Captain's Choice blog: A little bit of everything & we are in the Keys!

How can one experience true looper life unless they experience a little bit of everything nature has to offer? Maureen picked a great time frame to see it all. We have had sun, rain, lightening, t-storms and gale force winds. She's still on the boat so we haven't scared her away yet! Of course she is a letter carrier and their motto is "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds".

What a beautiful day Thursday when we left Ft. Myers and headed 34 miles to Naples. The gulf waters were turquois blue and much clearer than the waters we had been experiencing. We had a few dolphins sightings as we made our way to the City Dock for our one night stay. The marina is an easy walk to shopping on 5th Ave, Tin City and "Old Naples" on 3rd St. South, which we all explored. On 3rd St. we stopped and watched some "mature" dancers kick up their heels to live entertainment in a courtyard. Boy were they having fun and they were fun to watch as they danced to some good 'ole 50's music. Funny how some places you go you feel like the oldest people there (especially when we are with our kids) and then some places we feel like the "youngsters". But then again this is snow bird country.

We followed fellow loopers Steve and Teresa on Sanctuary (whom we first met in Chicago) out of the City Marina Friday morning and headed for Marco Island and an anchorage in Smokehouse Bay, 17 miles from Naples. We need to make sure Maureen experiences the "normal" looper life and staying on the hook has always been a highlight of ours. To get to the bay you follow a winding channel past gorgeous homes for about 3 miles. Maureen had mentioned she would take anyone of them, so when we dropped anchor I said "well we are home and right now you have a home on the water too". I'm thinking this wasn't exactly the "home" she was thinking of. We took a dinghy ride over to Esplanade which has restaurants, shops and condos. Next a trip to the Winn Dixie grocery store which actually has a dinghy dock. This is a rarity because most grocery stores are away from the water and we almost never see a dinghy dock if they are on the water. We had fun dinghing down the channels looking at all the homes.

One of the most important things while boating is to keep up with the weather forecasts. Mark had been following them closely as a cold front was scheduled to hit west Florida Saturday night bringing high winds. He decided it was best to get an early start Saturday so we were on our way at sun up and headed out to the gulf on our way to Everglades City. There are actually 2 ways to get down to the Everglades, an inner route (which would be more scenic) or the gulf. Mark had contacted Boat US and read other reports about some shoaling along the inner route and with us requiring a minimum of 4 feet of water depth we chose the gulf. It was a little rolly but not too bad. We had also been advised to stay clear of the Cape Romano Shoal which took us out into the gulf about 12 miles from shore. I was ever vigilant looking for crab pots, which seem to appear out of nowhere. They were still talking about 25-30 knot winds with seas 10-14 feet so it is good we got an early start and will be settled in at the marina before the weather gets bad.
We decided to stay at Everglades Isle, a luxury motor coach retreat and marina on the Barron River. This would provide a secure area, also floating docks vs. fixed docks and with the winds we heard from other loopers that their boats were sitting pretty high on the fixed docks. Although it's a small town we knew we could keep busy for several days before we could head back into the gulf. WOW, what an RV park, like none I have ever seen. It is a big contrast to the ones we saw that were nothing more than a parking lot with sand thrown on them. Each spot is landscaped beautifully and brick pavers to park your class A motor home. There is a clubhouse, gym, pool, spa, movie room, bar, lighthouse and it is all exquisite. The best part is we get to use all the amenities while here. Maureen and I headed right for the pool once we got settled in.

With the winds blowing Sunday we headed to one of the many airboat tours to book a ride. We chose Jungle Erv's which also includes a gator exhibit and boardwalk through the mangroves. It started out a little ho-hum but that was because we were in a "no wake zone". What a riot when our driver James could start zipping around the mangroves. Going fast was definitely the speed of choice for all 3 of us. We stopped a few times to see osprey, ibis, heron and "ring tailed panthers" aka raccoons. No alligators as the tides were too high and with the winds the waters were much saltier than normal. Luckily they do have a gator exhibit where we learned more about these creatures and got to hold them. It was a highlight to the whole experience.
The gale force winds did materialize overnight Sunday to Monday along with thunderstorms and rain. Luckily there wasn't any tornadoes in Everglades City but they did forecast them for areas around us. The rains subsided by morning and we had just a few drops on and off all day. The winds stayed strong which will keep us here until Wednesday morning when the winds are forecasted to change direction and be calm.

Another infamous looper stop in Everglades City is the historic Rod and Gun Club. Although they do have a marina, we decided to only patronize the restaurant on Tuesday night. As we made our way onto the verandah, one of the other customers said "just put yourselves into the era in which this was built and enjoy". It was built in 1864 and when you walk into the club you feel like you are in a time-warp. It actually has the original furniture from the days when the club was a playground for the rich and famous. Some of the notables that were said to stay there were - John Wayne, Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Danny Glover, Mick Jagger along with five presidents - FDR, Truman, Eisenhower, Hoover and Nixon. After dinner we enjoyed looking at all the memorabilia they had on the walls.

Due to the low tide we had to wait until mid morning to leave Everglades City on Wednesday to make the 48 mile trek to Little Shark River. The gulf was "choppy" from all the high winds but not a problem at all. It still amazes me that we can be several miles from shore and the water depth is only 8-10 feet. The anchorage is a halfway point between the keys and Everglades City. There were 2 other boats there and other than that you are pretty much out in the middle of nowhere with no cell service. It gave Maureen the ideal experience of being surrounded by natural beauty. After dinner we sat on the back of the boat and gazed at the stars, listened to owls and other birds and we could also hear the dolphins breathing as they swam near the boat. To me it was magical and I am so glad she had a chance to experience the serene and quiet beauty of it all. I might also add we were well prepared for the biting critters (mosquitos and no-see ums), we all slathered bug spray on, had our thermacell on and had put bridal veil netting over the screens for more protection from those unwelcome pests. We faired well with only a couple of bites!

We're here! Marathon in the keys! So excited to be staying here for a month!