There are three other boats from Long Island here.  Jack, from Kings Park, has an Island Packet 27 'Lady Barbara' at the dock.  Hampton, from East Moriches, is on an Island Packet 32 'Snark' at a mooring next to mine, and Rich, on the trawler 'Barnaby', is from Huntington.  I had heard Rich many times during the summer calling the Coneys launch on the VHF, but had not met him until this week.  I heard he was making the trip down from Huntington but I hadn't expected to see him here.

On Sunday Jack, Hampton and I drove over to Cape Coral to visit Jack's friend Andy.  We picked grapefruit and oranges off of Andy's trees and Andy gave us a tour of the waterfront homes from his boat.  Andy's hobby is woodcarving and specializes in carvings in a bottle.  He has some great pieces and has won several awards.

February 4, 2003 - Ft Myers, FL

Jack and I took the shuttle bus from the marina over to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates for the tour.  Hampton had already taken the tour and stayed behind to work on his boat.  Thomas Edison and Henry Ford had been close friends and  built their winter homes next door to one another.  Mrs. Edison latter sold the estate to the City of Fort Myers for one dollar.  The Ford family sold off all of the original furniture in Henry's home so everything in their now is similar to, but not original.

February 6, 2003 - Sanibel Island, FL

Jack, Hampton, and I agreed that we were getting a little bored with our daily routines so we decided to take a short cruise lasting about a week.  Jack and Hampton would go in Hampton's boat and I would go in mine.  We drove into town to load up on provisions for the trip and would leave around 8:00 a.m. the next day.  When 8:00 a.m. rolled around, Jack called Hampton on his boat and said that he wasn't feeling well and wouldn't be going, so Hampton and I decided that we would both go on his boat since he had most of the food onboard for the trip.

We got going around 10:30 a.m. and headed down the Caloosahatchee Waterway to the ICW.  At around 3:00 p.m. we dropped anchor off of Ding Darling Wildlife Preserve on Sanibel Island.  I got my fishing pole out a tried to catch dinner but didn't.

The next morning we took the dinghy through the cut (which is right about where the sun is setting in the picture above) into Tarpon Bay.  We tried fishing along the mangroves for a while but had no luck again so we took the dinghy to the dock where they rent canoes and kayaks to visitors of the wildlife preserve.  We walked around and bought lunch and decided to stay for a seminar on the history of the Indians  of Southwest Florida.  On the way back we tried fishing at the bay side of the cut we came through earlier, at the suggestion of the canoe rental guy.  After several minutes Hampton landed a nice 18" Spotted Sea Trout (legal size limit 15" - 20") and we headed back to the boat.  I didn't think of taking a picture of the fish until after I had filleted it, sautéed it, and it was sitting on the dinner table.

February 9, 2003 - Boca Grande, FL

The next day we sailed up to Pelican Bay but had trouble entering the anchorage.  The anchorage guide Hampton had bought said to turn north ICW marker '72' which took us right across a shoal at the entrance.  It had been a little choppy and we bounced on the bottom a several times, so after another unsuccessful try we decided to head over to Cape Haze which was only a few miles away.  We anchored for the night in a small bay surrounded by private homes.  Their was no where to go ashore here but we had good protection from the north wind that was blowing that night.

In the morning we left and headed down to Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island.  We anchored in a small channel with our stern tied to the mangroves since there was no swing room.  All of the other boats were anchored in the same manor.  after anchoring we took the dinghy across the dinghy dock and walked into town.  Boca Grande is supposedly the Tarpon fishing capital of the world and we hear that the town is packed from March through June.

The next day we tried fishing along the mangroves, but managed to catch and release several Ladyfish and a Crevalle Jack, neither of which is good eating.

February 11, 2003 - Cayo Costa, FL

After a couple days on Boca Grande we decided to head back.  We decided to try Pelican Bay again and this time we entered at marker 74 and stayed close to the opposite shoreline and had no problem getting in.   We found that another anchorage guide Hampton had, listed marker 74 as the preferred entrance point for this anchorage, not 72 as the other book recommended.  At around 3:00 p.m. we took the dinghy across to the dock at the state park on Cayo Costa.  The island is uninhabited except for the park rangers stationed here.  We walked along the nature trail but there wasn't much wildlife to see.

