We have another short hop today of about 23 nautical miles to get to an anchorage in Estero Bay through Big Carlos Pass. Not much wind today which meant putting the motor on for most of the trip. We got underway at 9:15am with a little help from a neighbor who offered to toss us the lines as we left the slip.

As we travelled up the Gulf we kept a sharp lookout for sealife but alas we had not luck this trip. No dolphin or seaturtle sitings on this leg. Plenty of pelicans though! At one point we noticed a ParaSail heading toward us. A couple were out flying around while a powerboat pulled them further and further along the coast. Bob has been begging me to go up and parasail with him. I haven't gotten the nerve up but am considering it. Maybe something in our future to look forward to! As we neared the area known as Big Carlos Pass we got into a bit of trouble. Our charts and GPS and notes from Active Captain all advised staying close to shore on the approach. But the depth sounder was telling us something very different. We bumped once and slowed the boat to a couple of knots. We went out further then tried the approach again and bumped a second time. We headed back out to deeper waters and saw a TowBoat U.S. captain heading in our direction. He warned us away from the shore and explained that the shoaling has changed the markings for this area and gave us the heading we needed to follow. He also advised that the moon would cause a 2.5 foot shift in the bay which meant we could not head up the side channel as we planned. So instead, we took his advice and after passing through the Big Carlos Bridge, we continued straight toward the back of Estero Bay area and dropped anchor in 8 feet of water. We were open to boat traffic more than we would have liked but enjoyed the deeper water of the bay.

Bob dropped the dinghy into the bay and we got a chance to buzz around the small inlets in the area. There is so much wildlife here especially in the little cove areas.

Dinner aboard was Key West Mango chicken with asparagus and a salad along with a glass or two of wine. Very relaxing evening and more star gazing from the cockpit. After sundown the anchorage became like glass with all the power boats gone for the night. We enjoyed another beautiful sunset...just never get tired of them!

Estero Bay is a pretty area to drop the hook. The next morning we set out in the dinghy again to explore more of the back areas. The weather was turning cool with white caps forming from the high winds that kicked up. We decided to head back to the boat and hunker down. Good thing we did. Even the power boats headed back early. No sunset tonight just cloud cover.

AFter two nights on the hook, we are heading to a slip at the Pink Shell Resort on Estero Island. It will be our last splurge of our voyage and then we anchor out for four nights in Charlotte Bay before arriving at our new home marina, Cape Haze in Englewood.