Good Bye Fort Myer Beach, Amazing Dog and a Walkabout

2-8-20     This morning we say goodbye to Fort Myers Beach. It’s been great but definitely time to leave, Karen and I have itchy feet. We restocked our groceries, filled with water and fuel. The Super Bowl was viewed at the Liki Tiki while eating hot wings and BBQ brisket. A birthday celebration in honor of ML from S/V Fracas was enjoyed at Nervous Nellie’s. Weather during our time here was all over the place from very cool to wonderfully warm and almost always usually windy. Thursday evening we had storms move through that were forecast to have winds in excess of 40 knots, fortunately these winds didn’t materialize as 30 knots was tops. We did receive buckets of rain along with lightning and thunder.

Last Mango stripped of canvas awaiting the 

storm.

Today we leave headed to Marco Island which is a short sail of just over 30 miles. Karen and I started Mango’s motor just after 7:30 AM to warm up in the chill of the 49 degree temperature. We contacted Fracas and they elected to delay their start due to the worry of shoal water brought by a very low tide from todays full moon. The water was very shoal but we followed the Key West Express out of Matanzas Pass with 8 feet being the shallowest water seen. We passed the outer red and green channel markers and Karen turned Mango’s bow to the wind and I hoisted the main sail to the first reef point as the winds were near 20 knots. Karen returned Mango’s bow south and I pulled the jib out and soon we were really moving. It took only a few minutes to balance things out and set the autopilot, we were seeing speeds of 6 knots and above with minimal heeling. The further we moved along the waves increased as did our distance from shore but Mango seems to sail along very smoothly which made Karen happy which in turn made me happy. We enjoyed some Good Earth “Sweet and Spicy” tea for breakfast along with Apples and peanut butter.

Fort Myers Beach morning low tide

Coasties passing through during normal tide.

The day seemed to speed by very quickly like Last Mango sped over the waves. Karen was down below heating up some Turkish Lentil soup and the winds seemed to be dying. Soup was just finished and winds jumped back up to the 20 knot area and Mango responded in kind. Shortly afterwards winds decreased again and I fully raised the main sail to keep our quick pace. Fracas ended up leaving an hour after Mango but arrived in Marco Island shortly after Mango. One reason for coming to this area is because we’ve never been here before and heard many good things about the various anchorages in Marco Island. We chose to anchor in Factory Bay.

Before we left we were warned to stay wide of red #4

Pictures don't allow you to smell low tide, Thanks a good
thing.

Upon arriving at Factory Bay Karen decided to speak Chinese and I decided to speak Latin, needless to say that neither of us could understand what the other was saying to the point of exhaustion. We finally came to a conclusion through sign language and agreed on an approach into the anchorage. Luckily we ended up laying Mango’s hook down without issue. We popped open 2 beers and went on about our tasks of straightening up Mango after the sail without much dialog. I just got done buttoning up the sail cover when Karen told me she couldn’t find her cell phone. It occurred to her that the thump we heard while sailing about 2 miles out into the Gulf of Mexico must have been her cell phone falling out of her pocket. Those of you that know Karen know that she is glued to her phone. It’s her connection to our kids, friends and the world outside of sailing. Fortunately I have my own phone but rarely use it because Karen always fills me in on whats happening. Nice to have a backup.

New dinghy rides well on Mango's stern

Rows well and motors great. Would be nice to be a bit bigger

 Karen used my phone to notify family members that she could only be reached through my phone for the near future. She scoped out the nearest Verizon location and decided that if we choose to stay in Marco another day she’ll attempt to procure a new phone. The crew of S/V Fracas came to Mango for dinner and over chili dogs we elected to not leave and wait out a blustery Sunday in Marco Island. During our pre-dinner appetizers I witnessed something I’ve never seen before. ML off of Fracas noticed a brindle Pit Bull emerge from the cockpit of a motor cruiser, she stated she felt sorry for the dog because it appeared to want to take a crap and was unable to because of being on the boat. We then witnessed the dog hang its ass off the coaming of the boat and crap overboard. I was both disgusted and impressed. As the evening progressed I found that I anchored Mango very near a channel that many boats use to travel to the nearby Rose Marina, I vowed to relocated come morning.

Buddha Bowls, my new favorites

A quiet evening and night fell on Mango as the full moon tried to emerge from the mostly cloudy skies. Tonights full moon brought with it a 4 foot tidal difference to Factory Bay and in the morning I noticed a derelict boat sitting a foot and a half out of the water. 

2-9-20     Last night I noticed a beautiful motor cruiser that appeared to be packed up ready to leave in what I considered to be a great place for Mango to anchor. This morning I saw the boat pulling up anchor and soon Karen and I pulled our anchor and moved a hundred yards to the Southeast. I’m much happier here being further away from the channel even though the weekend warriors don’t seem to care if they’re in a channel or not.

Sometime after breakfast Karen and I loaded into the dinghy and rowed to Rose Marina. Job #1 this morning was Karen’s phone replacement and she tended to that as the crew of Fracas and I went shopping at West Marine and Publix. Before Karen headed left on Collier Boulevard she mentioned to us that the West Marine was the opposite direction right next to the Publix. I trusted Karen but Greg apparently did not and I was in no position to argue since Karen had my phone. I could see the Publix disappear from sight as ML and I followed Greg on one of those famed Canadian “Walkabouts”. Now having experienced a Canadian “Walkabout” I can tell you it seemed over rated, just the lead guy periodically looking up from his phone while walking in circles on a sidewalk while the two other people follow while asking the lead guy questions and making statements like “That’s an Iberia bank not a West Marine”. This walkabout seems to crescendo with the lead guy realizing that the West Marine is next to the Publix and we follow our breadcrumbs back from where we came. The upside is that my Apple Watch circles have closed several times over and Apple has awarded me as the “Steps Champion of the day”.

Karen wants to give “Kudos” to the people at the Verizon store on North Collier Boulevard in Marco Island as she was in and out of the store with a new iPhone 11 in under 25 minutes. That’s outstanding service in my book. Plans are to leave for Key West tomorrow evening under a near full moon, just about 95 miles. Fingers crossed for fair winds.

Full moon rising as seen from Factory Bay