Day 186: Saturday, March 9, 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: We started our last day in Fort Myers with breakfast at L’Mambos with Cristina, Pierre (Cristina), and Dick (The Turtle). What a bargain for all of us and great conversation too. Cindy and I peeled off to walk to a free standing ice machine where ice is $2 for 20 lbs – hard to carry but much better deal than marina ice.

We returned to the marina and finished our route planning, emptied water out of the dinghy and went over our checklist. On the way back, we randomly walked by a large practice stadium where the Twins were practicing. We also made a final grocery run and toured Dicks boat. He has a very unique boat – a 43’ canal boat. Its probably the only one in 1,000 miles. Talk about spacious. It looked like a Minnesota northwoods cabin inside with bedrooms, a full kitchen, fridge, washer/dryer and even a bent willow rocking chair. And the hull, deck and cabin are made of thick steel. It is just about a perfect boat for doing the Great Loop. Dick told us there is a hull just waiting to be built out somewhere in Texas. Hum?

After our tour, we relaxed, made dinner, and reviewed our passage plans. After dark, we wandered downtown one last time to check out Bike Night – the main street downtown was blocked off and hundreds of motorcycles were lining the street with vendors and music stages along the sidewalks and intersections. What an amazing zoo. It was interesting people watching too – many of the bikers were our age or even older – baby boomers in leather. What a way to end our wonderful stay in Fort Myers.