Fort Myers and Legacy Harbor Marina

It is hard to believe that it has been over two weeks since we crossed the Gulf but time flies when you are in a great place like Florida in December. The weather has been just fantastic in Southwest Florida and I hope it continues. We left Sanibel Marina after one nights stay and headed to Legacy Harbour Marina in downtown Fort Myers. The marina is about 10 miles up the Okeechobee Waterway on the Caloosahatchee River. Fort Myers is across the Intracoastal from Cape Coral. The marina is fantastic. It has floating docks, pump outs at the dock, close to downtown and a great staff. We are on "A" dock which is not the typical transient dock but it is the best because there is nothing between our boat and the sunsets each night.

We have been quite busy since we docked. One of our travel boats the "FREE TO B" is here but unfortunately Sid and Evelyn on "Something Special" had to go to another marina because they needed work done to their boat. They did rent a car and visited us so that was nice. My friends from Columbus are here and we played golf one day. A couple from our home yacht club have a very nice condominium in Fort Myers and they showed us around one day (and had graet hamburgers at Red Rock - 27 different hamburgers to chooses from:). We hope to see them again next week for dinner. My cousin lives in North Fort Myers and he visited us and also lent us his car for a few days so we can run some errands and do a little sightseeing. And best of all, our daughter and my sister have come for a long weekend visit which has really picked up our spirits about not being home for Christmas. There was a Christmas pot luck Thursday night at the marina and we met several people that are here on their boats. About 1/2 of the boaters are going home for the Holidays so there will be fewer people but we will make due. We are going to visit the Edison/Ford homes today and then get ready for another glorious sunset.

The entrance to Sanibel Marina

The Sanibel Causeway

A boat funeral on our way to Fort Myers

One of the several bridges across the river on the way to Fort Myers

High Rise condos at the marina

Like I said, nothing between the boat and the sunset except water

Ginny and me with Bill and Susie from our yacht club

I promise, no more sunset pictures :-)

Cousin Dave and my sister Cherie on a hog

Some of the great staff at Legacy Harbour

Cherie and Stephanie or as Ginny calls her our "Baby Girl"

Southwest Florida

Southwest Florida is very nice and there are many places on the water to visit. We stayed in Sarasota 4 nights at Marina Jacks and it was great. The marina was fantastic and we were within walking distance of the town with many shops and restaurants. We went to the Ringling Museum which is truly amazing. This is a great time of year to visit these kind of places because nobody is here.

We left Sarasota on Wednesday and went to the private dock of Bob and Patti in Englewoood, FL. on Knight Island which is only accessible by ferry. They were on a getaway with their yacht club but they let us stay at their house for a relaxing evening. If you remember, Bob and Patti are the couple that stayed with us for 11 days, crossed the Gulf in less than desirable conditions and they still let us use their house. We arrived into their dock pretty easily at high tide but we probably left a little early the next day because we had a more difficult time leaving, but all is good. We only had to go 17 miles to Cabbage Key so we took our time and arrived early in the afternoon.

Cabbage Key is a very small island with a few cottages, a small marina and a bar/restaurant. Supposedly this bar inspired the song "Cheeseburger in Paradise". There are dollar bills all over the walls. We put up a dollar bill with our boat name. We left Cabbage Key today around 9:30 and headed for Sanibel Marina on the Southern end of Sanibel Island. This puts us very close to the Causeway which goes from Fort Myers to Sanibel and is very nice.

A friend of mine from Columbus, OH has a home in Fort Myers and some of the guys go there each year in December. This just happened to be the week they visited and they came over to Sanibel today and we had a great time visiting and going to the beach.

We are moving to our December home tomorrow in North Fort Myers and will be there until January when we move to Marathon. Ginny and I are not going home for Christmas which is sad but my sister and our daughter will be visiting us for a long weekend starting on the 15th. My cousin lives near Fort Myers and we have friends from our marina back home that are also here so we should be able to keep busy. I will post every few days but we will not be traveling on the boat.

Ringling Museum

Human Cannonball

Part of the miniatures

An entire circus in miniature that took over 15 years to complete

I can't tell you how amazing this is

Banyan trees

Maybe I have another career after the Loop.

A colorful place near Englewood, FL on the Intracoastal

Brown Eyed Girl at Bob and Patti's Dock

Low Tide

Getting higher

Probably should have waited a little longer - but patience is not my strong suit.

Swing bridge to Boca Grande

Cabbage Key Inn

Every wall and the ceiling is covered with money

Here is our contribution

An original wooden water tower on Cabbage Key

The marina at low tide

Leaving Cabbage Key

Coming into Sanibel Marina

Bob, John, Steve and Mike treated us to lunch - Thank You!

Great hamburgers and onion rings that I am still enjoying if you know what I mean.

Clearwater and Sarasota

I said I would let you know how the other slow boats made out on the crossing. Unfortunately it was not fun for any of them. We met Sid and Evelyn on "Something Special" and Dean and Beth on "Kismet" at the dock when they came in from 26 hours of running. They left Carabelle at 8:00 A.M. and arrived at 10:00 A.M. the next day. They were very exhausted but they made it safe. Sid's dream crossing was calm water, a full moon and some relaxation but what he got was high waves, no moon, no relaxation and he threw up. As of this posting they are doing much better but I am sure the experience will stay with them for a long time. Another sailboat that came across was in 16 foot waves and the Coast Guard had called their kids about them being overdue. Clearwater is a very nice city with a lot of things to do. We went to the beach and also took a trolley to Tarpon Springs to see the sponge capital of the world. We ate at a great Greek restaurant and one of our group had octopus. Ginny and I split lamb chops with a Greek salad and it was wonderful. We also bought a couple of sponges.

We left Clearwater and headed for Sarasota and Marina Jacks. The trip was about 60 miles along the Intracoastal which is very narrow in some places and even when it is not the water depth is seldom over 10 feed deep which keeps you on your toes. When we arrived in Sarasota we helped Gene and Ginny on "FREE TO B" celebrate the crossing of their wake. This means that they have traveled around the entire Eastern half of the North America and are back to where they started. Believe me this is no small feat and there are only about 150 boats a year that complete this journey. The only tangible reward for completing the Loop is a gold flag and a bottle of champagne that they had to buy. The intangible benefits are way too many to list. There was a big parade in Sarasota on Saturday night and it was a lot of fun.

Today Ginny and I went to a Tiki Bar today for a quick beer and were treated to a show of three people in a small overloaded (they were also loaded) overturn. Not to worry as the water in Florida is not very deep so they did not have far to sink. Actually they were rescued quickly so no harm.

We are planning on going to Cabbage Key and Sanibel in the next couple of days before we head for Fort Myers.

Evelyn on Something Special after 26 hours

Beth on Kismet docking right after Something Special

Patty, Bob, Ginny and Craig right before Bob and Patty left us after 11 days

Clearwater Beach

The survivors

Tarpon Springs

Octopus at Mama's

Dean saying goodbye from Clearwater

The bridge in Clearwater that we came under

Ginny and Gene changing their flag from white to Gold

Champagne after the Loop completion

Part of the Winter parade in Sarasota

A fountain across from Marina Jack's

A statue in Five Point Park in Downtown Sarasota

The causeway across Sarasota Bay

Mariana Jacks

This did not turn out well