Boating with Sunset Delight

Sunday, November 25, 2018

2018: Cape Coral to Punta Gorda FL

11/24/2018
Depart: Glover Bight Cape Coral FL 9:00
Arrive: Punta Gorda Private Dock 2:05
Distance: 39 NM

With a cloudy sky, we had cool traveling today. Both Clark and I put on long-sleeved shirts to stay warm on the fly bridge. Since I had just washed my hair before departing, I had a "hoody" pulled up to keep the breeze off my wet hair.

Cloudy skies at Glover Bight, Cape Coral, FL

As we pulled away from the anchorage, I noticed a pelican perched on top of a channel marker - not moving at all and realized that he was fast asleep. He did not even notice our passing by.

Sleeping pelican on Red #6

As we continued on our way, I told Clark, "Watch out for the traps in the middle of the channel!" He said, "Oh, you mean the coconuts?" So now, in addition to thinking that birds are traps, we have to decide if what we see is a trap or a coconut floating by!

Coconut or Trap??

As we followed the channel markers towards our destination of Punta Gorda, we noticed a boat make a sudden left-hand turn out of the channel for no apparent reason. Just a short distance further along, we discerned his sudden departure. He must have been heading to the floating bait store.

"Drive in" Bait Shop

As we traveled these waters, we found several dolphins who wanted to play in our wake. One decided to put on quite a show for us. Clark managed to capture many of his antics on the camera.

Side float

Back roll

Back float

Jump

Also, along today's ride, we had an encounter with a helicopter. I was in the galley, but later Clark told me we got "buzzed by a copter". Clark saw the pilot taking pictures of us, so he took pictures of the helicopter. He said, "I was his subject, and he was my subject."

We passed by Cabbage Key on our way to Punta Gorda. Right after we passed, we got a real strong smell of "cheeseburgers in paradise". It made me quite hungry!

Although the cool weather was quite pleasant for travel, we had one very annoying problem - Red Tide! My allergies acted up quite nastily, and Clark said he too was sniffing. Fortunately, the problem did not last too long. As we traveled the final stretch of the trip across Charlotte Harbor, we noticed that our sniffing had ceased. Yay!

As we pulled into the channel by the mangroves leading to our friend's house, Clark texted our friend that we were close and received a text back estimating our arrival at 1:30.

Entering Punta Gorda Isles

Boat Ramp at PGI

We rafted, i.e. tied our boat, to our friend's boat at his dock, came inside their house, ate food that Carol put out for lunch, and then talked the rest of the day away. After much debate about what to do for dinner, we decided to go to a seafood restaurant.

Of course I ate way more than I should have. The Jalapeno Hush Puppies that came with my meal surprised me. I thought they would be spicy, but instead they were just plain delicious. They were my downfall for sure because I ate all they gave me.

Afterwards, as we walked through the parking lot back to the car, Clark tried for a picture of the full moon. He took several shots but at night it is hard to get a clear picture.

Hazy Full moon

Jim, Ev, and Carol - all unaware they are caught by the camera

2018: Cape Coral Anchorage

11/23/2018
Depart: Private Dock Cape Coral FL 2:00
Arrive: Glover Bight Anchorage Cape Coral FL 3:20
Distance: 8 NM

We had to wait for the tide to come in before we could leave Kitty's dock. Unfortunately, that meant waiting until well into the afternoon. We watched the water compared to the boards of the dock to determine departure time. I told Kitty it was as exciting as watching paint dry!

Can we leave yet?

While waiting for the water to come in, I decided to catch up on my favorite Netflix "soap opera" and binged on internet TV until Clark said we could get going. Just before 2:00 he gave the "go" word, and we jumped into action to be on our way.

Kitty waving goodbye from her dock

Because it was too late to get very far, Clark picked out the anchorage at Glover Bight in Cape Coral as it was reasonably close. He had seen it on a prior trip in this area and wanted to try it out. We had mangroves on one side of us and the Westin Resort on the other. Just as we came in looking for a place to drop our anchor, another boat already there decided to depart. Since he had a perfect spot, we waited until he left and took his vacancy.

