 |
| Beautiful night in Venice FL The full moon along with the clouds reflected on the water........ |
 |
| One of the marinas we passed along the way |
 |
| Passing Cabbage Key Wishin' we could have one of their cheeseburgers! |
 |
| Beautiful sky - trying to get to anchor before sunset! |
 |
| Sanibel Lighthouse |
 |
| Coming into Everglades City |
 |
| Historic Rod & Gun Club |
 |
| Rod & Gun Club Restaurant and Motel |
 |
| Checking in - this place was amazing |
 |
| Lots of decor |
 |
| Just a few of the mounts that were on the walls |
 |
| Taking a dinghy ride along the river |
 |
| Just a few of the airboats that travel these rivers |
 |
| The Captain's Lighthouse - another airboat facility |
 |
| sights along the river |
 |
| Bet the gators are watching us... |
 |
| There was a sign here that said "Caution - Airboat Entrance" We were a little cautious.... |
 |
| Another sight along the river Beautiful fan palm |
 |
| NautiNell sitting proud at the Rod & Gun Club |
 |
| Entrance by land |
 |
| Slowly working our way back out to the Gulf - not much water even in the channel |
 |
| The river twists and turns along the way |
 |
| Sunset at Little Shark River on anchorage |
 |
| It just kept getting better |
 |
| Even after the sun went down it still continued to light the waters |
 |
| Taken in direction away from the sunset Still lighting up the waters |
Here’s a short synopsis on our trip south:
Sunday – November 17
We left Bradenton about 9:15 a.m. after spending the summer
months here at Twin Dolphin Marina in Bradenton. This marina is up the Manatee River and a
good place to hide out during hurricane season.
Although we had a very uneventful season weather-wise this year – you
never know. It was a pretty nice ride
down the GIWW (Gulf Intercoastal Waterway).
In about six hours we were tied up to the City Dock in Venice just
around the bend from Snake Island. Our
friends, Jeff and Linda, who live there met us in their dinghy and ferried us
over to the Island where they hang out -
especially on Sunday. Good timing on our
part! We visited with everyone and took
advantage of a huge bounty of food. It turned out to be a great day for travel
and an even better one to be out on anchor.
The full moon was absolutely breathtaking along with its reflection and
the reflection of the clouds in the water.
I wish we could have taken a picture but it wouldn’t have done it
justice. I must say it was one of the
most beautiful sights we have seen since we’ve been on the water.
Monday – November 18
We were up early this morning.
We saw the local police bring in what we assume was an injured sea
turtle. This guy was huge! We took it easy this morning and didn’t leave
until about 9:30. It seems no matter how
early we get up - we still can’t seem to get around and get moving! As it turns out we should have gotten an
earlier start. With the “short daylight”
now – we found ourselves in Ft Myers trying to secure a mooring ball in the
dark. That was not really a fun thing to
do – but we got it done. At least we had
another beautiful day for traveling. The
dolphins were out in full force. It
seemed they were just as happy to see us and we were to see them! Once we were secure to the mooring ball we
enjoyed the moon again bouncing off the water along with hamburgers on the
grill. Nice night too.
Tuesday – November 19
We finally left out early this time! It was only 7:15 a.m.! Though this day is a short day. Wouldn’t you know it? We had to go out to the Gulf at Ft
Myers. The GIWW ends there. It was another beautiful day with on 1-2 ft.
waves. Again there were lots of dolphin
following us along. We made it to Marco
Island on anchor just in time to have us some lunch on the sundeck. A nice time to relax.
Wednesday – November 20
I can’t believe the weather we are having. We definitely planned this trip right – knock
on wood…. Anyway we left about 8:00 a.m. heading to Everglades City. We had always bypassed this and went on to
Shark River but we decided to check it out this time. Especially a good idea since it gets dark so
early and the trip to Shark would have been a long day. After traversing through the very shallow and
narrow Indian Pass, we got to the Rod & Gun Club about 1:00 p.m. and tied
up to their wall. This a very
interesting and historical place. The
Rod & Gun Club is a hotel and restaurant.
The area was established back in the 1780s when the Indians would bring
their produce to sell which was then shipped to Key West and to Ft Myers. Baron Collier from New York who was
successful in advertising came to the area and ended up owning over one million
acres. Later his heirs donated over
32,000 acres to the state of Florida for a National Park. The Rod & Gun Club has quite a past. It is so named due to the excellent fishing
in the area along with hunting that included panthers and bear. Several US Presidents, many movie stars and
many prominent business men patronized the hotel and restaurant back in its
heyday. The floors were made of cypress
and were so shiny you could see your reflection. The inside of the building was very elegant
and you could almost hear the conversations that had taken place in the
past. The town is a sleepy little town
where most everyone is related. Back in
the day there were streetcars that would take people place to place. What a different way of life is there
now. Most make their living fishing or
giving airboat rides.
We took a dinghy ride around in the rivers. The over growth would actually make a canopy
over the river. It was really
fantastic. I know there were gators back
in the foliage watching with their beady little eyes! We went back into where the airboats take you
but finally decided to turn around when we realized just how shallow it was
getting. We definitely didn’t want to
have to get out of the dinghy and push!
That evening we took the dinghy up the river to a little local place to
eat. There were two different ones - and
we definitely picked the wrong one. Not
good food and they closed at 6:00 p.m. leaving us sitting there finishing our
meal. I mean they locked the doors and
left! When we were going back to the
boat (in the dark by the way) we pass the other restaurant that was alive with
customers and even live music! Oh well,
we usually pick the right one – guess we were due this time.
Thursday – November 21
We were up early again and it was another beautiful
day. We took a walk around the town and
had breakfast at the local Island Grill.
This time we picked the right place.
It was pretty good. We would have stayed longer and checked out the town
more but we needed to leave before low tide.
After a little bit of a hassle getting away from the wall – tide going
out and a very strong current – we inched out way out through narrow passage
again and out to the Gulf once more.
Finally enough water – we could exhale!
We made it to Little Shark River where we planned to anchor. The spot we had anchored before was rather
busy – three other boats were already there.
So we went up the river just a bit – a little more current but no
problems. We sat out on the sundeck and
watched a beautiful sunset. There were
some “no see-ums” but they weren’t really a problem. Finally we gave up to them and went down in
the cabin. We ended up watching a movie
- thanks to our inverter – we could run out television and DVD player! Pretty cool!
Friday – November 22
On to Marathon – this day proved not to be so great. We have traveled in worse but it still pretty
much stunk. There were small storms
cells moving over us from time to time.
It didn’t rain a lot but the wind blew and caused the waves to
grow. They would hit us on the following
port side and try to whip us around. The
worst of it was that we also had to watch for all the hundreds of crab pots
that were out there. In fact, we must
have been paying more attention to the crab pots than the chart plotter because
we ran aground. At least Mike realized
we were in really shallow water in time and threw it in neutral. We really only floated up on the sand but it
was an abrupt stop! We were able to back
off of it and get around to the markers where we should be. It seemed forever from when we saw the Seven
Mile Bridge to when we were actually going under it. Around 3:00 p.m. - we were pretty happy to be
in our slip and tied up. There were
several people there to greet us and to help us land NautiNell. It was great to see everyone that we had met
here during our last stay last year.
There are a few that are still on their way but most of them are here
now. It will be a fun winter. We said our hellos and pretty much crashed
the rest of the night. It rained here
during the night but it just made for a good night’s sleep. It’s different when you’re tied up safe in a
harbor or if you’re on anchor out in the boonies somewhere!
Till Next Time
Admiral “C”
No comments:
Post a Comment