Fort Myers Beach to the Keys with Mishaps in Between

Departing Fort Myers Beach (FMB), boats have to go outside for roughly 25 miles to reach Naples and 40 miles to reach Marco Island.   We departed FMB just after dawn as conditions were supposed to worsen as the day progressed.  

Molly graciously got in the dinghy.

What began as 1-foot waves every 3 seconds became 2-footers, soon to be 3-footers, as we approached Gordon Pass, the inlet for Naples.  Our ride was becoming uncomfortable, and I steered Salty Paws into Gordon Pass so we could take the shallow inside waterway from there down to Marco Island. (We had already visited Naples on our earlier cruise.) This waterway is not recommended for boats that draw more than 3.5 feet.

We only draw 2.5 feet, but even that was too much, if one doesn’t stay in the channel!  As I approached one turn, I mistook a pole with orange tape as a channel marker and we were quickly aground in roughly 2 feet of water.  Reverse got us no where, nor did the trick of moving first Molly and then both of us to the bow.  The next course of action was to get weight off Salty Paws.  We lowered the dinghy with its motor off the roof into the water.  Unfortunately, being 150 pounds lighter wasn’t enough.  

Now we needed to load additional weight into the dinghy.  As I scanned the options, I turned and suggestively looked at Molly.  Now, if anything, she is svelte, but any weight is weight!  Molly climbed down into the dinghy, and I went back to the helm putting the motor again into to reverse.  Voila, Salty Paws was free from the bottom!

Salty Paws in Smokehouse Bay 

Finally, we reached well-protected Smokehouse Bay in the middle of Marco Island, and we anchored in the southern end in order to be close to the Winn Dixie dinghy dock.  Tory was ready for a pee break, and she and I soon dinghied over to Winn Dixie.  Alas, while the dock had ladders, it was 5 feet high, too high for me to safely lift Tory up from our dinghy.  Now what?  We dinghied back to Salty Paws where I dropped off our confused dog.  I then motored over to nearby Esplanade Marina to explore using one of their docks.

As I arrived at Esplanade, I saw our buddy boat Navigator with Jon and Liz.  They had left FMB after us and went outside the entire way since Navigstor draws 4.5 feet.   Once Joe, the Harbormaster, finished helping secure Navigator, I explained my dilemma with Tory.   Joe was a very understanding dog-lover and granted use of their dinghy dock for the duration of our stay.  He even pointed out where the best grass was!

Over the next three days we explored much of Marco Island.  The almost 

We walked almost 3 miles before
finding public beach access.

picture-perfect island is full developed with high-rise condominiums and resorts along its white-sand beach and its 100 miles of canals lined large houses.   Sidewalks are wide to accommodate walkers and bikers.  Everyone seems to be from away with the population predominately snowbirds.  In the middle of the island we found a large 6-story, climate-controlled building used to 

Typical house on a canal.

store cars of snowbirds when they are away or  head north for the summer as the population plummets from 40,000 to 16,000.

Liz, Jon, Molly and I visited a local restaurant and
particularly enjoyed a nearby the ice cream shop.

The Marco Island Harbor Master was
Pleased to see our composting toilet.

Finally, warmer weather is returning to Florida, and we won’t be seeing any more temps in the 40’s before our return to Maine in early spring. Navigator and Salty Paws left Marco Island together, continuing our journey south.  Most boats go outside around Marco Island to reach the 10,000 Islands because of shallow depths, but with our shallow-draft Salty Paws as the lead boat and with an incoming tide, we had no problems.

Molly, Liz and Tory on Panther Key.

Our next night was a very pleasant anchorage off Panther Key, which has a nice beach for walking Tory.  We shared a fine dinner on Navigator and then slept soundly.  All was well until early the next morning when Tory has clearly desperate for a pee and had an accident.  While Molly cleaned up the mess, Tory and I got in the dinghy to go ashore.  Then I noticed that our boat (and an unsuspecting Molly!) were drifting very slowly. 

A quick calculation suggested that I could get Tory ashore for her relief and then return to Salty Paws to address the next emergency.  As I attempted to rush Tory through her paces, I speculated that our anchor had become detached and our 80-feet of chain out was now acting as an ineffective anchor.

Beautiful sunsets and sunrises help me recover from any
mishap.

