This fellow was pulling his boat just off the channel in the ICW near Cabbage Key, so you tell how shallow it is.
One view from our boat in Legacy Harbor
Another view
This is looking out at the Caloosahatchee River from our boat
The road outside our marina
Mary...on the back of Good News
Deb thinks it's Christmas so she is decorating the boat...I dont' think she has a tree planned
When Deb and Mary went to the street sale she met this man who makes things with palm strips
Log 78Day 200
Sunday, December 07, 2008
6:30 AM EST
Location: Legacy Harbor, Fort Myers, FL.
Weather: 65* and light winds...forecasted to be 73 & sunny today
We’re at Legacy Harbor in Fort Myers. About a year ago I started planning this trip and made a decision to stay in Legacy Harbor, and made a reservation several months ago. I remember thinking at the time, all the things we would have to do, and accomplish, in order to make it to Fort Myers. That’s behind us now, and we are in Florida for the winter. Even saying it makes me feel good.
The run from Punta Gorda to Fort Myers is pretty straight forward, and easy to navigate. It is very shallow and you must pay close attention to always stay in the center of the channel, but not near as bad as the run from Sarasota to Punta Gorda. When we left Burnt Store Marina we had an 11 mile run across Charlotte Harbor to rejoin the intracoastal water at MM 25...which means we were 25 miles from where the Western Florida ICW ends. (From this point cruisers either follow the Caloosahatchee River east and then across Lake Okeechobee and come out at Stuart on the east coast, or go south in open water and head for the Keys...we’re taking the latter route in early January). From where the ICW ends we joined the Caloosahatchee River and went another 11 miles up the river to Legacy Harbor (very close to downtown Fort Myers). Once we got here, we again joined up with Andy and Mary on Good News. Through several ports, Andy and Mary have become good friends, and we were looking forward to spending more time with them.
The last couple of days...have really been without any agenda. Friday morning Andy and Mary rented a car, and we tagged along with them to West Marine and Costco. For lunch we walked a couple of blocks from the boat to a local restaurant that boasted to have “the best cheeseburger in town”. Not sure if we would all agree with their claim, but it was good. Back at the boat we worked on boat lists, and just relaxed. Dinner consisted of Deb making some awesome chicken tacos, and the movie was stripes, which I had recorded earlier. On Saturday Andy asked me if I wanted to go with him to the race track in Sebring, FL (about 80 miles away). He had planned to meet up with a college roommate and some other guys who were attending the fall classic races at Sebring. We had a great time. Hard to explain about the races...so I’ll just say it was a lot of passionate race car owners and drivers (of every size, shape, and financial status) who raced together on a 3.7 mile road coarse. I really enjoyed it. Deb and Mary walked to the grocery store, and then into town to a local sidewalk sale. Back at the boat about 4 PM, and then for dinner the 4 of us got together on Good News. We both brought our own meat, and Mary made a dish to pass. We swapped more stories, and learned more about each other, and our families. We also learned that their son (Ryan) had proposed to his girl friend that day, so they were really excited.
The next 10 days will be spent working on odd jobs, and doing a lot of preventive maintenance on the boat. Before we leave Fort Myers and heading to the keys I plan to have the oil and filters changed in the dinghy (someone will pick that up on Wednesday). I also will have the oil changed in HQ...that will be done next Monday. Finally I will have the hull waxed by someone else, and I will continue to wax the rest of the boat myself. I have also got a problem with the forward holding tank (won’t pump out correctly) that I need to fix. Deb plans to do a very through cleaning of the inside of the boat. In between all of that, I’m sure there will be the usual dinghy rides, and quest for the perfect cheeseburger.
For Christmas, we plan to fly home on December 17th, and return on the 30th. While we are both looking forward to seeing family and friends...neither of us are looking forward to the drastic weather change we know will come. Oh well...we’ll be back in the keys before you know it.
I’ll keep you posted.
Bob
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