Florida Keys or bust....

Wednesday, April 24th

Tim and I left KC (thanks Jeremy for the ride to the airport) and arrived in Fort Myers, FL by early evening. Thanks to Dave and Patt for a pickup and delivery to the boat (home on the water)! After supper at the marina, we settled in for the night. Much to do tomorrow, including leaving for southern water....


Dave and Patt

Joe, 'living the dream'.



Now bear in mind, Joe had been back at the boat since the 15th. After purchasing a round trip ticket when we all last departed FL, he determined that it would take a 'letter from the Dr.' to change his return flight without significant expense. So, he had a very leisurely week awaiting our return. Well, not too leisurely, as the boat was in tip top shape when we returned and clean as a whistle! One of the reasons....well, actually the ONLY reason we didn't come back when Joe did was because we were awaiting the arrival of our 2nd grandchild. God has blessed our family with a little brother for Jeremiah. Elisha Christopher Layden was born on April 22nd. He weighed in at a lofty 9lbs 2oz and measured 21 1/4" in length. All are doing well. Pam's mother is helping out for a couple of weeks and Aunt Jessica is coming up a little later to help out for a week. 



Jeremiah and sweet Elisha

Now, back to boating......

 

Thursday, April 25th

Dave and Patt came to get us bright and early for 1-breakfast, 2-another trip to West Marine and 3-a grocery store run.  All 3 steps completed in time for Dave's 11-ish tee time.  Thanks again to Dave and Patt for providing much needed support and great company during our stay in Punta Gorda/North Fort Myers!!  After returning to the boat and putting away all the supplies, I started a load of laundry (for some reason I had left a FULL hamper of dirty clothes (tmi?)), while the guys drove the boat over to the gas dock for a pump out and a fill up.  We got to visit one last time with our new 'buddy' Don Fortune.  His nametag says Don Fortunato. Who knew??  It's kind of funny. We all really enjoyed talking to Don and his co-workers couldn't understand all the fuss.  Don tells them that he was a "FBD"(Former Big Deal) in the KC area.  Whatever... WE had a great time talking to him!!




Joe, Don, Beth, Tim









After exchanging email addresses and saying our goodbyes, we pulled away from Burnt Store Marina a little after noon.  The waters were relatively calm heading into Charlotte harbor as we made our way up to Gasparilla Island, where we would head back south.  We saw a group of boats near shore. Some were anchored. Some were not. Some pleasure boats. Some fishing boats.  For those from Lake Perry, it sure beats our little Party Cove!  While heading back into the gulf waters, we saw a very large sea turtle.  The guys figured it's head was the size of an NFL football.  To date, we have seen 3 or 4 more, but they are very elusive and we've never been able to capture a picture.  We contined on to Sanibel Island where we intended to anchor for the night.  We had a beautiful sunset and a full moon and settled in for the night.  Now, bear in mind that the boat was positioned on the side of the island that would protect us from the NNE winds the NOAA 'weather people' predicted.  At about 23:49 (that's 11:49 p.m. for you civilians) waves started beating on the back of the boat...from the south...from the oppposite directed the weather 'experts' had predicted.  As a result, the boat was being pushed off anchor, towards land.  Tim and Joe jumped into action and quickly got us straightened out and underway.  We initially thought about heading to another side of land, but we would have had to travel approximately 6 miles south, a couple miles east and then another 5-6 miles back north to get behind protection.  Since we only travel about 7 mph we decided to go ahead and continue on south, as opposed to traveling several hours and getting nowhere.




Gasparilla (party cove)

Full moon at Sanibel Island



Friday, April 26
We ended up driving all night and finally anchored around 6:30 at Marco Island and got some sleep.  We anchored near shore, close to what appeared to be a white, sandy beach.  The guys got the dinghy out and Tim and I motored to shore.  Not a lot of sand, but did find some pretty nice shells to take back for the grandsons (LOVE the fact that that's plural now!!).   Had a fairly uneventful day, got plenty of rest, ate a little (we're all trying to lose weight..see picture above with Don :)), and went to bed.  When you're on a boat that is anchored out (no shore power), you have a tendency to go to bed when the sun goes down. 

