Friday, November 17, 2017

Thursday, November 16 - Boat Home at Legacy Harbour Marina in Ft. Myers, Florida!!! :)


We say goodbye to the Pink Shell and Ft. Myers Beach bright and 
early at 8:00 a.m. on our last day of cruising this part of the Great Loop.

A few people are out enjoying a morning walk on the beach.

We head back onto the Gulf for a short amount of time.

And spot a few other boats getting an early start to the day.

Sanibel's Lighthouse has it's light on for all the boaters 
on this cloudy/foggy morning.

 Taking a slight right turn,
 we head back under the Ft. Myer's/Sanibel Bridge.

We are now on the Caloosahatchee River.

 The first part of the river is called the "Miserable Mile", 
as the channel is very narrow and shallow.

On our port side is Cape Coral Beach and the new Doc Ford's Restaurant.

 And on our starboard is Fort Meyers.  Both sides line the river 
with many homes and condominiums.

 The river is busy with many boats of all sizes include Towboat U.S. and this beauty!

Our home marina for the winter is just before the third bridge on the river;
 so, here we pass under bridge one.

Then bridge two (we're getting closer)!

 A little maintanence going on for bridge two; 
thankful for this so that we don't run into any closures like the Ohio River!!!πŸ˜„

 In the distance we see the five-tower condominium 
that is right next to Legacy Harbour Marina!

On our starboard right before the towers, is Edison and Ford Winter Estates; 
I am excited to visit these!

And here it is . . .
 LEGACY HARBOUR MARINA . . . 
 our home for the winter!!!πŸ’—


What's this?  A boat show?!  
Well, this certainly is going to be a GREAT place to hang our hat!!!πŸ˜„
Boat Show at the city marina next to Legacy Harbour Marina.
Harbormaster Eric, and Staff Member Serena greet us 
as we near our new home.

Our good friend John Kopf (Rootbeer Float), comes to welcome us!

Crew member, Krystina, puts the finishing touches on our lines.

After checking in, we take time to explore the grounds . . .
 tiki hut, lanai, pool, laundry, and even a workout facility!!!
Captain Dave joins Krystina in the fun!

Walking around the docks, we are reminded of the season, and . . .
 that we need to say goodbye to our crew member (and lovely daughterπŸ’—), Krystina.  
We're so very glad she could join us for this last part of our cruise!

Now, it's time for a little celebration!!!


Dave and I would like to thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers during this incredible journey!  We hope you enjoyed cruising with us through the blog.😊  We feel so blessed to have been able to do this part of the Great Loop and are thankful for all the new friends we have made.  Can't wait until we finish the Loop in a few years from now (so be on the lookout for the last part of the blog then), but are excited to have some time to explore and visit with the many friends here in the Ft. Myers area!

I leave you with one last entry of stats from Captain Dave:

267 Engine Hours
64 Generator Hours
65 Hours of Idle - included in total engine hours
(Primarily this was warm-up time, as well as 
waiting for and going through locks.)
47 Locks 
9.2 mph Average Speed
24.4 mph Maximum Speed
1,830 Gallons of Fuel
$4,700 Cost of Fuel
73 Degrees Current Water Temperature
2,241 Miles Traveled
77 Days on the Boat


Signing off for now,

"Johnson & Johnson"



Thursday, November 16, 2017

Wednesday, November 15 - Ft. Myer's Beach, Florida!!! :)

Well, that was a rocky night!!!  When we came back from dinner the winds were a steady 24 mph, plus gusts!  Remember, we are exposed to Charlotte Harbor!
This is our boat in the marina slip!

As we head back out to Charlotte Harbor, the winds are not quite as bad as last night, 
as now they're only a steady 15 mph!!!😧
 Of course we're getting rolled, AGAIN, with three footers!!!  
I truly thought we were done with this!
 To our left is Cayo Costa; the place we planned to anchor last night.  
 Across from Cayo Costa is Useppa Island; a private island membership.  I'm hoping those that anchored in Cayo Costa faired well with the winds.  It shouldn't have been too bad, as the waves calm for us now that there's another island to the east to provide some protection.

As we continue our island tour, we see one of our favorites; Cabbage Key!
 The one-level structure on land is a restaurant where people hang a dollar bill.  
Let's just say MANY people have visited Cabbage Key Restaurant!
 The next island south is North Captiva.
It's a good thing there are ferries to transport people so they can island hop!  
Many of the islands don't even have cars; golf carts are the mode of transportation!
The next island south is Captiva.  This picture happens to be of "South Seas Plantation" resort.  
For those of you who know the story, "we have no room for you today or tomorrow", 
well, this is the place!😁

Soon the dolphins find us and come and play!πŸ’—πŸ¬


The last island we pass on our starboard side is Sanibel, 
which is just south of Captiva,

 Again, we see more ferries.

 To our port side is Pine Island,
 to our starboard is Sanibel (and maybe a dolphin?),
 and straight ahead is the bridge that connects
Ft. Myers (on the left) to Sanibel (on the right)!

Here we go, under the Ft. Myers Bridge!!!

 Off to our right we see the beautiful Sanibel Lighthouse and
straight ahead is the Gulf of Mexico!

There it is, Ft. Myers!!!

Our destination for the night; Pink Shell Resort on Ft. Myers Beach!
Before we can tie up, however, we need to head further upstream to get fuel.

We enjoy seeing many of our favorite places, but this time from the waters of Estero Bay.
One of them being, Doc Ford's!
 Along the way we also see the Key West Express and . . .
 Captain Charlie Erickson!!!  (Many of you know him from back home).

Soon the boat is tied up and we're off to enjoy the pool and beach.



 



Ahhhhh . . . we have arrived in paradise!πŸ’—