Serenely anchored in Pelican Bay

Our decision to wait a day at the dock before leaving for Pelican Bay turned out to be a good one. Saturday was blessed with intermittent showers and gusty winds just as forecast. We used the day profitably by rounding up a few loose ends at West Marine and Publix and by getting hair cuts.

Sunday dawned clear and long sleeve shirt cool with a gentle north breeze. Just perfect for a first day back at sea. We left the dock at Charlotte Harbor Storage Yard just before 9am headed for one of our favorite anchorages on the west coast of Florida, Pelican Bay at the north end of Cayo Costa Island. Because the boat yard is deep inside a housing development canal system, the trip started with two hours of motoring to get us back out to the open waters of Tippecanoe Bay and Charlotte Harbor. Once there, the sails went up immediately and we commenced a 3 to 4 knot downwind sail arriving at Pelican Bay around 4pm. It was great to be back sailing again.

Pulling into Pelican Bay, we joined about 10 other boats in the anchorage which is maybe half as many as we've seen in the more popular sailing months. It's a little early but some of these boats may be on their way to spend the winter in the southern Bahamas. The season starts hopping down there in early December.

We took today, Monday, off and read books and rested most of the day. Around noon, we took the dinghy over to the Cayo Costa State Park and went over to the ocean side of the island for a walk on the beach. Ann found the water temperature a little cool but still very pleasant. I saved my dip in the ocean for a jump off the back of the boat later in the day.

Tomorrow, we are “back on the road again” heading down to the Ding Darling anchorage.