Crystal River for the winter!

We departed Hudson after 10+ days of waiting for the small craft advisory to be lifted. We spent the next night anchored out off Homosassa before heading to Crystal River. There is a nice little sheltered cove just inside the Crystal River mouth behind Shell Island where we spent the night.

Power Station at the mouth of the Crystal River

Sunset off Shell Island, Crystal River

Heading further up the river the next day to Kings Bay we found a spot in 4’ of water with good holding. The surroundings are just too beautiful with great wildlife. There are lots of birds such as ospreys, spoonbills, wood storks, ibis, pelicans, bald eagles, sandhill cranes, pileated woodpeckers, grebes, anhingas, and ducks. There are also hundreds of manatees in the bay and several raccoons on nearby Buzzard Island.

Pelican

Manatee coming over to eat some algae on our boat

The gentle manatee still has barnacle from spending the summer at sea

Two days later we set off for the Withlacoochee River which is only 6 miles up the coast in a straight line but 17 miles by boat. Two long canals dredged for the power station are in between the Crystal River and Withlacoochee River and run several miles out to sea. They have substantial spoil areas and the first safe gap is about 5 miles out. The Withlacoochee River mouth is accessed via a narrow well marked channel. We anchored about a half mile up the river in a small bay with good holding and nice surroundings. Many shrimp boats came by just at dark and returned in the early morning.

Shrimp boats on the Withlacoochee

At sunrise we departed for Cedar Key. We had a great sail, arrived in the early afternoon and dropped anchor behind Dog Island. We tied up at the dock the next day to stock up with food water and gas.

Dolphins playing near our boat off  Dog Island, Cedar Key

Sunset at Cedar Key

Cedar Key

Cedar Key from Atsena Otie Key

 Our plan was to cross Appalachee Bay overnight to Alligator Point. Our engine decided it had had enough and to make a long story short it was cheaper to buy a new one. 

Waiting for our new engine

Pelicans at Cedar Key

A few days later and $2000 poorer we were once again ready to go but now the weather had turned bad. Day after day strong winds blew from the west with back to back small craft advisories. The winter fronts were coming too frequently and after many days of waiting we decided to take a break for the winter.

White pelicans heading south for the wnter

We headed back to Kings Bay in Crystal River to our previous spot. A local marina, Pete’s Pier (really nice owners and staff), gave us a good deal on a place to dock our dinghy and take showers.

The warm water of Kings Bay gives off steam on a cold morning

Mom and baby manatee

We have really enjoyed our time in Crystal River but it is time to move on. 

Next – Cedar Key, Appalachee Bay, and on to the Panhandle. 

Punta Gorda to Hudson via the ICW

We ended up staying in Punta Gorda way longer than planned for various reasons. Thunderstorms/hurricane Erika headed our way and looked for sure like we were going to get some of it, which we did in the end, but only rain and some more thunderstorms. Then the bridge at Boca Grande was closed for several weeks! The alternative was a 30 mile sail in the Gulf of Mexico around the bridge. And we had several stops planned for the ICW and chose to wait. Back to Cayo Costa followed by a stop at Boca Grande, a small but interesting and very small town. Boca Grande has a sheltered anchorage and public dock.

Public dock at Boca Grande

Next a stop at Don Pedro State Park for some fossil shark tooth hunting, the entrance is narrow  and shallow but a nice dock with free day use. The beach is nice and we found a few small shark teeth. For the night we sailed to a nearby BAIL suggested anchorage which we rejected due to too little swing room, poor holding and a bit deep. We chose a more exposed area which was shallow (4’) with good holding.

Don Pedro beach has shells!

Don Pedro

A few days of bad weather was forecast so we looked for a more sheltered place to wait it out, a mooring field in Englewood near Chadwick Cove Marina was just right, especially because it was free! Four days later we moved on and did several long days up the ICW to make up some time with overnights wherever we felt OK with regard to weather, depth, currents, etc.

We sailed through 16 opening bridges in total between Boca Grande and Tarpon Springs. Some interesting sights we saw along the way…8 manatees migrating in a small group, Tampa Skyway Bridge with freighters and a cruise ship in the channel, Venice main canal and the beautiful houses along the shoreline, Caladesi Island State Park, and many groups of migrating birds from tiny shorebirds to storks.

