2014-12-21 to 12-31 - Cape Coral to Keewaydin Island to the Keys

12/21  Anchors up at 8 am & under the Sanibel bridge. It was a perfect day to cruise south on the Gulf of Mexico. 

Spoiled brats on 'daddy's' lap while underway

We entered Big Marco Pass (south of Naples) at 1:15, wound around the back bay to Rookery Bay & anchored by the beach at south Keewaydin Island at 1:45. Deployed the dinghy moments later & Wayne took off to the beach with the pups, Karen & Widget in tow.

Widget (pic by Jay)

Marco Island in the background  

It was a pleasant week & we were thankful for the break, however, I forgot it was Christmas week & all the crazies were at the beach...boatloads of people - kids, dogs, women in various outfits that probably shouldn't be seen in public.

A bit overloaded ya think?

Every day there were 3 pontoon boats pulled up on the beach  selling burgers, hotdogs, fish sandwiches, ice cream & other such goodies. Smell of grilled burgers blew our way. Who in their right mind can resist burgers on the grill? It took great restraint to not go ashore & have 'dinner'. The beach was packed every day so there goes our plan for peace  & quiet.Several nights campers pitched tents & built open fires. They sounded like they were having such a good time. We almost went ashore to join them, instead, we played dominoes.

Tent city

 We experienced several days of blustery weather & overcast skies. Good time to defrost the freezer - I really hate that job - must find a place for all the food then put a fan on top to melt the ice-takes most of the day ! Don't take your  frost-free fridges for granted.
Before we left Cape Coral, Karen & I had planned Christmas dinner. She got a turkey breast & I got the makings for my mom's stuffing. . 12/25  Christmas day spent on LARGO because she was lit up  
(the boat I mean-later,some of us were 'lit up ) & decorated  - it was magical. 

Jay, Karen & Widget - (pic by Jay)

We had traditional Christmas fixins' including green beans, cranberry & caramelized carrots. They have over 1000 movies on a device - I got to watch Don Juan De Marco, one of my favorite Johnnie Depp movies.

I got a very kewl, multifunctional knife

We stayed at anchor until 12/28 enjoying the peace but making tentative plans to leave the area for the 10 to 13 hour trip south to the Keys...but where to go? Marathon?-Key West? or 'home'? Reports of overcrowding at anchorages in Key West & mooring balls in Marathon helped made for an easy decision - home it is. Computers on to the weather links. Several days looked promising but Sunday seemed best. (looking back,we made a good decision as the following days proved to be blustery & windy) More beach days & dominoes - the weather improved with warm sun & gentle breezes. 

Life is good  - don't take it for granted

12/28  Gorgeous day. It was decided by all to pull anchors at 3:30 pm as we didn't want to anchor in the dark in the Keys. Psych! We did anyway.

LARGO right behind us winding our way out the back bay to the pass

The sky was clear with a bright, 1/2 moon & calm seas. Bundled up with long pants, two shirts, socks  & a sweat shirt, I took the first shift at the helm...Wayne relieved me about 1am.  It seemed I had just gotten to sleep when I heard the anchor chain drop - it was 3:30am - 12/29. Thankfully, it was an uneventful cruise. We were in about 10' of water by Tarpon Belly. If interested in a bit of history, Google Tarpon Belly Keys.

The purple lines on the chart show previous routes that BLUE MAX has taken
the lines on the left & going up-go to the Gulf  - lines on the right, go south to Summerland

BLUE MAX & Fat Albert (on Cudjoe Key) - another great pic by Jay

 We were anchored a fair distance from each other so Cap't Karen would have more water under her keel. 12/30 - She tried fishing using pieces of left over chicken & damn if she didn't catch Grouper & Lane snapper!! I announced to Wayne "we moving the boat tomorrow!" We had a yummy, fresh fish dinner on LARGO then watched We're The Millers - a movie we've not seen. It was pretty funny. We did move the boat & I did catch some snapper - not real big, average size for lane snapper, but good eatin' & the first fish I caught in a long time. 

Average size lane snapper 

12/31 We woke on this  NY eve to colder temps & the boat was soaking wet from high humidity, fog surrounded us but the water was like glass. 

Foggy morning on the hook - (taken by Jay)

NY eve festivities were spontaneous - I found a small spiral-cut honey ham & we completed the feast with veggies, deviled eggs, drinks & wine.

BYE, BYE 2014