Cruising Along...Slowly

December 21,2017
Naples, Florida

It’s been almost a week since departing Boca Grande and the last time I posted. We left on a calm, beautiful morning and as we motored out of our protected anchorage off Gasperilla Island, we ran aground. The warning horn on the depth sounder went off and suddenly we came to a stop…ugh! I was at the helm. Luckily I have a very calm and patient husband who didn’t even flinch. I was doing my deep breathing while Mark was accessing the situation and he calmly said put the throttle in reverse. Nothing happened but within a few minutes we slowly started shifting, and after 15 minutes or so we were on our way….not too traumatic for my first grounding!



As we worked our way through Pine Island Sound sailing at about 4 knots we passed a series of beautiful islands. We originally wanted to make it as far as Cayo Costa State Park after leaving the boatyard our first night. It’s said to have some of the best protected anchorages around. It’s a barrier island along the western shores of Florida with a beautiful undeveloped stretch. Our cruising book is quite outdated and indicated it was completely undeveloped but there were homes at the southern end. It’s as if every bit of land needs to be claimed for new homes and development. I’ve seen a lot of that in Florida but it’s happening everywhere. I am sad for all the wild life that keeps getting displaced as human beings encroach upon their “home”.


We passed Cabbage Key and Useppa which can only be reached by water. Cabbage Key has a beautiful Inn called Cabbage Key Inn that looked like a place I would love to stop for high tea or an overnight but I imagine it’s definitely out of our budget. I was satisfied admiring from afar and I’m probably as happy on the boat as anywhere. Upseppa is an exclusive island across from Cabbage Key to the west.

On this day we had hoped to make it as far as Fort Meyers Beach but the light was closing in on us and the winds picking up. We pulled in and dropped anchor off St. James City across from Sanibel Island where depths diminish rapidly as you close in on the shore. We were a bit further out from shore than we needed to be and in the path of a strong current. Mark was up multiple times in the night checking anchor and making sure we hadn’t dragged.


The next day we thought we might make it as far as Naples but we were still having problems with our engine and down to 1 compromised winch handle to trim our sails. The lone winch was plastic and held together by duck tape. The other met it’s demise the 1st day as it got caught on a line and flew up and out!  Fort Meyers Beach seemed like a good stop given the resources there and we thought we’d have more options for marine supplies and possibly another opinion by a diesel mechanic. As it turned out there weren’t as many resources for sailors and marine diesel mechanics are in short supply but we still had a lovely 2 day stay. It’s beachy and reminds me of many Southern California beach towns. Sweet little beach cottages being replaced by huge triple story homes.

Upon leaving Fort Meyers Beach our engine over heated immediately as we headed out of the harbor. We’re stumped. We’ve been moored 2 days so what would cause it to heat up so fast? Everything on that engine has been cleaned, fixed, or replaced. Mark knows as much as any diesel mechanic but we were hoping someone else might be able to say “A ha! This is it!”

Naples was our next stop since we had read about great boatyards and a public mooring field. We were even considering going straight to Marathon but that would have been a 24 hour overnight with low winds, an engine that wasn’t reliable and 1 winch handle. Not something I was keen on doing.

 As we headed south we had an easterly 5 MPH wind pushing us between 1.5 and 2 knots but we’re moving! We came out here to sail so we’ll save the motoring for going in and out of harbors. There were times when we just bobbed around and then motored until the engine started to over heat which didn’t take long. Large turtles were popping out of the water and pods of dolphins playing and swimming next to our boat. I have also been impressed with the variety of bird life we’ve seen. Early on when we were anchored in Interceptor Lake near an island called The Rock, there was a large number of birds creating a cacophony. It was very loud and because of that it looked as if it was attracting more birds of all kinds that didn’t want to miss out on the party. It was heartening and thrilling.

We came to Gordon Pass (entrance to Naples) around 5 p.m. Tuesday evening but since we had called ahead, we found out that the public mooring field was closed and wouldn’t reopen until March. That option was now closed but Mark had scoped out some good anchorages on the map and we were hoping we could get to one before our engine overheated. The Gordon Pass channel was busy and everyone going much faster than our idle speed so it was a little unnerving. We pulled off into one of the canals and set anchor in a million dollar spot.

We’ve been here two days now and have been rowing into town. The wealth here is staggering. We see private jets taking off constantly and the canal we’re in is surrounded by multi million dollar homes. After a full day we sit on deck, have a glass of wine or cup of tea and take it all in.

Merry Christmas!