2/9/21 - 2/24/21 - Loop Segment Punta Gorda to Marathon Key

Southwest Florida:

Hurricane season shut us down in the fall, so we ended at the Wharf in Orange Beach, AL in mid-November. We returned south the 1st week of February to attend the annual Ranger Tug / Cutwater Rendezvous at Burnt Store Marina, Punta Gorda, FL, so this left the panhandle piece of our Loop unfinished. This includes the much-talked-about Gulf Crossing from Carrabelle to Tarpon Springs. We are working out the logistics to complete this piece, as we intend to navigate every nautical mile of the Loop. For now we will continue down the southwest coast of Florida.

Tues, Feb 9 - Punta Gorda to Sanibel: 26 miles. We pulled the anchor at Pelican Bay, and began motoring across Charlotte Harbor to Sanibel Island Marina for 2 nights. When we arrived at Sanibel, we received a text from former Ranger Tug owners, Steve and Laurie Hafener, who Winter on Sanibel - they graciously made their bicycles available to us while we continued to quarantine. We biked 3 miles up the Island and back in the afternoon. It's extra special when we visit places we've been before by car :)

Sanibel Marina was a little pricey for the accommodations - location, location, location, Gramma Dots is a nice restaurant on site, but the bathroom/shower facilities are shared with restaurant customers. Probably less convenient for diners than boaters. Getting into the slip was pretty tight, as the runway was quite narrow. It was lovely to stay on Sanibel though!

*We were surprised/amused/aggravated by the lack of boating etiquette on this leg. Sport fish cruising past us at full throttle, so close that we were getting spray off their bow! The radio traffic mimicked our thoughts - "you got money, but no sense"; "thanks, I'll send you the bill"; "I've traveled hundreds of nautical miles, and I have never encountered such ignorant boaters"

Thurs, Feb 11 - Sanibel to Naples: 35.5 miles. We left Sanibel and headed to Naples. It was a perfect, flat day on the Gulf of Mexico. It it weren't for those pesky crab pots! Unfortunately, we had to cancel plans to meet up with friends from home, while we continued to quarantine. (We did decide to proactively get tested, and thankfully came back negative.)

We enjoyed our time walking the streets and going to the beach. Loral took advantage of the flat terrain to take a "running" tour of the beautiful real estate. The City Dock was very nice; wonderful amenities and friendly employees. We really appreciated the laundry facilities. It is also a favorite hang out for pelicans and dolphins. The Dock at Crayton Cove restaurant is at the entrance to the dock, so we indulged in 2 carryout orders while we were there - delicious! Plus many more restaurants in walking distance of the marina. Happy Valentine's Day.

Mon, 2/15 - Naples to Marco Island: 16 miles. We said goodbye to Naples and took the inside route to Marco Island where we dropped the anchor at Smokehouse Bay for a couple of days. It was a different anchorage than we're accustomed to because it is surrounded by high-end, single & multi-unit housing. Another new encounter on this leg of the trip has been the average $100/night marina fees, so we're going to cool down the Discover card for a couple of days!

Smokehouse Bay, Marco Island

Wed, 2/17 - Marco Island to Calusa Island Marina, Goodland, FL. 10.8 miles. We pulled anchor and continued our journey south to Calusa Island Marina. We we greeted by friendly staff at the fuel dock and given instructions to our slip on the outside of the main marina. We were delighted to see the unobstructed views of the mango groves, and surrounded by nature - a stark departure from the City-fied marinas we enjoyed on our way down. Gold Loopers, Ron & Debbie Scholz / Carpe Diem, helped with the lines to get us secured to the dock. We enjoyed docktails with Ron and Debbie exchanging boating adventures. We were delighted by Ron's honoring each day by blowing his conch shell at sunset. Jerry and Margot Fray, Gold Loopers on Future Days (R-27, outboard) also joined us for docktails.

Calusa Island Marina met all of our expectations, clean showers, laundry, fuel, restaurants in walking distance, friendly personnel. There is a cool bridge that connects the transient docks to the main marina, I was able to get my hair blown dry as I crossed after showering!

Our Lyft driver who took us to Marco for groceries was 80+-year old Captain Ken Bardon who sailed the WORLD on his vessel - MOONBEAM: Circumnavigation 2013 - 2015 (sailblogs.com) So interesting! We visited Marco Island again when our Lemont neighbors, Kathy & Rudy, drove in from their home in Estero to have dinner with us. Due to our Covid quarantine we were not able to connect with them when we were in Naples.

Stan's

We did not visit the famous Stan's Idle Island, but we were entertained by the live music all weekend. Kirk's Fish Company was a great place to get stone crab and delicious fish dip.

Tues, 2/23 Goodland to Shark River, Everglades. 56 miles. High winds kept us in Goodland through Tuesday. Jerry & Margot (Future Days) agreed to cruise to the Everglades too, but they go much faster than Port-A-Gee. We were apprehensive about going to Shark River due to the stories of relentless mosquitos and no-see-ums. The following seas would not allow us to make it to Marathon, so we joined Future Days at anchor just inside the mouth of Shark River. WOW - it was amazing! Wind direction kept insects away and the marine life kept us entertained all afternoon. We saw huge sharks, jelly fish, and sea birds. Unfortunately they wouldn't stop and pose for the camera. We pulled anchor early and enjoyed a wonderful cruise across the flat Gulf into Marathon Key.

Wed, 2/24, Shark River to Marathon Key. 51 Miles. We could not have asked for a better cruising day. The Gulf was flat and the sun was shining brightly. We cruised at 14 mph until we got about 10 miles out, we slowed to 8 mph to savor the day. It was so exciting when the 7-Mile Bridge came into view - another landmark that we have travelled by land.