Sunday Dec. 29

0 miles

We will be staying in Marathon Key, FL for the next month. This marina has over 200 mooring balls to tie your boat to. When we got in yesterday they were all full and we were 2^nd on a waiting list. This morning several boats left so we moved to our new “home”, mooring ball F8. Being on an island (Key) fuel is more expensive and we also have to pay 5 cents a gallon for our fresh water. We do have a water maker on board to turn the salt water into usable fresh water. Since we are not cruising for a while I will be updating the blog about once a week instead of every day.

Mooring field Marathon Key harbor.

(as you can see we are a minority here with a power boat)

 

Friday Dec. 27

68 miles   0745-1515

Marco Island to Little Shark River, FL (Ponce de Leon Bay)

Our day started out a little overcast and the Gulf waters were 1-2’ waves with NE winds. The waters of the Gulf are very shallow near shore and the section we cruised in today had a lot of shoals that stretched out so we had to go farther out to get around them. As we got farther away from shore the waves increased to about 3-5’. After a couple of hours we could angle back closer to shore and the waves went back to 1-2’. The sky cleared later in the day to give us a nice sunny 77°. Our anchorage tonight was a lot different than the night before. Here there were no condos, houses, or marinas. We did have to share the anchorage with 3 other boats, but other than that nothing else in sight except trees.

Leaving Marco Island with the sun trying to come through.

 

 Pelicans traveled along side of us for a while.

 

 This guy is an Elegant Tern. We had several fly right next to and in front of the boat.

They came so close I thought they were going to hitch a ride with us.

 

 Little Shark River.

 

 Gorgeous sunset.

 

Saturday Dec. 28

53 miles   0715-1330

Little Shark River to Marathon Key, FL

Today’s cruise was about the same with 2-4’ waves and a partly cloudy sky. We had to dodge a lot of crab pots today. They seemed to be everywhere. They are marked with a 5” colored ball and each fisherman has his own color. After getting through that mine field we were cruising under the 7 Mile bridge (which connects the Middle Keys to the Lower Keys in the chain of Florida Keys) and into the Atlantic Ocean. From there we turned into the channel of the Marathon harbor where we will spend at least a month.

Beautiful sunrise to start the day.

 

 7 Mile Bridge near Marathon FL.

 

 

 Channel going into Marathon.

Tuesday Dec. 24

28 miles   0730-1100

Pelican Bay, Cayo Costa Island to Cape Harbor marina, Cape Coral, FL

We left our anchorage in Pelican Bay to a very strong NE wind. We traveled most of the day with a foot chop in the ICW. This section took us between Captiva Island to the west and Pine Island to the east. Once we got closer to Cape Coral the land cut most of the wind. Out side the Cape Harbor marina (where we left the boat and visited with some friends for Christmas in Cape Coral), is an 80’ lock. This lock is used to keep the salt water from getting into the canal system on the other side of the lock. It does not raise or lower your boat. Our friends Ken & Libby picked us up and took us to their house to spend Christmas.

 

Homes on stilts near Pine Island.

 

Captiva Island.

 

St. James City, Pine Island.

 

Along the ICW.

 

You can rent this island and have a party on it.

 

This boat anchors and sells bait to passing fisherman.

 

Crab pot fisherman.

 

Chiquita Lock.

 

Wednesday Dec. 25 Merry Christmas

0 miles

Christmas morning we went with Ken & Libby to there daughter, (Michelle) son-in-law, (Wayne) and grandkids, (Rachel & Emma) house for presents and then eating brunch. Wayne has a banana tree in the yard that has been producing several bunches of bananas. We tried some and they are very good. A little smaller and sweeter tasting then what you buy in the store. Later that day we got together again for dinner and some music from Ken and Wayne. A palm tree Christmas is not too bad. (We didn’t miss the snow at all!)

 

 

 

 Libby, Ken, Randy, & Sherri

 

Ken & Wayne

 

Thursday Dec. 26

45 miles   0845-1500

Cape Coral to Smokehouse Bay, Marco Island, FL

After leaving the marina we had a short ride to Sanibel Island and then open water. The ICW that we have been able to travel on ended so the rest of our cruising to the Keys will be out in the Gulf. It seemed strange to be back out in the open water to cruise. Cruising by Sanibel brought back many great memories of winter vacations coming down to spent time with my parents and staying on the island with them.

Today the Gulf was beautiful. We had an 8 knot wind out of the NE which gave us about a 1 foot wave. The first 30 miles of shoreline where dotted with high-rises. Next came the single homes and then just beach sand and plants. We got off the Gulf by Marco Island to anchor and we are back to the high-rises again.

 

Cape Harbor marina.

 

 Leaving the marina.

 

 

 Sanibel causeway.

 

 Sanibel lighthouse.

 

 

 

 Fort Myers Beach.

 

 Marco Island

 

 Getting to our anchorage.

 

 Smokehouse Bay anchorage.

Monday Dec. 23

0 miles

Today we took the dinghy out and did some cruising around. Instead of going to the docks to tie up near where the boat was anchored and walk a mile to the Gulf, we chose to dinghy farther away to an area we were told by other boaters was a much more scenic spot. Boy were they right. After a 10 min. ride we came to a very narrow opening in the mangroves. We then traveled about a half of a mile in what is called the “Tunnel of Love”. With mangroves growing along each side of us and over top it eventually turned into a little bay where we could beach the dinghy and walk a short 100 yards to a very secluded section of beach on the Gulf.

Our next adventure we took the dinghy to Cabbage Key for lunch. This is a 100 acre tropical island with the famous restaurant where Jimmy Buffet wrote “Cheeseburger in Paradise”. They have a marina to bring your boat and cottages to rent. They only way to get around is by golf cart. (no cars allowed)   

 

Crab fisherman  

 

 The start of the "Tunnel of Love".

 

Cabbage Key restaurant

 

dollar bills everywhere inside

 

 

 View from the tables outside.

 

 Gopher Tortoise walking near our table.

 

 Trail around the island.

 

 I was told there aren't spiders in FL. Something about the salt air.

Well someone didn't tell this one!!!

 

 This tree was covered with cactus.

 

 Plants along the trail.