On to Naples...and then Marathon in the Keys!! Jan 18-28 So nice!......

Time got away again as we have been so busy in Naples! But here is an update.
Well, our planned departure to Naples was indeed delayed by big winds and waves.  So Monday (Jan 18) we rented a car and drove to Fort Pierce to visit Tom's mom and sister Deb who is staying with her for a few weeks.  It was a little over a 3 hour drive and once we arrived we took Mom to her hair appointment and then to dinner.  We ate at the Citrus Grillhouse in Vero Beach overlooking the ocean.  Wow, what a great find,  the food was truly awesome.  I ordered a dessert and the server said "I'll bring four forks".  My sister and mom said don't bother.  But how many forks were used?  Yes three were used!!  The server knew how good it was!
After dinner we played some cards, skyped with Sarah (on Mom's new Kindle!!) and generally caught up on things.  Mom is really pleased that all my siblings will be staying with her in "back to back" time frames so she can spend a good portion of winter in Florida.  Thanks Deb, Pam, Betty and Larry for doing this!

 

We had a great 24 hour visit with Mom but had to leave to get the car back before 5 PM as we needed to leave first thing Wed for Naples to make a dinner with SpartanNash executives who have winter homes in the Naples area.  Given the tide situation we could not wait for high tide to leave so that meant we could not use Big Carlos pass and instead had to traverse the entire island and enter the gulf via Matanzas pass on the N end of the island.  It was really skinny water traversing the channel at a little after low tide and we bumped something but had no damage.  Planning for travel is certainly complicated by tides, weather and length of day!  But proper planning gets one through it.
The ride to Naples was really nice and we arrived about 2 PM.  We got fuel and with the stay at Naples Boat Club, paying by check and buying over 200 gallons got a 30 cent per gallon discount... so got fuel for $1.96 per gallon, cheapest yet and who would have thought that was possible in Naples! Note the pelican making himself at home on the bow rail as I fuel.

We were the smallest boat in the marina and the private aircraft constantly flew over!  We

 

are the second from the left here:

Moon over Naples from our aft deck. I guess these large boats should have been named "Moonblocker"

After washing the salt off the boat we dressed for dinner and walked over to Truluck's....wow, another fantastic restaurant.  And a big surprise to boot.  The CEO had set up the dinner with spouses and we thought we would be joined by the Chairman and his spouse.  But once arriving the table was set for 12. Other SpartanNash executives enroute to a trade show and the recently retired chief legal officer and spouses also joined us!  What a surprise!  It was certainly great to see them all.  I have said I miss the people at work, but not the deadlines.  And it was certainly great to see these folks!  Thanks to all of the SpartanNash team for spending some time with an old retiree like me!!

  

On Thursday old friends from my Bil Mar Foods / Sara Lee days picked us up for lunch.  I worked with both Mike and Glen in the 80's and 90's and it was great to spend time catching up and reminiscing. Mike has a year round home and Glen winters in the area.
After lunch Julie and I took a long walk down 5th Ave doing a little window shopping and generally checking out Naples.  It is certainly a "rich and famous" kind of place.  Everything is top notch.  We walked out to the beach and then south to the public pier.  Walked out on the pier and then back to the boat for a nice dinner aboard.  On Friday, Craig and Mary Ann took us on a tour of Naples.  It was a rainy day but they gave us a great tour of some unbelievable real estate and a great feel for the area.  They also showed us their home which is quite modest for the area but a beautiful place that is truly the perfect spot for them.  They also took us to a fantastic lunch near Bonita Springs at Coconut Jack's.  Thanks so much for the wonderful hospitality Craig and Mary Ann!!
Later in the day our friends Bill and Carol from Spring Lake joined us aboard for a couple days.   worked with Bill in the old BilMar/ Sara Lee days as well. They are wintering in the Orlando area and took the long drive down to Naples. We had a wonderful lobster dinner at the Wharf Tavern right at our marina. 

