Before we left Fort Myers we bought ourselves a present for Christmas, something we can take home. A Marc Harris 20 x 30 metal picture.
Its an Egret, a bird we see all the time on the ICW.
The last step before the crossing to the Bahamas
14th December.
A late start of us as we had only planned to go to Fort Myers beach and pick up a mooring ball for the night. When we left the weather was nice but sadly it soon changed to fog which wasn’t nice, it was the first time we have encountered fog on Pearl. At least the radar was now fixed and the big airhorns work well should we need to use them.
We arrived in Fort Myers beach mid afternoon and picked up a mooring to pay for the ball we had to take the dinghy ashore so while we were there we walked around the town and had a smashing meal and a drink. Again another a touristy place but its ok.
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| Gift shops galore in Fort Myers beach |
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| heres the beach |
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| The lamb was fantastic, even better than the lamb in Australia, mind you Creole sauce ? |
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| Even had swings at the bar, what ! we are not going to risk spilling the drinks |
December 15th.
As soon as we refuelled we set off again and out into the Gulf of Mexico, another first for us. However, we didn’t enjoy the squall with some rain along the way, oh well it happens and we just deal with it as best we can.
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| A typical sight on the ICW |
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| Don likes to fish |
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| Another nice sunset |
That day we anchored in Smokehouse Bay in Naples, it had been a 37 mile trip but had taken 5 hours. The marinas here are so expensive anchoring is always our first choice anyway we like our privacy.
Friday 16th December.
A chilly start 59 deg F that day we did 68 miles and found our way into Little Shark river, kind of open but we had our anchor well dug in. A few local boats fished around us, there wasn’t any telephone signal so we didn’t have any internet data either, we always like to check the weather but had worked out we were safe for another night anyway.
Sunday 18th
A lie in bed and a late start for us, 07:42 but by 13:15 we had dropped the hook in Crane Point on the west side of Marathon in the Florida Keys we had heard Marathon was very busy. Nothing exciting here.
Monday 19th December
Just 35 miles and another 5 hours we were all alone in a big anchorage Barley basin opposite Loreli restaurant. Wow we can see the anchor and chain the waters clear at last.
We took the dinghy ashore and had a meal there and walked along the very busy road to check out the area. Stayed here a few days. We had good protection from the strong North east to the southwest winds.
Friday 23rd December
Moved on towards Key Largo at Cowpens Bay but as we fancied a little more life moved a little further on close to Mile Marker 88 restaurant that we have visited before when we had a little break close by a couple of years ago. We anchored a short dinghy ride away so we took lunch there. Unfortunately they weren’t open for Christmas day, oh well, never mind. No groceries to be had here either its a long way from anywhere within walking distance here.
Monday 26th December
Off we go to refuel then into Tarpon Basin. Its a twisty turning cut into here with some pretty shallow water and there are some pretty fast boats whizzing past with no consideration for others.
Tarpon basin is big and has a great dinghy landing and government dock next to the county sheriffs office. There is free wifi which is always a bonus. This was the last place to provision for us before leaving for the Bahamas so the 3 trips to Public supermarket gave us some much needed exercise we must have walked 5 miles at least that day carrying the shopping.
The weather looked good to cross to Bimini on Thursday 29th so we made plans to go to the next anchorage which is very close to our planned exit point from “The Keys” and into the Gulf Stream.
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| Well it is Christmas |
Wednesday 28th December
Set off for the last anchorage in the US at ‘Pumpkin Creek’, close to Angel Fish creek, our gateway out of the Keys. It would have been great but there were “resort boats” and locals whizzing past us making us rock and roll for most of the day. After sunset it was very quiet, giving us a good nights sleep before our early start across the Gulf Stream which will help us to go a little north and on to Bimini in the Bahamas.
Ok enough for now.
Next blog will be from the Bahamas where the pretty blue water is
BFN
Glenys and Don
M/Y Pearl
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