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| A beautiful sunrise as we left Key West |
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| Those pesky cruise ships!
Our intention was to find our previous spot off Molasses Key and anchor there for the night, but Ed evaluated the tide table and decided against it. If we got into thesmall channel and anchorage, we may not be able to get out early enough due to the tide. Instead, we anchored off the west shore of Boot Key. The water was such a pretty aqua blue, we sure hated to leave the keys. We enjoyed a lovely sunset, dinner and retired shortly after sunset.
Another day in paradise comes to a close
We weighed anchor at 0715 and headed north, under the Seven Mile Bridge, always a magnificent sight. We plotted our course north past Bethel Bank, past Sawyer Bank and once cleared we raised the main and the jib and enjoyed a nice motor sail at 5.5 kts speed at 1350 rpm with a nice reprieve from those annoying crab pot floats. We continued motor sailing , 1600 rpm and making speeds of 6.2-7.2 kts (woohoo!!) on an east 10-12 mph wind. We finished the day off at Little Shark River, and for the first time in several trips we were prepared for those pesky no-see-ums and mosquitoes. All screens in and sprayed with OFF.
It was a short evening and night. Dinner and bed.
 
Going under the 7 Mile Bridge
The mostly untouched beaches of the Florida Everglades
We weighed anchor before dawn, as we had a tick line on the chart plotter to follow out. Ed stayed at the bow for a short time, keeping an eye out for any crab pots. We raised the main and the jib and motor sailed all day, making such good time, (no less than 6.5 kts) that we decided we could pass Marco Island and head into Naples for the night. The winds kept up nicely all day. We lowered the sails just before ducking into the inlet. We went to our familiar anchoring spot, just off the channel inside the inlet. It was New Years Eve and there was a lot of boat traffic. We watched a barge being escorted out the inlet by a Fire Dept. boat and a Police Boat. Ed said “Only in Naples do barges get escorts!” Shortly thereafter a small motor boater came up to us and informed us that this inlet was about to get insane, the barge we just saw was full of fireworks and just outside the inlet was going to be a firework show. He advised we really didn’t want to be where we were in a couple of hours. We thanked him a bunch and moved into an open bay with decent depths and found a nice anchorage, amidst the incredibly rich homes. After dark we were entertained by a really nice fireworks show!
Only admission was the price of our blood, charged by many mosquitoes! We retired down below once the show was over and went to sleep. At least until midnight when we were awakened by more fireworks and loud parties. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Captain Ed at the helm
Do you think this (typical Naples) home is big enough?
But those trees are beautiful. This is the scene from the anchorage in Naples.
Once again, we set the alarm for 0530 and we were under way at dawn. We continued north around Sanibel, Captive and Fort Myers Beach and on to Boca Grande Inlet. We had another awesome day of sailing until early afternoon, when the breeze died. No breeze. We put out the whisker pole, but to no avail. But we kept sails out and motored into Boca Grande Inlet to our favorite “close to home” anchorage, Pelican Bay, along Cayo Costa State Park.
Leaving Naples at sunrise, behind the fog
I'm at the helm, Key West Express is passing our bow. Ed instructed me to "hold my course" and he would pass us before intercept! I trusted him on that, and whew!, we were fine.
Sanibel Lighthouse
Beautiful sunrises at Pelican Bay
Darn if another boater took our favorite spot, so we had to anchor a little further off shore than we usually do.
We spent a few days in Pelican Bay, Manatee watching, fishing, walking the beach and enjoying our late afternoon cocktails in the cockpit.
We planned on going back to the marina on Friday, but the weather God's thought it best to blow 25-30 kts out of the NW, making for a bumpy and wet ride home and into the slip. Being only a few hours from the marina, we opted to stay another day at the anchorage, rest one more day, and head home on Saturday. We had to time the tide to get into the marina without running aground. High tide was at 3:47 pm, so we could arrive anytime from 2:00 pm on the incoming tide. We weighed anchor at 10:15 am and once again timed the Boca Grande Bridge just right to go through at his 11:30 opening. The winds picked up to around 20 mph, out of the NW. We called the marina staff to ask for assistance at the dock if we needed it. We arrived at the exact time Ed estimated, 2:00 pm. The wind had been blowing the water out of the bay, and even as high tide was approaching, there wasn't much water in the channel leading to the marina. Ed kept Manatee at a steady speed as we approached the marina, and we maintained a speed of 4 kts, digging a trench in the bottom, with a mere 4.5 inches of water! I held my breath and closed my eyes, and low and behold we got in over the shallow spots! We had assistance at the slip and Ed maneuvered Manatee right in.
Our home, at the marina looking at the back of Snook's Bar and Grill
Our adventure to Key West was a success. Manatee performed wonderfully and the weather on the most part was great!
Now it's back to the part time jobs, working on Manatee while at the marina, and looking forward to our next adventure!
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