Glover Bight Anchorage, Cape Coral, FL

We thoroughly enjoyed this anchorage and would definitely come here again. We could hear music from the resort until 9:00 p.m. After that we heard nothing for the rest of the night.

Sunset at Glover Bight, Cape Coral, FL

2018: Cape Coral FL

11/21/2018
Depart: W. P. Franklin Campground 10:40
Arrive: Cape Coral Private Dock 2:30
Distance: 27 NM

For those "loopers" who know about Kitty's dock, that was our destination for today. Given the shallow water on the channel leading into Kitty's place, we had to delay our departure this morning to target an arrival at Kitty's approaching high tide. Given that, we had no rush to get up this morning and I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while reading my most current book.

Clark called the lock before we dropped our lines to make sure the lock would be ready for us. The lock master told us to wait 15 minutes and then come. As we did our final preparations to depart, I took a walk up to the public restroom. Everywhere I looked campers were preparing their motor homes for departure. Some boats had already left their slips and more planned to depart as we did.

With the mass exodus one would think we were all under mandatory evacuation orders. Signs posted all around the campground offered a "pot luck" Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday. I guess that just was not enough incentive to keep the campers on site.

When we left our slip and came around the corner to the lock, we found the lock ready for us with a green light.

Entering W. P. Franklin Lock

On the "final stretch" of the Okeechobee Waterway, we travel through a tedious section with slow speed no wake for Manatees.

Power plant at start of manatee, slow-speed zone

After we passed the power plant, I decided to go below and make lunch. I brought Clark up his lunch and then stayed below to eat and read more of my book. I missed the rest of the slow speed area (and the scenes below) as I became too enthralled in my book to notice where we were or what we were passing.

Metal Sculpture Artwork on the waterway

Open Railroad Bridge

One of Clark's "down the tracks" pictures

Clark thought about diving under the boat at W. P. Franklin campground to inspect the props for damage until he was told that a big old alligator liked to hang out in the area. Gulp! Better wait for a waterway with a bit more salt in the water! Given that, I knew that Clark wanted to drop anchor on the Caloosahatchee River to inspect the props on the way to Kitty's dock.

When Clark put the boat in neutral to work the anchor, I quick had to put down my boat and jump into "first mate" mode to assist. We dropped anchor at 1:15 near marker 68. The water temp read 75, but I convinced Clark to put on a "shorty" wet suit for his shallow dive under the boat. He found no visible damage to either prop. At least we know neither prop is severely damaged by the thunk we heard the other day. Clark had us back underway at 1:55.

The channel heading in to Kitty's dock is quite shallow in spots. I watched the depth sounders closely as we came into her complex. The lowest we saw was 0.7 feet under the keel meaning just under 5 feet of water. Thankfully we only saw that small amount of water for a very short period of time and then it climbed back up to more comfortable numbers.

The man-made lagoons where Kitty has her dock have street signs on the intersections. We passed a dead end named Phoenix and then turned on Pentagon, Partridge, and finally Roanoke to arrive at Kitty's dock. On doing so, we passed a little statue that I have seen on prior trips to Kitty's dock.

Fisher boy statue

Kitty was standing at her dock ready to grab our lines as we came in. As soon as we docked, Kitty and Clark started talking and hardly stopped. At some points during their conversation, my eyes glazed over as I heard terms like "Pentium II processor", "CPM", "DOS", and "8088". Kitty's house is full of electronic gadgets. For example, when she gets a phone call, the whole house rings. If the front door is opened, the house talks and says the door is open. It is pretty amazing.

The three of us had a pot luck dinner tonight. Kitty provided the steaks and dessert, and I provided the pasta primavera side dish. Tomorrow for Thanksgiving, we will have another pot luck dinner to share.

Tonight, we got to see the still "almost full" moon. The moon is truly a full moon on Friday. It looks pretty big already.

Almost full moon in the sky -
looks just like the street light below!

The sunset was not as impressive tonight as last night.

