Manana: KEY WEST TO THE GULF COAST

We have been in the mooring field in Key West for more than two months. We went home for part of that time but we were ready to move on. As usual, the weather was not co-operating 100%. The winds seem to blow very strong and consistant from the North during that time of the year, which means we would have to sail, or more likely, power through 5 foot plus waves on the nose to get to the mainland Gulf coast for about 2 days. Not a very pleasant trip. The alternative is to go back East and North to Marathon and cut across the Florida Bay. Almost everyone we talked to said it is too shallow for us since we would be following the Southern coast of the mainland, which is mainly the Everglades Swamp. Everyone, except Ed and Benia. They had been cruising for many years in a larger sail boat than ours with a 6 foot draft and had made the trip several times. They have recently sold their sail boat and bought a beautiful trawler and they offered to let us tag along with them as a "buddy" boat. We left early on February 12th and headed back around Fleming Island for our last view of the Key West docks and headed South and East towards the upper keys. The weather, as usual, turned out to not be as predicted and the waves made for a somewhat uncomfortable trip, but we made it to Marathon by mid afternoon. All the moorings were taken in Boot Key, so we anchored next to Ed and Benia just inside the bridge. The anchorage was very crowded and we had to make a couple attempts before we got in a comfortable spot, or so we thought. While we waited for the anchor to set, we realized we were not floating anymore and were sitting on a sand bar. No problem. The tide came up and we drifted back for a comfortable evening. We left early the next morning and went through the pass under the 7 mile bridge into the Florida Bay with our next destination an anchorage in Shark River in the Everglades. The water was surprisingly deeper than I had anticipated and what the charts showed. The crab pots were still a challenge, however, and we wound up dragging one for a quarter of a mile or more before it floated off behind us and we realized what was slowing us down. No damage except our ego. Following the waypoints and keeping a close eye on the charts and the depthfinder, we made our way into Shark River before dark. The shores of Shark River were much more lush and the water deeper than I had anticipated. It was also extremely quiet. As the sun went down, it also became extremely dark, but the canopy of millions of stars helped light up our buddy boat Genteel as we dingied over for dinner. The next morning, we were on our way, with only a minor attack of no see-ums. We unfurled our genoa and were hitting 7 knots plus as we made our way West around the Thousand Islands and the Everglades and into the Gulf of Mexico. Genteel had the benefit of a little more speed and had decided to go all the way to Fort Myers Beach. We decided we would hop off in either Marco Island or Naples, depending on how far up the coast we got. As usual, the weather changed our plans. We spotted a fast moving storm coming in off the coast packing 60 knot winds and heavy rains. We called Genteel and warned them of the storm and decided we would hop off in Marco Island. Genteel turned around and went back to Naples and we were just trying to tie up in Marco when the storm hit. For a change, the forcast was accurate for the storm and the wind and rain beat us up while securing Manana in the slip. We had a burger at the closest restaurant we could find and called it a night. The next morning we threaded our way out of Marco Island and went back into the Gulf headed for Fort Myers Beach. It was a beautiful sail up the coast and we wound up taking a slip right behind Genteel at Moss Marina in Fort Myers Beach. We would ultimately take a mooring in the municipal mooring field, but we had to go back to Key West to get our car. We took the high speed ferry back from Fort Myers to Key West and had a nice drive back through the Keys and across Alligator Alley to get back to Fort Myers. We now had to move to the mooring and then prepare to leave the boat to go back home for a few weeks to take care of business. Fort Myers Beach is a popular Spring Break spot and the kids were just starting to arrive before we started our two day drive back to Indiana. Before we left we got a pretty good tour of the town by Ed & Benia and got to enjoy some of the reasons it is so popular. Our drive home was uneventful, but we wound up spending almost 5 weeks away from Manana and Fort Myers. Obviously, we got a lot accomplished at home, including selling the house and moving into our townhomes. On our way back, we met up with our 600 Dock friends in Fishermans Village in Punta Gorda and had a little dock party. Everett and Barb were our hosts as Dave and Stevie, Chuck and Mindy and Keith and Diane joined in the party. It was great to see everyone and we had a great dinner and, of course, a few cocktails to celebrate. Our friends Ed & Benia had been watching our boat, and when we got back, it was as if we never left. Now we have had some time to explore more of Fort Myers and the surrounding area. Here's some sights from that we've seen so far. We are planning on moving the 15th towards Punta Gorda, then to Venice and then to Sarosota and Tampa Bay area.

Entering Shark River in the Everglades for the night and the sunrise as we left our anchorage.

Manana in it's first slip (other than avoiding the storm in Marco Island) since October! We moved her to the mooring after we retrieved our car from Key West.