Tuesday, May 26, 2020
FINALLY! We leave
Marathon, heading slowly back to Texas.
We are so very glad to be on the move!
Our planned Monday departure was delayed one day due to weather and
today’s forecast looks a little lumpy, but we are so ready to leave that we
will deal with it. As it turns out, the
trip is fine and our overnight anchorage in Little Shark River, peaceful.
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| Little Shark River, Everglades National Park FL |
Thursday, May 28, 2020
After another overnight stop in Marco Island, we turn up the
Caloosahatchee River, past the “Miserable Mile” toward Fort Myers. The “Miserable Mile” is so-named because of
frequent rough conditions and heavy boat traffic. Today it is busy but not too treacherous.
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| Miserable Mile, Caloosahatchee River |
We will stay at our favorite local marina, The Marina at
Edison Ford, where we are fortunate to get a slip. Marinas are still mostly full from the
lockdown and only slowly emptying as snowbirds begin to leave for summer
cruising destinations.
This summer / fall is proving to be a challenge for boats
trying to cruise the Great Loop this year.
With the Erie Canal not scheduled to open until July or August (normal opening is mid-May) and a still
unknown opening date for the Canadian border, little time will be available to
cruise the Great Lakes region before fall weather sets in. In addition, maintenance work has been
scheduled for all 7 locks on the Illinois River, south of Chicago, between July
1 and October 29, closing the river to all boat traffic for 4 months. An early November run down the rivers will be
a chilly proposition, but doable. So
glad we have completed this route with no plans to repeat!
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| Sauvy B, Marina at Edison Ford, Fort Myers FL |
Today we are reunited with our car. Yeah!
After being parked for almost 3 months, we discover the A/C is not
working. Bummer! After some frantic phone calls, a local
boater puts us in touch with his mechanic and by the next afternoon (Friday),
we have a new $10 relay and working A/C!!
We will spend the next couple of days restocking supplies, then move the
boat north to Clearwater and take another break.
Saturday, May 30, 2020
After a quick turnaround trip to move our car to Clearwater,
we make time to have dinner with a couple who was locked down with us in
Marathon. They have just arrived in Fort
Myers and will be storing their boat here, heading back home to Phoenix for the
summer.
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| Dinner with Tom & Paula, Fort Myers FL |
Sunday, May 31, 2020
On our last day in Fort Myers, after some last minute
grocery shopping and lots of laundry, I make time to walk the grounds of the
Edison Ford Winter Estates, next door to our marina. The property houses the modest summer homes
of good friends Thomas Edison and Henry Ford and is one of our favorite
tours. The grounds were planted by
Edison with tropical plants, partly to beautify the property but also to
experiment with a variety of rubber plants that might be used as a domestic
rubber supply for their friend, Harvey Firestone’s, tires for Ford’s cars. Lots of history here! The property is large and landscaping,
beautiful. And lots in bloom at this
time of year.
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| Edison Ford Winter Estates grounds, Fort Myers FL |
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| Mango, Edison Ford Winter Estates |
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| Allamanda "Cherries Jubilee", Edison Ford Winter Estates |
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| Golden Shower Tree, Edison Ford Winter Estates |
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| Queen Crape Myrtle |
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| Henry Ford statue, Edison Ford Winter Estates |
We have a final, farewell dinner with new boating friends,
John, Heidi and dog Marlow, and prep the boat for an early departure the next
morning.
Monday, June 1, 2020
We are on our way again, cruising to Venice FL today. Dory keeps a lookout for her next dock and
porpoise.
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| Dory watches for porpoise, near Venice FL |
And just before we arrive in Venice, she is rewarded with
quite a show - porpoise rolling and jumping beside the boat.
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| Playful porpoise near Venice FL |
We tie up at Crow’s Nest Marina next to some very impressive
dock mates. We are dwarfed by the 90
footer next to us, and also by the 100 footer behind him. Makes us look like a “tub toy”! The sailboat behind Sauvy
B is the “dinghy” for the 90 footer next to us.
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| Crow's Nest Marina, Venice FL |
Wednesday, June 3 – Tuesday, June 9, 2020
After an uneventful overnight stop in Cortez FL, we arrive
in Clearwater at the city-owned Clearwater Harbor Marina. While here, we will use our car one last time
for shopping before Robert drives it back to Houston to await our arrival. We plan a one-week stay but could be here longer
to await calm seas for our overnight crossing to the Florida panhandle.
Our dock is a popular fishing spot for a variety of marsh birds. Dory spends a lot of time on
the bow, keeping an eye on the action.
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| Snowy Egret in breeding plumage, Clearwater Harbor Marina FL |
Lots of afternoon thunderstorms end with nice sunsets. We are thrilled when this pattern weakens and
we get a forecast of calm seas right on schedule for our crossing.
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| Sunset, Clearwater Harbor Marina FL |
Wednesday, June 10 – Friday, June 12, 2020
We depart Clearwater by 2 pm for our 198-mile Gulf
crossing. At an estimated 9 mph, our
trip will take about 22 hours. Ugh! NOT looking forward to this! Our departure time will put us at the inlet
to our destination in daylight, early morning, so we can see marker buoys
clearly. Seas are pretty smooth as we
leave the Clearwater inlet.
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| Clearwater Beach FL from Gulf of Mexico |
Robert has put out a fishing line, dragging it behind the
boat as we slowly cruise north. Late
afternoon and he is rewarded with a nice Spanish mackerel – dinner! Dory approves. Amazingly this is the first edible fish
caught from Sauvy B.
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| Spanish mackerel, Gulf of Mexico |
Soon the sun drops below the horizon.
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| Sunset, Gulf of Mexico |
The night is very dark as the moon will not rise until after
midnight. Hazy clouds partly obscure our
view of the Milky Way, but the stars are still spectacular! Finally our third crossing has been blessed with
calm seas.
We alternate shifts watching the helm, every two hours after
dark, and the night passes uneventfully.
Neither of us has gotten much sleep.
After daylight, we are again dragging a fishing lure behind the boat
when we catch another Spanish mackerel, another nice-sized fish to stock the
freezer!
We have elected to skip our usual stop in Carrabelle, going
instead another 2 hours to Apalachicola and a day closer to home. We are tied up at our dock by noon. We relax and nap, spending two nights
here. This quaint town is always fun for
visiting shops and restaurants. We will
leave tomorrow for our final leg home.
