Now what do we do?

Blue Heaven Rendezvous #29

We left Marathon after almost a month on a mooring ball there. We really liked the friendly atmosphere but were anxious to get moving once more. We were heading to the west coast of Florida with Nancy and Dave Hall on Saltaire. We motored under Seven Mile Bridge and through Moser Channel into Florida Bay and eventually into the Gulf of Mexico.

Just as I was ready to put lunch on the table, we heard this funny noise and the engine shut down. We had wrapped a crab pot around our prop. We called Saltaire who were motoring ahead of us, and they turned around to stand by, however, in so doing, wrapped their fishing line that was out in back of their boat around their prop! It was not too big of a deal for them, because being a catamaran; they can raise the prop and clear it off. We on the other hand had a bigger problem. Al wanted to go snorkeling, but I don’t think this was the type he had in mind! He had to go under the boat many times to cut the black polypropylene line and unwrap sections of it until it was off. It took about 35 minutes until we were free. There wasn’t a large float on it. The only float it had was about three inches wide, so no wonder Al did not see it in the water.

After lunch we sailed for a while and then the winds died. We motored to Little Shark River which is part of the Everglades. It wasn’t a very pretty anchorage Dead trees lined the shore. We were wondering if it was caused by the hurricanes. It was a quiet anchorage, and when Dave and Nancy were going back to their boat after a game of Dominoes, we deemed it the darkest anchorage. It truly was in the middle of nowhere (no cell phone or internet connections) which made the stars seem super bright.

The next day was cloudy but we were able to sail. Al decided to give fishing another try. He put on his third and final lure and in the middle of trying to reef the sail a fish struck! Now what do we do? He told me to head into the wind and he got the fish close enough to the boat to use a gaff to bring it in the boat. This of course caused the fish to bleed like crazy. Now what do we do?? He told me to get the squeeze bottle of rum to squirt in his gills which is supposedly done to cause it to die quicker, but he continued to flop around flinging his blood everywhere. We finally got him into a kitchen garbage bag where he gave one last ferocious fight of his body and finally expired. Now what do we do??? I pulled out our soft cooler bag and put it in with what ice and ice packs we had available. If you saw our cockpit, you would have thought a massacre took place here. Al cleaned it all up and I got out the fish identification book. We finally decided it was a Spanish mackerel especially after we called Saltaire who said they caught six! They used a fish net to bring theirs in and they didn’t get such a bloody mess. We will be looking for a fish net at our earliest convenience! Al measured his first catch, with it being 25 inches, and then filleted it on the front deck. Thank heavens we saw a fisherman filleting fish in Key West or we would have been asking again, “Now what do we do?”

We reached the Rod and Gun Club in Everglade City late afternoon tying up to their bulkhead for the night. It was an interesting place having been built in the late 1800’s and has kept the southern Florida Everglade rustic feel. Although there is not much in Everglade City it had some charming sites. The Old Laundry Building which was the community laundry in the early 1900’ is now the Everglades Museum. They had a cute luncheonette and ice cream store with a vintage gas pump and antique car sitting out front. They had two restaurants, one being the Rod and Gun Club which is where the four of us chose to eat that evening. We had a nice dinner and a game of billiards afterwards. In how many restaurants can you get that combination?

We awoke to rain but chose to leave for Little Marco Island after waiting an hour, because it was suppose to turn nice by afternoon and that is what it did. We were able to sail after the showers passed and once again had a great “dolphin experience.” There were 5 to 7 swimming around our boat an especially at the bow. They were around for so long Al went back in the cockpit because he was getting tired of watching them. I never get tired watching their graceful bodies glide through the water and having so much fun. One even squirted us with his spray from his blow hole as if in fun.

We eventually entered Capri Pass and anchored between Little Marco Island and Keewaydin Island. It was a pretty spot but a lot of speed boat and fishing boat traffic. After 5pm when the rental boats are due in, it quieted down quite fast.

In the morning I took advantage of the quiet waters and had Al put our kayak in the water. I paddle around for a bit enjoying the peacefulness. Al readied the dinghy because we made plans with Dave and Nancy to go exploring and to get to the ocean side of Keewaydin Island. We spoke to someone at one of the docks, and he said there were only seventeen houses on the island that have no electric or running water. We found the landing which was mentioned in our cruising guide where you could cross to the ocean and not be trespassing. We are so glad that we found it because it was a gorgeous beach with no more than 25 people on it and we walked for probably three hours. Nancy and I both collect shells and sea glass. This was wonderful for those two hobbies. We found the best shells yet and found some light green and turquoise sea glass which is the hardest to find. Our only regret is that we did not pack a lunch to be able to stay longer.

That evening we shared a dinner together and had a wonderful meal, and as Al said, “It was better than any restaurant meal!” It was a great end to a great day.

We left the Marco Island area and had a close reach sail all the way to Fort Myers Beach. You can tell you are getting to more densely populated areas seeing the cigarette boats and Para sailors all along the coast.

Our friends Randy and Kathy on Intransition who left Marathon about 1 ½ weeks earlier were waving to us from the beach as we entered the inlet. We got tied to a mooring ball which the town had most recently put in about seventy of them, and so made it easier to obtain one, especially on a Saturday. We went in by dinghy to Mantanzas Inn to pay the $13 a night fee and went to dinner with Kathy and Randy who showed us around the facilities and a small section of the beach town. It definitely is a typical beach town. There are plenty of tee shirt shops, tattoo parlors and ice cream stores to visit. The guy’s eyes probably got tired goggling all the college coeds in their skimpy outfits! Al and I never got to go south for spring break during college but we did now, only a few years later!

While we were with Kathy and Randy, Dave and Nancy had a friend visit with a car. They had dinner with him and the next day he offered to take us grocery shopping. We got our laundry and food shopping done on the same day and still had time to play! Their friend Perry suggested a visit to Sanibel by car. We were anxious to see the island and beaches and got to see quite a lot by car. The properties are just beautiful with their meticulously manicured properties. Their beaches were very nice for public beaches but we were spoiled with the mostly uninhabited island of Keewaydin which we had been to a few days before. We got to see some great kite surfing with the guys doing all sorts of tricks near the Sanibel Lighthouse. I would have liked to have seen the wildlife preserve on Sanibel but we ran out of time. We will have to save it for another trip!

We plan to start our return to Marathon and then our leisurely return to the Chesapeake tomorrow.