Fri, Jan 22, 2010 - Cayo Costa Island State Park

It was very foggy when we got up this morning. Gale’s chore for the day was to lubricate the drive leg so he spent some time during the morning hours on that task and used the dinghy to help him get to it. After some lunch, we were ready to head over to Cayo Costa Island to anchor for the night. Our first challenge, however, was to get away from our current anchorage in the channel at Boca Grande. The current was working against us and the channel was shallow in some spots. Maureen piloted Blue Heron while Gale used the dinghy to push the boat out and away from the sailboat moored next to us as we untied from the mangroves and pulled up the anchor. When we were safely away, Gale boarded Blue Heron and we simply pulled the dinghy behind us during the rainy five mile ride to Cayo Costa.




At 2 pm we were safely anchored once again and ready to check out the state park so the three of us climbed into the dinghy and headed to the Ranger Station. Cayo Costa, which means “Key by the Coast” or barrier island, was the name given to the island by early Spanish traders. It is particularly well known for its tarpon fishing. We took the free tram that transports visitors from the bayside docks to the gulf side of the island. Since it was already after 3 pm, a bit on the chilly and rainy side, dogs weren’t allowed on the swimming beach, and a good mile walk back, we decided to stay on the tram and head right back to the dock. We plan to return to Cayo Costa’s beach on a nicer day. Besides, Gale and Lucy wanted to try their luck fishing.

The fishing expedition was very successful – Gale caught two nice sea trout which he cleaned and stored in the freezer for later. Before sunset, we went out for another little cruise in the dinghy by the shore to enjoy the seabirds and watch the fish in the shallower waters. There wasn’t any sunset to see tonight as the fog had settled in and made it impossible to see very far at all. Just as we were thinking about going home for dinner, two men in a fishing boat came by and we saw them pull up to a dock. We stopped to visit for a few minutes and learned they were from Texas and the fishing shack they were staying at was actually privately owned by one of these guys and six other partners. The private “residence” had been there for many years surrounded by the state park. Tonight they had experienced some difficulty finding the island in the fog and were just now arriving for a few days of relaxation and, hopefully, some great fishing.

Thurs, Jan 21, 2010 - Boca Grande, FL

It was a lovely morning to enjoy our coffee out on the deck. Lucy heard a rumble and soon we saw a seaplane land and pull up to the dock across the canal. In another ten minutes or so, the plane had collected its passengers, taxied out into the canal and taken off for other destinations. Ahhh -- just another day in the life . . .


After breakfast, we lowered the dinghy and set out to cruise the canals. We admired the many beautiful homes as well as the boats that went along with them. We saw many birds along the way including ibis, great blue heron, little blue heron, egrets and spoonbills.



After our tour, we pulled up to the public dock and tied off the dinghy for a walk into town.

Our first stop was the beach where we found some tiny shells to add to the collection on the boat. By then, we were getting hungry and decided to try The Loose Caboose for lunch.
The restaurant had an outdoor patio where Lucy was welcomed and given some treats. We shared a great reuben sandwich and watched the world go by for awhile.


Before leaving The Loose Caboose we asked our server to direct us to the second hand shop. Our friend Diane of s/v Faith had told us to be sure to check it out. She buys many of her clothes there since the items discarded by the ladies of Boca Grande are so nice. We found the shop but the sign showed the hours were 9 am to noon on Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.



Another excursion to be saved for the next trip. We did step inside the Catholic Church, Chapel of Our Lady of Mercy, and lingered in the courtyard for a few moments. During our walk, we came upon Banyan Street where we saw many interesting banyan trees lining the road. Another highlight of our walk was the Boca Grande Lighthouse.


We strolled back toward the dock where we had left the dinghy, stopping first at the Pink Elephant to enjoy a cocktail before going home. We packed quite a bit of sightseeing into the day and felt like we had done a good job of touring Boca Grande.

Wed, Jan 20, 2010 - Boca Grande, FL

We woke to a lovely sunrise, enjoyed a quick breakfast, pulled anchor just before 8 am and made our way back to Captiva Island where we arrived at the Green Flash Restaurant’s courtesy dock at 10 am. We spent an hour or so getting the boat cleaned up and then took Lucy for a walk. The sun was bright and made the plants and flowers look so beautiful. Back at the restaurant before noon, we took an outside table where Lucy was able to join us. Nick and Jane arrived at noon and

reported that Gary’s mother had passed away this morning at 7 am so they were on their way to Tennessee to be with family. We were very sorry to hear the sad news; Gary’s mother had been failing over the past several months and they knew her time was near.

After a lunch of fresh shrimp and a grouper sandwich, Nick and Jane drove us around Captiva Island. They had picked some fresh tomatoes yesterday and brought two of the round, red, sweet treats for us so we could have BLT’s. We stopped in at the little grocery store to pick up lettuce, bacon and bread so we would have all the necessary ingredients for later. At 1:30 pm we were back aboard Blue Heron and waved goodbye to Nick and Jane.

