Advertisement
Published: December 5th 2016
Earlier today, we had decided on a nice, lazy day at anchor. The winds have picked up a little and I had some work to do, so we thought we would just lay low. And….now we are pulling anchor and moving. It is not surprising people have a hard time keeping up with where we are, sometimes we don’t even know (well, we do always know we are on the water…lol)!
We have spent almost a week within the Englewood/Fort Myers area. Many of those days have been spent hemming and hawing (who put two indecisive, easy going people on this boat??) of where to go and what to do. Honestly in this week, our discussions wavered between staying in Englewood, heading to Fort Myers, going down further to Marco Island, making a beeline for the Florida Keys, or just making a total change of plans and heading inland straight across Florida to the Atlantic Coast (there is an inland waterway, the Okeechobee Waterway, that starts at Fort Myers and comes out north of Miami). Reminds me of our “looper” (that’s “looper” – not “loopy”??) friend, Nancy, who would often break out into song…”Should I stay or should I go now…”
IN the end, we didn’t go too far. Most of the last week was spent in Englewood where we were waiting for Lukus’ parents and brother to hopefully be able to meet up with us. The majority of the time, we were anchored out in Lemon Bay, but we did end up splurging for one night and heading into a marina. Mainly we needed to get a pump out, fill with water, and spray off the boat (honestly, we don’t ever need to buy salt again if we just harvest the layer on our boat!). But, as always happens when at a marina, we ended up doing a lot of errand running as well.
Alas, we had a casualty on our boat the week before. During a particularly rough passage of our crossing, as I was rushing to secure some haphazardly flying items, a drink tipped over onto the bed; where I had “oh so safely” stored my MacBook to keep it from crashing to the ground. Well, the drink decided to give my mac a good bath…and I am sure you all can figure out the rest. Needless to say, part of my mission during our short time at the marina was finding a cheap and simple laptop (this is the third Mac death in a year…no more mac’s for me – or no more drinking. Think I will go with the former!).
As usual, we also had to do some laundry, provisioning, and search for charts of the Bahamas (Lukus thought that might be important for future navigation…he is the smart one!). However, unlike some areas we have stopped at, Englewood is quite spread out. Nothing is super convenient to boaters like us. And, since leaving Mobile, Alabama, we have found that the marina’s along the Florida coast do not offer courtesy cars (ah, how I miss riding in those derelict courtesy cars).
As ambitious as we were feeling (insert slight sarcastic tone here), we contemplated riding our bikes or taking the bus, hiring a taxi or even walking. But figuring the time it would take (to bike or walk) and the cost (bus and taxi), it was most cost effective to rent a car for the day (which ended up being a Dodge Challenger…much fancier mode of transportation than a cab!). It was a good decision because between West Marine, Walmart, liquor store, etc. we didn’t arrive back at the marina until early evening, and with a very full vehicle.
That evening, while Lukus stayed back to fill our water tanks and work on the boat, I headed off to find a laundromat (in my fancy red Challenger!!) There was a lovely elderly lady who was fussing to herself about having forgotten her quarters. Rather than having to pull everything out, go find her money and come back, I handed over two loads worth of quarters so she could get her laundry started. That ended up in a lovely, hour long chat and some very profuse gratitude. I could probably write a whole book about my adventures in laundromats on this trip, the people you meet, the stories you hear and the things you see (bestseller in the making)!
The following day, after some more errands and returning the car, we headed back to anchor again. Our plan was to wait there for Lukus’ family, get some paint touch ups done (it never ends…) and explore the area a bit. But then… Lukus found the growth (no panicking, not on him…on the boat)!
Part of boat life is the neverending battle of corrosion, electrolysis, and growth on the hull. Here in salt water, barnacles are a nasty threat to the integrity of your underside :P When getting into the dinghy to go ashore, Lukus saw the beginnings of barnacles forming and it was soon after we were pulling anchor to head to clearer water so we could get under the boat to clean it. (Luckily, Lukus’ parents were willing to meet with us further south if we headed that way).
Arriving near Fort Myers later that day, we found ourselves surrounded by water even murkier than where we left (Lukus mentioned it looks just like tea; a big tea bay”g”). So, as ambitious as we are (again, insert slight sarcastic tone), we decided to just forget it for the day; sometimes you just need to let go and embrace life. So, we pointed our dinghy for the free city docks at Centennial Park and alighted for some sightseeing and a great sushi dinner. Historic Downtown Fort Myers is a quaint area, with little cafes and shops bordering cobblestone streets sprinkled with sculptures and tropical foliage.
Today, we had a disappointing call from Lukus’ parents that they would not be able to meet with us here in Fort Myers as we had planned. Unfortunately, they have had some vehicle trouble and are still in Tennessee waiting for repairs. After a look at the weather, and one of our usual discussions
- which sounds something like this:
“So, what do you want to do?”
“Doesn’t matter to me; what do you feel like?”
“I’m easy, we can stay or we can go”
“What do you think is the best plan”
“We could stay….or…let’s go”
“Ok, let’s go” -
we have booked it out of here and are heading to clearer water. If the weather holds well for the next few days, we hope to be in the Keys by the weekend.
On another note, we were just talking about how wonderfully supportive people have been, both close family and friends, and some we barely know. So many have expressed interest in continuing to read our blog and have sent encouraging messages along the way. And some have helped with watching out for our stuff and taking care of things back at home.
We especially want to send a BIG thank you to Brian, Tara and Jamie for being willing to help us recently. We had some storage issues to sort out and they have all stepped in to lend a hand. So very grateful!!
P.S. Photos will have to be added later...super poor internet connection right now!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.163s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 6; qc: 44; dbt: 0.0638s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Tom Whitney
non-member comment
GO,GO,GO
Today I received an email from my neighbour who resides in Florida for the winter. He tells me he is going to have to wear his wind pants on his morning bike ride the next few days so head for the keys and stay warm. On the way be careful of floating hotels. I am enjoying your blog keep em coming Tom