2018: Everglades National Park to Bahia Honda State Park FL

12/8/2018
Depart: Everglades National Park, Gulf of Mexico anchorage 8:15
Arrive: Bahia Honda State Park, Florida Keys 2:10
Distance: 46 NM

We traveled inside the Everglades National Park boundaries as long as possible to avoid crab traps on our way to the Florida Keys. As we traveled through this area, a pair of frisky dolphins gave us quite a show. I have seen dolphins in paid-for shows that did not give us the performance we got today.

Dolphin pair giving us a great performance on the water

The two dolphins liked to jump. The came straight for the boat, got in front of us, and then did synchronized jumps at least six feet into the air. They jumped twice, but of course, by the time the camera appeared they had decided to quit. In addition to dolphins, I saw a sea turtle swim by. Of course, he too was camera shy.

The main event for today's travel, however, became "trap dodging". In trap-infested waters, I think the auto pilot is more of a curse than an asset. As soon as Clark set the auto pilot up to follow our course line, a trap would appear directly on our course line. We hypothesized that the traps have a built-in mechanism, magnetic perhaps, that is designed to get our auto pilot to change course to head for the nearest trap.

Many fisherman lay out their traps in rows. Some however must be extremely lazy and just drop them helter skelter in no orderly pattern whatsoever. The "helter skelter" approach makes it hard to navigate through them. We went through one particularly bad section.

Just passed through a "mine field" of traps
every little white dot is yet another trap float

We spent over three hours dodging traps in the Gulf before finally arriving at the Florida Keys.

Passing by opening in old bridge on Moser Channel

Between the bridges ...
Bridge to Pigeon Key on left and Rte 1 Bridge on right

There we found that the traps we encountered on the Gulf were nothing compared to what we had to deal with on the Atlantic Ocean side. Seas were rougher and traps were everywhere. Clark could not use auto pilot here. He could hardly steer manually around them there were so many. With the stiff steering on our boat, he definitely got his workout in for the day!

Clark decided that he wanted to visit Bahia Honda today before settling in at Marathon for the rest of the month. I was ever so happy to see our escape route from the trap zone coming up shortly.

Old RR bridge in front is missing a section for boats to
pass through to Bahia Honda State Park

After clearing the two bridges into Bahia Honda State Park, we dropped anchor planning to use the dinghy to go in and explore the park. We had strong current and strong winds as we anchored. The first attempt failed. The second attempt held. We put out 150 feet of line to make sure we had a good hold on the bottom.

Once we were convinced we had a strong anchoring, we worked to get the dinghy down and ready to go exploring. This, unfortunately, did not go as planned. Clark climbed in and got all set to go.  He told me to wait until he had it started, and wait I did. The engine sputtered and choked and stopped multiple times. He could not keep it running.

After several attempts at keeping it going that all resulted in a stall, Clark decided that maybe if he ran the engine more open for a bit, it would clear out the problem. With the fast current, however, he was afraid he would not be able to row the boat back to "Sunset Delight" if the engine failed. We tied a long line to the dinghy that allowed him to drive the boat around the area to test out the outboard.

Clark driving dinghy while tethered to "Sunset Delight"

As Clark fought with the outboard, he noticed that the sailboat we saw come in had disappeared out of sight. "Now where did he go?" Clark wondered. Since he had no success with the outboard, he called the park ranger to find out the docking situation at the park. The park ranger told Clark that last year we could not have docked at the park. As a result of the rebuild after Hurricane Irma, the channel to the docks has been dredged and can accept large boats with deeper drafts now where, in the past, only small boats could come in.

After a detailed discussion concerning the width of our vessel versus the width of the channel into the park's docks, Clark decided to pull in the dinghy, pull up the anchor, and go check out the docks for the night. With all the messing about with the anchoring and dinghy nonsense, we had lost almost two hours of time we wanted to use exploring the park.

In addition to the woman working for the park system, the folks from the sailboat greeted us at the dock and helped us with our lines. As we said our hellos, the sailboat folks invited us to join them at the picnic tables later as they planned to grill "brats". We agreed we would look for them later on.

First we wanted to take a bit of a look around the area. For our first stop, Clark chose the gift shop for a bite of ice cream (me) and raspberry sorbet (him). As we ate our dripping-in-the-heat treats, we walked around the local area.

