Saturday, February 4, 2006

After flying home to New York for medical reasons on December 31 we're back on the "Mystic Jitney".  Alan had successful surgery to remove a small mass from behind his right kidney on January 12.  We spent the rest of the month at home waiting for test results.  When the doctor finally called on February  1  to say that all was OK  and no further treatment was necessary we made plans to get back on the water. 

Shirley picked us up at the airport and had a home cooked meal of Cornish hens, stuffing and all the fixings ready for us - a welcomed and unexpected treat!

Tuesday, February 7, 2006

We spent Sunday cleaning up the boat, checking all the systems, grocery shopping, and getting ready to head out.  During our absence a duck had taken up residence on our swim platform - what a mess!  Later in the afternoon we drove over to the waterfront park in Cape Coral.  Had an iced tea and a beer and listened to some great live music on the deck of a tiki bar there.

On Monday we shopped for more groceries and some items we want to take over to the Bahamas for "Island Girl".  We can keep an owners box in the office at Marsh Harbor for  personal things that we'd like to have on the boat when we're there.

By this morning we were ready to leave.  We spent the morning doing final checks, filling water tanks, etc.  Left the dock around 1:00 pm and arrived at the mooring field at Salty Sam's at Fort Myers Beach around 4:30pm. 

Wednesday, February 8, 2006

Got back into our old routine.  Dolphins came by for a visit.  Walked across the bridge to the beach.  Met Ken and Cathy from "Coco Nut" at the new burrito cafe.  Walked to the post office to mail a package and spent the rest of the afternoon walking the beach.  Stopped at the seafood market on the way back to the boat to buy spiney lobster tails.  Sauteed the lobster tails up for dinner - superb!  Can't wait to get back to the Bahamas where these guys are plentiful.

Friday, February 10, 2006

We left in the  morning to go back over the bridge to the Friday morning farmer's market on the beach.  Bought some fresh farm raised clams at the farmers market, fresh pineapple and star fruit.  Took a long dinghy ride around San Carlos Island in the afternoon.  Went buy our friend Bob Allen's boat and noticed that it was open.  He wasn't aboard but on our way back he was there so we visited with him for a while.  Bob lives in Saratoga but keeps his boat in Florida.  He was down for a couple of days working on it.  Hopefully we'll get together with him and Cathy when they're here on vacation in April. 

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Left around 11:00 am to walk over the bridge to the hair salon (about a 45 min walk).  We stopped for coffee and Alan walked the beach while I had my hair cut -  decided it was time for a new look and a shorter version.  Alan approved .  We had lunch at the Lani Kai and watched a Hawaiian hula show that was here  from Hawaii.  It was fun.  From there we went on to Jimmy B's to listen to one of our favorite bands.  A cold front was coming through and I was ready to start the walk back to the boat by 5:00pm.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

It was overcast, cold, and windy in the morning.  I  wanted to go to church at the other end of the island so we took the dinghy to Snook Marina (about 20 minutes away).  They let us tie to their dock and from there we walked another mile to the church.  On the way back we stopped in at the market which is conveniently located just next to the marina to pick up a paper and a few supplies.  Then we had another cold ride in the dinghy back to the boat.  For the landlubbers among you who are used to hopping in their cars and are wondering what in the world we do with our time - this little jaunt took over 3 hours!

Monday, February 13, 2006

Cold again today - I haven't been able to wear my flip flops for three days!  Of well - at least we don't have two feet of snow like our friends in CT!    I took a long walk this morning and stopped at a local bake sale on my way back.  Picked up a Valentine's cookie for Alan and some banana bread.  In the afternoon Alan and I went ashore to do laundry and take another walk.  On the way back we stopped at Sanibel Seafood market and bought some fresh red grouper for dinner.  Glad we did because we learned that the ban on grouper starts this week.  So we won't be getting that again for a while. 

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Valentine's day.  We walked over the bridge to the beach and had lunch at the Barking Shark, a small beach bar.  Another chilly day so we spent our time trying to find some sun and get out of the breeze.  They sure do make a big deal of the cooler weather down here.  We saw the local news team interviewing the crossing guard at the beach and asking about how this cold day compared to a "typical" February Tuesday!

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Decided to head back to the dock at Shirley's today.  Spent the morning trying to rig a system to pull the dinghy up on the stern platform but finally decided that we weren't happy with it so we towed it as usual.  Had a long wait for the Sanibel bridge opening so we checked out all the construction of the new bridge.  Once it's done we won't have to wait for an opening anymore.  Arrived back at the dock around 4:30pm.  Alan drove the dinghy over to the launch facility and I picked him up with the Jeep and trailer.  Thursday we'll do some cleaning, shopping, and packing for our trip to the Bahamas.  On Friday morning we drive over to West Palm Beach and catch a flight over to Marsh Harbor to spend a week on "Island Girl"!

Cranes working on the new Sanibel Bridge