Once back on Salty Paws, I asked a surprised Molly to take the helm while I went to the bow. We had drifted way beyond Navigator and thankfully did not collide with her. I was surprised to  find our anchor still attached at the end of the chain!  Here is what I surmised had happened.  Attached to the front of our anchor is a separate line that goes to a floating buoy.  We have used this setup countless times as it clearly marks where the anchor is, and can also be used to dislodge or pull up an anchor that gets caught on a rock or debris on the bottom.  In the changing current and winds, this line had gotten tangled on our propeller or depth gauge and as our boat swung, the line further tangled around the anchor and actually pulled the anchor out on it’s side.  We will not use this setup again.

On New Turkey Key.

 

The 10,000 Islands are beautiful even if there are only a few hundred.  After leaving Panther Key we soon entered Everglades National Park and cruised 25 miles south to another great anchorage off New Turkey Key.  Once again the shallow draft Salty Paws led the way in the channel to help Navigator find sufficient depth to anchor.

40 miles further south put us off Cape Sable and it’s 6 miles of pristine beach.  This is one of the least visited and most beautiful places in Florida.  We spent two idyllic nights there off Mid-Cape as the winds and waves were light or off the shore.  The pictures below tell the story best. 

From Cape Sable we were only 80 miles from Key West.  We cruised half way to Cudjoe Channel and an anchorage right off Tarpon Belly Key, one of the few islands with shore access for Tory.  The next day through the fog we arrived in Key West with a slip for a week at Galleon Marina.  After some minor repairs and R & R, we hope for a weather window to go to Dry Tortugas.

The Celebrity Cruise line ships dominates the Key West waterfront as we approach the harbor.

Maybe we should just go on to Cuba!

Post Hurricane Ian - Fort Myers and Fort Myers Beach

Legacy Harbour Marina.  All three marinas in Fort Myers were destroyed in Hurricane Ian.

FORT MYERS

Ft. Myers' City Marina today.

Fort Myers, the City of Palms, has attracted snow birds for over a century, but Hurricane Ian

Flooded downtown during Ian.

 (2022) flooded city blocks along the Caloosahatchee River and knocked out a number of local businesses.  After two years, most have reopened, and we looked forward to visiting the city for the first time.  The Fort Myers City mooring field seemed like an inexpensive option right downtown, but Ian wiped it out.  Then we looked at nearby Legacy Harbour, which was also annihilated.  

Legacy Harbour Marina today.

We later learned that the Fort Myers City Marina has permits in process to double in size, 

while Legacy has just ordered its replacement docks.  In either case, availability is likely two years away.

Salty Paws at the Marina at Edison Ford

Our last option for Fort Myers was the Marina at Edison Ford, and luckily for us it had just reopened two weeks ago.  We booked for a full week to fully explore the city, meet local friends and await the arrival of a buddy boat with Jon and Liz, who will be joining us to cruise down and through the Florida Keys.  They recently crossed the Gulf of Mexico on their boat purchased in Alabama and are headed down the Florida West Coast to us.

Early on, we took an historical tour of the Fort Myers downtown.  One of the highlights was seeing this mosaic tile mural of 46 years of City history from 1858 to 1904.  It was funded as part of the Federal Government's construction of a new courthouse in the early 1960's.  Below is a blowup of each section of the mural along with what it depicts.

Beginning at the left is a steamship and a number of Seminoles with their chief representing another aspect of the Trail of Tears that forcibly removed Native Americans from Florida and other southeastern states to the mid-west for resettlement.

The center of the mural includes a depiction of Fort Myers in the background.  The Fort was actually a Union outpost during the latter part of the Civil War used to support ships blockading Florida

ports.  The Fort was defended by the 2nd U.S Colored Infantry, which was organized in 1863 but eliminated in 1866 after the war ended.

The right section of the mural celebrates the 1904 coming of the railroad to Fort Myers as well as its history as a cattle town.  Interestingly, the word "cracker," which is typically viewed as a

derogatory word for poor whites, is viewed acceptably by many in Fort Myers as an accurate depiction of its cattle roots.  It refers to the sound of whip used to drive cattle.

After the tour we had a great burger at Ford's Garage in the downtown.  Other great food stops were Pinchers at the Marina, where we ate with friends Bob and Wendy, and Cristof's, with friends Sue and Allan.

Molly next to the Edison pool, one of the
first private pools built in Florida.

The original Edison cottage is on the left.