About 15 minutes later, Maureen was looking for the camera and realized that we must have left it in the backseat of the car. A quick call to Nick confirmed the same, and we turned around and rendezvoused with them once more to make the pickup. It was a quick “touch and go” – Nick swung the camera out to Maureen on its long strap, she grabbed it, and we were off once again. Thanks, Nick and Jane, for coming back and making the delivery!

We motored a few miles north and came to Redfish Pass – the passage into the Gulf between North Captiva Island and Captiva Island.
The winds were southeasterly and made for perfect conditions to take the outside route. We sailed past North Captiva Island and Cayo Costa Island and reentered the inside waterway at Boca Grande Pass. Our original plan for the evening was to anchor at Cayo Costa near the Ranger’s Station where we had stayed on our trip down the coast to Ft Myers Beach; however, our friends Karen and RL of Last Call were anchored just outside Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island for the night and encouraged us to come their way. It was a matter of taking a left or a right when we got back into the GIWW (Gulf Intracoastal Waterway) so we opted to take the left and went to Boca Grande.

We could see Last Call as soon as we came through the pass. She was anchored just outside the GIWW. RL had said that with their draft of 5 feet they did not know if they could get into the channel so they stayed outside. We sounded our way into the channel, by the golf course and around the bend where it opened up slightly into an area with mangrove trees on one side and a couple of docks on the other.


There were about six other boats anchored Mediterranean style with their bows facing into the channel and their sterns tied to the mangroves. By 6 pm we were secured in our anchorage and dropped the dinghy to travel back out into the main waterway to visit RL and Karen. They welcomed us aboard, showed us around the boat and gave us some visitor’s information regarding Boca Grande.




They had enjoyed their day here by renting bicycles and checking the place out. Tomorrow they were on their way north a few miles to join in a local celebration at Fisherman’s Village so we knew we would not see them in the morning. We watched a brilliant sunset aboard Last Call – Karen even brought out her conch horn to blow just as the sun went down.

Tues, Jan 19, 2010 - Useppa Island / Cabbage Key

We awoke to a gorgeous morning. After breakfast, Gale and Lucy took off in the dinghy to do some exploring. They headed back toward Blind Pass where Lucy got out and ran on the beach. On the way home, Gale decided to fish for awhile and ended up catching our dinner – a 24-inch redfish! He also had an even bigger fish on the line for a few seconds, but it spit out the hook and continued on its way. Gale wasn’t sure just what kind of fish it had been.

We talked to Nick, Jane, Gary and Marilyn and made a date for lunch at the Green Flash Restaurant for tomorrow. The Green Flash is located a few yards north of Tween Waters Marina and accessible by boat, car or seaplane. At 2 pm, we pulled up the anchor and made our way to Useppa Island and Cabbage Key, about 12 miles away. It was another lovely, mild day to linger and enjoy the sunshine.


At 4 pm, we set our anchor just off the shore of the private island of Useppa, a lovely 100-acre island standing 37-feet above the water due to the numerous shell mounds found here. We lowered the dinghy and scooted across the waterway to Cabbage Key which lies in the lee of Cayo Costa Island. The Cabbage Key Inn is the former home of the son of Mary Roberts Rinehart, the famous mystery novelist. The marina is tucked into the foot of the 38-foot high Indian shell mound that sites the Old House Restaurant and Inn. For years, visiting fishermen, passing to and from local tarpon-fishing hot spots, have taken rest and refreshment here. The story goes that to guarantee a cold beer on their return, they started the tradition of posting signed dollar bills on the bar and restaurant walls. The accumulated currency has piled up dollars deep over every square inch of wall and ceiling space, now adding up to more than $50,000. We ordered our own beers and the hostess showed us around. The Inn had recently refurbished all the rooms and they were lovely. They also have several cottages which we saw on our walk around the nature trail. The island’s 60-foot high water tower constructed in the 1930’s, holds 6,000 gallons of water and is the last standing original water tower in this area – all the others have been destroyed by hurricanes.









Back aboard Blue Heron we enjoyed a fabulous sunset and a wonderful dinner of redfish and vegetables.

Mon, Jan 18, 2010 - Captiva Island

It was time to leave Ft Myers Beach mooring field. In the morning, Gale and Lucy ran into town to pick up a couple of items at the hardware store and to exchange a propane tank while Maureen stayed aboard and brought the blog up to date. At 11:20 am we left our mooring ball and went straight to Moss Marine to top off the fuel tanks and fill up with fresh water. Then, it was off to new adventures!



We had a lovely day with sunny skies, temperatures in the mid 70’s and a northwest wind at 6 to 12 knots. Of course, since we were heading north, the sails remained furled and we motored all of the 25 miles to Captiva Island where we anchored just north of Tween Waters Marina with a half dozen other boats. It was only 4:30 pm and there was a good hour of daylight left, so we lowered the dinghy and set out to explore the channel. We came to Blind Pass where the inland waterway meets the Gulf and found a beautiful shell beach with several people out hunting for treasure. Others were fishing, but they reported that they weren’t catching much of anything.




On our trip back to the boat, we encountered another heron which, we believed was a yellow-crowned night heron, a very pretty bird.


Lasagna again tonight! We had to split the recipe into two square pans when we made it on Sunday. This one tasted even better than the first.