Saturday, March 12, 2016 – Ft. Myers Yacht Basin to Ft. Myers Beach Mooring Field

We departed, bright and early at 0659 and proceeded west.  Numerous dolphins were sighted, Colletta was constantly checking the bow for dolphin, one was a baby.  At 0841, we arrived at green marker 101 which is the beginning of the “Miserable mile”.  We were spared that experience by turning south.  As we made our approach, we called the Matanzas Inn who manages the mooring field.  Even though we were told none were available, we decided to take a look ourselves.  At the very end of the west mooring field, ball number 35 sat lonely in the distance.  We grabbed it!  Colletta did a great job of hooking the pennant on the mooring ball, attaching both lines thru the loop and getting them secured on the boat.  Once again the Good Lord has taken care of us.  We notified the office that we secured a ball and they said we could stay.  $16 a night or $91 a week which included use of the dingy dock and showers.  Shrimp fest is today and spring break has also started so there is a lot to look at so we walked around and checked out the scene.  We walked the beach to find the Diamondhead hotel – where Tom’s sister and family will be staying for a week.  Our next objective was to find a dinghy dock closer to that part of the island.  We found a small marina – Island Bay Marina – which would allow us to tie up there.  It is as close as we can get which makes for an easy walk to the hotel and back to the dinghy.

View from mooring ball # 35 looking west

One of our neighbors a pirate ship that took out wanna-be- pirates daily

This is the view of the mooring field from Jody and Tim's hotel. Greek's Folly is right behind the trees in the center of the picture

A few appetizers down by the pool

 

Sunday, March 13 to Friday, March 18, 2016 – Ft Myers Beach Mooring Field

In the morning we dinghied in, tied to the very crowded dinghy dock with a long painter, and headed to the beach.  We spent the day at the beach at the Lanai Kai with the Risslers.  Colletta’s friend Carol came up from Bonita Beach to spend some time in the sun with us.  We also caught the beach show of the Cincinnati Firemen.  They do daily performances as a fund raiser for Shriner Hospital. In the afternoon we walked the beach to the Diamondhead, found sister Jody and Tim at the pool.  Spent the rest of the day with them catching up, having dinner and enjoying the sunset. 

Many of the rest of our days here on the mooring ball consisted of the same activities.  We arose in the morning slowly and confortable, took care of our boat responsibilities (charged the batteries by running the generator, checking and running the engines, cleaning ) and then dinghied into town.  We spent time with Jody, Tim and daughter Katie who arrived with the Disney on Ice” Frozen” cast.  Kate is performing at the Germaine center this week and we will be attending a show,. We enjoyed the beach, pool, and beers with them and of course dinners at Fresh Market Bistro and Doc Fords.  Enjoyed drinks and music at Windham hotel.  Met up with Dave and Sue Schau and Steve Hankins.

Tim and I hit a few pubs on St. Patrick's Day while the girls were out
watching Kate skate



Just a few friends enjoying the day,




 

Kate at the weekly class before skating in a new venue

Kate and her Julie (who is young Anna in the show)

Kate warming up

 

Jason and his boys(Wyatt and Colton) with Kate after the show

Kate is the 4th from the left. A tall butterfly.

 

 

Saturday, March 19th to Monday, 21st – Moss Marina, Ft. Myers Beach



Moved from the mooring field to Moss Marina because it was more assessable for Jody’s family and Sommers.  It was a nice marina, altho had some difficulty docking due to current.  The second time was the charm – headed straight in.  Joined Dave, Sue and Steve again the next day for a boat ride – on a fast boat – and lunch in Cape Coral.  Cousin Wally and Deb Sommer joined us on this little journey.  We made it back to Moss Marina right before the rain started.  We remained dry but the others got drenched.  On Sunday, after a bike ride to church, Jody and Tim visited us in the marina.  We walked around Bowditch Park looking for gopher tortoises and did some shelling.  The evening was spent in family time (including Jason and grandsons Colton and Wyatt) as 10 of us enjoyed Aurelio’s pizza before enjoying the Disney performance of Frozen on Ice – starring Kate Gibson.  Monday was spent bike riding to visit Steve, having lunch, found a hardware store, visited Dave on his boat and then resting after biking back 6 miles into a head wind.  Bonita Bills completed our evening as it was “open mic” night and the bar was packed with local musicians, local color and cheap beer.  After an evening like that, the mile walk back over the bridge was a pleasant stroll.

