Back to the Land of Eternal Sunshine and Not-So-Spotless Minds

The day we landed in Ft. Myers, we had some extra baggage with us.  Gary's dad and our nephew had flown down to spend the week with us.  Originally, Gary's mom was supposed to come, but their dog had been injured and needed heavy-duty care, so she stayed back and the nephew came in her stead.  I don't think my MIL was too upset as she really hates to fly.  I was a little freaked out about how this was going to work as the nephew is allergic to peanuts.  We know how to use an Epi-Pen, but I didn't want to have to use my skills.  It turned out to be not a big deal at all.

We put Al, Gary's dad, in Elliott's cabin, and Xander, the nephew, into the bunkroom.  Elliott slept on the dinette or anywhere else he could get some shuteye.  Gary went through all the cabinets, relegating all the nutty goodness to a box that went right into the rental car for the week.  He even took my Milky Way bar!!!  There was almost a mutiny over that, but I decided to be a grown-up, for once.

Our plan for the week would be to sail up to Cayo Costa to explore the park there with a few shorter stops on the way back at smaller islands.  We hoped to meet up with John and Sharon again while there, but found out that Sharon was not feeling well and so we'd have to have them on board again when we returned.

Cayo Costa was a wonderful stop with a great beach, but the water was so, so cold.  It didn't seem fair that such beauty was not accessible.  Well, at least by normal people.  Elliott decided to go in the water no matter what; it hurt me to watch him splash through the surf and then dive into a wave, but he seemed to enjoy it.  The boys played on the beach, meeting a new friend named Nem.  They made sand castles and trenches and tried not to be too disappointed when the sea claimed the structures for her own.

From the beach, we took a long trail walk to get to the old docks area.  Jungle to almost desert-like plains; it was rather amazing the different zones on one small island.   It's funny because I was all about taking the shortest possible stroll around the island, but as we walked, I wanted to see more and more.

We anchored overnight and the next day, the four guys decided to take the dinghy over to the island again, this time going in the opposite direction in search of the lagoon, which was recommended highly by John.

I stayed on board and enjoyed the quiet and stillness while reading my book, knitting, and writing.

They  rode up a channel pretty much as wide as the dinghy, having to avoid logs and shallows by walking the dinghy along.  Gary's dad, Al, got out of the dinghy to help pull it along and slipped just enough to dunk his phone.  Gary had jumped in the water of Pelican Bay (where we anchored) the day before and dunked his phone.  Al's eventually got better; Gary's did not survive even after a rice infusion.

They were surprised by a dolphin swimming along with them in the shallows, his dorsal fin way above the water.  The shells were fantastic there, too, as not many people get in this small canal to explore.

After the Cayo Costa excursions, we set sail out into the Gulf of Mexico to head south along the coast to Redfish Pass.  We were heading to York Island to anchor before heading to Picnic Island the next day.  The sun had just set as were approaching the outermost channel mark.  I was down below and noticed the depth sounder getting lower and lower even though the charts were reading 14 feet.  Cappy initiated a sharp turn, but it was too late and we hit pretty hard.   Al and Elliott were down below and raced up the steps to the cockpit.  Elliott raced to the bow and furled the genoa to keep us from being driven further into the shallows.   

Cappy fired up the engine, threw the helm over hard to starboard and thrust the engine into forward to spin the boat around to put the bow back towards deeper water.  After a few thumps up and down, during which we made a little progress each time, we moved the few feet needed to hit deeper water.  We changed our course to a few hundred feet more off shore to get off the shallows and made headway with no further incidents. 

Gary laughed afterwards because earlier in the day, he had portended that " . . . the weather conditions were ideal for attempting an unfamiliar inlet because the weather was settled but there was just enough of a swell to help float a boat off if you did bump."   Oh yes.

At this point, it was getting quite dark (have I told you I don't like sailing in the dark?), so teamwork was needed to call out marks as they appeared within sight and to use the spotlight to highlight those that weren't as visible.

We were happy to reach York Island and anchor.  I cooked up some marinated chicken, kielbasa, broccoli, and rice, which my nephew drooled over that night and talked about for days after.  A win!   

Uber Fail and then Awesomeness

The morning we flew out of Ft. Myers, we attempted to hail an Uber car for our trip to the airport.  Two of our friends have had great luck with them, so we thought, "Why not?"  Gary had signed up a few days before and had run a few tests to check for availability.  There seemed to be only two local cars, but at the time of the test, they were available for the run.  So we decided would hail them again on our flight morning and save a little money than getting a hired car.

