On to Marco Island and Marathon

Great sunset at Little Shark River

Key West Express on it's way................



Anchored along the Everglades on Little Shark River



Didn't see any gators!






Turned out to be a peaceful anchorage

 








Marco Island coastline



One of the great beaches on Marco Island



Key West Express waiting to be boarded












Well on Monday – February 13, we didn't leave Ft Myers as planned - Why you ask? We just didn't want to. J We just hung out around the boat – took a dinghy ride – and ended up back at Bonita Bills for Happy Hour. Surprised? In fact there was a jam session going on there with local musicians - some staying on their boats. They played mostly Blues - so Mike was in heaven. In fact, he was determined to get up on stage and play his bongos. Yes remember, he brought quite a selection of percussion instruments on this trip. I was able to convince him that these guys were professional musicians and perhaps he needed to practice a little more. That seemed to suffice for now….. LOL! Till next time...... J

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! After saying our goodbyes we finally left our spot at Bonita Bills on Tuesday and headed on to Marco Island. Of course it wasn't too early in the day – we had a late night last night! The Gulf was a little bouncy but not too bad. It was beautiful water – dolphins were playing and we even saw a sea turtle. We were told that we should be seeing several big turtles as we venture south because several were relocated here due to the BP oil spill. We made it to a wonderful anchorage at Marco Island just before sunset. We planned to go to the Island in the morning.

What a quiet peaceful anchorage – no creaking of docks and no bar music (noise). HA! We decided that we would move to the Roses Marco River Marina close by so we could unload our bikes and see the island. What a great marina! Only $1.60 a foot with a major ship store and close to everything. We rode all over the Island – and made it to West Marine (of course, Mike has to stop there like I have to shop!) We made it to Publix and several other stops. Dolphin Tiki Bar was our choice for dinner. It was really good food and great scenery.

We were in a slip next to three guys in a sailboat. One of the guys recently got the boat from his dad's estate. He hopes to become certified to teach sailing. The other two (maybe 22 yrs. old?) came with him as his crew. They had no experience sailing. It seems that they all are having a ball! Good luck to them!

Also the Key West Express comes in and out of this Marina. It's a huge boat that goes from here to Key West every day. For about $140 r/t you can take a ride to Key West and return whatever day you decide to. Her sister ship does the same out of Ft Myers. That's a great deal! We couldn't take NautiNell there for that! We would sit on our sundeck in the morning and watch the people heading to the boat and looking forward to a fun filled time in Key West. Then in the evening we would watch the crowd disembark and head back to their cars or condos looking rather tired and broke. Ha! Everyone we asked said it was well worth their time and money.

The Looper boat - At Last came in and another Gold Looper – Serendipity. Serendipity was working their way up north and had just come from Shark River where we are heading. They had great current information! John of At Last is heading our way so we'll have a buddy boat while we're out in the Gulf. Always a good idea!

Mike did some fishing – and I did some shopping while we were at Marco Island. He caught several good sized Sheephead. As usual, we hated to leave this area. However, the weather window was narrowing so we decided that we needed to go. We would leave early Friday morning and anchor in Little Shark River and then make it to Marathon on Saturday. We'll see! We will be out in the Gulf at least 4-5 miles out because that's where the water is. It's really shallow near shore.

Friday morning we were off like a herd of turtles! At Last leading the way. The Gulf was unbelievable! We've seen rougher water on Table Rock Lake back home! It was like glass – and the sun was shining bright. Again dolphins were there to entertain us. It would have been perfect if there weren't so many crab traps to avoid. BUT we didn't get into any of them. Yea!!

It was about an eight hour day before we finally reached Little Shark River. I think we all were a little apprehensive about the river anchorage. It's at the beginning of the everglades and we had been warned about all the bugs. Again – we worried about nothing. There were several boats there already and it was a very nice spot. The no-see-ums came out but not really bad. Nothing a little insect spray and good screens couldn't take care of! We hoped to see alligators. More than once we would here a big splash and get out the spotlights but they never did show themselves. We had a very peaceful evening.

We were up early again on Saturday because we had another rather long day ahead. Again the Gulf was quite nice to us. We couldn't have asked for a better boating day. We were ready to pinch ourselves to be sure it was real! Finally as we got closer to Marathon the water became so clear that Mike about went into a panic! You could see the bottom! However we were still in plenty of water – it still is rather unnerving at first. About 2:00 p.m. we arrived to our destination – a mooring ball in Marathon on Vaca Key. We are going to stay on the mooring ball a few days while we figure where we're going to next. Most of the marinas are full until March – but many boaters leave daily so we were told to keep trying.
No big deal! We are in the Keys!

Again, we ask ourselves – can you believe we're doing this!

Our adventure in the Florida Keys is now beginning! Stay tuned!

Till next time!

Admiral "C"