November 24, 2005
We left New York on Saturday, November 12. Took three days to get to Cape Coral and it made for a much more relaxing trip. Arrived at the dock behind Shirley and Don's house on Monday afternoon to find that "Mystic Jitney" had weathered a couple of hurricanes just fine. Topsides and hull were in need a some good cleaning and there was a fair amount of debris that had been blown around but all in all we were pleased. Interior was is good shape with some dust and cobwebs but I was happy to find that no "critters" had moved aboard in our absence. We spent several days cleaning and provisioning.
Saturday, November 19
We left the dock to head down to Fort Myers Beach because we were scheduled to have a new generator installed on Monday. Got out in the main canal when the engine surged a couple of times and quickly died - not a good thing! Alan rushed to launch the dinghy with a line and I ran forward with another line and before we knew it the breeze had blown us quietly alongside the outside pilings of someone's boat lift. We were able to tie up without incident, Alan went down below to diagnose the problem and the owners of the house came out to say hello and ask if we needed help! Didn't take long before Alan reported that when he changed the fuel filter earlier in the week he had shut off the fuel line and forgotten to turn it back on! We had to bleed the system and were soon on our way with a wave and thank you to the friendly homeowners whose dock we had landed on. No fun loosing your engine in a narrow channel but we were fortunate it happened where it did - the rest of the trip was a bit tense but the engine didn't fail. We arrived at Salty Sam's Marina, Fort Myers Beach and picked up a mooring. Took an afternoon walk to the beach and arrived at the Lani Kai Hotel just in time to watch a late afternoon wedding on the beach - what fun! Had dinner (buffalo shrimp - my favorite bar food - been waiting all summer to get back and enjoy it!) on the deck at the top of the Lani Kai Hotel. Watched the sunset and walked the beach back to the marina.
Sunday, November 20
Went for a ride in our new dinghy - sure is nice to have a dinghy that's dry, fast, quiet, and lots of fun. We have to take turns driving it because it's so much fun. Also visited one of our favorite fish markets for some fresh grouper. Boy the fresh fish down here is unbeatable! The dolphins came by to see us this afternoon.
Monday, November 21
Left the mooring and headed over to Olsens Marine at 7:30 am for our appointment to have the generator work done. Tom, the generator guy, started working on getting our old one out around 8:30 am and by 9:30 am it was out and on the ground. The yard has this 20 foot boom attached to a forklift and they were able to drive the boom right through our back doors, hook up the old generator, and haul it out. Then they brought the new one in the same way. It was amazingly easy! We were impressed. Our nephew, Dan, stopped by with his dad after lunch and they loaded the old generator onto his truck. He'll use it as a backup during hurricanes. Tom spent the rest of the day installing the new generator and by late afternoon we were on our way back to the mooring. Boy is this generator a hit - quiet, small - it's really nice to be able to turn on the generator anytime we want and not even notice that it's on!
Old Generator Coming Out
New Generator Completely Installed
Shortly after we got back to the mooring some storms rolled in and it blew like stink all night (30-40 knots out of the NW).
Tuesday, November 22
Alan spent the day rearranging his new found space in the engine room. We had decided to spend the month down here on the mooring until we fly over to the Bahamas for Christmas with the kids. Shirley and Don came down to meet us for dinner and brought the Jeep down so we'd have a car for the next couple of days. We really needed it to get over to Candace and Dan's house Thursday for Thanksgiving dinner.
Wednesday, November 23
Put Alan up the mast a couple of times today to investigate and fix the radio antennae. Went to West Marine to buy a new starter battery for the generator. The old one had bit the dust. Alan also investigated pulley systems for getting the new dinghy up on the stern platform and out of the water on long trips. It's too heavy to tow. Stopped and picked up fresh shrimp and when we got back to the boat I cleaned and cooked it for Thanksgiving.
Thursday, November 24
I spent the morning baking an apple pie to take to our niece, Candace's house for Thanksgiving dinner and watched the parade on TV. Alan spent the morning working on a number of systems on the boat. Had a great Thanksgiving dinner at Candace and Dan's house with the family - Candace and Dan, Kayla and Jon, Don and Shirley, Melanie and Dan, and Alan and I. Candace cooked the traditional turkey in the oven while Dan and Jon tried their hand at a fried turkey out in the garage! Both were great. The fried turkey process definitely had the potential for trouble - all that boiling oil and an open flame! But we figured it was in good hands - Dan is a fireman! The day was beautiful - warm and sunny - no snow!
Dan and Jon frying the turkey Thanksgiving Dinner
Friday, November 25
We took a walk over the bridge to the beach side for the Friday morning farmers market. Picked up some fresh tomatoes, green beans, oranges and French pastry. Shot some pictures of the fishing fleet where we buy our fresh seafood and the mooring field where we're moored. Today was a beautiful warm day with calm winds and perfect for a ride in our new dinghy so this afternoon we headed over to Big Carlos Pass which is about 4 - 5 miles away. The waterway is a mixture of no wake zones and fast zones and it sure was nice to be able to open it up in the fast zones and do 20 mph! Made the trip over pretty quick - about 30 minutes.
Fishing Fleet Fort Myers Beach Mooring Field