Day 105: Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Port to Port: Pelican Bay to Shell Island
Underway: 7:05 am Motor Off: 12:05 pm Miles Traveled: 27 Stayed At: Anchor
First Things First: First stilt houses; First bait/snack boat; First boat-made rice krispie bars – perfect as always.
Mile to Mile: Today seemed to fly by. We started the day with a special treat – we shared a farmers market grapefruit gifted to us by Spiritus the day we left Dunedin. We savored every juicy wedge and can’t wait to find a farmers market near the marina. We have been deprived of grapefruit and need to get our fix soon.
After motoring away from our quiet anchorage, we raised the mainsail to get a gentle boost from the steady breeze off our starboard side. Cindy read a great book out-loud as we motor sailed across Pine Island Sound towards Fort Myers. Before we knew it we turned in towards our chosen anchorage at Shell Island – right off the intracoastal waterway and only a little over 7 miles from Fort Myers – a perfect place to hang out for a couple of days before the hustle and bustle of civilization for the next month.
We anchored across the bay from an older cruising boat advertising live bait and food – Jasper’s Bait Boat. This is the first time we have seen this service on the water and it is an interesting business. In talking to the guy manning the boat, they have been doing this for a couple of months and experimenting with what to offer. Believe it of not, they are “open” 24 hours – their motto is “We may doze, but we never close”. It takes a special person to hang out 24 hours a day alone on a boat selling bait and snacks. It’s interesting that they are located at the “Miserable Mile” on the Caloosahatchee River. Why its called that is beyond me – I’ll have to Google it sometime.
It’s always interesting to see what Aurora does after we anchor. Normally, on lakes in Minnesota, Aurora would hang straight back downwind from the anchor. Here, who knows what direction she will like best. The wind was blowing pretty hard in the afternoon from the south but Aurora was laying at a 90 degree angle to the wind. The invisible tidal current was pulling her in a totally unexpected direction towards the island. The current can flow right through parts of the mangrove swamp surrounding the actual island. And in another 8 hours, we will be facing a totally different direction. Another unsolvable mystery.