Log 82; Day 228; Jan. 4, 2008; Back at Legacy Harbor

Log 82
Day 228
Sunday, January 04, 2009

6:30 AM EST
Location: Legacy Harbor, Fort Myers, FL.
Weather: 63* and clear...forecasted to be mostly sunny and 81 today

I’m not sure what to say about this weather...except it’s great. A crystal clear day with light winds yesterday...another one today. Back home it’s in the 30’s...here it’s in the 80’s. I guess that’s why folks come to Florida in the winter.

We’re back on the boat after a couple week trip to Illinois. A few words will cover our trip. It was a high of 11* the day we landed, and the next day we had an ice storm. Downed trees; flooded rivers; closed roads; lots of folks without electricity. When we visited my Mom she did not have electricity...which we thought was bad...until she fell (in her house) at 10 PM and broke her hip. Which meant that several days of our trip home was spent in the hospital, where she had surgery. In between all of this, we had some great times with friends and family. Then made it out of town just before another weather system came through.

We arrived back to our boat at about 11 PM on December 30th. It was still above 60 when we went to bed that night. New Years Eve day was spent washing the boat, cleaning things, and airing out the boat after being closed up for 2 weeks. On New Years Eve we ate at Joe’s Crab House (right next to our marina) and then walked a few blocks to downtown Fort Myers to their celebration. It was 70* and a beautiful evening. They had closed off several of the streets downtown and had 2 bands playing as well as a DJ. They also had several street vendors selling lots of things, and it was a very festive mood. Although it was fun, we managed to be back to the boat by 9:30, and I was in bed before 10.

After a relaxing New Years Day, where we just sort of laid around and relaxed, we were back at it on Friday January 2nd. I have a rather long to do list, and it is time to start working on it. Deb has the same kind of list for the inside. One of the things to get done was having the hull of the boat waxed by the folks at the marina. I have been checking on the kind of work they do, and decided to have them do ours...they did an awesome job. I waxed the hull myself back in July...but when the boat is in the water full time, and in salt water, you need to have it done a couple of times a year. While they were waxing the hull, and the sides up to the deck, I waxed all the stainless, and Deb cleaned the helm area. The boat is really looking good at this point. I also installed a (removable) side ladder on HQ. When we are on floating docks, we can get off the swim platform, and on fixed docks we can usually get off the side of the boat, but with 1 to 3 foot tides sometimes you can’t get off the swim platform or the side...so we need a ladder hanging off the side to help in those situations. The last thing we need to do before leaving Legacy is get the bottom cleaned. In this area, and at this time of year, they recommend (if you’re not moving) to get the bottom cleaned about every 4 to 6 weeks, to keep “critters” from growing on it. It’s not so much of an issue with the bottom itself, but really the running gear (props and shafts). So I have talked to a diver who will come either today or tomorrow.

At this point I am starting to monitor the weather very closely in order to get a couple of nice days to make it to either Marathon or directly to Key West. From Legacy it’s about 35 miles to Naples...and another 10 miles to Marco Island. Both of these places have nice marinas and both runs require us to be in the Gulf for about 1/2 of those miles. From Marco Island it’s about 100 miles to Marathon...and/or 90 miles (due south) to Key West...both runs are totally in the open Gulf. Our reservations in Key West start on January 15th...so hopefully we can find a weather window to get there by then. Right now the forecast does not look good for the next several days. A cold front with high winds (in the Gulf) are predicted late Tuesday and Wednesday. It will take a few days after that for the Gulf to lay down to a point where we will feel comfortable making a run for it.

Till then, we’ll suffer here in Legacy. Today (Sunday) we plan to take a long dingy ride and find a spot for lunch and watch the first half of the football game. It’s a perfect day to do that. Sunny...not a cloud in the sky...and very light winds. By the time we head out it will be almost 80. As one of my friends said...”enjoy your Jimmy Buffet lifestyle”...and we are.

I’ll keep you posted.

Bob