Thursday, June 20, 2013

Three Days from Ft. Myers to Venice



View My Route in a larger map

Overall the sailing was good between Ft. Myers and Venice.  I anchored out near Redfish Pass the first night and at Cayo Cosa State Park the second, and tied up to The Crows Nest Marina in Venice.  I was going to anchor out in Venice too, but the anchorage looked very tight and shallow.  The weather is hot with afternoon thundershowers.  The wind has been light so I have had to motor or motor sail most of the way. Here are a few pictures that I took along the way.

Below is my anchorage at Redfish Pass

View My Route in a larger map
My anchorage near Redfish Pass just north of Ft. Myers


Cabbage Key Inn on the GIW
I have read that Jimmy Buffet's "Cheeseburger in Paradise" song was inspired right here at Cabbage Key.

Below is the entry into Pelican Bay.  If you look just right of the sand bar running north and south you can see the narrow channel.  Notice how close it runs along the bar.

View My Route in a larger map

On the trip down south, John and I anchored out from the entrance into Pelican Bay.  I just didn't have the confidence at that point to try the tricky entry into the bay.  Today, I was going to try to get in.  After almost two months negotiating the shallows of the Bahamas, I figured this would be doable.  And it was.  There is really no problem with the entry if you just line up with the sand bar on your starboard side and stay very close to it's shore.  There were 3 or 4 boats in the bay and I pulled up to the first spot not far from the sand bar.  I spent two nights here and had time to hike the Cayo Costa State Park, do a little fishing, and watch the weather roll through.  Below are some pics of the area.


A white ibis on Costa Cayo State Park beach




Cayo Costa State Park beach


Sunsets at Cayo Costa State Park





My anchorage at Cayo Costa State Park




I left out early in the morning for Venice.  The weather was nice and today I decided to take the gulf route for the Venice Inlet.  It was just a short sail away.



View My Route in a larger map

No comments:

Post a Comment