Westons Go South

Saturday, April 16

St. Charles Yacht Club, Ft. Meyers

Well, we had a peaceful night – the anchor held firm. Of course, we didn’t get much sleep because we kept jumping up to check that our anchor was holding, but each time all was well with the boat.

After breakfast we climbed into the dingy and took off for the island. We motored along the shore for awhile. We saw a huge nest, and in it was a bald eagle! We motored along until we came to a small inlet and followed it into a little bay. A power boat was anchored over by a small dock, and there were two guys on the stern transom. They were both bent way over, with their feet and hands down in the water. We called over and asked what they were doing; they were petting a manatee!!! We turned off our motor and Sam rowed around the bay. I patted the water and made splashing sounds. Guess what? A great big SHAPE came toward us, and drifted right next to the boat. It was another manatee! She poked her face up in the air and let us pet her head. Then she moved alongside the boat and we stroked along her back. As we were petting her, she rolled over. She wanted us to rub her belly! We rowed around the bay for another half hour or so, and got to pet two or three more manatees. It was one of the most wonderful experiences of my whole life!

We left the bay and motored over to the island’s state park boat dock. We tied up and walked along the foot path to the Gulf shore on the other side of the island. I took a dip in the water and it was wonderful.

We motored back to the boat, and hoisted the motor back up onto the motor mount and the dingy up onto the davits. Then we took a bath in the bay. We soap up in the salt water, then climb up on the transom and rinse off with our freshwater shower. I sat in an upside-down life preserver and tied myself to a line, then proceeded to wash. Sam just jumped in – he didn’t need anything to prop himself up. But, as I was getting ready to climb back into the boat, SOMETHING grabbed the end of the line and tugged it really hard! Man, did I scramble up the ladder!

Then it was time to get going. I steered the boat out of the bay, and we didn’t run aground! Then we motored south along the Intercoastal Waterway. The channel was twisty, so it took concentration. As we were moving along, our chart plotter, critical to finding our way, turned blank! We freaked! Finally, however, Sam figured out that we just needed to change computer chips. Once we did everything was fine. Whew!

When we were, finally, getting close to the yacht club, we still had to go through part of the channel the locals call the “Miserable Mile”. It’s so narrow, and the sides are so shallow, that boats get stuck constantly. Sam did a wonderful job of navigating it, however, and we made it through safely.

All day Sam made phone call after phone call, talking to different stores, marinas, and insurance agents trying to track down a new starter button. He eventually found a store that had the part, but how to get it to us? The insurance company was wonderful, though. They arranged a boat to bring it out to us as we were motoring along! Hooray!

Bad news – the depth sounder started flashing off-on again. Rats!!!

We got safely into the yacht club, tucked in, and had a nice adult beverage. As we were sitting in the cockpit looking out over the water, two eyes slowly surfaced near us. They stared at us for several minutes, and then sank into the water. It was a crocodile!!!!

Sunday, April 17

We got up late and then went and had a nice lunch at the club.

After that, Sam tried to replace the starter button, but it turned out to be the wrong part. We couldn’t do anything about it, though, since it’s Sunday, so tomorrow….

The rest of the day was chore day. A super nice guy who has a boat at the club offered to take us to the grocery store. That was wonderful. We were able to stock up on all the stuff that’s too heavy to carry on our bikes. Boy, it feels good to be restocked.

The rest of the day Sam spent on the phone trying to get ideas for the starter, and I did the laundry. It had been so long that we had mountains of it. Thankfully, the club had a free washer and dryer. The dryer was really slow, though, so I didn’t get done until 8:00 that night. At least it got done!