The next day we left Pelican Bay and had a nice long sail up to York Island across from Ding Darling Wildlife preserve.  We were thinking of stopping at Cabbage Key for a cheeseburger, because here is the restaurant that inspired the Jimmy Buffet song 'Cheeseburger in Paradise' --  but since it was only about 10:30 a.m. and I was still full from breakfast, I just took a picture as we sailed by.  We tried fishing again off of York Island.  We caught several Spotted Sea Trout, but they were all undersized so we release them.

In the morning we lifted anchor and headed towards the Caloosahatchee Waterway towards Ft Myers.  We arrived back a the yacht basin around noon.

February 24, 2003 - Ft Myers, FL

A week ago Saturday, Ft Myers had their annual Edison Festival of Lights celebration which included a fair and a parade.  It's a pretty big thing down here and people come from all over to see it.  The entire parade lasted over two hours.  There were many floats and marching bands from all over the country, including (believe it or not) the Babylon, Long Island Fire Department band.  I didn't have my camera out as they were going by, but caught the end of them.

The best part of the parade, in my opinion, was a precision motorcycle drill team.  I don't know where they are from, but they were in state trooper uniforms.  They weaved in and out of each other while going in two different directions while some were standing on the seats of their motorcycles.  It was amazing.  They were very good.

On Friday,  the day before the parade, we drove over to the Miami Boat Show.  I didn't really care to go, but Hampton and Jack said they would pay for gas, parking and my ticket if I would drive.  So I did.  Most of the show was very similar to the show in St Pete that I had seen a couple of months back, but there was a great lecture by Pam Wall from West Marine on cruising the Bahamas.  She was a very exciting speaker and the lecture tent was packed for her talk.

March 10, 2003 - York Island (St James City, FL)

Today after almost two months in Ft Myers, I finally got moving again.  On Saturday I put my car in storage at the U-haul Storage Center down the road, and on Sunday Jack took us shopping in the car he had rented to go to Disney World when his wife came down to visit last week.  The plan now is to slowly work our way down to Marathon and then Key West.

So on Monday morning Hampton and I left the Ft Myers Yacht Basin at around 9:30 a.m. and Jack left his friend Andy's dock in the back of his house in Cape Coral.  We all met up at the Sanibel Causeway Bridge while waiting for the next opening.  After passing under the bridge, we went out into the Gulf of Mexico for just a short way to enter Matanzas Pass which leads into Ft Myers Beach (Ft Myers Beach is actually about 12 nautical miles from the city of Ft Myers on the Gulf of Mexico).

When we got into the anchorage we found it very crowded.  Jack and Hampton anchored, but I had tied the dinghy onto the foredeck of the boat, which meant that I would have to untie it and move it back a little to get to the anchor locker.  So I decided to go back out past the Matanzas Pass entrance to do so, since I would risk drifting into another boat if I tried it in the anchorage.  Once I got out pass the entrance, I decided to head over to York, Island or Ding Darling and anchor there so I could do some fishing.  After not seeing me for a while, Jack called me on the VHF to see where I was and I told him my plans and that I would come back the next morning.

After anchoring at York Island, I took my dinghy off the deck and row over to the mangroves to fish for a while before dinner.  I didn't catch anything and didn't even get a nibble on my lure, but while I was sitting in the dinghy reeling the line back in after a cast, a dolphin suddenly surfaced about to feet from me and scared the hell out of me.  After a while I rowed back to the boat cooked dinner, read for a while then went to bed.

I left Ft Myers today at noon as planned.  The wind was out of the SW at about 10 knots, so I was able to sail some of the way, which was nice.  When I got to ICW marker 12, which was close to the York Island and Ding Darling anchorages, I noticed that the wind had shifted to the WNW which made York Island a better choice of the two, so I anchored of of York Island.  I had really wanted to anchor of of Ding Darling so that I could go fish the cut into Tarpon Bay.

After I was anchored, I switched on the VHF to listen to the weather forecast again.  The forecast called for winds becoming SE.  Ding Darling offers good protection from SE winds, and I noticed that a couple of boats had just anchored there, so I hauled anchor and motored over to Ding Darling.  Just as I was leaving the York Island anchorage, two sailboats had come in to anchor there.

