Naples Boat Club has the warmest pool of all and  free laundry. Life is good! We are able to walk to Fifth Avenue (of course they have one) and also 3rd Street.  Both areas have lots of shopping and many restaurants. We even ride the water taxi to Stoney's, known for their steaks.  It is Fat Tuesday after all!

Let's get some steaks!

The steaks were great but the town's advertised mardi gras celebration not so much.  We now set our bearings north, finding Crazy 8 a home for the summer and our own way back to Cincinnati.

Legacy Harbour, Fort Myers to Pink Shell Resort and Marina, Ft. Myers Beach Florida

After enjoying a nice weekend in Fort Myers, we leave on Monday (a week ago already), and head directly to the fuel dock.  We semi- fill up with approximately 280 gallons of diesel...ouch!  We have not filled our tanks since Carrabelle which was before our gulf crossing in the fall.

Thirsty tanks leave a wallet parched.

We say goodbye to Legacy Harbour and Fort Myers.

Legacy Harbour Marina

We head back down the Caloosahatchee River, into Pine Island Sound and head to the Gulf of Mexico. We pass through Mantanzas Pass into Fort Myers Beach area. It is crazy busy with boats.

Ft. Myers Beach

We arrive at Pink Shell Resort and Marina.  We stayed here last year at the resort with our son Jack, so we know what to expect.  We have high hopes that  this year we do not come down with flu and visit the ER. All goes well. No hospital visits this year. 

Long way from home!

We have fun exploring in our dinghy.

Shrimpers

Every harbor needs a....

Pirate Ship!

Nice hideaway for your smaller craft.

To avoid the traffic, which is actually horrible at this time of year, you can dock your dinghy and patronize the restaurants and stores at downtown Ft. Myers Beach

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Dinghy Dock, parking tight here too.

We spend a couple days enjoying the beach and pools at the very nice Pink Shell Resort.  On Thursday, our friend Dan, the captain of Dulcinea, our boat buddy in the fall,  picks us up to spend a couple days with him at his home in Bonita Springs.  He takes us on a tour of Naples and host a dinner for us on Thursday night.

A warm welcome from Dad Dan.

We enjoy a couple days in Bonita Springs and celebrate Tom's birthday.

Enjoying a toast of Dom Perignon with some  great friends. Bonded forever with our river adventure.
  Happy Birthday Tom!

Dan takes us for a nice cruise on the Dulcinea.  We stop for lunch at Pinchers in Tarpon Springs.  It is nice to relax on someone else's boat!

What lines??? 

Captain Tom??

A huge thank you to both Dan and Nancy for their hospitality.  We could not have met a nicer couple on our river adventure. We thank God for putting you both in our lives.  We will see you again in October!

Tom and Dan

So we end our trip in Fort Myers and head south to Naples.  We heard there is ice and snow at home.  We look up and this is what we see......

Hmmmm....may need to reapply today, and I am not talking rock salt!

Stay safe and warm!

South Seas to Legacy Harbour, downtown Fort Myers, Florida

We leave South Seas on Friday and, on the advice of  Rick and Sarah of Private Affair II, we head to their home port, Legacy Harbour in downtown Fort Myers. We navigate into Pine Island Sound. It is very windy and the water has much more chop than the day we arrived.  We head north up the Caloosahatchee River to Ft. Myers.

The "miserable mile" of boats and more boats in a narrow channel.

The water is not as "blue" down here.  Nor as clear.

We arrive to Legacy Harbor and are thankfully greeted by Eric, the Harbourmaster, who handles the lines as we dock on this windy day.

Legacy Harbour

We spend a great weekend in Fort Myers and enjoy the car show on Saturday.

Nice!

Another beautiful and sunny day....

Great idea for the Banks in Cincinnati to host!

We also meet up with friends from our fall trip. Dan and Nancy from the Dulcinea journeyed via water from Sanibel Harbor and treated us to lunch at Joe's Crab Shack.  Thanks Dad Dan!  Hopefully we will see them again this week.

Reunion of Crazy 8 and Dulcinea, but where are the dogs??

It was a very nice weekend in Fort Myers.  A very special shout out to Sarah and Rick. We thank you both so much for the hospitality of showing us your favorite restaurants, your nighttime haunts, and a ride to the stores to stock up on supplies.  Without a car, securing basic necessities can be very challenging.  Thank you both so much. We will see you back at Pirates Cove for some Grouper Fingers!

