Quick, everybody out of the water! - wait, that's a dolphin - never mind

Our luck with weather finally ran out. Ever since we left Pensacola all the way back in October, the winds have favored us where ever we went. Except for maneuvering around harbors and anchorages, we have sailed everywhere we wanted to go. And we haven't had to sit around waiting for those favorable winds to occur. The wind has just been there when we needed it.

Now, however, the weather forecasters are letting us down. The in-shore forecast for the coming week typically has winds less than 10 kts, and a lot of the time, much less. The off-shore forecast is a little better but we are spending most of this week in-shore. We intend to keep up our "sail everywhere we go" mantra, but I expect that our patience is going to be sorely tried as we sail into late afternoon with miles to go and the boat barely moving.

The winds today maxed out at 6 kts, which is not enough for even a Gemini to sail, so we ended up motoring the short distance from the Fort Myers Beach mooring field to the anchorage next to the Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge. We didn't leave Fort Myers until noon because we were waiting for a pump-out but still arrived in Ding Darling at about 2:30pm.

We spent the afternoon exploring one edge of the park in the kayak and then swimming off the back of the boat. The water temperature has finally gotten into the "pleasant swimming" range. Jascat's water thermometer measured the water temperature here at Ding Darling at 89.8 degF but I don't really think it was quite that hot. The air temperatures are near ideal as well. Mid afternoon temperatures are a little hot in the mid 80's but the evening temperatures quickly drop down to a comfortable 68 deg or so.

The low wind speeds may make for poor sailing but it does make for very nice evenings and nights at anchor. Right now, the light breeze is barely causing ripples on the sea. The only sound that can be heard is the gentle gurgle of water slapping against the hull and that will fade away as the wind dies at dusk. We are nearly alone in this anchorage with just a couple of boats anchored off in the distance.

Supper consisted of a delightful grilled pork loin (prepared a la Roberson), Brussels sprouts, and new potatoes. Life is good.