2012 - Christmas - New Years - Naples - South Keeywaydin

 

We got a hotel room in Naples on the 24^th so we could spend Christmas with my son,
 David, Shannon, Anthony & Nicholas in their new home. It’s hard to believe that Anthony is 14 & Nicholas, who’s trying really hard to walk on his own, is 15 months old. They say Nicholas has

my eyes…He's got the best personality - of course with his parents, he can't help it...

Once again, the usual suspects were present…it was great to see Mike, Laura, & Kit again.

Shannon, Laura & me

Nicholas & Shannon

Since David got full custody of Anthony  it was agreed that I could finally take Anthony on the boat for a week. Then we talked to Mike & Laura about also spending time on the boat for NY Eve.
David brought Anthony to Gregg’s on the

My beautiful Anthony

28^th - we cruised south & anchored by the beach in Rookery Bay, South Keeywaydin Island which is just north of Marco Island.

 

Crazy kid (like his dad) We were in the dinghy 'just in case'

…Ahhhh….alone with my Anthony - a dream I’ve had for years. He’s so brilliant, not just with his studies, but in every day life - I’m so proud of him. Unfortunately, it was pretty cold in the 50’s…no swimming for me but Anthony had no problem he swam out to the boat from the beach. Taught him how to use the cast net. Hard as we tried, no bait so no fish for dinner.

 

 

Laura took this from the dock as we were waiting for a space to pick them up

Wayne taught Anthony how to run the dinghy & off they went. We had a wonderful few days together but we were excited to pick up Mike & Laura at
 the Naples City docks on the 31^st. They, too, were eager to be on the boat for an adventure they’ve never had. They had tons of luggage & figured they would be staying for a month! (that was fine by us) After saying our ‘hellos’ & orienting them to the boat, we

Check out the beached boat on the low tide!

 

Rafted up - these guys had the best bon fire

 headed back to the beach area. Things were heating up as dozens of people arrived erecting tents,

Laura

gathering wood for bon fires & playing on the beach. Mike & Anthony went exploring on the dinghy while we vegged out for a few hours on board.  

Anthony, Mike & Henry ?? unfortunately, not dinner

 I’ve never seen Laura so relaxed - she knitted, read & sat out in the sun. Hard to keep up with Mike, he never stops. We’ve never had a total of 5 people on the boat but we just meshed-it was great. 

That's Mike in the pink Tee shirt

After dinner we headed ashore, wine jug & Scupper in tow. Bon fires were roaring & sizzling up & down the beach…it was beautiful & the people, the people were awesome inviting

 

Laura

 us to join their groups. Scupper was in her glory as everyone had a tid-bit for her to eat. Since it was chilly, the fires were a welcomed relief. Somewhere   along the way, we ‘lost’ Laura & there she was sound asleep in the sand with her head on a log! Poor baby. I had to pee & wandered into the high sea grass…for some reason I couldn’t get up or gain footing. My hero, Mike, came to the rescue & carried me back to the beach.

 

Star fish in the shallows

 Shame is no one took a picture & I simply can’t remember it happened?? We had no idea what time it was & just as the dinghy reached the boat we heard everyone on shore say…5 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1
HAPPY NEW YEAR! Rats! We missed the big moment! I think we banged our pots & pans just like we did in Philly. (after the sea grass incident, everything's a bit blurry for me)  We all agreed it was the best & most memorable NY Eve any of us have ever had.

Crazy man Mike

 

Fins to the left....Fins to the right

 

We thought it couldn't get any better until the next day when we came across a huge pod of
Dolphin...what a treat for all of us.  
Took a dock & sadly said good bye to everyone on the 3^rd - but the fun wasn’t over yet. Kathryn drove down from Ft Myers & along with Anthony, had dinner at Cafe Luna (Shannon is partner in this wonderful Italian restaurant) We left the docks on the 4^th & anchored in Port Royal for the night.

