Let it blow, let it blow...

While the northeast deals with the latest winter storm, we are suffering through a relentless wind that has swung from the south, through west, through northwest, through north, to northeast...and still swinging.  By the time it settles, we will have completed a full circle here in our anchorage.  Happy to say that our anchor has held secure through it all, but we have watched others struggle to set theirs - often with amusement.

This homemade outrigger boat came in yesterday.  To us, it looked like an unfinished trimaran (that would be three hulls), but apparently it was designed this way.  Each to their own, I suppose.

Pelican Bay, Cayo Costa

Yesterday was very windy, so we were hoping for good holding here in Pelican Bay.  We had no trouble setting the anchor, and settled in for a couple of days.

There were gusts last night up to about 30mph, with rain to go with it.  But I slept through the whole thing (thanks in most part to my ear plugs!)  Michael, however, was up to check everything out.  This morning is overcast, and can't seem to make up its mind whether to get brighter or not.  It is warm enough, though, for me to be having my coffee on the aft deck as I write this.

We met a couple yesterday just after we arrived, who spied our Canadian flag and came to say hello.  They are from Lion's Head on the Bruce Peninsula  and have been wintering here for 15 years on their 49' Meridian.

Our plan (guess) is to stay here a few days, explore the state park on the island, get sand between our toes, explore in the dinghy, and all those other things that make boating so much fun.  We just need the weather to cooperate.

Interceptor Lagoon

Having spent a month in Punta Gorda, and had lots of shore based fun, including a chili cook-off, an Italian Festival and a Superbowl party, it was time to move on.  On our way down to Pelican Bay and Cayo Costa at the entrance to Charlotte Harbor, we made a side trip to All American Boat Yard to check out the facilities.  As I've said before, planning is just guessing, and we have now decided to leave this boat in Southwest Florida for the summer.  Hurricane Sandy has made travel up the east coast this spring somewhat uncertain, having destroyed many marinas and changed the intracoastal in ways nobody quite knows yet.  Here, we can leave the boat in a yard that is well inland, protected from surge by passage through a lock, and has covered storage available.

The little lock is self operated, and only changes elevation by about 8", but marks the change from salt to fresh water. The canal has many off shoots, leading to homes with their own docks.  The trip from the lock to the boatyard was longer than we had anticipated, so we dropped anchor in this little lagoon for the night.

After being at a marina right in downtown for a month, the silence out here was deafening!

Still in Punta Gorda

You might be wondering what has happened to us...after such diligent daily updates, we have gone silent.  We're fine, and Edee is recovering nicely from her surgery.  She's pretty much back to her normal self, and she will have the sutures removed tomorrow.

We have been filling in the time enjoying Punta Gorda and doing some minor maintenance chores.  Michael went back to Canada for a few days to take care of some business, and got out just before the cold snap hit!!  The weather here has cooled from 85 degrees to 72 during the day, but I don't want to rub it in.

Between the twin bridges there sits a tiki bar, perfectly situated for sunset watching while sipping on happy hour offerings of $3 margaritas, $2 draft beer, or a complementary Sundowner shot - vodka and lemonade.

We were treated to dinner and a cruise around Punta Gorda Isles by Harris & Ginta Bowers, fellow Trojan owners (our Ontario boat is a Trojan).

I love the name of their boat.....

....and their dog Sammy loves the boat, too.

Some of the bends in the canals are so sharp they put up mirrors to help you see what's coming, just like in a parking garage.

Our plans, which have always been quite fluid, have changed yet again.  Michael's daughter Sam is coming to visit in February, so we will be staying in the Fort Myers area and exploring the barrier islands with her before we head across to the east coast and eventually the Bahamas.  As we look at calendars, and calculate our necessary return to Ontario in April, it's hard to accept that we will soon have to leave the sunny south.  At the same time, we are looking forward to summer in Ontario, and perhaps being able to share our knowledge of Georgian Bay with some of the loopers we have met on this southern leg.

Dolphins at play

So we've been in Punta Gorda for a couple of days now, and I have been very lax in keeping you all up to date on our whereabouts.  I'll have to back up a bit...

We left Cape Haze in a very thick 'white' haze, or fog as some might call it.  We knew we didn't have far to travel to reach Punta Gorda, and our local contact said that there wasn't any fog up at the top of the bay.  It wasn't long before we came upon the swing bridge at Boca Grande, and had to wait about 10 minutes for it to open.  Once through the bridge, we were quickly joined by a pair of dolphins who spent a long time playing and jumping in our wake.  You will notice that one of them is missing a dorsal fin, but that doesn't seem to slow it down at all.

