Thursday December 31, 2015
Martin dropped me off at Walmart while he ran errands. Jim, Grace, and Kaylee had a last trip to the beach. I stopped by the Englewood Beach seafood store for stone crabs and grouper, and then we were ready to leave.
By the time we had pulled up the anchor and slowly returned past the shoals to the intracoastal waterway, it was almost 1, and we had 7 miles to go to get to the next bridge opening. We tried going at our top speed (at 2900 rpm), but the wind and the current were against us. There was no way that we would make it to the Boca Grande swing bridge by 2pm. The next opening would not be until 4pm. How slow can you go? Pretty darn slow! We pulled into a beautiful little bay, surrounded by lovely homes, at Cape Haze. Dropped the anchor and just relaxed for over an hour. Then we were on our way, thru the Boca Grande swing bridge, and headed south.
It was very calm, and it was a beautiful evening as we motored along. I put artichokes on the induction cooker to slowly steam. As luck would have it, a massive motor yacht went by too fast, and we were caught by the wake. Everything went flying in the cabin, including the artichokes. Jim did an excellent job of rinsing them off and cleaning up the mess.
We anchored off Cayo Costa Island. It was New Years Eve, and we could see that Pelican Bay was full of anchored boats in the distance. We loved our little secluded spot, just off the waterway. Artichokes and stone crab claws for dinner. Finger food! At midnight I woke up to the distant boom of fireworks. Not sure where they were, maybe Sanibel Island.
Happy New Year!