Tree Colony Bahia Honda Key
Unusual plant life lives here and is often studied by botanists

Obligatory signpost to far-off places

Beach on the Atlantic Ocean side of the park

Another view on the Atlantic side

Beach on the Gulf side and view of bridge out to the Atlantic Ocean

As we walked by the beach on the Gulf side, we found the trio from the sailboat cooking their "brats". We stopped to talk, and once again, they offered to share their grill and hot coals with us. Since Clark cannot eat port, we went back to the boat to grab some all-beef hot dogs to throw on the grill.

When we got to the campsite, I put the hot dogs on the grill, and Clark wandered off to take pictures of the sky. A storm was definitely coming our way. Our timing was the worst!

Ominous sky over Bahia Honda Key

I did not really want to cook on the grill. I had a quick, reheat dinner all planned and ready. However, I figured, since Clark wanted to join these folks, he could cook on the grill. Instead, when it came time to cook, he was nowhere to be seen as he was off with the camera.

We had noticed a couple of sprinkles of rain, but thought "this too shall pass" and decided to ignore it. Well, that was a big mistake! Although it was a relatively short-lived rainstorm, it brought a downpour. At first we hovered under a tree to get some shelter, but it soon became obvious that the tree would not do the job. The sailboat folks grabbed their stuff and fled back to the sailboat.

I braved the elements and went to reclaim my hot dogs from the grill. By the time I had scooped them up to carry back to the boat, I was very wet. By the time Clark and I made it back to our boat, I was soaked. Everything was drenched - my hat and coat sagged from the weight of the water, and my sneakers squished as if I had worn them to go swimming in.

Water poured off of me as I stood on the back of the boat trying to get my shoes off and drop my wet hat and coat. I had to ring the water out of my socks. Given my miserable state, I was cranky, irritable, and disgusted by the entire fiasco.

We dried everything off, including ourselves, and sat down to eat our meal alone. Perhaps we will meet up again with the sailing trio tomorrow. We can only hope for better weather!

As the storm passed, Clark got one more picture for the blog update.

2018: Fort Myers Beach to Everglades National Park Anchorage FL

12/6/2018
Depart: Fort Myers Beach Salty Sam's Marina 9:40
Arrive: Marco Island Smokehouse Bay Anchorage 2:30
Distance: 24 NM

As we left Fort Myers Beach, we passed Ballard, Inc where we fueled up yesterday and saw all the fishing boats along the docks.

Fishing Boats at Fort Myers Beach, FL

We also passed the restaurant where we met and had dinner with our boating friends last night.

Dixie Fish Co. Restaurant in Fort Myers Beach, FL

Being only 24 nautical miles away, it proved to be a short trip to tonight's stop. Looking ahead to up-coming weather, we decided to bypass Naples altogether this trip and go straight for Marco Island. As we navigated the narrow and all-too-shallow channel to enter the Smokehouse Bay anchorage, we had an unwanted "escort" through the canals. As the jet ski closest to the boat wove back and forth and wandered into our path, Clark said, "Do you think he even knows we are here?" Clark tooted the horn and the guy barely moved and certainly did not look to see what was behind him. His passenger did whisper in his ear though.

Oblivious or Uncaring of the proximity of our much larger vessel??

Our "escort" finally got to the side, so we could pass by them. Once we no longer had to worry about what they might do next, we could enjoy the view of the neighborhood.

Passing through the canals into Smokehouse Bay anchorage.
Marco Island, FL

Colorful bushes at this home on the water.
Marco Island, FL

Smokehouse Bay Anchorage
Marco Island, FL

After we chose our spot and got settled in for the night, Clark reminded me that the zipper on the front panel of our full enclosure needed a sewing job. I took my sewing kit and went up to tackle the project. I had to sit on the edge of the instrument console while I did the repair. I thought I would have a permanent dent in my backside from the ridge I had to sit on. The sun was starting to set by the time I declared myself done.

Sewing on the flybridge

Clark took several beautiful sunset pictures tonight, so I am including a few in the blog.

Reflections of Silhouettes

12/7/2018
Depart: Marco Island Smokehouse Bay Anchorage 8:45
Arrive: Everglades National Park Anchorage 3:25
Distance: 59 NM


We had a bit of a surprise this morning when we went to raise the anchor and found the keel of "Sunset Delight" sitting on the bottom. When we pull up anchor, Clark takes the bow and I take the helm. As soon as I got in position, I knew something was not right.  The depth sounders showed unrealistic depths under the keel. Putting the boat in forward, I found it did not move. Uh-oh!

I called Clark back to the helm to check it out. He tried the bow thruster and the front of the boat wiggled but the stern did not dislodge itself. As he played with the bow movement, I carefully watched our two depth sounders. One side showed no depth reading just "- - -" and the other showed numbers I knew could not be believed - "332 feet" - like we were in the Atlantic Ocean or something. Neither one is a good sign!