We then played some cards and Julie wanted everyone to know the ladies.....wait for it....lost to the men this time.  We could also fast forward to Sat night's game with the same result but I guess I can leave that our for now.

 Cooking breakfast on Saturday.

 

Including a Mickey Mouse blueberry pancake for Bill!!

Sat Bill and Carol graciously drove us around to run some errands.  We went out to the beach....it was 50 MPH winds and COLD.  The pier was closed by the authorities...reminds us of Grand Haven waves.

We also went to the other shopping area in Naples and had a great lunch which included live music.  So here are the dancers doing their thing at lunch hour.

 

 At the Tommy Bahama Restaurant...too long of a wait though.....went across the street

 

 

Sat night we used the brand new Weber grill (that is for you Ben and Jane) at the clubhouse and grilled some great pork chops and had dinner aboard.  Then cards again as noted above.

It was so great to catch up with Bill and Carol.  Thanks so much for coming to visit us! 
On Sunday we were invited to the clubhouse to watch the games on the big screen there with Tim and Carol from Liquid Assets.  We plan to leave with them for Marathon first light Monday.  They came to the boat club on Wed too and we had not seen them since Demopolis on the river system.
While the guys watched football the ladies enjoyed some sun at the pool.

In the clubhouse.  Nice place.

 

Our friends Wally and Marilyn also have a home in Naples and came to visit late Sunday afternoon. It was so good to catch up with them too!  Thanks for taking the time to come and see us Wally and Marilyn!  Sorry we ran out of time to come to see your place here...maybe next year. We'll be back!
Monday we departed at 7 AM for Marathon, an almost 110 mile trip.  Just before leaving the slip:

Sunrise as we leave.

Some of the real estate leaving Naples along the the Gordon River

 

The waters are shallow the entire way so all we did was dodge crab pots!  Zoom in and you will see a few...

And a video of "slaloming" through them

 https://youtu.be/sB1BK560kGI

 

Smooth morning ride.

 

The following  seas kicked up as we were a couple hours into the trip so we kicked up the RPM's to travel about 17 MPH.  Burned more fuel but certainly made the trip a lot shorter time wise.  The fly bridge was a real help to see all the crab pots.  They were everywhere!  Tried to go deeper, shallower, etc but in the end all we could do was look out and navigate through them.  Fortunately we hit none.

Nice smooth water....with Liquid Assets following.

 

 

Arrival in Marathon was a bit disorganized as a number of boats descended on Faro Blanco Marina at the same time.

We were first assigned a bow in port tie but the finger pier was too short to get off the boat.  And we don't like to stern in starboard side as then we cannot launch our dinghy. So we are now in a stern in port tie 80' slip, overkill but a nice spot overlooking the gulf.  North winds are going to provide us a bumpy stay but all other wind directions should be well protected.  Keep those winds up North OK?  The view from our slip...looking north.

 

 

There is going to be a "go fast" boat poker run at the marina this weekend so it is sold out.  We will definitely hear some engines running!  And Tim on Liquid Assets has a friend coming with his performance boat so he says we are going for a 75MPH ride out on the gulf with him.  I hope they make all the crab fishermen move their pots!
Tuesday was a work day, washing the salt off the boat and cleaning and oiling the teak chairs.  We also rode the bikes to Publix, about 2 miles each way to get some groceries and start to explore the area.  We then went to dinner with Bob and Liz (Knot Sew Easy) from Grand Haven and Tim and Carol (Liquid Assets) to Porky's and Seven Mile Grill.  There are lots of places to eat within walking distance!
Wed we did more exploring of the area, doing over 10 miles on the bicycles.  I think we are really going to enjoy our month here!  Tonight we are going to dinner with Rod and Julie from Tuscobia.  We last saw them at Saunder's Yachtworks back in November in Gulf Shores.  It will be great to catch up with them too!
We look forward to more visitors starting on Sunday for a few days.  The McKennas and Kenyons, our good friends and supper club aficionados will be here on Sunday.  We have a number of tiki bars and restaurants within walking distance scoped out, so c'mon down!!  And Mary Beth, one has an over abundance of pelicans for you!
Thanks for following our blog.

