Fort Myers Beach, FL--Home Sweet Home

We're back at our favorite place in Florida--Bonita Bill's marina in Ft Myers Beach. The boat will get to stay here when we fly home on Feb. 20th. (Did you know it is cheaper to fly home than rent a car one way? That includes a $75 fee for Pearl too! To fly with us, she just needs to smell good and be quiet--those are the airline's rules. Well, she smells good.)

In about 10 minutes, I can walk over a bridge to this beach. 

On one of my morning walks, I discovered a mermaid!

On the top of the bridge, overlooking the water, as I head to the beach!

One of the best things about Bonita Bill's is the music! Every night there is live music or karaoke. Jam session on Monday night ROCKS! (And this all takes place 100 yards from our boat)

We took great pleasure in whacking these crab legs. Finally, a little revenge for all of the crab traps we have to avoid when we are sailing. They dot the waterways down here and would wreak havoc with our prop if we caught one of the lines of a trap. (Factual tidbit: Crabbers snap off both of the crab's claws. Scientists found that crabs can survive without them as they regenerate. Wonder what the crabs think about that)

Our wonderful friend and sailing mentor, Georgie, and her granddaughter Lana joined us for an afternoon sail to Sanibel Island. 

It's our Mardi Gras party! With a boat named Mardi Gras, you know we have to cook some gumbo and  share it with our friends. Barry made two batches this year--one with homemade shrimp stock and one with homemade chicken stock. It's amazing what he can cook in our little galley. One of our friends even said Barry's gumbo surpassed the gumbo you might find in New Orleans! Wow!

We are in the final 10 days of our trip this year. We are heading home a bit early because one of my sisters is getting married :) in early March and because the weather has been mostly chilly and windy down here. But the boat is in a good spot and we will return soon to enjoy beautiful Fort Myers Beach. Can't wait to see everyone  back home!

                Moon over the shrimp boats

Misadventures and Homecomings

Ah...where to start? If you read the previous entry, you know we had a 'rough' crossing from Key West (We just heard today that even seasoned, gnarly shrimpers didn't venture out the night we did!! WHAT?!?!)

Adventure #1:

We had tucked into Bahia Honda State Park harbor to avoid the high winds a week or so ago, plowing our way through the 'skinny' entrance. (skinny = shallow) We don't want to live in this harbor, so it's time to go. Barry studies the tide tables and decides that we need to take off at 2:45--when the tide will be at its highest. He and Jerry 'sound' the entrance--using a lead weight on a measured rope to gauge the depth. (He also called TowBoat US, just in case). The picture above shows Jerry and Barry apparently making their way through....

This photo shows Mardi Gras STUCK, kicking up the muddy bottom. In a stroke of genius, Barry asks our new BFFs to rev past us, creating a wake that floated Mardi Gras off the bottom! No need for TowBoat US--not when you have a captain who can think on his feet:)

Adventure #2:

After Jerry and Kak returned home, Barry and I moved the boat to an anchorage off of Key West, that was a short dinghy ride to the downtown area. We anchor the boat and believing that the anchor is well set, we take off for dinner in Key West. It is almost Barry's birthday and we want to have some fun!

Look! It's a chicken! They rule the roost in Key West!

We visited the Butterfly Conservatory in Key West...so beautiful!

Listened to a TERRIFIC bluegrass/cajun band while eating a tasty $5.00 cheeseburger (YES--even in Key West we found a bargain!)

As dusk approaches, we decide (begrudgingly) that it's time to leave the music behind and head back to the boat before it gets dark. When we arrive we find our boat butted up against one of the old, derelict boats found so often in the Keys, on which a hermit lives alone drinking himself to death. (or something)

You see, when anchored in an anchoring field, you expect everyone to put out about 100 feet of anchor line and rope, so that everyone swings together during a tide change. Surprise!! This derelict boat was moored on a 10 foot line so it didn't swing around at all. The hermit (or whoever) had put fenders between our boats, so the damage was minimal. Lesson learned: don't anchor next to derelicts.

Homecomings:

Just before heading to the 'anchorage'  in Key West, we met up with our friends Lori and Russ. We met them last year in the Bahamas--when they were traveling on their catamaran. Now they are traveling in a beautiful motor home and just happened to be nearby. So much fun to relive memories of the Bahamas!

We've landed in one of our favorite places--Bonita Bill's Marina in Fort Myers Beach on the Gulf side of FL. We kept the boat here for a couple of winters before starting our trek around FL to GA. So good to see everyone again, and to be within walking distance of a white sandy beach and a cheap trolley (remember, we have no car!) Making a decision as to where to go next...but enjoying the surroundings!

Til next time...

You Know It's a Rough Passage When...

You know it's a rough passage when...

...the coffee table in the galley flips over, not once but twice. Leave it on its side, and put it out of its misery

...EVERYTHING dives off of the starboard (right) side of the shelves--including the microwave! Latched cabinet doors open by themselves! (I would take a picture, but I can't move)

...Pearl, the sailor cat, needs comforting down below in the bunk. Linda would LOVE to do that...except she would have to go down the steps--which would be like doing doube-dutch jump rope backwards. think about it

...Linda keeps trying to put the wave action into words so landlubbers can understand how it feels to be on a moving ocean. Words like tilt-a-whirl and demonic swing set come to mind.

...Linda insists on putting on the 'good' life jackets, you know the ones that inflate automatically when you hit the water. Oh, if it doesn't inflate, here is a yellow tab to pull. Once it inflates, look--there is a whistle you can blow. Let's see...my husband can't hear high pitches face to face--how the H*** is he going to hear a whistle on the Gulf of Mexico?!?

...Linda also insists on attaching tethers to the life jacket and the life lines on the boat. This way, if one more of those REALLY big waves hits us, we won't be washed out of the boat completely. Linda asks the big question..."Just how far over the side of the boat will I be dangling? And what do I do then?" Oh look.....you pull yet another thing that releases you from the life line. Linda says "I'll be DEAD." To which Barry calmly replies..."You won't be dead."

...Linda remembers telling Kak and Jerry just last week that if something awful happened while she was on the boat...she has had a good life. While staring down bigger than expected waves, Linda has the sudden realization that she does NOT want to be washed overboard, into cold water, wearing 2 pair of pants, boat shoes, 2 shirts, 2 jackets, and a partridge in a pear tree. This is NOT how she wants to go!! (And you thought it was WARM out here in the Gulf...hah)

...For women only: Taking a pee is a matter of first bracing yourself so you can pull down the elastic waisted pants (worn intentionally--do you know how hard it is to unbutton and unzip pants when you are on a rolling boat in a teeny bathroom??) and then positioning oneself over the toilet bowl at just the right spot, during just the right wave action. I am training my bladder to HOLD IT

...Barry keeps suggesting that Linda eat something. Hmmm, crackers sound good. But she can't imagine getting an eating utensil to move successfully into a bowl of HOT food, that keeps moving up and down, side to side. 

...Linda says: "This is the LAST passage I will do." You know it's rough