Delilah's Meanderings

Saturday morning ... Admiral Kim "I think we should sail to Marco Island". Captain Mark "When?". Admiral Kim "Now!" Captain Mark "Can I finish breakfast?"

We rushed around and prepared the boat for a cruise south. Stopped for diesel and water on the way out of Matanzas Pass. We turned Delilah south and sailed about 2 miles off shore down the Gulf. The wind was mostly on the nose, but we did motor sail part of the time with the Genoa. Since we got a late start we decided to stop at Naples about two hours short of Marco Island. We anchored in a large canal in a residential area not far in Gordan's Pass. The homes here are mansions. I grilled a porterhouse and shared it with the Admiral ... yummy.

We were motoring out Gordan's pass by 8:30AM anxious to get down to Marco Island. We sailed most of the way with main and genoa on a close reach. It was by far the best sail we have had to date on Delilah. It is a treat when you can cruise by sail alone and not have the noise of the diesel motor. We still are impressed with how much nicer it is when you have a boat with auto pilot. We pulled into Smokehouse Bay and dropped anchor about 10:30AM. Another catamaran "Scout" was anchored. She was also close to us in the mooring field at FMB earlier in the week. There is a nice marina (Esplanade) close to the anchorage with very nice showers which we took advantage of shortly after arriving. We ate lunch at CJ's on the Bay and had pineapple upside down cake for dessert. Three years ago we had this dessert when here on Kismet ... it was worth the wait! We walked to Tigertail park and waded across a tidal pool to get to the beach. Just another day in paradise! :)

I work in the mornings before the Admiral wakes up ... somebody has to pay for this boat. :) We took the dinghy in for breakfast. Kim stayed to do laundry and I returned to continue working. While on the boat I am working part-time, which is a great situation and allows us to do this now rather than waiting until I fully retire. I told Kim that this afternoon we should just relax on the boat and take it easy. That is exactly what she did and I worked on the boat. I have a weird way of relaxing. ;-)

The plan (in pencil) is to stay another day and then sail back north to FMB mooring field where ball #55 waits.

fair winds,
Mark & Kim aboard s/v Delilah