The Marina at Edison Ford is adjacent to the Edison and Ford winter estates, now one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area.  The local story began in 1886 when Thomas Alva Edison visited the area and loved the winter climate.  The prolific inventor was already a successful businessman and purchased 13 acres of land on the Caloosahatchee River to build his winter estate.   He had a 1,200 ft dock built to receive building materials as the railroad did not yet reach Fort Myers.  His house was precut at a Maine mill and shipped via train and then boat to his new dock.  

The Ford Cottage next door to Edison's.

Henry Ford was a young employee of the Edison Illuminating Company, and when he finally met Edison, he was encouraged to continue his pursuit of a gasoline-powered vehicle and ultimately left to form the Ford Motor Company.  Edison was a great mentor to Ford, and ultimately the two became great friends.  In 1916 Ford purchased the cottage adjacent to Edison's estate.  Edison and Ford collaborated on many projects including the development of a domestic source for rubber.  Ultimately, their efforts were unsuccessful, but their work did result in the planting of what may be, perhaps, largest banyan tree outside of India!  

This is a banyan tree with multiple connecting roots.  My camera
could not capture anything close to the entire tree.  A statute of
Edison is amongst the roots.

Edison was well-cared for by his younger wife, Mina, as his health deteriorated.  She managed everything including the installation of gardens and construction of a separate study for Edison. It is hard to fathom that Edison received over 1,000 U.S. patents including at least one patent for 65 consecutive years. He died in October 1931 at the age of 84, and earlier that year had submitted his last patent application.  It was granted in 1933.

Edison with Cobb.  Picture is in the Edison Ford Museum on
the grounds of the estate, now owned by the City of Fort Myers

Our cart for groceries
and laundry.

One of the great local Edison stories is that he visited Connie Mack and the Philadelphia A's in 1927, just two years after they established Fort Myers as their spring training site..  Mack had just signed Ty Cobb for $75,000, and Edison grabbed a bat and motioned for Cobb to pitch to him.  The pitch came, and Edison allegedly hit the surprised Cobb with a hard line drive. When approached by a reporter, Cobb reportedly stated "I hope I hit that well at 80!"

FORT MYERS BEACH

FMB before Hurricane Ian

FMB after Hurricane Ian

As bad as Hurricane Ian was to Fort Myers, it was many times worse in Fort Myers Beach as the storm with 15-foot storm surge almost knocked Fort Myers Beach off the map.  I tried to get a better idea of the devastation by finding before and after Google Earth pictures.

The pictures are roughly the same area.  On the lower edge one can see a number of building that existed prior to Ian, but have disappeared after Ian.  Also, the white hew of the "after" picture reflects the amount of sand that washed up everywhere.

The beach was largely vacant because of the cold weather
and generally far fewer residents and visitors.

Our friends Sue and Allan live in Cape Coral and picked us up for a day trip to Fort Myers Beach.  I had known Fort Myers Beach from the stories I had been told - beautiful white-sand beaches, shrimp boats, its pier, casual development and numerous bungalows and small cottages, many of them in the same family for generations.  We found that the beach is as beautiful as ever, but only after spending millions of dollars to remove debris, sift the sand to remove foreign matter and truck in additional sand for sand that had washed away.

We looked for where we could bring our boat for a couple of nights on our way from Fort Myers to the Keys.  Moss Marina is open, while the Matanzas Marina has new docks but they are not yet open for use.  The City of Fort Myers has replaced and maintains over 50 moorings in Matanzas pass.  There is a dinghy dock and rest room and shower facilities.  We have reserved a mooring for two nights through Dockwa.

A number of restaurants have reopened, and there is a great deal of construction throughout the island.  Fort Myers Beach is slowly coming back, but it will be different as small bungalows are often being replaced by resort developments.

I was told that on new structures
the first floor must be 17 feet above
mean high tide.

Some boats have yet to be removed from where Ian left them.

The free dock off Bowditch State Park is condemned.

Moss Marina is open for business.

Cold, a Medical Emergency and 30,000 Alligators

Snow in New Jersey, and near historic lows in many places.  We couldn't even fill up our boat's water tanks at our daughter's house because it was below freezing outside of Atlanta.  My conclusion? - trailering our boat south this time of year might not be the best decision.

Wonderful to spend Christmas through New Year's
.with our granddaughter and family

Cold and snow, however, were the least of our problems. It began when we stopped at a Georgia rest stop on 75,  and I got to use the bathroom first while Molly was walking our dog, Tory.  I returned to the truck to find Molly seemingly in a daze with blood dripping from below her chin.  She slowly said, “I fell over Tory.  I think my jaw may be broken.”  I quickly got out our first aid kit and helped Molly make her way to the Women’s Room.

