Ringside seats

I never, EVER, thought I'd say this out loud, much less write it down as a permanent record of sorts.  But, over the last few days, I actually got tired of watching dolphins!

The dolphin who lives where we have anchored, it seems, does not live alone.  On Saturday, we saw four, playing and cavorting for our viewing pleasure.  And then on Sunday, it was almost as if they knew it was the weekend and there would be lots of people around, several more showed up.  It's hard to count them, and they move so fast, but we think there were six or seven.  We have heard that the pod has ten members, but I don't know where that info comes from.

We also don't know if all of the activity is strictly play, or if there is more 'adult activity' happening, but either way, they have been leaping out of the water - sometimes right over each other, and slapping tails, and butting each other with heads and bodies.

Of course, the day boaters all stop to watch, and I stop watching the dolphins to watch the boats maneuver around, jockeying for the best view.  There have been a few close calls,  but no actual collisions.  Dogs in particular seem to enjoy getting close to the dolphins, with much tail wagging, barking and whining...wanting to join in the fun, I think.

The dolphins do seem to like the kayakers best.  They come very close, and clearly look right at the paddlers, perhaps trying to determine what kind of creatures they are.

This one has a notched dorsal, although we don't know if it is a natural thing, or the result of an accident of some sort.

And we just sat on our boat, taking it all in.  After dark, we could hear them all around us, still blowing and splashing.  But, in truth, we became very blase about the whole thing.

What...the dolphins are at it again?

Yawn......

A bit of this, and a bit of that

When last I wrote, we had changed our anchorage to shelter from some strong winds, and the forecast was correct.  We stayed a few more days in Pelican Bay, during which time we decided that we would head north a little bit.  That's right - north.  When we came to this part of Florida last year, it was so cold that we wanted to get as far south as we reasonably could, so we skipped over this part of the coast fairly quickly, missing some of the sights that are worth seeing.  So, we plan to go as far as Sarasota, all within the intracoastal waterway, hang out in some pretty places, and take advantage of the great beaches.

But first, there was provisioning to be done, and a stop in Cape Haze allowed for a dinghy trip up the canal, then a short walk to Publix for groceries & wine, and the liquor store beside it for rum & vodka.  We spent the night there, and headed out the next morning with a planned stop at a small marina for water and a bit of diesel to top up what the generator had consumed.  We also wanted to get to a Best Buy, as my computer had refused to start that morning, and it needed service.  We arrived in Cape Haze Marina late morning, and wound our way through the narrow channel to the fuel dock, set right inside a lovely condo development, complete with pool and hot tub.  We arranged to stay the night, organized a rental car (because ours is back in Punta Gorda), got ourselves organized for a shore trip.  And just like magic, my computer came back to life, and seems to be running just fine.  Scrap the Best Buy trip then.  But with a car at our disposal, there was lots that we could do...a little more shopping (Lowes, Walmart, bulk food store), and of course, touristy things.  Why not stay two nights in the marina?

We wanted to visit Boca Grande, playground of the rich and famous (the Bush & Vanderbilt families have places here).  There is a causeway across, with a swing bridge, and a toll of $6.00, which we thought was a little steep, but designed, no doubt, to keep the riff-raff out, we got in anyway!  It is a lovely little town, with all kinds of artsy shops and very expensive restaurants, huge gated homes, and a very long, very clean beach.  This is the one that has been regenerated by the factory barges we could see from Cayo Costa.

This is the aptly named Banyan Street, a shaded tunnel framed by huge and obviously very old banyan trees.

Back on the mainland, it was time for dinner - seafood, of course.  This restaurant is attached to another marina/resort complex, with a great view and pretty good food.

We timed our departure from Cape Haze with the high tide, at around 2 pm the following day, and traveled just a few miles to Englewood Beach, on Manasota Key.  With homes on one side and mangroves on the other, we are pretty well protected from all but a strong north wind.  This will be our home for the next few days, until the weather dictates a move.

As always, we are happy watching life go on around us.  Herons, egrets, osprey and pelicans are everywhere, and there is a dolphin who seems to live somewhere around us, and gives us a show every evening at sunset.

It is almost Christmas, and Michael and I want to take this opportunity to wish all of our friends and family a very Merry Christmas, and a healthy and Happy New Year!

A Chance of Sprinkles

Yesterday, the weather forecast was calling for some high winds over the next several days - 20 to 25 knots (23 to 29 miles per hour).  We decided to stay here in Pelican Bay, but moved out of the open central area to a more protected little cove up against the mangroves on the eastern side of the bay.  We had no sooner set the anchor than a sailboat arrived and followed us in.  Shortly after that, two more boats arrived, all no doubt looking for the same sort of protection.  Nice to be first in, and have your pick of where to set the hook.

That same weather forecast also called for a chance of sprinkles, which gave us a good chuckle.  Forecasts at home would call for light rain or showers, but I have to admit that 'sprinkles' is sometimes a perfect description.

Despite the forecast, the day itself was beautiful - hot and sunny, with few clouds and a nice light breeze.  Time to go exploring!

On the western shore of the bay is a cut in the mangroves, which leads to a small lagoon.  We thought it might be a good spot to go and look for manatees, having spotted one out in the open the other evening.  Camera in hand, we ventured out, and were not at all disappointed. There were at least twenty manatees in there, slowly circling the lagoon, and our little dinghy, rising slowly to the surface and exhaling very loudly.  Sometimes, all you see is the nose above the surface.  Other times, they rise above the surface, showing their bristly faces and algae and barnacle covered backs.  We saw at least one baby, hanging close to mom's side.