Of course, another sunset to end the day!

Pelican Pass to South Seas Marina, Captiva Island

We left our anchorage at Pelican Pass yesterday, February 19th, and headed south through the ICW  to South Seas Plantation.  We thought it would be about 6 miles, but in reality it was more like 15 miles, taking almost two hours cruising at a speed of 10 miles an hour. We encountered more dolphins along  our way.

Dolphins play in our wake.

 We enter South Seas Resort and Marina.  It is beautiful. We head to dock L.

South Seas Marina

We get a few surprises as we arrive to our slip.

A strange photo shoot on the boat next to us. Tom is thrilled with our assigned slip.

We See Private Affair from Cincinnati - owner of Pirates Cove Restaurant, Four Seasons Marina.  What a small world!

Our boat is a small fish in a very big pond!

  We encounter a lot of sea and animal life.

Manatee in the harbor

Not sure what this is....

Seagulls....

More Seagulls

And  we find nice shells on the beach

Oh wow...what are these....Kids??? yikes.

South Seas Resort is quite awesome. The marina dock hands are quick to help and everyone is very friendly. It does comes with a price.  Transient price is $162 a night, for our boat.   It is February Break for the northern eastern states, so it is crowded with families.  The pools are amazing.  The restaurants are overwhelmed, but that is okay.  We use the grills at the marina and make dinner aboard the Crazy 8.

View from the one of the pools

$25.00, what a bargain!

One of many pools.

Another day done.  Tomorrow we head to Fort Myers.

View of Sunset over the Gulf from the bridge of Crazy 8.

Crazy 8 in Action Again!

Although hoping to restart the engines of Crazy 8 in late January, we encountered a few hiccups with maintenance, weather and other personal  issues which postponed the actual start date to February 17th. It has been a horrible winter at home in Cincinnati, and we found the weather also not so cooperative in "sunny" Florida. We arrive to rain, wind, and cold, which clears to sunny skies but a turbulent marine forecast. 

Leaving Snowy Stormy  Cincinnati

Arrive to a Stormy Gulf of Mexico, but the sun is finally out!

The morning of Feburary 17th, we leave Longboat Key Moorings, our boat's home for the last three months. They have been super to us and to our boat.  We could not have found a nicer marina or a better area to stay. We will be back.

Drawbridge rises and we navigate through Longboat Pass into the Gulf of Mexico.

We enter the Gulf of Mexico the way we left it...through Longboat Pass.  The bridge entrance is narrow and the current is swift, so navigation needs to be quick and fast through this pass. 

What are the chances of leaving the Pass with a boat named Ohio River?  Ugh....

The Gulf's Forecast is 2 to 3 feet, but we find it very calm and the navigation is smooth.  We travel approximately 60 miles and seek anchorage at Pelican Pass, which lies between Cayo Costa and Punta Bianca Island.  This area is just north of Captiva and Sanibel Island.

Anchorage Pelican Pass

We are not alone at this anchorage.  There are roughly 20 plus other boats, an even mix of power and sail. There is a great state park at this anchorage mooring, called Cayo Casto State Park. The park boasts of 2,420 acres on one of Florida's largest unspoiled barrier islands. In the early 1800's Spanish fisherman established "fishing ranchos" on the islands.  Fish were caught and transported to Cuba.  A quarantine station was established on the northern end of Cayo Costa for immigrants entering the country through the Boca Grande Pass in the late 1800's. This is the pass we exited the Gulf to get to our anchorage. We decide to venture into the park and bike the trails and see the sights. We end up staying two nights in this very secure and private anchorage.  

Dolphins play in the harbor as we approach the state park docks in our dinghy.

We rent bikes to explore the island. All trails are sand, and some areas are so soft,  you need to ride very carefully to avoid a spill.

Old Cemetery with the remains of the original settlers.  

Quarantine station.

Unspoiled beaches on the island,

We also use our dinghy to explore other areas. We get gas at Boca Grande Marina. Very nice and upscale.

Millers Restaurant at Boca Grande Marina

And pass by Useppa Island, which is a private luxury resort.

No stopping allowed here.

A great two days which end with spectacular sunsets.

Pelican Pass at sunset

The stars also display a phenomenal light show, with  no city lights to dim their presence...until an "almost" full moon appears scaring them away and spoiling our view.  Goodnight moon and goodnight to all.  Tomorrow we pull anchor and move a mere 6 miles or so to Captiva Island.

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