 

2012 - November - December - Cape Coral - Englewood

 

 

We left Ft Myers on November 18^th and docked at Gregg & Joanne’s (Wayne’s brother) house in Cape Coral. It was so great seeing them again. It was hot during the day & cold at night - perfect sleeping weather. Jo has literally hundreds of

 

Christmas decorations - we helped retrieve them from the attic & put everything up in time for the big Thanksgiving day feast & a wonderful day it was with Gregg’s daughters, Renae & Raquel & all the grandkids. We played several lively games of Mexican dominoes & ate tons of fabulous food.

Aria, Lauren, Dennis, Raquel, Kaleb, Jose, Wayne, Jordan, Renae, Jo, Gregg, Craig & me

 

In 2010, I developed a large growth on my left ring finger & has been growing larger since then…. It didn’t hurt or bother me so, being the good nurse that I am, I just dealt with it until friends & family strongly urged me to have it seen. I searched for a certified hand specialist in Ft Myers of which there were many to choose from. I chose Sandra Collins & my appointment was December 6^th. We didn’t want to burden Gregg with such an extended visit so we left on the 26^th & headed north to see friends, Tom & Sue, in Englewood. Much to our excitement, Tom & Susan (it’s easy to remember names as they are mostly the same)brought their boat (GLASS SLIPPER)down from Palmetto on the 29^th to meet us. We anchored near the marina. In addition, our friends, June & Pete from Punta Gorda, drove over to the marina on the 30^th. We had happy hour at the Tiki hut then off to dinner at the Gulfview restaurant with a gorgeous view of the sunset. 

Pete, me, Tom, Susan, June, Wayne, Susan & Tom

 

You must know by now that we think the cruising life is what it’s all about. We couldn’t be more blessed to have so many wonderful friends & family. We played as many games of dominoes as we could until it was time to leave. Heading south we encountered something we don’t often see - dense fog - yikes!
We arrived at Gregg’s on December 4^th. My appointment on the 5^th was with Dr. Collin’s associate, Dr. Leavitt, another board certified hand specialist -he often sees Dr. Collin’s new patients. He was very concerned by finding an enlarged lymph

 
node in my left elbow which often times represents a malignancy. He called her & I returned to the office the next day to see Dr. Collins. Sandra Collins was 10 years old! I swear (she is 46 actually) - but she was amazing & I instantly had faith in her. Surgery was on the 12^th at Lee Memorial Hospital because she needed a Pathologist standing by to evaluate the tumor during surgery. If the (frozen section) came back malignant, she would amputate that finger down to the 1^st joint. Needless to say I was very pleased to see my finger intact when I woke up. I was pretty terrified but she & the entire pre-surgical staff were amazing & that’s saying a lot coming from me - miss
picky!


 Gregg took us in his boat to Woody’s for lunch located in St. James City…we’ve never been. It was nice to be a passenger for a change.

 

Wayne & Gregg

Angie, Joann, Betsie & me

Wayne @ Woody's

 We had a lovely lunch. Stayed at Gregg & Jo’s for several weeks - a little Christmas shopping - doctor visits & just enjoying each other’s company. We took the boat back to Ft Myer’s City docks for a pump out & meet up with Mickey & Kathryn again. They let you keep the boat at the dock for free if you don’t stay overnight…so we left at 8:30pm & anchored out in Cape Coral & returned to Gregg's dock the next day.
Mickey & Kathryn had a pre-Christmas party on the

Bryan Davis & Eric

23^rd. The usual suspects were there & we all had a fun time.

2012 - November - Ft Lauderdale

We decided to stay for the week so we could attend the River Walk Jazz Brunch held the 1^st Sunday of each month. People fill every space on the river walk with umbrellas, food & beverages & lots of dogs. I emailed Kathryn & Laurel to see if they were interested in meeting us there. They arrived on Friday, November 2^nd. They were tired from traveling so we had

 

Wayne, Laurel, Me & Kathryn

dinner on the boat. It also happened to be our 9^th anniversary!! Where the hell did 9 years go so fast? Getting old just sucks! We put the dinghy in the next morning & wandered around the many canals picking out our favorite mansions

 

 

 We dinghied to Pirates Republic restaurant/bar for happy hour & dinner. Daylight savings ended on the 4^th - I just hate when that happens! With all the ‘girls’ in tow, we set off to enjoy the jazz brunch. I don’t remember this many

 



Big band at the Fest

 people in attendance in the few times we’ve been before. Fabulous music & great hot dogs. Lovely day with great friends.  

