Day 35

When I woke up this morning I could hear the raindrops hitting the boat.  Oh boy, this should be fun.  Can’t I just sleep a little longer?  No, I guess not, it’s after 7:00 and we can’t be here all day, 55 miles to go today.  Get dressed and suck it up.  I made my tea and headed for the back deck to see what was happening.  It seemed no one was moving all that fast, although one big sportfisher had left already.  We were wedged between two larger boats, so Rousby and I mulled how we were going to get out from between them.  Normally it wouldn’t be much of a problem using a spring line to pivot on, however, given that approach, if I would swing the stern out to then back up, the wind was blowing in such a direction the when we released the spring line the wind would blow me back into the boat behind me.  Not to mention we were tied up in a narrow canal with rocks on the opposite bank, so how far could I really back out.  So, it seemed going out bow first might be the best option, but how do I get the bow out far enough to clear the boat in front without hitting my swim platform on the dock.  Decisions, decisions.  As we were contemplating strategy, the captain of the boat in front came by and said they were leaving in about 15 minutes if we wanted to wait for him.  Well, ok.  We’ll even help you get off the dock.  Problem solved.  So by the time we got going it was around 9:00, a little later start to the day, but we should be ok.

Well, it rained on and off all morning and into the early afternoon.  Oh, did I mention that is was cold and windy as well?  Cold being a relative term, I’m talking 50 degrees cold.  We were dressed in long pants and jackets or sweatshirts all day.  A far cry from the shorts and t-shirts we had been wearing.  So as a result of the shivering cold and rain, we drove the boat from the lower station protected from the weather.  The only time we ventured out to drive from the flybridge was when we had to negotiate a lock.  There were two that needed to be managed from the flybridge.  There were also a couple of bridges we needed to have opened, but we could do that from below. As we were transiting the locks, we notices swirls in the water that seemed to be moving.  Upon closer inspection we realized the swirls were being made by manatees.  Several of them in fact.  You could see them come to the surface for air, then dive down and away.  We had to go very slowly for a while until we no longer saw swirls.  It was fascinating to watch.  So on we went to within a couple miles of Ft. Myers.  We actually did see the sun for a while toward the end of the day and had a nice sunset. Tomorrow is expected to be a little warmer, it might even get up to 60 or 62 degrees, and with sunshine, it could be downright pleasant.

I had intended to stay in an anchorage just outside of a federal park next to W.P. Franklin lock.  It’s a nice protected basin with room for several boats.  Upon looking at my resources again I looked into the federal park more closely.  Turns out they have eight slips with 15 or 20ft. finger piers and electricity, all for the princely sum of $30.  And, if you have a national park pass, which I do, the price is cut in half to $15.  How can you lose?  I called them up and checked it out.  No problem, just pick your slip.  So for $15 we are tied up with electricity at a beautiful national park.  It’s a really nice place.  File this for future reference.

Tomorrow we will travel about 30 miles to our final destination, a mooring field in Estero Bay, just off Ft. Myers Beach.  We should arrive in the early afternoon giving us time to get settled and get the dinghy in the water, our personal water taxi, our water car.  We are going to meet my friend Craig and his wife Ann for dinner.  I’m looking forward to seeing them again, it has been quite a while since we have been able to get together.

Today we traveled 55.1 miles for a total of approximately 1348 miles. Total travel time was 7hrs. 43mins.

So boys and girls, Until Tomorrow…..

P.S. Hi Tyler.