As Clark wiggled the bow, I saw a "real" depth reading of 0.5 feet show up on the starboard side. The port side still showed "- - -". Clark's mental picture of the bottom from his roaming around the anchorage last night did not comply with what I was seeing. He thought we had to move the boat to port to get off the bottom, and I was convinced we had to move the boat to starboard.

Basically, the actual data did not agree with his hypothesis. It took me repeating myself multiple times for him to accept the data and try moving the boat to starboard. With his wiggling of the bow and a bit of power, we got off the bottom. The water under the boat went from nothing to 0.5 feet to 8 feet almost instantly. Basically "Sunset Delight" had managed to find an underwater shelf to sit on.

Fortunately the tide was coming in, so had we needed to wait, the flow would at least have been in our favor. As it was, we only lost about 10 minutes of time with the messing around.

On our way out of the anchorage, Clark reminded me that I had tried and failed to get a current picture of the Hurricane Irma damage at the entrance to the Smokehouse Bay anchorage. When we were last here, the cement patio around the outside of the building had collapsed into the water. All the debris has been removed now, and work is currently underway to replace the missing patio.

Warning Sign: "Hurricane Damage ... Use Extreme Caution"

Fenced off area around damaged building
whose huge cement, wrap-around patio collapsed as a result of Hurricane Irma.
Base of house, just above pilings, shows the rough area where the cement used to be.

I find it hard to know how to dress when I get up in the morning. Is it a shorts day or a sweatshirt and jeans with a coat on top type of day? I frequently guess incorrectly, and today was one of those days. I prepared to freeze out on the Gulf of Mexico. Instead I found it balmy and pleasant. Fortunately, I carry my clothes on the boat, so I can just go change when I pick the wrong outfit.

Expecting seas of 4-to-5 footers, we were pleasantly surprised by today's travel in the Gulf of Mexico. Although the anemometer sometimes registered wind gusts in the upper teens, we had very calm seas. The winds came from the direction of the land which kept the wave heights lower.

Given the conditions, we decided to drop anchor in 6 feet of water just under a mile offshore right in the Gulf of Mexico. I found this a bit exciting. When we were in the Bahamas in 2016, we anchored overnight in the Atlantic Ocean. With tonight's stay, I can add anchoring in the Gulf of Mexico to my "wow, we did that" list.

We figured with the wind coming off the shore, plenty of bugs would come to visit us if we anchored in any closer. Even being .9 miles offshore, a few gnats found their way on board.

Clark took the obligatory sunset picture for the blog.

After that we had nothing to do for the rest of the night. Everglades National Park has no cell service, FM radio or TV signal and certainly no WiFi. As I sat reading, I noticed Clark looking at his sheet music. "What are you doing?, I asked. "Why aren't you playing your guitar instead of just reading the music?" Shortly after, he came walking out with his guitar in hand. For the rest of the night, Clark serenaded me as I read my book.

A while before that, Clark and I could hear some wild animal making an almost continuous grunting sound. I said I thought it was an alligator. Clark thought it was coming from under the boat. I suggested he not go swimming tonight!

When Clark started playing the guitar later, the "beasty" was still grunting. At one point, in between songs, Clark looked at me and said, "Hmmm. Sounds like he grunts in the key of  'G'!" Blithely, then, he went back to picking his guitar.

2018: St James City to Fort Myers Beach FL

12/5/2018
Depart: St James City Anchorage 9:00
Arrive: Salty Sam's Marina, Fort Myers Beach, FL 10:55
Distance: 10 NM

The temperatures dropped overnight. Good thing we closed all the windows on the boat before retiring last night. We woke to 59 degrees with a lot less humidity today. On the quite literally "bright" side, we had sun and not fog! Strong winds blew in over night. Since we would be crossing some open water, Clark said we should get an early start to avoid worse winds later.

As we crossed the inlet, the winds blew against our port side. Fortunately, with the full enclosure we were protected. Otherwise, the 25 knot winds from the north would have given us quite a chilly ride.

Crossing San Carlos Bay Inlet

We watched the channel markers closely to be sure we traveled the correct route. A false move around could lead to a serious grounding! As we headed towards Fort Myers Beach, we heard someone call to another boater on the VHF, "Boater just entering the Miserable Mile, you are on the wrong side of that red!" Clark and I agreed we did not want to be that guy!

Yikes! I see land on the wrong side of this marker!
Talk about "high and dry"!

