10,000 Islands

Sunday February 10, 2013
25 49.824 N
81 26.494 W

Underway by about 9AM. We noticed another trawler leave a few minutes before us and sure enough they were out in front of us as we headed south out of Naples. After a while I called them on the radio and we had a nice chat. We were headed to the same anchorage.

To get south we had to get around the Cape Romano shoals. This shallow water extends in bands well west out into the Gulf. I had plotted a "cut-off" course thru one of the several "natural channels" but we were advised by the local SeaTow radio station to plot a course completely west around the Romano light. This added at least 10 miles to our day. Who was I to decide I knew better?

Anchorage 10K Islands

The 10,000 islands area is impressive. There may not be 10,000 islands but there sure are plenty. The anchorage we had selected was in 10'-15' feet of water completely surrounded by mangrove islands. Our new friends had their dinghy in the water when we arrived and came over for a drink and some snacks.There were two sail boats in the anchorage also - but we do not mingle with them

That night the star display was the best I had seen in the USA. I was also surprised that we had some internet connectivity. Not enough to Skype or load a web page, but enough for emails to trickle in and out. Quite amazing.