We are home. As planned, we pulled the anchor Saturday morning at 6:30 a.m., and a half hour later we were going through the Miserable Mile. With little wind and no tidal/current issues, we had no problems. There were a few fishermen already out but they did not bother us. We picked up another sailboat at York Island and ended up following him all the way to Charlotte Harbor, when he headed in the anchorage at Pelican Bay and we turned to go up the Harbor to our home at Burnt Store. In fact, except for a sailboat heading up the river, as we left our anchorage, and one smaller sailboat heading south, there were no other sailboats out on the water. Within a couple of hours after we started the morning, the boat traffic on the ICW became heavy with lots of small powerboats buzzing around. Who knows where they were all going.

We heard that one of the many boat clubs out of Punta Gorda was having a Memorial Day gathering at the Pelican Bay anchorage. As we went by we could see the back side of the anchorage and then the front of the anchorage. It was packed with boats. That anchorage can easily hold 50+ boats. Although many prefer to cruise en masse, we do not. For us, traveling with two or three boats can be fun.

Since we left Vero Beach last Monday, the 19th, our weather for returning home has been excellent. The temperatures were comfortable, winds were light, and humidity was low. The wind did pick up a bit as we neared Charlotte Harbor and headed for home; we were able to pull out the headsail for a nice ride. It was a good ending for our eight-week cruise.