Saturday, April 27
Arose with the sun (about 6:30ish), had morning coffee/diet coke and got underway.  On the tip of the island we saw these unusual, igloo-looking structures.  They turned out to be someone's private home. It is known as the 'dome home' and is located right on Romano beach, at the tip of Marco Island. It sustained severe damage in hurricane Wilma/2005 and has not been 'restored'. Photo courtesy of 'The Marco Times'.  From Marco Island we set a course to Key West.  20 miles later, we changed course, due to bad seas, and ended at Sandy Key.  If you look on a map, it's easy to miss it.  It's in a group of small islands, 85% of which are underwater at high tide.  Made for some tricky maneuvering and anchorage, but we've got the best Captain, so no worries!!  He even steers without a steering wheel (more on this later).  As the sun set, we got out the cards and our little battery operated lantern and played some Hearts.  Everyone was pretty tired though, so we retired after 3 hands. Tim was ahead....


Cape Romano's Dome Home



 

 

After wiping 2' of boat rail...salt anyone?
 

When hats are below...improvise

Sunday, April 28

After another calm night, we arose with the sun and headed for Marathon, FL.  Arrived a little after noon and had to determine whether to go 'outside' or 'inside' to Key west.  The difference is miles and days it takes. Outside is much shorter and much quicker.  Going out to the Gulf you cross under the famous Seven Mile Bridge.  In an effort to save time, we decided to attempt the outside path.  Forecast called for SSE winds at 10-15 knots with 3'-4' seas.  This time, they were right and "golly bob howdy vern" HANG ON!!  The deal is, once you're outside, you stay outside until the next cleared passage back in.  In this case it was 7 miles.  The seas were at our back, which is known as 'following' seas. In other words, the waves pushed you wherever they wanted to....up....down....left....right....high....low.  Tim piloted the entire way. Joe had a blast and I held on for dear life.  We reached the bridge (thank you God) and headed back inside.  Upon further review, we decided that the seas we were in were no more rough than ones we had experienced before.  The difference being the direction they came from.  It's pretty difficult to steer/control the boat while being pushed.  Somewhat similar to why airplanes take off and land INTO the wind. 

Seven Mile bridge

The path through the 'inside' is very narrow in many places.  Overall, the depth of the water surrounding the keys is amazingly shallow.  We saw many fishermen, some pleasure craft and 'millions' of crab pots.  Ever since reaching the Gulf, crab pots have been a part of life.  They do tend to break up the monotony at the helm, dodging left and right around them.  On our way to our evening stop we passed many areas where it looked like the water was neon blue/green.  The channel took us close to one such area only one time.  We decided that this phenomenon was a result of pure white sand/rock on the bottom, reflecting the blue sky.  We took several pictures, but they in no way accurately reflect just how beautiful it was/is.  That night we stayed at Jewfish creek.  It was pretty windy and we had quite a time setting the front anchor.  We were finally successful on the 3rd attempt.  But not before Tim noticed his bare feet getting dripped on.  Turns out that hydraulic fluid was dripping from the steering column. It only dripped when being used, so what do you do? You don't use it.  Not a big deal for Tim because he is very adept at steering with the transmissions and throttles. Joe and I just use Gary (the autopilot) and leave all the difficult situations to the Captain. :) After we were all settled in and supper was eaten, we played a few hands of Hearts and retired with the sunset, once again.

Our favorite! The crab pot!

The neon seas



Helm, minus steering wheel.

Monday, April 29

We awoke to a very beautiful red sky. This is not a good thing for those at sea, but it was awfully pretty.  As always, we monitored the weather and had plans to drop anchor, let out lots of line, and go below to allow any bad storms/lightning to pass.  As it turns out, we only got a little rain. Not enough to really worry about.  As we were leaving Jewfish Creek, a pair of dolphins swam right up on our port side, stayed along side and then took the lead out front.  One of them jumped/played about 50' in front of the boat.  It was like they were saying "good morning". Beautiful!  We love it when we see dolphins. Next time you see Tim, be sure to have him do his 'dolphin call' for you. We only had to go about 15 miles to reach Key West and could see it from many miles away.  There was a Carnival cruise ship in port when we came in.  The local folks tell us they are here 5-6 days a week.  We pulled into Galleon Marina and Tim skillfully snaked us in and around 1-5 million dollar boats and into our slip for a few days.  It's hot, hot, hot, but we are loving it.



Beautiful morning sky

 



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