Naples to Fort Myers and the End of the Trip

Day 24: March 28, 2018

Today, we traveled the last leg of our journey.  We arose at our usual time and enjoyed the last of our bacon in combination with the last of our eggs and some

What can I say?

toast.  The forecast called for more wind, however, somewhat less that what we experienced yesterday.

We were on our way by about 7:30 heading out into calm waters of the river that flows through Naples.  We left the protected waters through the same Gordon Pass that we so violently entered about 3 weeks ago.  

Gordon Pass is wide open and well marked with channel markers.  I centered the boat in the channel and noted the position of the markers. As I usually do, I set the tiller pilot (auto pilot) and set about plugging in the course.

that we will follow on the first leg of the trip.  I am not sure how it happened but as I was setting the course, the boat drifted over and struck the channel marker on the port side of the boat.  It was a glancing blow but significantly damaged the rub-rail and scratched the side of the hull.  It did not penetrate the hull but did cause cosmetic damage to the boat.  We were truly lucky that it didn’t hit head on or snag the rigging taking down the mast.  It did not affect the sailing or handling of the boat.  I am sad because the boat was pristine and now marred.

Sanibel Island Light in the distsance

We continued on out into the Gulf, turned northwest and headed for Fort Myers. The predicted winds in the mid to upper teens did not materialize. We had a nice breeze of about 10 to 12 knots off of our starboard rear quarter so we raised the sails and were able to maintain 5 knots average all the way to the Caloosahatchee River.

On our way down, we took two days to travel from Fort Myers to Naples, however, we took an inside route winding through Fort Myers Beach area and various islands. However, this time, we stayed out in the Gulf and were able the make it all of the way to Fort Myers Yacht Basin by about 4:15.  I am amazed how far inland

What appears to be a fisherman's waterhole

we had to travel to reach the

city of Fort Myers.  When we left the Gulf and started up the Caloosahatchee River, we traveled over 15 miles to our final destination at the marina. And, like the route between Marco Island and Naples, it is crowded with boaters all traveling at high rates of speed.  The difference is that the area is not as

confined and has a wider channel.

Upon arrival at the marina, we were helped into an inside slip by a couple of dock hands.  The wind finally had decided to live up to the prediction and was clocking gusts up to 20 knots.  Luckily, although windy, the waters in the marina were calm so the landing was uneventful.  

It was a tough day.  After resting a bit, we decided to get the truck and have it ready for an early morning retrieval of the boat.  As you may recall from an earlier posting, parking in this town is really restricted, however, the fine folks at the marina arranged a double parking space on the street that would accommodate both our truck and trailer. 

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Back at the boat, we didn’t feel like cooking or heading to a restaurant, so we heated a can of New England clam chowder and I accompanied my bowl with a spam/mayo/tortilla rollup, Janine had Gouda cheese and crackers.  After supper we pulled the sails off the boat and carried them to the truck.  We also deflated Damn Dink Too and packaged her. That is one of those jobs that one realizes has been left to the last minute after a tiring disassembly and loading of the boat. It is good to have it out of the way.

The chart plotter has an odometer that records miles covered and although I failed to check it at the very last moment, we know that we covered around 575 nautical miles on this trip which converts to about 660 statute miles.  It was a good trip over all.

As you might imagine, at 9:00, we were quite ready for bed.

This will probably be the last edition of the blog.  We hope to have an uneventful trip back to Ohio and an exciting reunion would our great dog, Zoe.