Still in Fort Myers Beach...Lots of Severe Weather...Nice to be Tied Securely to Dock!!

Our good friends Tim and Pat picked us up on Sunday and drove us around the area on a tour.  The severe weather on Sat night was evident in the tree branches down and water over sidewalks, etc.  We actually had two tornado warnings for our area that night and one did hit Cape Coral not too far north of here.  Not a lot of traffic on a cool and gray Sunday though.  We went to their condo on Bonita Beach, had a great beach walk and had some great grilled steaks and a wonderful bottle of wine from Spain that Julie had saved for a special occasion.  In fact, the wine originally came as a gift from Tim and Pat so what a better time to use as they are going to be grandparents in a few months!!  And we combined that with a belated birthday celebration for Tom's 60th.  Thanks so much for the great hospitality Tim and Pat!
The view from their condo:

On Monday the weather turned nice with low humidity and not a lot of sun.  And with Julie down with a cold, what better time than to do the teak maintenance....which means varnishing 5 coats plus a top coat of gloss varnish given we have a few spots pretty bare from sun exposure already.  So Tom spent a good part of the next three days sanding and applying varnish in perfect weather to do so.  Got the 5 undercoats on the cap rail and 3 of 5 coats on the transom before the weather turned to rainy again.  Will complete those two coats on the transom and then a finish top coat of clear gloss varnish to all once we arrive in Marathon and have some time.  I do remember why my original boat requirements included no exterior wood....but it does look pretty cool if one keeps up on it! Note how calm it was and the lack of bright sunshine.  Perfect varnishing weather.

On Wed night, Tim and Pat came and picked us up for dinner at the Watermark Grille in Naples.  Nice place!  Very busy so Tim and I dropped off the ladies and went to find a parking spot.  There was a lot a little behind the restaurant that looked good.  But when done with dinner they had closed the entry gate!!  OK now what?  Well the Honda van isn't too wide for a sidewalk so that was the exit strategy!  It has been dubbed the "sidewalk maneuver" by Tim....
Jordan arrived on schedule Thursday night.  What a great visit we had!  He got to take his Mom to the doctor, reversing roles!  Julie had slipped on our interior stairs (don't wear socks and walk around on wood floors) back in Apalachicola over a month ago and injured her foot.  She was still having pain so we researched the Blue Cross website and found an orthopedic doctor.  They had an opening on Friday so we thought great, Jordan will have a car!  So Jordan and I went out to breakfast while Julie went to doctor.  Great news, the X ray did not reveal any significant issue, just a tendon strain and inflammation that will heal with time.  We are thankful for that.
Given Friday was another rainy day, we went to see Revenant.  Great acting for sure and we all enjoyed it.  While we were in the theatre, phones were a buzzing all around.  Yet another tornado warning!  When we got out there was again a lot of storm damage, including limbs down and canvas torn on some boats in our marina (Sum Escape was unscathed thankfully). the weather turned nice enough to go to the Edison and Ford estates in Fort Myers while we were there for doctor and movie.  Very interesting tour although the homes were not open due to the weather.  The number of inventions that Edison came up with and the friendship of Edison, Ford and also Firestone was very interesting.  Did you know that the Edison phonograph actually played records at 80 RPM instead of the standard 78 so they had some competitive differentiation?  It was a very interesting museum. The lab:

On Friday night we took the dinghy about 5 miles to the other end of the island to Doc Fords restaurant.  A nice trip and good food as well as a band.  Fun little excursion.  On the way there we found this storm damage at our marina.  You probably can't see it well but the hardtop is crushed and a post is breaking through the bottom.  Ouch.

The trip to Doc Ford's with Jordan as chief navigator:

Lucky I used the Navionics app on my phone so we could find our way home by following our track:

 

On Saturday we woke up to a wonderful day.  75 degrees, little wind and bright sun.  So we loaded into the dinghy and went to Lover's Key State Park to walk the beach.  Had a great hour walk, then dinghyed down to Big Hickory Grille and Marina in Bonita for lunch.  Very nice spot and good food too.