Wally and Deb on Dave and Sue Schaus' boat. Going faster then any
sailboater ever!!

Bonita Bill's for open mike night. Great music.

 

 

Tuesday 22, and 23^rd – Sanibel Marina

Greeks Folly left Moss Marina headed to Sanibel Island. Foolishly, we did not check with the marina about availability and unfortunately the slip was not vacant yet so we anchored out off of Picnic Island for 2 hours and waited.  When we arrived, we discovered we were moored next to the Sanibel Thriller – a go-fast power catamaran for sightseeing and fast rides.  The marina was scenic but small.  The bathrooms and showers were shared with the local restaurant, Grandma Dots.  This necessitated taking showers early or late while the restaurant was still closed.  We contacted LMYC fellow members Larry and Karen Salzwedel and they came for a visit, drove us to their beautiful home in Cape Coral and had dinner with them at a local spot, Chicago Pizza.  Here we had the best pizza to be found in Florida – so far.  It was even ½ price pizza night – such a deal.  Returned to boat with leftover pizza so savor for the next few days.  Shells took up some of our time while on the island – an early morning beach search and a visit to the Shell Museum.  Bikes were essential as we rode thru town, received free ice cream and explored. This is a nice island, picturesque marina and nice bike paths.

The  Bailey- Matthews National Shell Museum on Sanibel

Shell poster at the Musuem



Sanibel  sMarina, very quaint on a beautiful island

A sand sculpture on the beach

Searching for that perfect shell.

The Sanibel Lighthouse

This guy adopted our railing for his afternoon perch

OK, you didn't think we would pass up a D.Q. did you?

Beautiful sun rise on the island collecting shells

None the worse

 

Thursday 24 and 25 – Cayo Costa State Park

The state park is a 25 mile ride north of Cabbage Cay.  We turned at nav marker #72and headed into the bay and dropped anchor.  We relaxed, enjoyed the view and parade of boats coming into the anchorage.  Unlike our last visit in January of 2015, this time there were over 30 boats anchored here.  A squall wind went thru about 4am, spun us around and made for 45 minutes of excitement. They are high intensity occurrences but do not last long.   Glad no one’s anchor broke loose.  Took the dinghy to the island the next day.  Walked the beach and did shelling and enjoyed the natural beauty of the island.  It is like old Florida use to be. 

Saturday 26 and 27 – Burnt Store Marina

Up early and headed to the northeast into Charlotte Harbor about 10 miles to a new spot for us – Brunt Store Marina. ($1.75 a ft. with no electric charge and a nice heated pool). As we are tying the lines, Bob and Laurie Wiesemann arrived for a planned visit.  We sat and talked on the docks before enjoying lunch at Cass Cay restaurant on the marina grounds.  The grounds consist of 22 different communities, townhouses, condos and single family homes.  The marina has 525 slips.  Although the development is large it located in a very remote spot, somewhere between Punta Gorda and Cape Coral.   We had a wonderful afternoon catching up with Bab and Laurie and appreciate them making the long drive for the visit.  Tom then helped his new Friend Tex make a mockup of a fuel tank replacement.   Easter Sunday we attended a church about 8 miles from the marina.  We got there by using a local taxi service which worked out very well.  A pleasant surprise.  We enjoyed a leisurely day and then dinner with friends Tex and Maria on board Heaven Scent.  It was a different kind of Easter for us but definitely an enjoyable one.

