Beaches, Buses and Bands

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Once we got settled down in Ft. Myers Beach mooring field, we lowered the dinghy into the water and climbed aboard to go register and pay for our two nights there. The mooring field is managed by the Matanzas Inn, so that’s where we headed, tying up at the dinghy dock. The clerk at the inn, the fabulous Nathan, asked if we’d keep an eye on a couple on a boat nearby, who had just taken possession of a sailing catamaran, and didn’t even know if the dinghy motor would start. They had been taken out to their boat (Ruby Slippers) by the motel’s boat, but didn’t have a cell phone to call for help, and the inn doesn’t monitor VHF radio calls. So we stopped by on the way back to our boat and introduced ourselves to Loren and Louise from Quebec, then Kerry dropped me off on our boat and went back to help them. They got the motor started, but then it quit and they couldn’t restart it. They had a kayak, but were getting pretty tired, so Kerry took them back to the shore, towing the kayak.

We went back to shore later and walked to the beach, where we ate dinner at a restaurant next to the pier. Good seafood and live music. After dinner, we shopped in the souvenir shops before going back to the boat.

Sunday morning we went ashore early to catch the trolley (50 cents each) to Summerlin Square Mall. We thought (I should have checked first) that the Target store was nearby, but it turned out to be a hot, sweaty mile and a half away. We replaced our rusted out grill and our broken vacuum, then took a taxi back to our trolley stop. We had met Loren on the dinghy dock that morning and told him to use our dinghy while we were gone. He told us that it occurred to him that he hadn’t turn on the gas on his dinghy motor and that was probably why it quit and wouldn’t restart. They were onboard Ruby Slippers when we came by and said the motor was running fine. Later Kerry and I ate supper at the Upstairs Grill at the Inn. Good food and live music again. One of the restaurants across the harbor had a live band both Saturday and Sunday nights that was excellent.

So Monday comes and we head out, hoping all the crazies are at home. Nope. But there weren’t as many of them and the weather was glorious, sunshine and nice breezes. The water is beautiful and we saw lots of dolphins.

We are anchored for the night near Englewood Beach and have spent the late afternoon watching dolphins swimming by and brown pelicans diving for fish in the beautiful aquamarine waters.

More later…

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Photos

Off Our Rocker
in the mooring field at Ft. Myers Beach

Sunset
at Ft. Myers Beach

Sanibel Island Lighthouse
got a little closer and it's sunnier than when we saw it in December

Old Port Boca Grande Light
on Gasparilla Island

Mangroves
in the late afternoon sun from our anchorage

Brown Pelican
diving into the water for a fish

Comments

[Sara]

Dolphins!
One of the things we miss about Florida is seeing dolphins all the time. Yesterday we saw two of them playing as we were heading back to the boat. Those are the only dolphins we've seen in the Bahamas.