We made the trip Monday from Ft Myers to Cayo Costa through the "miserable mile" so named because it is narrow and crowded with inconsiderate fast boats, and arrived early afternoon. After getting the boat set for the night we decided to dinghy over to CABBAGE KEY to have dinner...nothing fancy, just good hamburgers (this is where Jimmy Buffett wrote "Cheeseburger in Paradise"). So after dinner we headed back to the boat taking a short side trip to look for "gaters" and manatees when Steve realized he had picked up his sunglasses and hat but left his phone laying on the table back at Cabbage Key1 Oops! So back we went...lucky for us it was still daylight.
The next morning (Tuesday) we headed out for the short run to the Mayakka River, the locks, and the fresh water canal back to the boat yard. We arrived at the boat yard early afternoon and stayed tied to the dock for the night. On Wednesday we worked on the boat from the dock pulling, folding, and bagging sails as it was supposed to rain on Wednesday night. We hitched a ride with Tony and Brady the owners of the marina to Punta Gorda to pick up our car and back to do more boat work. The boat was hauled (lifted from the water) early Thursday morning and we have spent the rest of the week packing, cleaning, and running errands.
We took time out to have Breakfast with our friends Jack and Diana Toomey who sailed down the ICW with MIDORI and us in 2007. They now have a trawler and have been staying in Ft. Myers this last year, but will be leaving for the Jacksonville area at the end of this month., and we don't know when we will cross paths again.
We also had lunch with Denny and Cecilia Wilhelm who keep our car while we are traveling They are very busy and we almost had to have an appointment to have lunch with them.
Between these outings we pulled out the wonderful PFAFF sewing machine we bought in January for $25.00 at the local Goodwill store and working together we fashioned a cover for the cockpit on " Living Well". I did the sewing and Steve put the snaps on and it turned out very well. It will offer shade and dust cover for the cockpit. We also added three fans that will run every day from the solar panels to keep the boat cooler and keep the mold at bay (a constant battle on Florida boats).
It is now 7:30 on Sunday night. The boat is completely packed away for another 6 months and we are on the road just about 50 miles from Atlanta, Ga. We should arrive back in Bloomington early tomorrow evening. And so went the 2012-2013 season aboard LIVING WELL. See you on the blog in the fall.