Monday 28 -29, 2015 – Ft. Myers Anchorage

Left Burnt Store Marina followed by Heaven Scent heading south on the ICW.  Anchored behind Lofton Island in downtown Ft. Myers.  We all took a nap then we dinghied to Heaven Scent for cocktail hour.  The evening was comfortable on the back deck but a little muggy in the cabin.  The next day we did grocery shopping with the help of a car from John and Pam from Short Vacation and then met Dan and Terri for lunch.  Once again a squall came thru with 50 mph winds.  We were in town concerned about the anchor and the cat was on the boat and panicking.  After balling out 2 inches of water from the dinghy, Tom proceeded thru a 1 ½ ft. chop on the bay to check the boat, the anchor hold and the cat.  The boat was secure so Tom headed back to land and we met up with Colletta’s brother Gary and sister in law Cindy and their friends the Davis’s.  We enjoyed a few beers with them while catching up on the all-important family news from Illinois. We greatly enjoyed our time with them and appreciate them stopping by.

Wednesday 30-Friday April 1, 2016 – Crossing Lake Okeechobee to Ft. Pierce

Anchor was up at 0715, very muddy.  Met up with Short Vacation (John and Pam) and Sea Life (Robert and Kay) and proceeded eastward.  As the day progressed, we had discussions about our final destination for the day. It was decided that because of  possible high winds – again- today would be the longer day and we would travel to Clewison on the rim route which was on southern edge of Lake Okeechobee.  Tom was pleased because we had never been to Roland Martins marina in Clewiston and it was famous on the cruising web.  It did not fail to meet expectation.  Captain Sam the dock master was very knowledgeable and definitely in charge of his domain.  We were the last boat to tie up to a 700ft. face dock in a channel that was only 50 ft. wide.  He assured us he would help spin us around the following day to get us out of the marina.  We enjoyed docktails on Sealife then dinner at the Tiki hut, then to bed after a long day and a mosquito attack.   Up early, captain Sam, good to his word, helped us to turn around and we headed out. The group decided to do the rim route to see a different view of the lake and the trip.  The canal was wider than expected with much wildlife and interesting history.  At Point Chosen, there is a swing bridge that is manually opened and operated by one person.  He manually lowers the highway gates, rides his bike to the bridge, inserts a pole into the gear mechanism, and walks in a circle to rotate the bridge.  It was an amazing gear mechanism in that the bridge tender only walked a few times around but the bridge swung very quickly.  In this modern day world, sometimes the old fashion way still works best.  We past Pahokee and then took a cut thru the lake to Port Mayaca lock.  We had to lock thru with a 1 ½ ft. drop which was the first time in this lock in all our travels – we usually just drove right thru.  The ride was nice up the St Lucie river and viewed alligators and eagles.  Sealife and Short Vacation stopped at American Custom Yacht marina for the night but Greeks Folly proceed to Stuart and anchored up the North Fork of the river for the night.    Friday was a short travel day to get to Ft. Pierce.  Anchor up by 0800 and arrive in our slip at 1215.the

Roland and Mary martin's fish camp and Resort, Clewiston

The flood gate you exit from Clewiston to get back to Lake Okeechobee

This is the bridge tender at Point Chosen walking around and opening this swing
bridge. Amazing!

A job well done. He was concerned about all the vegetation in the
water we had to go thru. He gave us directions how to proceed thru
so as not to get our props and shafts fouled up.

Short Vacation hugging the wall per his directions and
safely making it thru

Some of the local residents catching a few rays

 

Greeks Folly will be in Ft Piece at the MTOA (Marina Trawlers Owners Association) Rendezvous for the next week.  Here we will meet up with old friends, met new ones and spend a lot of time talking about boats and travels and adventures.  There are workshops, guest speakers, sharing seminars as well as socials, happy hours, parties and a lot of food.  A good time is had by all.  Greeks Folly will then return to Jupiter to reprovision and complete minor repairs and updates.  In early May the adventure north will begin and the blog will continue.