Hello to all,
The last month has slipped by so fast. It’s amazing how busy we seem to stay! I sent out the last update on Christmas eve so I’ll try to summarize what’s happened since.
First, we had an enjoyable albeit somewhat different Christmas with son Stephen – we went to the beach and went swimming. It seemed strange to be swimming in the ocean on Christmas day and it was amazing to us how many people were there, some wearing holiday decorations. After that Jean served a somewhat traditional ham dinner on the boat.
Steve flew home the next day but the following day we were joined by our friends Eldon and Dianne Morrison. We enjoyed another beach day, this time on Captiva and then found ourselves at a University of Maine Hockey game that evening. Maine won. The next day Horace and Barbara Horton joined us and the 6 of us celebrated New Years Eve in Fort Myers. It was fun. The city had closed off some of the streets and there were bands and vendors selling food, beer and party favors. The festivities ended with a “ball drop” at midnight.
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| Dinner with Barbara, Eldon, Horace and Dianne |
Later that week, we traveled to Daytona to visit our longtime friends Ellie and Bruce Murray. It was a fun visit. We told about and showed pictures of our trip around the great loop and heard about and saw pictures of their trips to England, Normandy and Panama. We also attended a classic car show. From there we had a nice visit with Bob and Sharon from Catch Me if you Can at their land yacht and also visited Bob and Allie from Bali Motu at their home. Then it was back to Ft Myers for a few days of shopping and work on the boats as well as some more beach time.
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| Jean with classic car owner |
The next weekend, Betty from Betty B organized a pot luck dinner for all of the loopers in Fort Myers. There were approximately 20 people in attendance. We got a chance to recognize and congratulate those that had recently finished the loop and were recognized as one of several couples who were almost done (as of now we have about 50 miles to go).
It was then time to leave Ft Myers so we “set sail” for Ft Myers beach accompanied by John and Pat on Gypsy Time. We spent two days there, walking around, shopping and cleaning the boats. We had a nice dinner ashore one evening with the crews of Gypsy Time, Catch Me if you Can, and Silver Foxes. The we were off again, passing through Naples and spending an evening anchored behind Keywaydin Island. The next day we passed through Marco Island and anchored in Blue Hill Creek near Goodland. The weather turned nasty so we stayed a couple of days there, taking in the sights at the annual “Mullet Festival” –a great excuse for a party – John even learned the “Buzzard Lope”. We also found a restaurant with a TV where we could watch the Patriots game against San Diego.
Yesterday was a good travel day and we proceeded through Coon Key Pass to Indian Key Pass which is the entry to Everglades City which is several miles further in. We anchored for the evening in a beautiful anchorage called Russell Pass with about 5 other boats. The current was heavy and we were surprised to find barely enough water under us when we left at low tide this morning. Today was a perfect power boat day. No wind and absolutely flat seas. We are anchored tonight in the Little Shark River, another pretty spot with heavy current .
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| Anchorage in the Everlades |
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| Dolphins swimming in our wake |
Our anchorage is in Everglades National Park and it is about as remote as one can get. We’ve enjoyed the dolphins swimming around the boat all day. However, for the first time since the Tenn-Tom, we have no internet or cell coverage so I’m not sure when I’ll get to actually send this!
Continuing to have a great time !
Steve & Jean
M/V Sun Cat
