A Little More Travelling Humour From Fort Myers Beach.

   I'm back for my second twisted version of "A day in the mind of Jeff". Hello is there anyone up there?

I can hear the conversation before this ride. Bill wants to go out for  a beer with his friends.
Mary says He can't go without her and she just wants to relax in her chair. This would be a Win Win!!

REALLY? How long before low tide?

How to identify a LOOPER. On the water you will see the
popular AGLCA member's burgee

By land the LOOPER can be identified by the popular hand
made CINDY jewelry. Thanks "As The Crow Flies"
'

This fella worked really hard to swallow a 10" fish is one piece. 

Day one at Moss Marine. By the end of the stay I will have this guy eating
out of my hand. Literally.

When I saw this sign in Fort Myers Beach I instantly thought of my good friend at home. John
come for a visit. Anytime buddy!

This is my good friend John.

Bye-Bye Fort Myers

Today is our last day here at Fort Myer's Yacht Basin, the municipal marina in downtown Fort Myers. From what I understand, downtown Fort Myers has made great improvements in the past several years and has gone from a kind of run-down, depressed area to a vibrant "place to be".  Sounds like it could be a good case study for town planners.

Tomorrow we cast off and head back down the river.  We will anchor out for a few days before we arrive at Fort Myers Beach, so no internet (unless we can pick up some for free through the air) and no posts.

Here's a few pics of the area:
                                                             

Birthday Kayak

We used to have kayaks on the boat and they were great!  But one of the challenges of spending a year living on a small trawler is fitting everything you want onto it.  While packing, I had my clothes all chosen and packed only to realize once I got them on the boat that there was NO way they would all fit.  I scaled down, and to be honest, I could have scaled down even more.  For the most part, so far, I mostly need just two pairs of shorts, a bunch of t-shirts and some flip flops.  Down the rivers, of course, required a bit more to keep warm but it's surprising how little is needed and how refreshing it is, after being a career woman with the required wardrobe. to just simplify.

The other sacrifice that we had to make was the kayaks.  There just wasn't enough room for bikes, dingy, golf clubs, furniture, paints, guitar, kayaks, and still be able to move around the boat safely. Something had to go and the poor kayaks were it.  Jeff hasn't missed them too much but I often have.

So, after much deliberation, reading consumer reports and reviews, I decided to take the plunge (hopefully not literally).  Happy birthday to me!  I chose an inexpensive, inflatable kayak from West Marine.  Unlike our old kayaks, it really doesn't track well at all and it is very sluggish in the water. BUT, it fits on the boat, pumps up in five minutes, I can carry it easily and suits my needs for putzing around a quiet anchorage just fine.

On my birthday morning, Jeff woke me up with coffee and a plan:  We were going to Manatee Park in Fort Myers with Joe and Connie from the boat Chesapeake to test out my new birthday kayak.  It was a cold day which usually guarantees lots of manatees will be in the park as they are attracted to the warm water discharged by the neighbouring power plant.  We quickly pumped up my kayak, Connie rented one from the park (the guys decided to watch - chickens!) and off Connie and I went.

We were travelling with the current and wind so we basically just sat there and drifted down the river a bit.

 We could see and hear manatees coming up for a breath here and there and it was awesome.  Then suddenly one came up RIGHT beside me, then another one, then another.  I was right in the middle of a group of them (herd??) and the big, lumbering beasts were all around me.  They would come right up to the kayak to check me out, nostrils flaring, lips quivering, and with my kayak's soft bottom I could even feel as they went right under me and rubbed up against my bottom! Goosed by a manatee!!!  I was a little "surprised" by all this sudden attention.  Connie could barely manage to stay upright in her kayak she was laughing so hard, saying she'd give anything for a picture of my face as all this was going on.  That is until they started heading towards her!

Manatee Park

It's been "cold" the past few days (sorry Northern friends, relatively speaking, I mean).  This morning, as soon as I woke up, Jeff announced the plan for the day.  He'd been thinking -- oh oh, that's not always a good thing.  But this time it was.  The plan for today was we were going to Manatee Park first, then out for breakfast with Jim and Mimi from Perfect Balance, who were here in Fort Myers for a couple of days.

Great plan! When it's been cold the manatees flock to Manatee Park, which is right beside a power plant.  The power plant releases warm water into the river which attracts the manatees.  And those cute not-so-little sea cows were there in abundance!  They mostly stay underwater but we had so much fun watching them slug along and trying to catch a picture of the allusive beasts.

Night Life in Fort Myers

The Fort Myers Yacht Basin, the marina we've been staying at for the past little bit, is right downtown Fort Myers.  This is a lovely town and they've apparently done lots in the past little while to make it so.

One of the benefits of being right downtown is the nightlife (when we manage to stay up past 9:30). It's so easy to just saunter downtown to see what's going on.  Most weekends they've closed off the main street for a special event.  One weekend it was the car show, this weekend they had a cowboy theme with live bands, a mechanical bull for folks to get up there and try and an arial acrobat circus-type act.  Other nights we often will go up to shoot some pool or grab something to eat.  It's fun! Always something to do if we feel like it.

Shrimp boil

Thanks to our Southern friends, we got a taste of a good 'ol traditional shrimp boil.  This is how it works:  they throw a bunch of food, like 'taters, corn and sausage in a big pot and boil it all together, real slow.  Once it's done they dump it in a delicious, steamy heap on the table, usually on newspaper, and everyone dives in.   In this case they made a few adaptions, for those fussy ones (like me) that can't eat shrimp, they cooked the shrimp separately.  It was yum-yum good and lots of fun!  Thanks Russ and Elaine from Twelve Stones.  That was AWESOME!!

Pictured:  The "Shaft Brothers". Elaine got these shirts made up the the captains who traveled together and all had to do repairs on their shafts while underway.  Russ, Twelve Stones, Joe The Chesapeake, John (otherwise known as the karate kid) Endeavor. 

The "shaft brothers". 

Friend in Naples

Way back when we first bought our boat in Gananoque, we took it home to Penetanguishene through the Trent-Severn.  It was the May "two-four" weekend (A Canadian holiday celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday) the first weekend the canal system opened.  We were there on day two of the season, fifth boat to go through.  The sixth boat, right behind us, was a lovely trawler called Fugitive, with crew Brian and Janice onboard.  

We travelled through much of the Trent-Severn with Fugitive and the more time we spent together, the more we realized we had in common.  Both boats were trawlers with Great Loop aspirations.  Janice and I, both working in education in neighbouring school boards had many common associates and experiences.  Brian, being a business owner from Guelph, ON, asked if we knew Dan Ariss, formerly from Guelph and now a marina owner in Penetanguishene.  Dan just happened to be my daughter's father in-law and we kept our boat at his (and now Dan's son, my son-in-law's) marina.  The connections continued and we became fast friends.  Boating is like that.

Brian and Janice were at their condo in Naples over the Christmas holiday and we jumped at their invite for a visit.  We enjoyed a lovely day sitting by the pool, exploring Naples (which is a beautiful spot) and sharing boating stories, of course.  What a lovely visit.  THANKS Brian & Janice.

Happy New Year!!

Derek and Kristen, our hosts

New Year's eve celebration was held in Tampa this year.  We drove up to enjoy the festivities with friends of Jeff's from Orillia.  They have a downtown condo which overlooks the water so it was a great, central place for some Orillia peeps to gather.  From the fourteenth floor we had a great view of two different fireworks displays.

                                                    

I, unfortunately, was in the process of getting slam-dunked by a head cold and fell sound asleep

before midnight.  Looks like fun though, eh?

THANKS for a great visit, Derek & Kristen!!

Sharon and Kristen