Charlotte Harbor was foggy about half way up, but as we came out of the fog we were treated to a beautiful sunny afternoon.  When we got to the marina and were directed to our slip, who should be right next to us but Larry and Mary Hatton on M/T Pockets - friends from Goose Pond in Alabama!!  They've been here for a month already, so were able to give us all the scoop on where to go, where to shop, and where to eat.  It was so nice to see some familiar faces.

Sunday's miles:  32

Total miles:  1310

We are now at Laishley Park Municipal Marina in Punta Gorda.  The marina has bicycles available to borrow, so we've been 'doing the town' that way during daylight hours, and by foot after dark.  

This little green heron seems to live close by, as we see him regularly.

We have arranged to stay here for a month.  Michael has to head home to Canada to take care of some business, and Edee and I will stay here while he's gone.  It's a lovely little town, with lots to offer, and I am looking forward to exploring some of the galleries and artisans workshops without Michael getting bored and trying to hurry me along!

Poor Edee needs surgery again - she has another lump that needs to be removed, so we'll have it done here where we are planning to stay put for a while and she will have time to recover.  The vet we visited yesterday seems to be very thorough, and we believe she'll be in good hands.  

Don Pedro Island State Park

I realized today that, no matter how much I have enjoyed the towns we have visited on our journey, I have more fun exploring the out-of-the-way places that only a dinghy or small boat can get to.

Don Pedro Island State Park is one of those places. The entrance lies between markers 33 & 35 on the ICW (Intra Coastal Waterway) and winds along a narrow canal between mangrove stands.  

There is a small day use dock, and a voluntary $2.00 user fee paid by putting your money in an envelope and dropping it into  a box.  The park ranger arrived just as we were filling our envelope, and we had a nice chat about the park and his job there.  

We started down one of the trails, towards an eagle's nest according to the ranger, but we never found it.  We did see this osprey having a meal. You can actually see the fish clutched in his foot.

 After a while, we cut across the scrub and sea oats and cactus to get onto the beach, which was beautiful - long and white and empty, with gentle waves rolling ashore from a very calm gulf.

Pelicans present an endless source of amusement for us.  They're big, and ungainly, and kind of ugly, and they splash noisily into the water as they hunt for fish.  But we have never really watched them fish before today, when they put on an aerial show for us.  There were two, flying and diving often in unison. Who knew that when they dive they roll onto their backs and actually enter the water upside down??

As we left the park, we spotted this egret, and a loon beside it entangled in fishing line, and trying desperately to get out of the water.  There wasn't anything we could directly do to help it, so we turned around and went back to the park to find the friendly ranger.  It turned out he already had a call into the Florida Fish and Wildlife folks to come to the rescue.  We can only hope it didn't take them too long to respond.

The little bay we are anchored in has a channel leading off it, running between two rows of houses, all of which have docks and boat lifts on the canal.  We puttered up to see what we could see, and again - birds, birds, birds.   

There was a red tide here over Christmas - a toxic algae that comes periodically and kills many fish, and can affect people with respiratory issues too.  There are a lot of dead fish still floating around, and even the gulls won't eat them.

All this low speed travel is thirsty work, so we went back to the mother ship for a cold beer and something to eat, followed by a lazy afternoon on the aft deck, enjoying the warm temperatures (80-ish) and bright Florida sunshine.

Cape Haze

Yesterday was spent in Venice.  Michael's brother and his wife were staying with friends in Sarasota, so arranged to come and meet us for lunch.  Of course, Paul needed to take a picture of us to show Mum at home, and Michael took a picture of him, taking his picture of us.........

We all went to Sharky's on the beach, and had a wonderful meal sitting on the patio.  This was the view from our table.

Afterwards, we took full advantage of their kindness, and went to Walmart for a major re-provisioning exercise.

Today was mostly dull and overcast, but we set off anyway, and eventually made our way to Cape Haze, which is about 7 miles from the entrance to Charlotte Harbor.  

On our way here, we passed a car ferry, which loads them up for a trip of about 75 yards across the channel.

When Michael's daughter saw our location on Google Earth, she texted "it looks like a cul-de-sac made of water".  And she's right.  Click on 'Location' below to see the map.  

It's a lovely little bay, surrounded by very nice homes and filled with birds.  We have watched several ospreys hunting, and I'm sure I saw a young bald eagle which hadn't grown into its adult plumage yet.  We heard the loons calling, which reminded us very much of Georgian Bay, and as the sun went down we could hear an owl somewhere in the trees.  

If it's a nice day tomorrow, we will launch the dinghy and visit the Don Pedro Island State Park, which is home to manatees, more birds, and who knows what else.  If not, tomorrow will see us in Punta Gorda.  

Today's miles:  24

Total miles:  1278