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!!