5 December 2014

We quietly slid out of our slip at 6:40 AM. Just enough light to see the markers to get out into the Gulf. We are doing 70 miles today and I wanted to make sure that we got to see Captiva and Sanibel in good light.

The area around Captiva and Sanibel is the setting for a number of the “Doc Ford” book series by Randy Wayne White. I’ve been a fan of them for years and wanted to see what the area looked like.

The weather helped today, there was a light wind from the east and the Gulf was pretty flat. We were able to go about 9.1 kts (about 10.5 land miles) per hour. Not many crab pots, far fewer than the ride into Dunedin was. Not many dolphins out in the Gulf either. All of that means it was a pretty boring ride for about 7 hours.

Around 1PM we made the turn into Boca Grande Pass, the entrance to both Pine Island Sound and Charlotte Harbor. Punta Gorda FL is to the north. It’s supposed to be very pretty. We will rent a car and come up to see it. The crew of the Mara Beel will be there across the winter, we’ll try to see them.

We turned south into Pine Island Sound. The sound is bounded by Pine Island to the east and the four barrier islands Cayo Costa, the Captiva’s and Sanibel. The sound is dotted with a number of small islands. The water in channel was 10′ deep enough for us. If we wanted to go to any of the islands we would need a flat bottom skiff, the water depths are only a few feet. This would be a perfect area for my Adventurecraft.

About ½ across the sound it started to rain. The forecast for the last few days and the next few is 10% chance of rain. Since the forecast comes out of Miami, it covers a huge area. So the 10% means “about 10% of the area will see rain today”. To the west and south there were clear blue skies, so I knew the rain wouldn’t last long.

During the transit we met a number of pods of dolphins, sometimes a lone adult, but on two different occasions the pod was 4-5 and there was a baby in the group. Susan got lots of pictures and once we get some more wi-fi (and time) she will get them uploaded.

The Sound is very pretty, I can see why people want to live down here. It does not freeze this far south, so it’s a good place to be if you are done with snow and ice.

From Pine Island we moved into the San Carlos Bay. Sanibel Island is hook shaped, it’s around the bay. This means very calm waters.

About 2:30 PM we nosed into the canal that lead to the marina. It’s tucked behind a row of townhouses on a canal. Lots and lots of really big boats.

We did the basic boat thing of getting pumped out and 220 gallons of fuel. Due to problems with the pump(s) we were not done until 4PM. So much for arriving early and seeing the town.

An old family friend of Susan’s stopped by to visit. After getting the 7 cent tour (inflation) we hopped in their car and drove through Sanibel. Tonight was their festival of lights, so everyone had their houses / businesses lighted. There was miles and miles of luminaries lining the sidewalks. It was very pretty, and helped remind us that it’s just 3 weeks until Christmas. But it was a little weird that everyone walking around had shorts on.

We went to “Doc Ford’s” restaurant. It’s a small chain that was opened by the author of the “Doc Ford” books and some friends. It’s also a Rum Bar, they have lots and lots of different kinds of rums, and about a billion rum drinks they can make. I stuck to the basics, I had the Doc Ford Ale and the Circus Time IPA. Both are local brews, and both were pretty good.

Food was very nice. Susan had the grouper dinner, I had the ribs and smashed potatoes. The ribs were falling off the bone, very nice. Our friends had two different shrimp dishes and raved how good they were.

Our friends are Gold Loopers, they traveled aboard their Mainship Trawler, the Tony M and completed the loop in 2011. Most of the dinner conversation was about the loop and things that we should see and do in Florida. We all agreed that we’ve missed lots by making these huge jumps down the Florida coast. They did think that our plan of renting a car and coming back was a good one, we wouldn’t need to worry about the January weather.

Of course I purchased a “Doc Ford” tshirt on the way out!

We got back to the boat and crashed, it had been a long day for us. Only three more travel days to our long term slip!

Happy Birthday Tom!!!