Apres Sail in her summer home



Well, here we are back in Stoney Creek after an amazing winter cruising around Florida.
We left Legacy Harbor Marina in Ft Myers on April 4th & traveled the 55+ miles to Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda. It was a spectacular day, 75F with brilliant sunshine & very little wind, a very fitting end to our winter 2013 cruising. We had done this trip back in the winter of 2010 but at that time were too nervous to enjoy the beautiful scenery as we traveled along the Gulf ICW, inside the barrier islands of Sanibel, Captiva, North Captiva & Cayo Costa.
We stayed in Burnt Store for three days, enjoying the hospitality of Platinum Pointe Yacht Club, a small club within the huge Burnt Store Marina, thanks to Doug & Lori Johnston, friends from Mimico. What a friendly place...........everyone who passed our boat on the dock stopped to introduce themselves. ( so many Ontario residents own property there)
But, alas, all good things come to an end so Saturday morning early we were off the dock, heading the 15 miles across Port Charlotte Harbor to a little canal which runs inland eight miles to All American Boat Storage, Apres Sail's home for the next six months. The canal is separated from the salt water of Port Charlotte Harbor & The Gulf of Mexico by a self operated lock. Going thur this little lock into the canal is a very unique experience as it is unmanned & we were required to open & close the lock ourselves. We managed to get thru safely but with only two people on board it is a bit of a challenge, getting the lock open, tying up the boat, closing the lock & then getting the forward one open. Then once you drive out you have to stop & push a big button to close it behind you. A very different locking experience but we managed to get thru with no boat rash.!
Once we arrived at the storage area we were immediately lifted out of the water & Apres Sail was on dry land again for the first time since August when we lifted out in York River on Chesapeake Bay, after our trip from Lake Ontario.
We got the boat "summerized" & then headed to Clermont to visit family for two days which was a nice transition from the cruising life back to the reality of sleeping in a real bed & driving a car instead of a boat.
After a two day drive we arrived back in Stoney Creek. Welcome to the Real World !! But, mingled with the sadness of leaving the boat was the happiness to be back in Canada with our family & friends & the anticipation of summer. It will be a different summer for us, being boatless for the first time since our first sailboat purchase in 1993. Fortunately we have many friends with boats so we will get our "water fix" visiting with them.
Ciao for now.!!
To be continued in November........