There is a tram (trailer with seats pulled by pickup truck) that you can ride, but we opted for the walk. We had run aground for the first time earlier in the day, toward the edge of, but still in, the channel. We were going at cruising speed, so could not motor off. A nice man with his son in a 20' fishing boat pulled us off. We are appreciating our well protected prop and shallow 3' draft more and more as we hear about (and experience) the "skinny water" of Florida. Pelican Bay, the huge anchorage at Cayo Costa, had some shallow water as well, and we touched bottom once as we felt our way into the anchorage. Cayo Costa is a beautiful park with hiking trails, campgrounds and beach. It's just north of well known islands Captiva and Sanibel, but is only accessible by water. A ferry brings folks out from Fort Meyers to hunt shells, hike and camp.
Except for the one day of rain, we had enjoyed good weather during this entire cruising stretch, but that changed the following morning and we had a chilly, windy run into Fort Myers. Right off the intercoastal, we saw this private party island. Tiny, yet had all they needed.
The intercoastal waterway ends at Fort Myers where we turned up the Caloosahatchee River, which is part of the Okeechobee Waterway. Some loopers take this shortcut to the east (Atlantic) coast of Florida, but most seem to take the longer route through the Keys. We went 17 miles up the Caloosahatchee to Legacy Harbour Marina (http://www.legacyharbourmarina.com/) to meet fellow Minnesota/Mississippi River boaters Kay and Bob who cruise Loriel down here every other year in the fall and then back up in the spring. They are not loopers, but call themselves yoyos. They've chosen a great winter home at Legacy Marina, with huge floating concrete docks, 2 blocks from downtown, 2 blocks from Publix and all the other amenities that we've learned to appreciate so much. Here's the marina as we approached.
Although it's right on the main river channel, it's a "minimum wake" zone and has a large floating breakwater. Lots of beautiful, well maintained boats are here occupied by yoyos, loopers, snowbirds, and every other sort of adventurous cruiser. Some boaters here have one boat here and another up in the Great Lakes for the summer !!
Bob and Kay had not yet returned from their Christmas in Minnesota, so we were welcomed by their cruising pals Clark and Libby, who yoyo Kindred Spirit from Lake Michigan. We are docked right by them both, right behind the floating breakwater. We've got a long walk to the laundry and showers, but a great view of the river and the sunsets. We've been on a whirlwind schedule since we arrived, including nightly social hours, shopping (we bought a TV !!!), and dinner with Ray and Delila (Sundancer, the converted shrimp boat) who we had met at Port St. Joe.
We spent a morning at the Winter Estates of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, who were best friends and neighbors. It's a great tour of the restored homes and remarkable gardens and trees. Mr. Edison spent his later years trying to find a better plant from which to extract rubber and had a laboratory on the grounds as well. This banyan tree was only 4 feet high when planted and is now the largest in the continental US covering almost an acre of ground. It's all the same tree !!!
Yesterday, Kay and Bob took us to Manatee Park, where the warm waters from the nearby power plant attract the manatees. There were at least a hundred of them clustered here and even more people clustered on the railings along the shore oohing and awing whenever one would raise their nose to breath.
They are very camera shy, so you'll have to take our word for it that it was very cool to see them and that every little bump in the photo below is indeed an actual manatee.
Last night we strolled downtown to have dinner at the French Connection. Bob and Kay at the wall, then Clark and Libby, then Steve and me. They've been fabulous "harbor hosts" and we've really enjoyed sharing tales of the rivers and the high seas.
As always seems to be the case, the cold weather has caught up with us again, so our plans are to head south in a couple of days. Our next big destination is Marathon; it's about midway down the Keys and has the best natural harbor in the Keys, filled with winter cruisers and reputed to be lots of fun. After much deliberation (and budget planning), we found a marina there with a slip available and reserved it for a month starting January 27. Here's the website of where we will be if you want to take a look. http://www.keysmarinamarathon.com/ We have a few weeks of travel time to get there, so Steve is busy planning the routes and the stops along the way. Kay has just brought us the keys to their car and we're off to Walmart for provisioning.
6 comments:
Enjoyed your latest post. Love the pictures. The banyon tree really turned out well. Will have to try that.
Whew! We thought:
A) You were aground on deserted stretch of the ICW.
B) Steve had fallen over using the new landing net.
C) Liz had taken a job as a bilge- rat in an upscale Tampa Bay marina.
D) You got drunk at Wayne and Dolly's and were still recovering.
E) You abandoned the boat and were coming back home because you missed deep snow and -30 windchills.
Happy to hear it's none of the above. But eight days is too long between updates.
I'm curious about your route to Key West. Do most loopers cross over to the Atlantic side? Isn't it a straight shot south from Ft Meyers? Please advise. . .
Ten below here this morning. For fun this afternoon we're going to take turns spreading salt and chipping ice on the back steps. Hope your afternoon is as exciting.
John, the 8 days was worth it to read your speculations on why. I think most loopers going to the keys go down on the gulf side and take a couple of days, but some do a straight shot. you always have to consider distance needed to travel, speed of boat, and hours of daylight. we will be back out in the gulf, but not at night this time. stay tuned for details.
finally figured out the easiest way to post a comment, especially if you don't have a google account. at Choose an Identity, click on Name/URL and type whatever name you want to use to post the comment in the space (no URL needed). fill in the word verification and hit Publish.
I agree with John on the 8 day thing....and it's nice to know I don't have to pilfer Jeff's gmail account to post..LOL Loved the banyon tree story - amazing!
Kathy Condon
really enjoy your blog keep on telling us about adventure and good job with the pictures
Post a Comment