WELL, fail.  Hailing them brought forth no answers.  We had to hire a car anyway, but we got to the airport in plenty of time and had a good flight home.  It had been a long time since I'd flown into National Airport.

I love the window seat in an airplane.  Leaving Florida, I'd look down and see sand and ocean and swamps and seriously crowded neighborhoods and man-made islands.  Coming into D.C., snow had lightened the landscape and the monuments were so beautiful from the air, I almost got weepy.

We rented a car and got on the road and, of course, got stuck in some traffic coming home, but finally, we were pulling into our driveway.

We'd made plans to see my daughter and her family the next day, but we let them know we had arrived.  They came by shortly thereafter.

It was so good to see them; Saul came in the door exclaiming, "I made you a present, I made you a present."  He handed me a box and I pulled out a beautiful string of beads.  He told me if I ever broke it that he would make me a new one.  Who was this taller kid with the full sentences? 

I got weepy then; he tears started to flow.  My daughter laughed and said that he had predicted that, "Oma will cry."  Ha ha.  We had big hugs and my rib injury must have healed because I had no pain, only good love.

I had never been away from any of my kids for so long, so the changes in their little ones were so obvious.  Taller, more talkative, AND, best of all, they didn't forget me.  I saw my son and his daughter a few days later at my daughter's house and then his whole family on Saturday night when I sat for Caylee while they went to a party and then at Saul's birthday party the day before we had to fly back to Fort Myers.  They get together as much as possible for Saul and Caylee to know each other. 

That little girl is a dynamo, always moving and playing.  I did get a kiss before we left, which was a lovely surprise.

Saul had been lactose intolerant for most of his early life, but recently he's been able to stomach cheeses and a little milk.  I had gone grocery shopping for the house and stopped by to see him.  I had some lovely cheese to try so I opened them and we had a little tasting session.  First I gave him some brie and he wasn't too keen on it.  Then we tried a bit of Manchego.  He liked that.  Then he asked to try the Brie again.   "Mmmmm," he said with a smile on his face.  My little gourmand.  Love it.

Later in the day, we were having a snack when he started singing "Let it Go" from the movie "Frozen," which I had just seen while we were in Stuart, FL.  He was awesome; and especially when he lowered his voice for the part:  "Cold never bothered me anyway." I attempted a videotape, but he said he was just going to smile for me.  The second time, he did start singing "Let it Go," but it quickly segued into "Old MacDonald Had a Farm."

I know I'm babbling on, but my heart was so full during this time on reconnection. 

Being able to see my best friends was also wonderful; I didn't have an awful lot of time because my family was my first priority, but there was some great visiting done, for sure.  The time spent with my girlfriends is priceless.  A wonderful friend of mine had tried to arrange a flash mob for me.  You see, somewhere on Facebook, I had talked about the sound of the shrimps chewing on the bottom of the boat and how it was a noise that I had gotten used to. How was I going to sleep in a normal bed now that I wouldn't feel like I was in a bowl of Rice Krispies?  Well, she was hoping to get folks to come by dressed like crustaceans and singing some song.  I love her for trying, but she had no takers.  She still came over one evening and during her time there, another friend asked if she could come over.  Sure, I said, more's the merrier.  Well, THIS friend did come dressed as a crustacean.  Oh man, we laughed so hard.  I'm glad I attract a fantastic world of crazy.  They feel like family.

Speaking of family, I made sure to see my dad and stepmom.   After telling some of our sailing tales, my dad said he was sure I wasn't going to make it.  He doesn't realize that has been an inspiration; he was one of the only of his siblings that got out of Mississippi to see the world (via the U.S. Army).  He also made me laugh really hard, though I don't know if it was appropriate.  He's being treated with hormones for the prostate cancer and, out of the blue, with a surprised look on his face, he exclaimed, "Man, I've been getting hot flashes!"with a very doleful look, like Why Me?  I'm sorry, those are words I never expected out of my father's mouth.  Maybe it's good he knows what women go through in their later years. 

My stepmom seems to be doing well, not slowing down very much even though she is plagued by health problems, too.  I like that about her, but understand that my dad has never been a real social kind of guy, so as long as he's comfortable, I'm happy.

