Pelican Bay (Anchorage)

Saturday February 18, 2017
26 41 27 N
82 14 60 W

Just one more lock today, first thing. Presidents Day on Monday made this weekend a 3 day weekend, and as we approached Ft. Myers it seemed like every boat in the surrounding 100 miles was on the water. It made piloting a bit more demanding, but it was fun to see all the activity.

One last lock

Early afternoon we heard a Coast Guard weather warning, and our radar confirmed that there was a row of thunder storms (with red and purple centers) approaching. Seemingly all of a sudden all the pleasure boats headed for home - streams of them. It was quite a sight to see the rows of speed boats of all sorts heading back to town. A few hours later we had the water to ourselves.

Lots of porpoises around. One stayed with us for a few miles, just keeping pace about 25' off the pilot house. Occasionally he/she would roll onto his/her side and look right at us out of one big eye. They swim so effortlessly.

We had picked out a favorite anchorage and arrived in the rain at about 4:45 PM. The rain stopped about 8:45 PM. We found 35 TV stations tonight!

David Skyped last night. He was just back from a business trip to Singapore and leaving on Tuesday for a trip to Houston. He has arranged it so he can have the weekend in the USA and visit Kylie and family. We are envious. His project is on time and winding up in the summer.

Sunday February 19, 2016

Perfect morning - warm, sunny and calm. We were getting 25 amps on the solar panels at 10 AM. Then the fog rolled in for a while and spoiled the scene. Its been a bit like that all day - warm and sunny then fog.

Waiting for the fog to clear I did some boat jobs - changed the secondary fuel filters on both engines, repaired a loose insect screen, replaced a few 12V bulbs around the boat and in the ER. We launched the dink after lunch - and the engine ran fine!!! So much so that Deidre suggested a dinghy cruise and we visited a sand bank which seems to be a gathering place for the locals. Deidre's ankle did fine in the sand.

A few DeFevers on their way to the Rendezvous rolled in during the afternoon. This is a popular anchorage. No one we knew.

Its now 5:30 PM and foggy again.

Robert at the beach

Three DF 44s arriving at the anchorage