Delilah's Meanderings

We ended up staying anchored by Don Pedro State park for five wonderful days before sailing back to Cayo Costa Friday morning. I guess we just like being anchored by Florida State Parks. It is a sweet deal and the price is right!

We will definitely return to the Don Pedro Sate Park anchorage in the future, it is probably our favorite spot so far. Every day we went to the beach and did some shelling. I plan to make a shell wind chime hung from drift wood found on the beach. Only newbies do stuff like that, right?!? We walked a mile and half to the grocery store 3 times during our stay. One time doesn’t count because we mainly went for pizza next door to Publix. Also we managed to eat twice at an Italian restaurant across the street from the park (momma mia)! We shared an entrée so that we could sample more desserts … yum yum. Another fun thing to do at the park is to dinghy/kayak/paddle board through a narrow, low, and shallow mangrove trail to a lake that is on the island side. Note to those doing this in a dinghy - do it at high tide.

Yesterday morning we decided it was time for a change and we pulled up the anchor and motored, motor sailed and sailed south back to Cayo Costa. It was a beautiful day for this short 3 hour passage. The dolphins just before the Boca Grande swing bridge put on quite a show while we were waiting for the bridge to open. It was a real treat to be able to shut off the engine and move by sail power only. This happens less often than you might expect and than we would wish for. :)

A cold front came through over the night bringing a stiff Northerly breeze, but we are tucked in behind Punta Blanca Island which blocks the waves coming across the harbor. This morning we decided to hike some of the trails on Cayo Costa while the weather is cool and humidity low. We got a little wet on the dinghy ride in, but no one melted (ha ha). We hiked about 4 miles in all. My knees say it was more! We hiked to the northern end of Cayo Costa where the Boca Grande Pass is that allows traffic from the gulf into Charlotte Harbor. As always, pictures were posted on the blog.

Our good friends from the boat yard on TRINITY (another Gemini 105Mc) are also anchored here and are coming over to visit soon, so I better end this and help make everything ship shape.

Cheers,
Mark & Kim aboard s/v Delilah