Clark decided to get fuel before heading to our marina. We stopped at Ballard, Inc back in 2015 and got a good price on diesel, so he decided to go there again. While there fueling up, I had a very interesting conversation with the 71-year-old person serving us fuel. He said to me, "I bet you never met a cowboy working a fuel dock before."

From there it only got more interesting, when he decided to show me the gun he was packing. He said due to drug problems in the area, the local police told him they actually want him to be packing. As we talked, he told me more about himself, his ability to defend himself, his inability to feel pain, and a story of how he, afraid he would do her some damage, was coerced into a match with a 13-year old girl with green belt who shocking-to-him whooped his a$$.

He pretty much talked non-stop. His tales also included a rather sad story about his family history as relates to gun carrying. It turned out to be the most interesting fuel stop I have ever had. Meanwhile, as I listened intently to his stories, I periodically called out the gallons registering on the pump to Clark, so he would know when to stop fueling.

When Clark paid for the fuel, he asked the "cowboy" about the white building there and got a bit of a history lesson in return. Turns out the building was used as an ice factory back in the day when shrimp / fishing boats needed to buy large quantities of ice. After the boats got refrigeration units, the ice factory closed down. The 71-year-old cowboy had been a "shrimper" in his day and knew all about the business.

Old Ice Factory and Diesel Fuel Dock

As we pulled away from the fuel dock, I asked Clark if I should remove my headset. He surprised me by saying, "Probably not. Salty Sam's is right there in front of us." With that, I ran to go prepare my lines for docking.

I looked but could not see anything that looked like a marina sign for Salty Sam's Marina. What I did see directly in front of me was a big ole pirate ship. Up front, it looked like a man climbing the rigging. As we got closer, I confirmed my thinking that it was only a dummy hanging onto the lines. On the far side, a skeleton clung to the rigging.

"Pieces of Eight" Pirate Ship at Salty Sam's Marina

Not 15 minutes after we completed taking on fuel, we were secure in our slip for the night at Salty Sam's marina. Since they have been watching our travels, Jim and AC, our friends on "Hour Plan", contacted us a few days ago and suggested we get together in Fort Myers Beach. As soon as we docked, I messaged Jim to let him know we had arrived, and we made arrangements to get together for dinner.

Once we got the boat settled, Clark and I walked up and took a look at the marina. Fort Myers Beach is a resort-type town, and the marina is definitely in the spirit of things with all their colorful decorations.

A little Christmas spirit mixed in.

The Salty Sam's Marina is big on pirates. To go with their pirate ship at the docks, they have lots of pirate "stuff" on display.

One of the boats on the dock we are using is decorated for the holidays.

This looks like the dog from the "Grinch Stole Christmas" movie.

Around 4:30 we started to hear lively music and realized, as we saw lots of folks walking down the dock, that the pirate ship was about to set sail for this evening's sunset cruise. Clark came back from taking pictures and asked, "Are all pirates Irish? It sounds like they are playing all Irish music."

"Pieces of Eight" getting ready to set sail.

Man in the rigging is a life-sized dummy. 

Shortly after the pirate ship set sail for their sunset cruise, Clark got busy with our camera getting sunset pictures for the blog.

Jim and AC rented a car to drive over from Fort Myers where they are staying for a couple of months. They arrived around 6:00 at our boat as planned and then drove us to the Dixie Fish Company restaurant for dinner.  What a surprise we had when we found two more boating couples, that we know, there waiting to say hello. AC and Jim had decided to keep it a secret and surprise us with a small group get together.

Jim and Mandy - "Shell Belle"
AC and Jim - "Hour Plan"
Clark and Ev - "Sunset Delight"
Karen and Mark - "Captain's Choice"

We had a great time and lots of laughs over dinner. Karen and Mark are from Buffalo, New York. It would appear that the Fort Myers area is a Mecca for people from Buffalo. As we sat eating, not one but two couples from Buffalo came over to say hello to Karen and Mark. They just happened to be at the same restaurant at the same time. What a coincidence!

Jim had used the rental car to bring the six of them over from Fort Myers, dropped Jim, Mandy, Karen, and Mark off at the restaurant, and then drove over to collect us. After saying our farewells at the restaurant, Jim drove Clark and me back to Salty Sam's and then returned to pick up the rest of the group to return them to Legacy Marina in Fort Myers.

As Clark and I walked the docks back to our boat, Clark grabbed a couple more pictures before putting the camera away for the night.

Doggy shown in picture above - now lit up for the night

Christmas Sailboat reflection