Sat night we took the trolley into the heart of FMB and went to dinner at SOB (Smokin Oyster Brewery).  Keith and Mary had recommended it and all the people waiting outside for a table said it was the best food in town.  After dining there we agree!   It was the best we had here for sure!  If you are in this port, definitely worth going here!
Sunset from the trolley:

At SOB

 

During the early morning hours of Sunday our phones were again alerting us to yet another severe thunderstorm warning. It again rained hard and was extremely windy but we are no worse for the wear today.  A very windy day here and forecasted to be windy for a couple more days so it looks like our departure for Naples will be delayed till at least Wed. 
Thanks for following us.

On to Cayo Costa and Fort Myers Beach

Our last days in Sarasota included a couple cold and rainy days.  No complaints though, it was back in the 70's quickly!!  It was nice for some long walks and inside maintenance.  We also fired up the Amazon Prime videos for the first time on the Loop.  Marina Jack has a great wifi so it streamed perfectly.  We spent 17 days at Marina Jack and they were all great!

We also had a visit from our good Looper friends Jim and Kathy.  We first met them in Door County Wisconsin in the summer of 2012 before we even had our Looper boat.  We dinghyed over to meet them after seeing their AGLCA burgee and the rest in history...we have boated with them since, having last navigated the Illinois, Ohio, Mississippi and Tennessee rivers with them! They stopped on their way through Sarasota on New Years Eve day and we had a wonderful lunch catching up with them.  We are hoping our boating paths cross again soon but if not, we are sure we will visit with them again in our travels on land and sea.
On Monday our friends from Hudsonville, Amy and Larry joined us for cocktails and dinner.  They had been in town for a wedding and were staying a couple extra days.  We went to Two Senoritas and had a wonderful Mexican meal.  They also joined us for a quick euchre match...girls and against guys.  Julie said I had to post the results...yes the ladies won 2-1.

We also had a new water heater installed on Tuesday and had cocktails with Larry and Karen who were visiting Sarasota and had lots of questions about the Loop.  Larry was from Coopersville so he noticed our W Michigan port name on Sum Escape and stopped to say hello.  Larry and Karen, the last thing we will say is get that boat and do it!!  And thanks for the drink!
Tuesday evening we had dinner with Lois and Ken (Camelot) who we had met months earlier in the river system.  We last saw them in Grand Harbor at the start of the Tenn-Tom waterway.  Ken's daughter Danielle was also aboard and joined us.  It was great seeing you all again!!
So on Wed, my birthday (yes I know the big 60) we left the big boats of Marina Jack bound for Cayo Costa and an anchorage known as South Punta Blanco near the state park docks.

We travelled with Camelot...they were going just a bit further to Cabbage Key for a dock for the night. On the way we encountered a swing bridge being replaced with limited opening schedule.  due to both of our air draft, we needed both swing bridges to open.  We got there 45 mins early (or 15 mins late) for the hourly opening....and then they took another 12 minutes to actually get them both open for us.  Haven't had bridge or lock delays for a while!  Following Camelot through the swing bridges.

Along the way we passed this McGregor 26.  We met these folks at Marina Jack and they are from Idaho, having trailered their boat to cruise the South.  See Denise and Dave you can do the Loop too!!

 

To get there we actually went around Punta  Blanco island and entered from the south.  It is a small "snailshell" type anchorage.  Wow!!!   Ospreys, pelicans (both white and common variety), egret, heron and most interesting, the dolphins who came into the cove to feed a couple times while we were there for three nights.  What a wonderful natural spot.  No homes or lights, just stars and wildlife.  A larger scale perspective of our anchorage general location. (remember to click on the pic to zoom in)

The spot on the map below is us on out iPad navigation app.

 

Heading into the anchorage.

