We spent a quiet week in Fort Myers. The cold front that brought strong winds and cool temps, as forecast, developed and we were glad we holed up there for the week. However, Fort Myers doesn't offer a lot to do or see. There is the Edison Ford Estate, which is well worth seeing, but we had seen it two years ago. We rode our bikes one day into a very nice residential area and around an historic church. We used the pool as it warmed up later in the week, and we did almost daily trips to the close-by Publix grocery store, for something to do. Greg couldn't even make much progress with any varnishing tasks as it was too windy.
But we managed to occupy the week, with great neighbors and got underway at the end of the week, in a bit of fog, which burned off early.
Our trip up Pine Island Sound was very nice and we anchored in the late afternoon in Pelican Bay at Cayo Costa state park. Greg swam, as it was a good opportunity to survey the boat bottom on a warm afternoon.
The next morning we awoke to very dense fog, and didn't get underway until about 10 awaiting for it to burn off a bit. As we headed north thru Charlotte harbour entrance the fog thickened again and radar was put to good use.
We were headed for Venice, but the wind increased from the NW and the one marina available is very exposed in that wind, so we continued on to Sarasota. As mentioned before, finding marina space is a real problem due to the number of people boating this year due to Covid, and some of our favourite spots are just not available. Venice is a great stop, but our favourite stop, the Yacht Club has had to restrict visiting boats to Florida club members only.
We accelerated our arrival plans for Sarasota by one day, and arrived at the Hyatt resort marina late afternoon. This marina is a bit of an anomaly as its really only has space for one boat >40', and the marketing of it on the various navigation sites is not great. Hence its availability.
We stayed 3 nights and enjoyed the pool and the opportunity to visit with our good friends Steve and Sandy Wilkinson. They hosted us at their house and Steve and Greg got an opportunity to hit the driving range at his club. And very appreciative of the grocery store run with much more capacity in their car than our bikes provide. Steve and Sandy also joined us for dinner on the boat our last night.
We departed Sarasota in fine conditions and headed north for Anna Maria Island. Unfortunately, it was another case of not being able to get into the one marina, and we anchored off the island. It was a beautiful afternoon and night though, once the local boat traffic and wakes subsided. Unfortunately we weren't able to go ashore to enjoy the beautiful island and beach. But we did see a sea turtle as we were anchoring.
The next morning we awoke to fog again, but not quite as dense. We waited until about 0930 to get underway and cross Tampa Bay heading for St Pete's beach area. By the time we got half way across the bay visibility had improved to > 5 miles.
We had booked at a marina at a new resort hotel on Treasure Island, and what a treat it turned out to be. Great pool, golf cart shuttle to the beach, great docks and nice bbq restaurant.
We ended up staying 3 nights, mainly due to the beach. From the boardwalk over the dunes to protect the sea grasses, it is over 500 ' of white sand to the waters edge, for miles north and south. The first day was a bit windy to swim, but the second day was very swimmable temp, as well as long walks up and down the beach.
We departed in fine conditions and headed south again. St Pete's would be our northernmost stop on the west side and it is time to head south to start the long trek back to Norfolk. We crossed Tampa Bay in very calm seas and continued to Sarasota again, to the Hyatt. Steve and Sandy visited us on the boat for dinner after a nice afternoon at the pool. From Sarasota we traveled to Placida to a marina we describe as a piece of old Florida. Smaller, but with good facilities and great staff.
This past week has probably been one of the best weeks of the trip. The marinas, the beach, the cruising conditions have all been great. Tomorrow we will fuel, for the first time since December 1 in Cape Canaveral, and we certainly need it. Our objective for the next few days is to get back to the Keys to then continue our trip north. Normally, we would turn inland at Fort Myers and cross thru the Okeechobee lake canal system, but it is closed this spring for a major maintenance project. This will add 3 or 4 days to the trip, but will be nice to get back to the Keys waters.
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