From Cooper and Lucy - Please Take Us Home!
07 January 2012
1/1/2012
I’m writing this not looking over the water on a beautiful sunny day but instead looking out at the snow on a beautiful sunny day. Yes, a real surprise for all!
On Christmas Day the dogs let us know that they were not enjoying the boating life. They were tired of having to get into the dinghy just to go walking, had been stepped on too many times in the confines of the boat, and had enough of us constantly talking about dog hair everywhere. Well, it didn’t really happen that way, but you get the drift. When we left on this adventure I told everyone that I wasn’t sure how it would work with the dogs on the boat, and that we might be gone 6 days or 6 weeks or 6 months. We made it past the 6 week mark but we knew that we would never get to 6 to months as sane people (or dogs). It turned out that two big dogs, one who is still really a puppy, took away the relaxation we had known from our past cruising years. It certainly wasn’t their fault - they were just acting like dogs!
In any case, the day after Christmas we returned from Cayo Costa Park to Fort Myers Beach, put the boat back on a mooring, and began our preparations for the trip back to Chama. After a 2000 mile drive we made it back and everyone gave a big sigh of relief (and exhaustion).
Even though things didn’t work out as we had hoped we are still happy we tried it. We would have always wondered “what if” if we hadn’t gone. We got to spend lots of time together as a family. I got to re-live the things I really had liked about sailing, and also realize that there are a few things I don’t like all that much. Jack will now be able to enjoy sailing by himself and not thinking that it would be better if we were all there together!
Jack will be returning to the boat in a couple of weeks and spend some time getting it back together and do a little sailing. He then plans to put the boat on the hard in a boatyard somewhere in Florida for the summer and fall (so we won’t have to worry about hurricanes) and return to Chama. Next winter, who knows!
Thanks to all who have followed our adventure. Hope your new year brings you lots of them.
Still in Fort Myers Beach
18 December 2011
Sunday, Dec. 18
We’ve been in Fort Myers Beach for almost a month now and a have enjoyed being here. It’s not busy yet since the “snowbirds” don’t start arriving until after the holidays. We understand when they get here it’s quite different.
It’s hard to believe it’s almost Christmas since it’s so warm here. The Christmas decorations are put up on palm trees. We saw the boat parade last weekend - it went right by our boat. There was one kayaker who had enclosed himself and his paddles with lights so you could just see the outline of him. He was really cool looking. He won first place in “power boats less than 26 feed” since they had no category for kayaks. It was too dark for a photo unfortunately.
The dogs are enjoying all of the sights, smells and sounds. Cooper fell off of the boat a few days ago. A friend from another boat came by in his dinghy and Cooper was getting ready to launch himself for a visit. Unfortunately he didn’t make it! Jack yanked him up by his harness (they both wear them all of the time on the boat.) We hope we don’t have to do that too often as he is very heavy. There is a sand bar right across from the boat where we can take the dogs at low tide. As you can see from the photo, Cooper REALLY enjoys it.
We are planning on heading out on Tuesday. We’ll actually retrace our “steps” and return to Cayo Costa park for Christmas. We are ready to leave the city for awhile and just enjoy the quiet. And the dogs can’t wait to get back to their beach to run and swim. Sometime after the holidays we’ll decide where to go next. We don’t want to plan too far ahead!
I’ll try to send a Christmas greeting if we have good cell coverage so I can use the computer. In case I can’t, we hope everyone has a wonderful holiday. We’re thinking of you.
Susan, Jack, Lucy and Cooper
Thanksgiving in Fort Myers Beach
26 November 2011
Thursday, Nov. 24
We arrived here on Monday after a sail from Cayo Costa on the GIWW. It’s a nice part of the waterway since, first, there are no bridges that need to be opened for us to get though, and, second, it is deep enough most of the way that you can go outside of the channel and not run aground. Much easier when you are trying to sail versus motor.
We are on a mooring here. The town has several available for a low fee, either by the day, week or month. It makes it really nice not to have to worry if you anchor will drag if strong wind comes through (or even more worrisome, if other boats will drag into you!) They have a dinghy dock where we can tie up, showers, and a laundry. It’s right downtown in Fort Myers Beach, so we can easily walk to restaurants and “beachy” shops. There is a trolley that goes up and down the island so we can get to a supermarket that way.
We rented a car for a day when we first got here. Jack had bought 2 new batteries for the boat when we were in Panama City, thinking that the other 2 we have were in good shape. Unfortunately they weren’t so we needed to replace them. Since the batteries weight 65 lbs. each (golfcart batteries) we needed the car. It is quite a production since we needed to take the old ones out of the boat, put them in the dinghy to get them to shore, take them to the battery place and then repeat the process to get the new ones on the boat. But all was successful and now we have batteries that will fully charge. Since we run everything off of them, charging them mainly with solar panels and a wind generator, battery power is very important. So this was a big load off of Jack’s mind.
We also were out of almost everything so we used the car to start reprovisioning the boat. We had finished our wine the day before we left Cayo Costa so that in and of itself was a reason to shop. (We met a wonderful couple who also have a Gemini catamaran while at Cayo Costa (Dee and Lee) and they left part of a box of wine on our boat for us when they found out we were out. You meet very nice folks when cruising.) So we made a couple of trips to the store and bought several boxes of wine (easier to store on the boat) plus many other things. We made excellent use of the vehicle but are happy to be carless again. We’ll get the rest of our list the next few days by bus or walking.