 

Dolphin feeding near our boat..... 

 

My birthday dinner aboard!  Great steaks with the love of my life! 

 And thanks for all the Facebook birthday wishes...a little secret.  I don't do FB.  I only registered so I could buy tickets to my class reunion last year!  But Julie showed them all to me and I appreciate every one of them!  Thanks!

 

Checking out the wildlife in our anchorage.

 

 

We dinghyed over to the state park and walked the beach...not all of it as it is 9 miles long!  We did a little over three miles though and it is a beautiful beach.  Not a Siesta Key white sand but lots of shells and a little courser sand.  Quite a few people were camping at the state park (tents) and ferries shuttle folks to the park, so there were actually quite a few people at the beach.  The island is accessible only by boat.  Stole this image from the internet but it is this nice.

Our pictures here:  A heron on the beach....

 

We thought of the "real" Sarah and Brett when we saw this sign!!!

The trail back to our dinghy from the beach.

The way back to the boat....not where the "masses" anchored here...over in our little cove!

 

We also dinghyed over to Cabbage Key and walked the nature trail and explored the Key a bit.  Camelot had stayed there on Wed so we wanted to see it.  A number of turtles were out sunning themselves and the nature trail was well marked pointing out various trees and wildlife present.  Fun little hike.

 It was great coming in to our anchorage on high tide (we saw nothing less than 5 feet) but we left on Sat morning at just after low tide.  Never bumped bottom but had 3.5 foot readings (which means 4.5 feet under the water line and we have a 4 foot draft).  We highly recommend this anchorage if you are looking for a nice natural spot.  Only saw a few sight seers and fishermen.  But lots of wildlife!  Cool!  For those wanting to try the anchorage there is plenty of water once in, just watch the shallow area on the way in.  High tide recommended.

Leaving the anchorage...anchor is that way!

 

 So after spending Wed through Friday nights we departed around 9:30 AM for Fort Myers Beach (Fish Tale Marina).  We had a nice ride partway up the Caloosahatchee river...not on purpose but I was so focused on navigating in the fog banks that kept popping up from time to time that I missed the turn south toward Estero Island. 

So we  doubled back and took the A span route under the Sanibel Causeway instead of the B span as intended.  We also had an unpleasant waking by a large Carver. He had passed us earlier and we had enough channel to "bow into" his large wake.  But later we were going into a narrow channel of the intercoastal and he was just hovering outside the fog bank.  We were running radar, etc and just proceeded into the channel and he followed us through the thick fog.  As soon as the fog cleared he blew past us with a huge wake.  Our heavy teak table tipped over, stuff was thrown about the cabin, etc.  This is precisely why many say to take a slip on the weekends and enjoy a marina and the city you are visiting. Jerk...that's all I'll say.

 

 

We arrived at Fish Tale through Big Carlos pass on the southern end of Estero Island to avoid all the no wake zone coming in from the north as our marina is on the south end.  The water was a bit skinny even at high tide, we saw some 4 foot readings, but we did not have a problem.  Coming in Big Carlos Pass under the bridge to Estero Island.

Nice marina, but pricy.  Thanks so much for the recommendation Keith!
We got here around 3:30 and washed the salt off the boat before showering for dinner.  We ate at a local Mexican restaurant right by the marina (Sykes).  Very good food and good cold Modelo on tap.  We got to the restaurant and were eating dinner when a tornado warning was issued for the area.  It went north (mostly) but a few other large storms with lightning and heavy winds and rain came through for the next couple hours.  It is nights like these we thank God that he provided us the wisdom to be tied securely to a dock and not anchored out! 

 

We will stay here and visit our friends Tim and Pat who have a condo rented in Bonita Springs. They have been coming to this area for many years and we look forward to seeing them.
We also hope to see a few other folks who reside or vacation in this area while we are here.

 

Jordan is coming on Thursday night for a few days too!  It  will be great to have him aboard for a few days.  We have the dinghy launched and ready to head out exploring the area for his visit!!