Full disclosure requires that I confess to our little comedy of errors.  I managed only a few really bad shots before I ran out of memory on the camera. We returned to the mother ship, did what we had to do to create more memory on the card, had lunch, and got back in the dinghy for a repeat visit.  I was somewhat more successful this time, and the manatees were cooperating nicely, until the camera shut down of its own accord.  WHAT??  Out of battery this time, much to my chagrin.  And so, we just sat and watched for a while.

Sunset brought about a flurry of activity near the mangroves in our new anchorage.  Small schools of fish, obviously feeding, splashed and thrashed around in the shallows.  This caught the attention of the wading birds in the area, and they all descended to take advantage.  Great egrets, snowy egrets and herons perched all around the water's edge, and even a pelican or two came to see what all the fuss was about.  The gulls, of course, showed up too.

We never seem to tire of watching all that goes on around us.  

Busy, busy

There has been lots to watch over the last few days here in Pelican Bay.  The anchorage pretty much cleared out over Sunday as people either went home, or traveled on to their next stop.  There was one other trawler left and a couple of sailboats by the time we went to bed Sunday night.  We were woken in a hurry Monday morning to the strange sound of what seemed to be a single wave slamming into the dinghy at the rear of the boat.  We rushed onto the deck, and could see one wave slowly moving away from us across the bay.  It was like a teeny tiny little tsunami, maybe 2 feet high, and all alone.  Not at all like wake from a passing boat, and very strange, indeed.

As we stood and wondered what had happened, we noticed that the trawler across from us seemed to be pushed up very close to the mangrove shore.  We could clearly see the anchor line stretched out to the right, and could only wonder what exactly had happened.

Sure enough, after a few minutes, the little red TOWBOAT US tug arrived, spent a little time with them, then left without actually doing anything that we could see.  So the poor guy was still stranded.

A while later, a sailboat entered the bay.  As we watched, they overshot the route into the easternmost part of the bay, and ran aground.  I should mention here that the whole bay is no deeper than 10 feet, and most is considerably less than that, so it is easy to find the bottom if you are not very careful.  You can see from the photo that the bow is sitting several inches higher than the stern.

At this point, the TOWBOAT US guy came back, spoke to folks on the sailboat,  then turned and headed back to the trawler.  First order of business was to pick up the anchor, then a towing line was attached and he began to pull her off the sand.

Well, he huffed and he puffed, and he pulled and he pulled, and ever so slowly, we began to see movement. Inch by inch, the boat pivoted and turned, then began to move freely, still under tow.  Those poor people had been up against shore for several hours by now.  He towed them to the middle of the bay, where they dropped anchor again, and I'm sure had a good stiff drink!

Meanwhile, the sailboat had launched their dinghy, and with a little help from another sailboat, managed to free themselves as the tide came up.

Yesterday, we took a little trip up to Burnt Store Marina for fuel and water.  It was a beautiful day for a run, and conditions were great.

We decided that we would return to Pelican Bay for the night, and determine our next destination.  As we sat on the aft deck having a cocktail, we saw a large boat approaching the southern end of the bay - not the normal entrance for most folks, but the only way to get into a very protected little 'hurricane hole'.  With strong winds forecast for overnight, we weren't surprised. But suddenly, he stopped moving.  Sure enough, he was too close to shore, and had run aground.  We could see people on the decks, trying to gauge the depth with boat hooks and weighted lines.  The sun was going down, and it would be dark soon.  Not a good time to be stuck.  They launched their dinghy after a few minutes, took a few soundings, and managed to eventually back off in fairly short order.  Their second attempt to enter was much more successful.

Throughout the entire exercise, we were surrounded by dolphins.  You can hear them exhaling as they surface often before you see them, and they were all around us.  But they don't stay in one place, and I only managed a couple of photos of fins!

I also managed to spot a manatee, and a small flight of little rays, but had no time to take any pictures.

The wind did pick up overnight, and we were up several times checking our position.  Our anchor held throughout, and we didn't drift at all, but neither of us had a particularly good sleep.  If the wind continues to settle, we may move on today - or not.  We'll see what happens today, and what we feel like doing.  And that's the beauty of having no firm plan.

Cayo Costa and Pelican Bay

We have done our time at Laishley Park Marina in Punta Gorda, slipped the mooring lines and ventured off into the wild.  Well, at least as far as Pelican Bay at the bottom of Charlotte Harbor.  We are anchored just off the barrier island of Cayo Costa, a state park and home to ospreys, pelicans, frigate birds, laughing gulls and many other birds, as well as feral hogs.  Thankfully, we haven't run into any of the hogs, and they don't seem to swim like the ones in the Bahamas that we have seen on YouTube.

We arrived to find a fair number of boats, all bunched up in one corner for no reason that we could discern.  We kept our distance, though, and had lots of space.  Our first sunset here was spectacular.  I know, more sunset pictures...but I never get tired of them.

The Gulf of Mexico is just across the island, which at this spot is maybe a mile wide.  Tour boats visit the park throughout the day, and there are rustic cabins, and campsites as well.  We launched the dinghy the next morning, and set off exploring.  The beach is beautiful, and the water is still warm enough for swimming...at least for we Canadians, used to swimming in Georgian Bay all summer!!

There is a huge dredging operation under way, which we have been told is to rebuild the beach at Boca Grand, on the island just north of Cayo Costa.

This poor old tree seems to be standing on tiptoes to stay out of the surf.

At the very south end of the island are more of the same...tree trunks, and root systems and some serious driftwood.  If it wasn't for the bright sun and blue water, it could be the stuff of nightmares.

Clearly, visitors to this part of the island are driven to leave something beautiful behind, and have created this shell tree.

Today, we had lunch at Barnacle's on North Captiva.  It is in a very protected little harbor, with flat water and lots of large, expensive homes.  Great cheeseburger, really good clam strips, and cold, cold beer.  Yum.