Cooper and Lucy like it here. We take long walks in the early morning through the tourist area so they have lots of smells, sights and sounds. There is a shoal area right across from the mooring field that is dry at low tide and Jack has started to take them there in the afternoon so that they can run without leashes and swim.
We have taken advantage of the many restaurants and pubs to get a break from cooking on the boat. We figure we should take advantage of “civilization” when we have it!
We plan to stay here for a couple of weeks before heading south. We are enjoying 75 - 85 degree days and 60-70 degree nights. Not bad for the end of November. I have to admit, neither of us misses the cold weather of Chama.
A Dinghy Ride for Lunch
18 November 2011
Cabbage Key
Friday, Nov. 18
We decided to go over to Cabbage Key, a small island a couple of miles away, before we moved the boat. Instead of taking Wind Dancer we took our dinghy. The dinghy has a 2 hp outboard so we don’t go very fast and it isn’t a vessel to go out in any type of bad weather. But, it was a fairly calm, sunny day so we took off (without dogs). It took us approximately 40 minutes to get there (yes, walking speed but more fun). Since the dinghy doesn’t need much water depth Jack decided not to go around to go through the channel to get to the restaurant but instead of cut across. Unfortunately it was close to low tide and there was not more than a foot of water under us. So up went the outboard and out came the oars! When I first saw Jack, years ago in Annapolis, he was rowing his dinghy so whenever he rows I think about that day. In any case, we got there with no problem.
There is a small marina on the island, as well as an inn, some cottages for rent, and the restaurant. Small ferries run to the restaurant so there were several people there for lunch. As you can see from the photo there are dollar bills taped all over the walls and ceiling of the restaurant. The story goes that many years ago a sailor who was down on his luck taped a dollar to the wall saying that even if he lost everything he could always go back to Cabbage Key and buy a beer. There is supposed to be $50,000 in dollar bills there now.
We took the channel out, so no drama on the return trip. Sleepy looking dogs greeted us when we return
A Piece of Paradise
18 November 2011
Cayo Costa State Park
Tuesday, Nov. 15
Jack was right. This is truly a beautiful place. Cayo Costa park is a barrier island off the west coast of Florida between Venice and Fort Myers. It is completely undeveloped, except for a small ranger station and a few cabins and tent camping sites. Lots of hiking trails and beautiful beaches. Most boats left on Sunday night so now there are just a few of us here. It’s great to be in such a lovely, peaceful place.
We have just moved across the bay to be closer to a small beach so that we can more easily take the dogs out. They love running on the beach, swimming, and chasing each other and the frisbee. The only negative is the bugs. Even this time of year there are lots of no-seeums on the trails in the park and on the beach. They don’t bother Jack at all, but I’ve always been sensitive to any type of insect bites so I got many bites before I realized they were around. I’m now wearing long sleeves and pants when I go to places when/where they might be out. We are getting ready to move into around the corner to be better sheltered from a coming cold front. Jack spent last Christmas here in 45 knot winds and he said there was barely a ripple on the water in that spot; we shouldn’t have more than 20-25 knots so no problem.
So Much for Plans
16 November 2011
Leaving Clearwater
Sunday, Nov. 13
We got up Saturday morning with weather forecast for winds turning SE on Monday. If we waited until Sunday to get started we may be stuck in Venice for several days and we didn't really want to do that. Our next planned stop after that was Cayo Costa State Park, where Jack went last year and LOVED, and we'd rather be stuck there. So, we decided to leave on Sat. morning. We walked dogs early and I walked to the supermarket to get some fresh fruit and vegies and wine, and got there at 7 am assuming it would be open by then. Wrong. It didn't open until 8! So no luck with that errand. We left at 8:30 and, of course, did not have the east wind forecast - you guessed it, it was SE again. We managed to sail some of the trip but it wasn't easy. The anchorage was easy, but when we got there we found that NO PETS ALLOWED ON ISLAND. Not good, but we knew the dogs would be ok until we hit Venice the next day. Unfortunately it was an east facing anchorage. There was practically no wind when we anchored but by 10 pm it was 10 knots and going to 15 out of the east. It was very uncomfortable and not a safe place to be with those winds from that direction. So we got up and were underway by 10:30 p.m. - a very fast escape. The dogs were not happy.
We knew we couldn't make the course to Venice, and even if we did we would get there around 3 am. So we set sail for Cayo Costa. It was a really hard course to make. Jack stayed up all night adjusting the sail trim to make the course so we wouldn't have to tack back. And, we also needed to arrive at the channel at slack tide since the tables showed that the current ran approximately 2.5 knots which would have been really tough. And he did it!! We sailed the entire way into the anchorage at 11:30 am. It was not the most comfortable trip but I didn't get queasy at all. Again, the dogs were thrilled to get off of the boat.
There had been a Gemini raft up that weekend (we own a Gemini) and Jack had hoped we'd make it for some of that. Unfortunately they were just breaking up and leaving when we arrived but we did get to meet a few of the people. An early night again.