It was good having the dishwasher and the laundry machines available at the house, though I do like the speed at which laundry is done in a laundromat (two hours, wash and dried, three loads).  It was especially nice having a car to drive to things instead of having to walk; I did find that when I was at the grocery store, my mind was more on what I could carry rather than what I needed.  I had to remind myself it was okay to get more because I had a mechanized cart to lug things home easily.

As it always is, the time home was short and after teary farewells, we had to hop another plane to leave the cold and head back to the sunny climes in Florida. Well, that's what we thought . . . .

Everglades, Ninja Crabs, and Still No Alligators

The promised dingy ride turned out to be cold and windy, with some random splashes coming over the bow.  We toodled around and found a place that would be a better anchoring spot if we're in that area again.  Wildlife abounded with shore birds, turtles, dolphins, but still no alligators.  Personally, I think they all went on vacation where it is warmer.  Smart.  

On the way back to the boat, we decided to explore a tight canal with vines hanging down to the murky water; we realized it really was too tight for the dinghy to be navigable, so we did a slow turn around one of the hanging vines.  It was then that I saw these little black Ninja crabs skittering up the vine to get away from us.  I think I let out some sort of scream.  They scared the bejesus out of us!  If they wanted, they could have jumped into the boat.  Thankful they didn't because I was already creeped out.

After two nights on the Shark River and never feeling comfortably settled via anchor (strong current clears out any good holding ground), we headed out to get across the Gulf to the to Point Ybel on Sanibel Island, where we would anchor for the evening and then slide under the 70-foot bridge (huzzah!) and make our way towards our marina that would be our base for the next month.

Wind was good as we were starting out, but then petered out to nothing for a few hours.  I would occasionally give Gary the stink eye and suggest starting the engine, but he didn't, so we were behind and even though I had agreed to sail through the night (to avoid higher winds expected the next day), I was not happy that we had to do it.

The wind got back up again and at some points, we were doing 8 knots.  Whizzing by; finally, it was about 2 am and I was on watch. I had taken my Bonine, so I was less nervous, but Gary stayed in the cockpit and slept, so he was close by if I needed him.  We made it to our destination at 4 in the morning (sounds like a song; hey, it is a song (or two)!!!!!) and with the winds up and the boat bouncing, we tried to sleep.  After a few hours of sleep, we ended up moving under that glorious 70-foot bridge and anchored in Glover's Bight.  

Glover's Bight is right in front of the marina at which we'd made reservations, so it was an easy move to motor over and check in for the month.

We were given our slip number and as we rounded the corner to scoot in there, Gary was not convinced we would fit; it did look impossible, but it was just the perception and we got in smoothly.

The first day in we met our next-door neighbor Donna on a power boat who offered rides to stores if we needed them and tennis rackets if we hit the courts, and then Joe, a sailor from a few boats away, came by to say hello.  He was pretty funny; he said he liked the boat.  When we told him what it was, he said he now hated us for having the boat because he'd always heard of them but had never seen one.  So we had him aboard for a look-see.  Nice guy, a cop who gave us great pointers for one of our planned trips to a few nearby islands and also gave us some Sea Foam fuel additive for our dinghy motor because it had been stalling at low RPMs (it is good stuff and the motor is happy now).

The marina is nice; there's a restaurant just steps from the boat (we've spent a lot of money there already).   The complex includes a Westin Hotel, shops, two restaurants, and a condominium building (where the penthouse suites go for about 8 million dollars--eek!).  

There are several pools close by, but marina folks need to take a short jaunt into the nearby neighborhood to the recreation center to swim.  We didn't get a chance to check it out before we departed for a trip home.   The cons are that the sunsets are not visible from here and I sure don't have 8 million to pay for that kind of view.  The bathrooms are a days' walk from here.  Not really, but when you're used to the heads being a short walk away, the walk to the bathroom can be really long, especially if you're holding your knees together already.

 

On our second full day here, a business associate and friend of ours, John, and his wife, Sharon, came by to see the boat before they generously offered to take us out to dinner.  I really enjoy their company.  One of the first questions from John is whether we'd seen any naked sailors on our journey (the answer is, thankfully, "no").   He said they are not rare.  We had a great dinner out with them at a place called Rumrunner's; the scallops were awesome.   Last time we saw John, he could carry Elliott on his shoulders; no such luck with that now.

We came in on the 26th of January and flew out on the 29th to visit family and friends back in Virginia for 10 days.  I had been nervous about leaving the boat unoccupied for that length of time, but once we settled in here, I felt relaxed that the boat would be fine and was more than ready to see my loves back home.