Florida Charter - Day 16

We departed Sanibell Island with the rising  sun and sailed to Cayo Costa State Park for our last night aboard. What a beautiful place. We finally got to see a manatee!

We celebrated our last night with the best margaritas this side of the border! The recipe is below and can be found on GalleySwap - our recipe sharing community.

The next morning we pulled anchor early to get back to the Burnt Store Marina and return the boat. 

Grapefruity Margaritas

1 fresh squeezed grapefruit 

2-3 fresh squeezed oranges 

1-2 fresh squeezed limes 

2/3 cup Grand Marnier

1 cup Good Tequila

I try to do about a 1:1 ratio of juice to liquor, so add more liquor if you have particularly juicy fruits.

Mix and pour over ice. Serve in a salt rimmed glass.

Boat Margaritas!

Manatee

Cayo Costa State Park

Florida Charter - Day 15

We did the same drill as the morning before however this time we retraced our path to Big Marco Pass to get back to the Gulf.
The wind was on the nose the whole day and we motored and then we motored some more and then motored some more after that. Thankfully the small diesel engine purrs softly and with the fifteen to twenty knot wind it is hard to tell that we are even moving. Is that still Naples off to the starboard?!?
Well after some discussion among the top brass it was decided that Sanibell Island would be an ideal spot to stop for the night.
We made a turn to starboard and raised the jib. Motorsailing at 6 knots never felt so good. We would get there at 1700.
We see the light house on the tip of Sanibell Island and the setting sun. Then up from the sea comes the bright orange RHIB and about twenty shiny coast guard faces staring at us, the big boat circles ours like a hawk about ready to dive on an unsuspecting prey. I search my memory for any kind of offense that I may have committed as the big boat comes abeam. A skinny head pokes out from the captain's slider window and asks us in a shaky voice where have we came from and where are we going to. Satisfied with our answer they roar off. Leaving us wonder.
The wind is coming off our stern at fifteen knots as we make the approach for the marina entrance. The passage is about the length of the boat and on the south side we see about five feet of sand coming off the see wall. My palms grip the steering wheel tighter as I watch the depths on the fathometer decreasing as we make the approach... 8 ft, 7 ft, 6 ft, 5.5 ft, 5 ft!! how in the world am I going to get out of this if... We make it through the pass and see an empty spot at the fuel dock. The wind is just right to make the turn and slowly drift into the spot like we know what we are doing.
Hot showers and a big meal at Gramma Dot's make it all worth it. We get back to the boat secure at the dock and rest easy tonight. There will be no anchor alarm waking us up tonight.

Florida Charter - Day 14

There was a light fog in the morning and we got up early. It was warm without the wind and I dove into the water and swam for the beach. The place was deserted and with the fog we could not see the hi rise condos on Big Marco. It was almost like being out there... somewhere without the experience we had yesterday with the marina.
We wanted to get going early and after putting on some water for coffee we pulled the anchor. Our intentions were to go all the way up the inland water way to Naples and from there out to the Gulf. It was dicey motoring up the waterway with the shoal areas. The bottom is nothing but sand and mud however we did not want to get stuck high and dry. The fog burned off after a couple of hours and the sun came out. The waterway is pretty narrow in some places with a maze of mangroves, the water way is well marked and the chart is surprisingly consistent with the depths we are finding for the most part. Just stick in the channel and we should be fine.
We came around a bend and saw two dolphins chasing down their breakfast. It was an amazing demonstration of speed. We could see the dolphin's dorsal fin zip through the water and then an eruption of smaller fish trying to get out of the way. We decided to drop the anchor and wet a fishing line. Right after we sat the hook there was a fish ball fifteen feet off the port. The large spinner was thrown into the middle of the mix and the fish seemed to be fighting each other to get on the hook. Verena hooked into one and for a brief moment the fish danced across the water and then the line went slack. Not a minute later and the same act went down. Verena handed the rod over to "the captain" (me) to try his luck. My first cast and I had on a lunker, the rod bent down and a broad smile crossed my face. The witness reminded the cap that catfish head for the bottom and well that is what the fish was doing... heading straight for the bottom. I finally pulled up the lunker and to my chagrin the first mate was right. The croaking catfish was laughing too.
It was time to get moving again. Dollar bay was a mile away. The guide book was pulled out again... "oh yeah the book says that there is a controlling depth of three feet in the channel... if we get past marker 82 we should be fine". The boat draws four feet and we are at marker 80 and the pass to the Gulf is in sight. It was not to be after motoring up the waterway for two hours we had to turn back around.
When we pulled into the anchorage at Little Marco Island at noon thirty the place was nothing like we had left it in the morning. The beach was lined with power boats and there was a twenty knot wind. With the incoming tide and the wind working in opposing directions it was hard to set the hook. We tried to relax in the cockpit and watch the fun. Near sundown I broke out the shrimp. The lady fish, poor man's Tarpon, loved them. They were fun to catch and are a very pretty fish but are members of the herring family and I did not think that they would be the best eating fish after a quick internet search.
We had a relaxing evening on the hook and went to bed early determined to get back to the Gulf and the slog north.

Florida Charter - Day 13

We woke up at the Marco River Marina a third time in expectations that there would be a mechanic at the boat when promised, at 09:00. He showed up after 10:00, after going through the list of problems his only comment was "that is weird". Another alternator was installed and we got a call while we were out scoping out an anchorage close by saying that the boat was ready. The third time was a charm and after only ten days we finally had a boat with a functional charging system. We now have only four days left on the charter.
The county sheriff was not impressed by Yachting Vacations either, while we were out in the dinghy he pulled us over for not having FL numbers displayed on the dinghy. Yachting Vacations' answer was that we should not have had the outboard engine on the dinghy that they had provided us...if only we would have known that they had given us the wrong dinghy...
After leaving Marco River Marina we motored up the water way a couple of hours to Little Marco Island. Two dolphins followed us most of the way. It is a very pretty anchorage after all the boat traffic stops at the end of the day. Little Marco Island is a sliver of a piece of land that has the Gulf on one side and the inland waterway on the east. We anchored on the south end of the island and could hear the breakers all night.

Florida Charter - Day 12

We had a great day of very leisurely sailing. The water was an incredible blue-green as we were close to shore all day. We contacted Yachting Vacations and they said they will have someone out tomorrow morning to replace the alternator. We arrived back at Marco River Marina near sunset. This gave me a chance to try out the Key Lime Pie recipe from our cruising guide. It tasted amazing! I have made it with regular limes since and it works just fine. Add a dollop of whipped cream for a special treat.

Easy Key Lime Pie
One 9" graham cracker pie shell
One 14 oz. can low fat sweetened condensed milk 
3 egg yolks 
1/2 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice

Combine and blend until smooth. Pour into pie shell and bake at 350°F degrees for 15 minutes. Chill in refrigerator for a few hours.

Florida Charter - Day 11

We had a beautiful day of exploring, swimming, and fishing. The wind stopped dead at sunset and we got to experience some more of the wonders of the Everglades. The bugs! We had to lock ourselves inside of the boat and decided that we better leave in the morning. We had also been noticing that the batteries hadn't been charging when we ran the engine so we needed to have another repair done and decided to head back to Marco River Marina. There was also a barrier island near there that we wanted to explore further.