19 Apr 13

Up and away from the anchorage by 10:00. Hated to leave but the forecast for the next couple of days is not so good, and we have arranged for a mail drop at Sanibel Marina, so off we go. Wind S15 - 25 (on the nose, of course) all the way, although I did get a bit of genoa up on a couple of legs. The run down from Useppa was like the motorway; never saw so many power boats in one day, all of them going about 25 knots with no regard whatsoever for the enormous wakes they throw up; the sailboaters lament. We ran aground coming into the marina, but got through after a minute and then warned “Longhawk” so he powered through it without issue (no doubt using the furrow I had already plowed through the sand bank). It is a funky little marina on Sanibel Island. We met Carl and Barb from “Wind Traveler”, who pulled into the marina just after we did. They have a Jeaneau 45 and have come from Maine or the Chesapeake, depending upon when you ask them the story. They now live in Sarasota and have spent the last 8 months bringing the boat around.

20 Apr 13

Fresh muffins from the marina for breakfast, very nice. We unlimbered the bikes and made a run to the grocery store and then another one to the liquor store. Afterward, we took a ride just for fun out to the old lighthouse and the beach on the Gulf side; absolutely calm and flat. We hosted docktails for Longhawk and their friends from Orlando and later ordered pizza from the local pizzaria and Key Lime pie from the marina restaurant, Gramma Dots, followed by a good sing-along in the cockpit.