A Florida holiday shack

Locals off Caledesi Island

Caledesi Island Marina, $6 for day use

View from Anclote Key

Heading north from Anclote Key we ran into a cold front with strong northeasterly winds and small craft advisories. We decided to head into Hudson to sit it out.

Port Hudson Marina

Fort Myers to Punta Gorda

We loaded up 8 days worth of food and water and set off on the next leg of the adventure to Panama City. A brisk westerly made a choppy sea at first until we passed under the Sanibel Bridge. We stopped for the night at Ding Darling Wildlife Reserve on the west side of Sanibel. A great anchorage and a peaceful night with only a dolphin blowing to break the silence. Roseate spoonbills, herons and ibis were feeding until after dark along the mangroves.

Ding Darling, spoonbills

Day 2 we sailed to Captiva, a pretty island but not friendly to visiting sailboats. They charge high prices for docking and won't even let you take a shower without paying for a whole day. Even after buying fuel they wanted us to leave the dock right away.

Day 3 was a 10 mile trip to Pelican Bay on Cayo Costa. A sheltered anchorage and a beautiful island. We saw manatees, dolphins, an alligator, a hammerhead shark, several snakes, a raccoon, and plenty of birds including a bald eagle. We ended up spending 4 days here.

Sunrise at Cayo Costa

Beautiful Cayo Costa

Racoon

A nice coachwhip snake

We decided at this point to explore Charlotte Harbor instead of continuing up the ICW. First stop was Burnt Store Marina. A nice marina but enclosed by buildings so not much of a breeze on a very hot day! Friendly staff though and nice restrooms and a very reasonable rate.

Burnt Store Marina

We left early hoping to catch the easterly night breeze but no wind so had a day of motoring to Punta Gorda and the Laishley Marina mooring field. This marina has the friendliest staff so far a super sailors lounge and restroom. The other residents in the marina have also been very helpful in sharing their knowledge of the area and also sharing interesting sailing stories.

A rainbow over Punta Gorda

A windy day at the mooring field

Punta Gorda was severely damaged by a hurricane 10 years ago and many of the buildings and much of the infrastructure is new. It is unique in that they have kept out all fast food chains. It has a bit of a Disney look about it.

The nice long floating day dock at Laishley Park Marina

We are getting ready to depart again. Looks like the wind will be good for Monday morning.

Next: Cayo Costa (again), Boca Grand, Don Pedro State Park........

Naples and Fort Myers Beach

After spending the 4^th of July at Naples City Moorings and watching 2 spectacular fireworks displays from the boat we set off early on the 5^th for Wiggins Pass and the Delnor Wiggins State Park.



A Naples channel marker

A Naples Beach Shack

Nice quick sail, 6 to 7 knots in smooth seas. Wiggins pass is quite narrow gets even narrower as you enter the park. There is a small lagoon in the park which was ideal for us. We dropped the anchor in 2’! The daily thunderstorm tested our holding but we passed.

Wiggins Pass

Our daily storm in the Delnor Wiggins State Park Lagoon

On to Fort Myers Beach next and the City Mooring Field. We chose to stay out on the ocean side and approach the mooring from the west instead of the Big Carlos Pass to the east. The main beach was packed with weekend holiday makers and several boats with parasails were operating in the area.

The Fort Myers Beach mooring field

Fort Myers Beach

The moorings at Fort Myers Beach are administered by the nearby Matanzas Inn and are really quite nice and the staff are friendly and efficient. They have the best bathroom facilities we have seen at any marina and a clean coin operated laundry. There are grocery, hardware, and marine stores nearby and a trolly bus service if you need to go further afield.

We have stayed longer than expected at Ft Myers Beach due to some fairly foul weather systems moving into the gulf. Even had a strong gust flip our dinghy over at the dock and Neptune grabbed one of our oars. The people here are so nice, one guy grabbed the overturned dink and saved further loss and someone else went back to their boat and returned with 2 new oars! Thanks Fort Myers folk, you are just great! Hopefully we will be on our way again in a few days.

A small waterspout over the beach

A cold front approaching

 

Next: Sanibel, Captiva, and Cayo Costa Islands, Boca Grande, and Venice Beach.