Dec. 17-22, 2017 - Cayo Costa, Sarasota, back to Cayo Costa

We left Franklin park Sunday morning and went right into the lock.  We were heading to Cayo Costa State Park but stopped at Ft. Myers for fuel and to visit and check out the marina since Irma.  We ran into Wally and Darcy, Russ and Elaine, and met Scott and Darlene (Final Approach).  Final Approach is a 43' Hatteras and they had been anchored close to us at Stuart.  After about an hour, we were on our way to Cayo Costa.  We anchored around 3:30 and enjoyed the beautiful surroundings.  Since it was late and we were coming back there again, we did not go into the park.

Monday we headed north to Sarasota and grabbed a mooring ball at Marina Jack's around 1:30.  After we cleaned up, we headed into the marina to meet up with Wayne and Donadee (Always Home).  We later met up with John and Cecile (neighbors from Watergate in Houston) for happy hour.  They are now living across the bay from Sarasota at Long Boat Key.  We had a good time catching up with them.  We then walked downtown Sarasota to a very good Mexican restaurant for dinner.  Tuesday, we headed to Der Dutchman for breakfast/lunch (we get the last of the breakfast buffet and then stay for lunch).  After our yummy lunch, our taxi drivers took us to WalMart and West Marine.  We met later in the afternoon for happy hour and dinner at the marina restaurant.  It was great catching up with Wayne and Donadee and we'll see them while we're in Ft. Myers.

Wednesday we left the mooring field around 8:00 for a beautiful trip back to Cayo Costa.  We had lots of dolphins swimming with us.  Florida dolphins are the best.  We anchored around 2:00.  Thursday we packed a lunch and went into the park.  A cart took us to the Gulf side of the island where we walked along the beach and ate our lunch.  Friday we relaxed around the boat until late afternoon.  We took the dinghy out and met several boaters and arranged a sundowner at a little beach in the area.  We met Ed and Kim Robinson (Leap of Faith).  Ed is an author of a "Trawler Trash" series that Jack has read so he felt like he knew them.  We also met a couple from Lady Hawke (they're from Iowa).  It was a nice gathering and a lot of fun standing around on the beach watching the sunset.

Leaving Fort Myers, this is known as the "miserable mile" because

it's long, narrow, slow and there are a lot of boats (especially

since this was on a Sunday)

A beautiful sunset over Cayo Costa

An energetic little dolphin

Beautiful green water - passing Venice on our way to Sarasota

Coming into Sarasota

Wayne and Donadee are "Always Home"

A nice happy hour with Wayne, Donadee, Cecile and John

Our mooring at Sarasota

All full from our breakfast/lunch

The Salvation Army Sarasota style

Beautiful dolphin sculpture at the marina

These are circus students of Ringling Brothers practicing

in the park

Beautiful home with views on all sides

Oops - towing a burned boat

More dolphins

We had about 8 of them swimming with us

Back to another sundown at Cayo Costa

A foggy morning

and a foggy sunrise

Into the park

Beautiful beach along the Gulf of Mexico

The water wasn't too bad

A little friend I met on my walk

One of the trails across the island

Our sundowner with Kim, another boater, Ed and the couple

from Lady Hawke

The anchorages at Cayo Costa (we're on the right)