I anchored in about 9 ft and got my fishing gear, hopped into the dinghy and rowed over to the cut.  I had to get out of the dinghy and pull a few feet over the sand bar that extends for a long ways in front of the cut into Tarpon Bay.  I fished for a few hours until sunset but didn't even get a nibble.  As I was sitting there in my dinghy, I noticed that large flocks of birds were now starting to fly into the bay to roost for the night.  They all headed for the cut right were I was sitting in my dinghy.  There were large flocks of Ibis, Herons, and Egrets that flew silently by just a few yards overhead.  It was quite beautiful.  I'd discovered a great place to be at sunset.  I didn't care that I hadn't caught any fish.  After most of the  birds flew by, I rowed back to the boat and cooked dinner then read for a while.

April 4, 2003 - Sanibel Island, FL

I decided to spend the day here at Sanibel Island so after breakfast I rowed over to Tarpon Bay and fished again.  There were a few boats fishing the same area.  These were mostly pontoon boats rented from the Ding Darling preserve.  There was a family fishing close by on the other side of the cut when a bass boat pulled in right in front of them.  The gut in the rental boat asked him to move because he was there first.  The guy on the bass boats excuse was that he was fishing in a tournament.  The guy on the pontoon boat said that he didn't care, and asked him again to move.  after a few minutes the bass boat move a little ways off but stayed pretty much in front of him.

After a couple of hours without a nibble again, I rowed back to the boat.  I relaxed and read for a while, had lunch, then took my fishing reel apart to clean a lubricate it, then decided to take take a look at the bottom of the boat to see if much growth had accumulated after my 3 weeks in Ft Myers Beach.  So I put on my wetsuit and mask and dove in with a 3M scrub pad in my hand.  I found that the bottom was pretty clean except that depth sounder transducer was covered a few small barnacles. so I scraped them off and scrubbed the surface with my scouring pad.  The transducer will generally accumulate some barnacles because it can't be painted with anti-fouling paint like the rest of the bottom.  After I got out of the water I took a warm shower, then cooked dinner (linguine and red clam sauce, the recipe my sister Betty had given me -- now one of my favorites) and them read for a while.

April 5, 2003 - Cape Haze, FL

I left the Ding Darling anchorage at around 9:30 a.m. and joined the ICW heading north.  Since it's a Saturday, the  boat traffic was very heavy.  I used the autopilot whenever I could and relaxed in the shade of the cockpit dodger.  I got up and walked back to the wheel whenever I had to change course, or I saw that a large powerboat was approaching and I would have to maneuver to take his wake at the proper angle if he failed to slow down (just like back in NY, most boats don't slow down, but some do -- more do here than in NY).

I motor-sailed some of the way and motored the rest until I got to the entrance to the Boca Grande Bayou anchorage.  As I approached I saw a lot of boats heading in and out of the channel and figured it was going to be very crowded since it was Saturday.  I decided to keep on going up to Cape Haze.  After passing through the Boca Grande swing bridge I approached the Cape Haze anchorage.  The Cape Haze anchorage is in a small cove surrounded by private homes with room for only 4 or 5 boats.  You're literally anchoring in someone's back yard, so you have to be quiet.  There was only two other boats there when I arrive at around 4 p.m. and one left shortly afterwards.  

In one of the anchorage guides that I have, it mentions that you can take your dinghy down a small canal at the north side of the cove down to a small bridge that crosses over the canal.  So after anchoring I jumped into the dinghy and rowed down the canal about a half mile and came to the bridge.  The canal again was lined with private homes, so I was rowing past everyone's backyards.  One of the residents I saw was friendly and waved and said hello as I past.  When I got to the bridge I had to tie my dinghy up to a bush along one of the cement embankments and climb up to the road.  Only about 200 yards down the road was a shopping center with a Publix supermarket and a post office to the left.  This was only about a mile or two from the Gasparilla Marina where I had my boat surveyed a few months back.  I got a few things that I needed and rowed back to the boat and cooked dinner (tacos).

April 6, 2003 - Useppa Island, FL

In the morning I left Cape Haze and motored back through the Boca Grande swing bridge and headed up to Charlotte Harbor.  When I got to the swing bridge I called the bridge tender on the VHF to let him know I was approaching and waiting for his 9:00 a.m. opening.  He reminded that his next opening was at 10:00 a.m. and that I had forgotten to set my clock ahead this morning.  My plan was spend the day sailing in Charlotte Harbor.  So when I arrived I set the sails, turned the engine off, turned the autopilot on, and had a relaxing sail up the harbor.  The wind varied from about 2-10 knots.   Closer to the Gulf Coast, it was stronger and more from the west.