We anchored in Lake Sylvia on the 5th  after Kate & Laurel left. I continued painting the teak rails. On the 9^th, Bob & Stephanie met us at Bahia Cabana, a cozy waterfront



Stephanie & 'the man'

 


Wayne, Stephanie, Me & Bob

restaurant/bar across from the beach. It was great seeing them again.
 It remained on the cold & yucky side for a week or more. We headed out on the 13^th dreading- knowing that we’ll have several days of dealing with all the bridges heading north on the ICW. But…ya gotta do what ya gotta do. We got pumped out in Stewart on the 15^th & tied up at Mayaca lock.

Seagulls followed us all the way across the lake

 

 

Very old RR bridge





Cabo's Cantina - downtown Ft Myers

We tied up at the Ft Myers city docks at 1:30pm on the 17^th just in time to meet up with Mickey & Kathryn. Our friends, David & Karen, from Cape Coral, also joined us at Cabo’s Cantina in downtown Ft Myers - Mickey’s new digs. Surprised to see Bryan Davis there too…a good time was had by all….

Kathryn, Mickey, Bryan, me, David, Karen & Wayne

2012 - October - Ft. Lauderdale Boat Show

 

10/21 We skipped going to Rowland & Mary Martin’s restaurant/bar in Clewiston which means we didn’t get to have one of their great cheese burgers - Buggar! But we were a bit short of time. We anchored in the lake. We got the word about Hurricane Sandy heading towards the east coast of FL. She was slamming Jamaica then on to East Cuba but too early to know where she’d hit in the USA. (I feel like Jim Cantore, storms hit where ever he is - last year we were in Nassau for  Irene, this year in the Keys for Isaac & now Lauderdale for Sandy)The boat show started on the 25^th to the 29^th. Goal was to dock safely at Cooley’s Landing on the New River before it really started to blow. We had stiff winds all the way across the waterway & now the lake had 3 footers. It took us 3 hours to cross the lake to the Mayaca Lock. We got to Stewart about 5:30, got fuel then anchored by Hog Island at 7pm. Unfortunately, it was way too rough to cruise on the outside so we suffered going south on the ICW. 69 miles with 29 bridges from Hobe sound to the Los Olas bridge - we have to wait for all but


Boynton Beach Bridge - prettiest one on the ICW

4 to open for us. Some open on the hour & half hour, some open on the quarter hour…What a nightmare. Miles & miles of majestic & outlandish mansions - Where the hell did all this money come from ??? We docked at Cooley’s  
on the 24^th on an ebb tide & no wind.We fed the girls, changed clothes & headed to the Briny for happy hour & appetizers. My 'surrogate ' son, Richard, was trying to get us VIP tickets to the show but Sandy stood in his way. He was off to the Bahamas to secure boats that he takes care of. He was stuck in Nassau with no planes out. With a list of things we wanted to see or learn about, we went to

 

the show on Friday & Saturday. (this is what Wayne learned about) Exhausting for me!! It was overcast, rainy & windy…the wind took a portion of a few tents down. They were still sucking water out of the carpets when we arrived. I

 

 left Wayne to wander & ponder & I went to the beach. Heaven for a surfers…sand was everywhere covering some small boats, the parking area & roads. The tides were super high due to the storm surge & a full moon. It got cooler the last 3 days of October (60’s 70’s) requiring 


When high tide, all docks flooded @ Cooley's

blanket at night. As you know, Sandy made landfall on the 29^th devestating much of NJ/NY etc...