The end of a great adventure

The last leg of our trip was a half day trek from Naples to Ft. Myers Beach.  It was a rock and roll ride with a brisk Northeast wind.  The picture below is of Ft. Myers Beach.

We arrived at Board Walk Caper, Rives and Kathy McGinley's slip in the early afternoon on Wednesday February 9.

On Thursday we started in earnest to prepare the boat for trucking her home.  The trickiest job was to unstep the mast with only two people!  To all my friends that have helped me over the years to put the mast up in the spring and down in the fall, you will be impressed with our ingenuity.  Rives and I did it.  This spring when it is time to step the mast you all will find that the hardest part will be pulling back the tab on your beers!

The next step was loading the dinghy on board for the trip home.

Candy and I flew home on Saturday February 12.  Rives was left with the task of motoring the boat to the boat yard to meet the truck on Monday.  He sent me the last two pictures.

As I write this last blog Speculation is on her way home.  What an adventure it has been!  I have enjoyed bringing you all along on my dream trip Cape Cod to Key West!  What truly made the trip extra special was that Candy, the non-sailor, stuck it out the whole way and enjoyed it.  To share the adventure together on a small sailboat for weeks at a time, without killing each other, and really enjoying each others company was such a blessing.  I must say so far this retirement business is OK!  Stay tuned for our next adventure.

Greg

Boot Key Harbor to Naples

We are back in "Life Connected".  We left Boot Key on Saturday morning.  However when we woke up the battery was very low and I could not lower the motor power tilt.  The first picture is of me reading the manual on how to lower the motor with a dead battery.  Naturally there was no reference in the manual.  We turned everything off and let the battery rest for an hour; that did the trick. It gave us just enough power to lower the motor, then I just used the pull cord to start the motor.  The trip involves two days out of touch.  The first day we made Little Shark River in the Everglades.  It is about half way to the nearest gas pump. Along the way we saw this pod of dolphins.

That was the highlight of the day, unless you count stopping every half hour to clear the weed from the motor and rudder.  We arrived at Little Shark River at about 4:30 PM the next picture was of Candy and I.  I finally figured out how to use the self timer!

Yesterday we left Little Shark at 7:00 AM sharp for the long leg to Marco Island.  It was light and variable winds.  We did manage to get a little push from the jib for about an hour tops!

We didn't arrive at Marco Island until 6:30 PM, 11-1/2 hours!  We filled the gas tanks, anchored the boat then took the dinghty to the Snook Inn for a late dinner.  This morning we motored up to Naples, about 3-1/2 hours.  We saw this eagle on the way into Naples.

Tomorrow the plan is to wrap up our adventure, weather permiting, in Ft. Myers Beach.

Greg

We begin our trip home

Tuesday was our last day in Key West.  We went to the Post Office only to encounter some of Key West's famous residents.  This day was about shopping for gifts which I found dehydrates the body!  We stopped at the Rum Barrel for a Guinness.  Then it was off to the Hog's Breath Saloon for a Yingling.  After this place I tried to convince Candy that it would be great fun to go the Bull, Whistle and the Garden of Eden-  upstairs they have a "clothing optional" bar.  Fortunately Candy's good sense prevailed.  We did end the evening at a very good Italian restaurant.

On Wednesday morning we set sail.  The first picture is of the Cruise Ships as we left Key West Harbor.

We took a different route back to Marathon, the ICW on the Gulf side of the Keys.  It is longer so we took two days.  The next picture is of someone parasailing.

We anchored in Harbor Channel on the Gulf.  It is where you turn south to get back down to Seven Mile Bridge.  The next two pictures are of another specular sunset and the next morning.

This last picture is of our last leg of our passage back to Boot Key Harbor.

Today we are taking it easy.  I managed to pick up a cold from Key West.  Tomorrow we plan to start our way back to Ft. Myers Beach.  This should take at least a three days, most of which we will be out of contact.  We then start to prepare the boat for trucking her home.

Greg