Guilty!  But we love her.  We have since bought
a harness to better control her movements.

She came out of the restroom looking a little better, but in pain and likely in need of medical attention.  We got back in the truck and continued south on Route 75 while discussing the best place to stop.  Then our daughter Liz called, and after hearing what happened, insisted that we turn around and head back to her house that we had left 2 ½ hours earlier.  We weren’t quite ready to do that, but this sped up our search for an urgent care facility, which ended up being just another 20 miles down the road. Molly received good care there from a PA, who checked  her out and glued her deep gash in her chin together. 

While The PA felt her jaw was not broken, she did support getting a CAT scan and referred us to the nearby hospital.  There, we would spend the next 3 hours.  While waiting, we remembered the two other times that Molly had gotten medical attention in Florida, both on our boat trips.  The first time was after a fall from hitting her head on a metal bar while climbing the stairs to a boat on the hard. (See March 16, 2022 blog.)  The second time was after breaking her left wrist from a fall in the Bahamas while walking Tory. (See May 8, 2022 blog.)  There is a growing pattern here, boat trips and Tory may not be good for Molly’s health!

Finally, the CAT scan was completed and reviewed. Negative!  Molly was still bruised on much of her left side, but she was game to continue our travels south.

Our first RV night was at a horse farm
in Wellborn, FL.

We were racing the freeze line south, and a couple of hours after

Our second RV night was at a great 
restaurant in Sebring, FL.

sunset we arrived at our destination for the night, a horse farm through an organization we enjoy called Harvest Host.  For $100 annually, Harvest Host opens up over 5,000 nontraditional places in the USA to spend the night while trailering on our boat that we use as an RV on land.  We have stayed in restaurant parking lots, farms, adjacent to country stores and wineries.  We are asked to either spend $30 if there is a business or donate $20.  

Finally we arrived at our destination, Indiantown.  The community is so-named because it was largely settled by Seminoles fleeing from the U.S. Army during the First Seminole War.  Today, it is a favorite for boaters because of its relatively inexpensive marina and great location, right on the Okeechobee Waterway that crosses Florida from St. Lucie on the east coast to Fort Myers on the west coast.  .  

The lift tractor had to be used to raise
 our small motor off Salty Paws to give
access to replace the steering mechanism.

We launched Salty Paws, and all looked great until I tried to steer, but nothing would move.  It turned out that the large pin that moves in and out of our steering mechanism was bent.  

Peter and Claudia joined me
at the Stuart Boat Show.

The marina service was excellent, and we were back in the water in three days.  Our extra days gave us time with other boat owners including Jim and Allison from Canada and fellow Rossi owners Peter and Claudia.

Our cruising route so far.

At last, we departed Indiantown Marina and headed west through the Port Mayaca Lock into Lake Okeechobee, easily Florida's largest and roughly a 35-mile circle in the center of the state.  It is completely surrounded by a 35-foot tall and 100-foot side dike installed after two severe hurricanes in the 1920s caused the Lake's water to flood the adjacent countryside.

Lake Okeechobee is home to numerous recreational activities, including fishing, but swimming is definitely off the list given the 30,000 alligators in its waters (Molly researched this statistic, but, perhaps, because of the cold, we didn't see any.) The Lake is also increasingly polluted by agricultural runoff and ashes from the burning of the sugar cane fields.. 

Boaters can either cross the Lake directly or take the dredged channel along its southern rim.  Salty Paws took the rim route as we had crossed directly last year.  Our Waterway travels to Fort Meyers had us anchoring one night in South Bay, a 2nd night at a marina in Moore Haven and a 3rd night in LaBelle.  Here we met up with Jim and Mary Walker, whom we did part of the Great Loop with in 2019.  They are just about to complete their second Loop.  Mary took this great picture of us.

 Below are some more pictures.

This is the dike along with some extra rocks darkened by the annual burning of the sugar cane fields.

We saw multiple similar fires along the horizon, likely the burning of the sugar cane fields.

Anchored in South Bay.  The picture was taken from the top of the dike.

The inland side of the dike, which protects roads, fields, various structures and the Army Corp of Engineers system of dams,
canals and other elements of their flood control system. 

This RV park could not exist without the dike.

Molly captured this plane that was seemingly divebombing Tory and me in our dinghy.

Our first Pelican sighting of this trip.