At around 2:30, I head back south on the ICW.  I thought about going back to Sanibel Island, but I decided to anchor off of Useppa Island for the night.  I was hesitant about anchoring there because it is right off of the ICW and subject to wakes from passing boats, but it was now late Sunday afternoon and traffic was starting to die down so I decided to give it a try.  Useppa is a private island and they don't welcome visitors, but Cabbage Key just across the ICW has a restaurant and a nature trail.  There were about 7 or 8 boats anchored there when I arrived and I choose a spot close to the island with good protection from the SE for when the winds shifted in the early morning.

April 7, 2003 - Sanibel Island, FL

In the morning I did a little maintenance on the boat (checked and topped off the engine and gear oil, and the battery electrolyte levels).  While I worked, the Mercury Outboard test boats were passing by every couple of minutes.   Mercury has a test facility several miles away in Englewood, so I guess they frequently use this section of the waterway for testing new engines.  There were about 5 boats passing back and forth at various speeds.  All of the boats were painted either white or a pale yellow, with no markings other than the words 'Test Boat'.  The all had large twin Mercury engines.

After I finished my maintenance, I rowed across the ICW to Cabbage Key and took a walk on the nature trail and stopped in at the restaurant to buy some ice.  I was thinking of getting one of those Jimmy Buffet cheeseburgers, but it was only 11:30 and I wasn't hungry yet.  So I just got a couple bags of ice and filled my water can then rowed back to the boat.  At around 2:30 I decided to hoist anchor and head south on the ICW back to Sanibel Island.  I arrived at Sanibel around 4:30 and dropped anchor for the night.

April 8, 2003 - Sanibel Island, FL

I spent a good part of the day fishing in the Sanibel bayous.  I still haven't caught any fish, but it was a beautiful day so I didn't mind.  After fishing I just loafed around and read.

April 9, 2003 - Sanibel Island, FL

In the morning I got up and left the anchorage early before the winds began to build.  I had only gone about a mile o to when it started blow at around 25 knots as I got closer to San Carlos Bay.  I decided to turn around at that point and o back to Sanibel, have breakfast and wait to see if it let up.

April 10, 2003 - York Island, FL

During the night the winds built to around 20-25 knots but from the NW, not from the W as forecast.  This made the anchorage a little uncomfortable since it doesn't provide good protection from that direction.  2-3 foot waves began to build out in the sound and wrapped around the NW corner of the island and rolled into the anchorage.

The next morning was mostly sunny with a few clouds, but it was blowing 20-25 knots with gusts to 30.  The 2-3 foot swells continued most of the day and at about 4:00 pm I decided that I might be better off across the way at York Island.  My biggest concern about moving was how was I haul the anchor in in these winds.  There is now way I would be able to do it by pulling it in as I pulled the boat forward as I usually do in lighter winds.  The only way to do it by hand was to slowly motor forward as I pulled in the rode.  The problem was that I would be up at the bow pulling in the rode, but I would have to keep running back to the cockpit to steer the boat as the strong winds blew it blew it around.  That wasn't going to work.

I decided to bring the anchor rode back into the cockpit and snub it on the sheet winch and cleat it to the stern cleat.  I would then pull in the rode from the cockpit and pull it onto the cockpit floor and just reach over to steer the boat as it veered off.  This  worked well, and after I had the anchor up, I set the autopilot as I coiled the line and walked it back up to the anchor locker.

As I got to the ICW channel the wind was blowing a steady 30 knots.  I got over to York Island in 15 minutes and dropped the anchor in about 9 feet of water.  It was much better over here.  The wind was lighter and there was little swell.  I was glad that I moved.

April 11, 2003 - York Island, FL

The winds finally died down a bit today and it was pretty comfortable at York Island.  Since I was running a little low on supplies, I was hoping to find a store on shore within walking distance.  The cruising guide said that there was a restaurant nearby but not much else, so I thought I would try to find it and maybe buy some ice at least.  I got into the dink (dinghy) and rowed around looking for the restaurant but couldn't find it.  There seemed to be only private homes lining the shore,  but it was a nice day and I enjoyed the row.

I had wanted to head over to Ft Myers Beach but decided to wait until tomorrow since the Coast Guard had a 'Dangerous Surf' warning still posted until 5:00 p.m.  I spent the afternoon installing the new locking 12V socket I had bought for my computer.

