The Rod and Gun Club of Everglades City

So, we "missed the boat", so to speak, in Goodland.  On a Sunday afternoon Stan's in Goodland is the place to be.  Unfortunately for us, we pulled in on a Monday night, so we missed the action.  We spent Tuesday walking around town, kayaking and just hanging out on anchor, which was nice and relaxing.  Tuesday night we enjoyed docktails on our flybridge with neighbouring boaters and then we all went into town for dinner at Stan's but it was pretty quiet.

This morning, Wednesday, was clear and sunny so we headed out on high tide around 8:30 a.m.  The gulf was calm but we quickly ran into a thick pea soup fog.  It's weird how that catches one by surprise.  It was so clear and sunny when we left.

Rod and Gun Club, Everglade City
Beautiful old Florida.

We inched through the fog for three or four hours, which really is not that bad.  We just followed our route on the chart plotter, watched our heading on the compass, kept in radio contact with any other boaters in the area and sounded the horn periodically for good measure.  No real problem.  Our buddies, Gary and Pat on Dancing Iguana were behind us and Mike and Marian on Midas Touch were a couple of hours ahead and kept in touch via radio.  The water was smooth and I actually kind of like being out there in the fog.  We're safe enough and it's kind of dreamy.  Maybe it's my Northern Atlantic genetic memory kicking in.

Once we arrived in the channel leading to Everglades City it cleared right up.  The trip down the channel was lovely.  This is old Florida, with a maze of mangrove islands and charming old cottages. We docked alongside the Rod and Gun Club of Everglade City.

The Rod and Gun Club was build in 1865 as a private home.  By 1925 it was converted into the the Rod and Gun Club and, as evidenced by the clippings posted on the wall, has a long history of famous folks visiting, past Presidents and movie stars, etc.

Pictured around the pool table: Left to right: Mike & Marian,
Midas Touch; Gary & Pat, Dancing Iguana; Jeff & me;
Bonnie Kogos, a lady from New York that joined
us in the lounge.  She summers on Manitoulin Island
and was excited to hear about our travels.

It is indeed a rustic and beautiful place to hang out, with broad screened in porches and cyprus panelled lounges.  We headed straight to the awesome pool, which the staff thought was funny as no one had been in it for weeks...  until the Canadians arrived!  It was a hot day and we were quickly submerged in the clear, cool water.  We spent the afternoon by the pool with the folks from our travel buddy boats.  Later, we walked around town and enjoyed the local museums and shops.  The evening was spent in the lodge, playing pool and visiting.

Marco Island

February 23, 2014

Marco Island

Wow!  Some days are just meant for cruising and today was such a day.  Warm sunshine, a gentle breeze, calm water.  It was a spectacular day to be on the water.  

We got up early, excited to get going, only to watch a morning fog roll in.  No worries.  That gave us time for long showers and slow coffees.  By 9:30 it had lifted and with the help of Connie and Bernie, from Distant Shores, we were off.

We had just a perfect day on the water with dolphins putting on our own personal water show on and off all day.  We saw several sea turtles but they were pretty camera shy.

By about 3:30 we were approaching the main channel into North Marco Island. Jeff hailed BoatUS on the VHF and sought advice on the depth of the channel that goes behind Marco Island to Goodland.  We got the green light from them and it was approaching high tide, so even though it looked pretty "thin" on the charts we ventured in.  We had a few “interesting” moments but squeaked through without sanding the bottom of the boat.

For tonight we are anchored in about six feet of water and after dinner onboard we’ll spend the evening checking out the local bar.  Rumour has it that it has a lot of “old Florida charm” and is full of local characters.  Apparently there is some sort of special dance form that is practiced here in the bar.  It sure has piqued my curiosity!

Another mainship just anchored beside us, and then low and behold, our old looper friends Mike and Marian from Midas Touch just pulled in as well.  We hadn't seen them in months.  Looping is like that, we leap-frog along and meet friends again and again.  Love it!  Now we’re all off to explore.

Edison Festival of Light.

February 21, 2014

The Edison Festival of Light is one of the town of Fort Myer's biggest events.  Bernie and Connie, from the boat Distant Shores, offered to drive the half hour trip -- THANKS!  Meeting up with other boaters, we had a bird's eye view of the events perched on Joe and Connie's, aft deck.

The festival celebrates one of Fort Myer's famous past citizens, Thomas Edison, who had a winter home in town.  All afternoon a Salza band played while folks shook their bootie (including Grant & Cindy, sorry the camera missed THAT one!) and shoppers milled around the large craft fair.  Back at Joe and Connie's boat we were seated perfectly to watch the crowd gathering in preparation for the start of the five kilometre run.  We're not quite sure why they call it a 5K run in the States instead of a 3 mile and 188.07 yard race, but they do.

Fireworks were followed by the big event:  The Parade of Light.  It was great to catch up again with our friends at Fort Myer's Yacht Basin.  Hopefully we'll catch up again while heading up the East coast.

                            

Mitchell visits

February 5 - 9

Company!  We love company!  Mitchell, Jeff's son came to spend a few days and wow, was he lucky with the weather.  We had five GREAT days with sunny skies and warm beach-weather days.


It didn't take him long to acclimatize to the boating lifestyle, making use of the toys available: bikes, kayaks and go-fast-dingy.  The guys spent a lot of time biking, playing games on the beach and just doing the age old father/son thing: throwing a baseball back and forth.








Also, there was a heathy dose of friendly competitiveness.  The last time Mitchell visited the bet was that who ever lost the Mucker's game had to shave a notch in their eyebrow.  Poor dad lost that one, much to everyone's entertainment.  This time, with negotiations in full swing, Mitchell ended up with one shaved leg.  Just one.  Too funny.

Snow Birds

February 20, 2014

This is how we think of our trip:  Phase one, getting here.  Phase two, snowbirds.  Phase three, getting home.

We are now well established into the "snowbird" portion of our trip -- no traveling, just hanging out in Florida for the winter.  As there really isn't too much to say about being a snowbird the blog has been a little sparse lately. Don't get me wrong, it's been great.  Relaxing. Easy.

A typical day looks like this: I smell coffee (Jeff makes it in an attempt to rouse me).  We drink coffee and read the news.  We discuss the news.  We maybe have something to eat or put that off and get about the business of the day, which might include a bike ride, golf or a beach visit.  Sometimes we do some boat work or regular chores, like laundry, shopping, etc.  Then, oh, look at that, lunch time! Afterwards I might curl up with a book or jog on the beach while Jeff putters.  Jeff's a great putterer. What!?  Docktail hour already?  Around 5:00 we meet with other boaters for some socializing.  Then comes dinner.  Next comes an evening of cards, TV, watching the stars from the flybridge or heading into town to check out the action.


It's been great but we're excited to start moving again.

I brought the car home last week and had a great but short visit with friends/family.  Jeff stayed here to watch the boat.  Next week, King Neptune willing, we'll head South towards the keys and spend about a month exploring.  Then we'll start inching our way North, along the intracoastal waterway, towards home.