Sailing to the Florida Keys VIII

December 7, 2011

Leaving Matanza Inn Mooring Field
Destination:  Moss Marina

Today we got up early, well, not that early..! LOL!  But, it was before 10 am so that was early for us!  J We got up early because we wanted to get into Moss Marina, docked and plugged into their electrical tower to get these batteries charged up!! 

Sailing to the Florida Keys VII

December 6, 2011

Leaving St. James City
Destination:  Ft. Myers Beach

This morning we took our time getting ready to head out to Ft. Myers Beach.  We weren’t in too much of a hurry because it wasn’t going to be a long sail.  We had estimated that it would take us roughly 3-4 hours to travel the 10 nautical miles to Ft. Myers Beach.

Sailing to the Florida Keys VI

December 5, 2011

Leaving Punta Blanca Island, Cayo Costa
Boca Grande
Destination:  St. James City

Yay!  We were able to sleep in this morning before beginning our sail to St. James City.  Today’s estimated nautical mileage was 16 miles.  We left at 11 am instead of 10 am like we’d planned but that didn’t affect us since we were not able to sail most of the way.  We had to motor sail because the winds were not favoring us! L Plus we had to go through some pretty tight channels.

Sailing to the Florida Keys V

December 4, 2011

Leaving:  6:30 am
Destination:  Boca Grande / Cayo Costa Coastal Key
Nautical Miles:  29
Estimated Time:
10 hours at 3 Knots
7 hours at 4 Knots
6 hours at 5 Knots

Well, this morning we woke up at 5:45 am wanting to get an extra early start on our long day of sailing.  Keith and I were ready pretty quick but Maxi had other ideas.  We took him out to do his business knowing all too well that it would be a long sailing trip for all of us, but he did not want to cooperate!  We walked him a good half hour and all he did was number 1.  Of course, at first he looked at us as if we were crazy wanting him to get up so early and expect him to go potty…LOL!! 

Sailing to the Florida Keys IV

December 3, 2011
Venice, Florida
Crow’s Nest Marina

This morning we went ahead and came into the Crow’s Nest to pay for a slip for the day.  It’s a really small marina with just a handful of slips and most of those slips are pretty tight and narrow. 

Sailing to the Florida Keys III

December 2, 2011
Leaving Longboat Pass
Destination:  Venice
25 Nautical Miles
Estimated Time: 6 hours

We left Longboat Pass at about 10:00 am, headed for Venice, Florida.  Again we had to go through the Longboat Pass Bridge, asking the Bridge Tender to open the bridge for us.  We headed south on the Gulf.  At first, when we headed out it wasn’t so bad, the winds were coming from NE and sailing wasn’t so bad. 

Sailing to the Florida Keys II

DeSoto Beach

Thursday, December 1, 2011

We left DeSoto at noon on Thursday.  Since it was going to be a 5-6 hour sail from DeSoto to Longboat Pass we wanted to get an early start on our day but with the dinghy not working we got started a bit late!  Sailing from DeSoto to Longboat Pass was not too bad.  Again it was chilly but the sun was out and the winds were at our favor…which was nice. 

Sailing to the Florida Keys

Wednesday
November 30, 2011
Leaving Regatta Pointe Marina
Destination:  DeSoto

We finally left Regatta Pointe Marina in Palmetto, Florida!!  It was a bit sad leaving, at least for me.  I guess it’s because I am a woman and I tend to want to “nest” wherever I go.  Keith is the one that gets itchy feet if he is in one place too long!  So glad he stayed put in Phoenix long enough for me to have met him!! LOL