Day 180: Sunday, March 3, 2013
Port to Port: Fort Myers, Florida
Underway: 0:00 am Motor Off: 0:00 pm Miles Traveled: 0 Stayed At: Marina
Mile to Mile: The night was cold and rainy but we were dry and comfortable in our little mobile home. Thankfully, the rain stopped by morning and we awoke to loud music being played nearby to motivate hundreds of runners doing the Hooter’s to Hooter’s Marathon for charity. It was cold but most of the runners were wearing shorts and t-shirts. I suspect they were already fully motivated to keep moving – especially crossing the bridge over the river – the windchill would have been wicked if you stopped.
We enjoyed a hot breakfast of steel cut oatmeal again – cooked in the rice cooker – and headed out on a circuitous walk down to the hardware store. I needed a couple screws and nuts for our dinghy lift. Surprisingly, the hardware store was closed. So we turned around and walked a different random path back to the marina stopping at a couple interesting shops on the way home. We don’t ever buy anything but it is entertaining to look.
As I write this, I am sitting in the cruisers lounge area watching the whitecaps on the bay in front of the marina dance all over. There are several boats anchored across the channel that look like bucking broncos trying to get loose – and since there are dinghy’s attached to them – there are people onboard hoping for the wind to die down as soon as possible. We are almost completely protected by a seawall but even Aurora is bobbing up and down today. I like it better here, though.
And the day wasn’t quite over yet. We had briefly met a couple – Bill and Kate – on the dock by our boat and chatted about the Loop and our experiences and their future plans on their boat. They are taking a break from winter from their home in Hallieford, VA near the Chesapeake Bay where they sail their 27’ Com Pac “Steadfast”. They are hoping to bring their boat down here next winter to explore. Well, they called later in the afternoon (I missed the call) and texted me a little later (I thankfully didn’t miss the text) inviting us to join them for drinks and dinner. Well, we jumped at the chance to share a Dark and Stormy with another fun couple named Bill and Kate (odd coincidence isn’t it). Well, we had a blast sharing stories and talking sailing and ended the evening several hours later promising to visit them on the Chesapeake this spring. We can’t wait.