April 12 2003, Ft Myers Beach, FL

In the morning I headed out at 8:00 a.m. towards Ft Myers Beach.  It was a pleasant, sunny morning as I headed across San Carlos Bay and down towards the Sanibel Causeway Bridge.  The bridge opens every thirty minutes and I got there a few minutes after the last opening, so I had to wait about 25 minutes for the next opening.  After passing through the bridge I head out towards the gulf and into Matanzas Pass.

When I got into the anchorage at around 11, I found it crowded as usual, but I found a spot on the outside about halfway back and dropped my anchors.  I noticed Bill on Magnolia had already returned from his trip up to Lake Okeechobee.  I had seen Bill at Ft Myers Yacht Basin when he  stopped there for a day.

I got into the dink and rowed over to the super market an then stopped at the bar next door for ice.  They seem to have the best deal on ice on the island.  On the way back I passed by and said hello to Bill then rowed back to put away the groceries and filled the ice box.  As I cleaned the inside of the ice box, I noticed that a Tupperware container of blueberries had opened and had clogged the drain when I had started pumping out the water.  I got most the blueberries out but there were a few stuck at the bottom of the drain hose and I couldn't get to the bottom hose clamp to loosen it.  I would have to try to get some sort of snake down there from the top of the hose.  That would have to wait since I had nothing on board to use as a snake.

I rowed back over to Bull's boat to here about his trip to Lake Okeechobee and to tell him about my trip.  I will be going that way in a few weeks as I start heading up north, so I was very interested to hear about his experience going through the locks.  After talking about our trips went ashore to walk on the beach and take in the 'scenery'.

April 17 2003, Ft Myers Beach, FL

Ft Myers Beach is a very convenient place for cruisers to stop.  Almost everything is within walking distance.  If you don't want to walk, there is a trolley that runs down Estero Blvd. (the main street) for 25 cents.  A 'Park and Ride' trolley will take you over the bridge to Summerlin Square to the laundromat, West Marine, and Winn Dixie supermarket for free.

I've spent the last few days doing small maintenance projects on the boat, such as changing the engine, and gear oil and filter, checking and cleaning the raw water intake filter and impeller, etc.  On Wednesday I rowed over to the Gulf Star Marina to talk with Frank and Phyliss.  I met them while they were staying at the Ft Myers Yacht Basin last month.  The amazing thing is that they not only have the same boat as me, which was built only days after mine, but they are also friends of Allen and Lorraine who I bought my boat from.  They have given me some tips and good advice regarding the boat

I may stay here for another week before I start my trip north.  When I do start heading north, I want to stop at Ft Myers to get my car out of storage again so that I can drive to one or two of the locks through which I will be passing as I cross the state on the Okeechobee Waterway.  I've never been through a lock before and they all have a certain procedure that I want to familiarize myself with before I pass through one for the first time.  The first of the locks at Franklin is only a short drive from Ft Myers.  Although I've been looking forward to the start of the trip, I'm also in no hurry to leave the area since I've enjoyed Southwest Florida very much and will want to return again soon.

April 20, 2003 - Ft Myers Beach, FL

Did you know that pelicans sometimes fly kites? I had no idea, but this morning after filling my water tanks and rowing over to Salty Sam's Marina to buy some diesel fuel, I saw a pelican in the water with something attached to his wing.  At first I thought it was a fishing line, but as I rowed closer I saw that it was a kite string and spool and about 200 ft above there was the kite.  The pelican was actually doing a pretty good job of keeping the kite up. He would flap his wings and the kite would dive and climb.  However, the pelican didn't look like he was having a good time with his newly acquired hobby, so I thought that I should liberate him.  As I rowed closer to the pelican he began flapping furiously trying to get away from me, while above him, several pelican circled wondering what was going on.  About 20 feet away a couple on a British boat were watching intently so I asked them if it happened to be their kite that the pelican was now flying.  The British guy replied, "No, and it's not my Pelican either".

I finally got hold of the kite string and pulled the pelican toward me.  At that point he stopped resisting and waited patiently as I took out my knife and cut the string.  The moment he was free he flew quickly away soaking me as he flapped his wings.  Ungrateful pelican I thought, but the next morning when got into my dinghy I found several small fish lying on the seat...