Sunset at Cape Coral, FL

11/22/2018 Thanksgiving Day!
No travel

The three of us, Kitty, Clark, and I, agreed that we would have a joint Thanksgiving Day dinner at 1:00. I decided to prepare a close facsimile to the traditional meal but substituted chicken for a turkey. We did have stuffing and cranberry however. Kitty prepared the potatoes and provided ice cream for dessert.

Thanksgiving Dinner

After dinner Kitty put Clark to work hooking up her new fire pit to the propane. They got it set up and working. Later they took apart the pool heater mechanism to pull out the capacitor that she planned to replace. Otherwise, we had a leisurely day by the pool.

Clark managed to find time to get the obligatory sunset picture for the blog.

Sunset in Cape Coral, FL

Wednesday, November 21, 2018

2018: Clewiston to WP Franklin Lock FL

11/19/2018

Depart: Clewiston Roland Martins Marina 7:30

Arrive: Park at W. P. Franklin Lock 1:45

Distance: 48 NM

Locks: 2 (Morehaven and Ortega Locks)

We rose at 6:30 this morning planning for a long day on the water. As per usual, our plans changed. Clark had hoped to get one of our display units worked on, but when he called to schedule the work, he discovered the shop closed for the next week. The repair will be delayed. On the bright side, our travel day shortened considerably.

I walked around the marina briefly before our departure and found some more novelties on the grounds.

Alligator Carved Bench

Content Totem Pole

Sign post to Key West and NYC

As we approached Morehaven Lock, we saw two boats tied to the dolphins before the lock.

Tied at dolphins at the Lock

We followed “Stephanie Marie”, a Fleming, all the way from the dock at Roland Martins Marina (they were docked behind us) all the way to the W.P. Franklin lock. We mostly kept pace with them and passed under bridges and through locks with them along the way.

“Stephanie Marie” up ahead

With the exception of the two locks, the trip along the waterway was tedious for most of the time. One of the most interesting things to photograph today was a bush. It is a dull day indeed when a bush is picture-worthy!

Lone bush in the waterway

In a particularly narrow section of water, the pilot of a vessel named “Vetted” decided that he absolutely had to pass right there right then. He was in a rush to move along with Sarasota as his day’s destination. Clark shifted to the port to give him some room to pass, and we felt and heard a heavy thud. Further along the waterway when we sped up, we could feel a vibration. Now we wonder what damage we may have incurred.

Scene at W. P. Franklin Park

The park at W.P. Franklin lock is an RV campsite with 8 slips for boats. Of the 8 slips, only 4 can be reserved - B1, B2, B7, and B8. For our size boat, we need either B1 or B8 because the other slips are too narrow. As we made our way into the slip, several people appeared from "nowhere" to help with our lines and then disappeared again.

We barely fit in the slip with a lot of our stern hanging out past the fixed dock. We have to go "bow in" with our nose in the weeds. As I continued to tell Clark to keep pulling up into the weeds, he kept telling me we had only 2 feet of water under the keel. "Keep coming", I yelled.

One of the guys who came out to help tied the bow line so tight to a pole that we could not move forward. That succor was tight! I asked him to give us slack so we could pull in further. He must have thought I was nuts to want to keep going deeper into the water lilies!

The park appeared to be less than half full of boats and campers.

Sunset at W. P. Franklin Campground

11/20/2018

No boat travel.

Clark had planned to move on to an anchorage for tonight, but I indicated a preference to stay put for another night. He paid the $15 fee at the park where we had electricity for the much-appreciated air conditioning.

Given we had no where to go today, we slept in to enjoy a leisurely start to the day. Clark said he heard tell of a bike trail along a creek nearby, so we pulled the bikes out to go exploring. We followed the road out of the park up to the main road and crossed the street to Telegraph Creek.

At entrance to campground

Road sign for Telegraph Creek

View from wooden bridge

Telegraph Creek

Wooden Bridge leading into housing development.

We understood from the directions given at the campground that we could follow a short trail along the creek. Unfortunately, at the end of the wooden bridge, someone had posted a big, ugly sign that read "No Trespassing". So much for that plan! We turned around, and with no other obvious destination, returned to the campground to bike around the site.

Views at campground ...