Christmas

Hope everyone had a nice Christmas.

We had a really nice Floridian Christmas with our friends Bruce and Anne. The weather was really hot so we were glad to be staying in the trailer park close to a pool.  Our friend Randy joined the four of us for the pot luchn Christmas dinner so it was really nice to be with friends. There was so much food and of course I over did it.  We decided to skip dinner last night because we were all stuffed.

Anne and I joined in the Golf Cart parade on Christmas eve.  What a good idea, they decorate their carts and drive through the whole park playing Christmas music and making lots of noise.  We were able to see all the trailers in their festive decorations.

We are back at Bonita Bills and looking forward to New Years Eve with my daughter Emma.

Christmas eve and going to the pool...does not usually go together

Anne, Bruce, Simone and Jerry in the pool

Santa on a Floridian sleigh

Anne and I gettinginto the spirit

Some very elaborate golf carts

There was lots of food

Randy enjoying a Floridian Christmas

christmas in Paradise

The weather continues to be very pleasant with the nights staying in the mid 60s. We are socializing with the local live aboard folks. Some are on a mooring balls, at a cost of $275. per month, with only a short ride to the free dinghy dock at Bonita Bill's Waterfront Cafe.  Some are permanently living aboard here at the dock along with their adolescent children. Some are colourful characters living aboard and working close by.  There is a section they call gypsies, they are beyond the mooring field anchored out.  Free living except for the fuel in their dinghy.  Not our kind of boating, we like to keep moving.

We meet these folks and exchange stories at the section of the Tiki Bar they call the liar's corner.  I can embellish with the best of them so we fit right in.

There is a musician who plays from 2 to 4 every day who is quite good.  He seems to live in his van in the parking lot. There is no shortage of colourful characters.

We leave tomorrow to go spend Christmas with our friends in a trailer park where we will be joined by Randy our travelling buddy from Black Tickle. I will not be blogging until we return.

Merry Christmas to all, have a good one.

Flowers in December

North Star with her Christmas lights

Palm Trees at Fort Myers Beach decorated for Christmas

Christmas Spirit

I find it difficult to get into the Christmas spirit when the temperature is in the low 80s.  We have put up decorations on the boat, the Tiki  bar is well decorated with hundreds of Christmas lights. The live entertainment keeps playing Christmas carols.  I guess what is missing is family and our northern friends and snow. The latter we can do without.

The Captain is working on prepping the super structure of the boat for a much needed paint job in mid January. I am catching up on emails, blogging and reading.  We continue to ride our bikes all over town for supplies and to explore.  We are meeting new friends every day but we do miss our friends from the North and our family at this special time of year.

There is a fishing charter, Sea trek, that goes out every day with a boat load of tourists.  They go out about 2 hours on the gulf and stop at various fishing holes.  When they come back to the dock to clean the catch, the pelicans just love it.

This is the longest lay over we have had since the trip began and we are anxious to get moving again.

Merry Christmas to all.

Pelican waiting for a free meal

mostly red snapper

all lined up and waiting

This blue heron is not getting any

Marine Yard Sale

Our favourite kind of yard sale is a marine yard sale and lucky for us here it was in the parking lot at Bonita Bills. It starts at 7:00 and runs until 12:00 every third Sunday of the month. There were folks ready to shop before 7:00 but they had to wait for daylight so they could see what they were buying. I went out several times to look around and to stop the Captain. A vendor saw me looking around and immediately pointed him out, they knew exactly who I was looking for. Our boat is full again but they were such good deals.

We had Bruce and Anne join us at the yard sale and then for lunch and a nice afternoon of listening to the music at the bar. We watched Dolphins performing in the harbour. We spent the rest of the day trying to find spots for the new stuff.

Jerry is working on getting the roof ready for a paint job, he hopes to have the whole boat ready to be painted before we head back to the boat yard in late January. I am doing my usual reading, cooking and cleaning and bike riding for supplies.

The weather is a little cooler but this is only temporary as cold fronts move in and out all winter.

Lunch with Bruce and Anne after the yard sale

Sunset Celebration at Fort Myers Beach

It is amazing how much more you appreciate a place when you have more time on your hands to fully explore it. We were at Fort Myers Beach last year but we were always so rushed.
We rode our bikes over the long, steep bridge again on Thursday and went to see the other end of the island called Bowditch Park.  It is quite a nice part of the beach with hard packed sand and lots of shells.

we rode 16 miles to the tool store again because there was a sale. I personally go for the exercise and to stop at thrift stores to get more movies. It was so hot that when we got back to the boat, I had a 2 hour siesta.

We went to Fort Myers beach for the sunset celebration that takes place on Fridays and Saturdays. There is music and various forms of entertainment.  It is somewhat like Key West but on a smaller scale.  The weather is so nice we can stroll in shorts and t shirts even in the evening. We found a nice pub on the beach with the tables and chairs on the nice fine white sand.

There are dolphins going by the boat as I blog and it promises to be an other fine day in paradise.

We meet interesting folks all the time

Fort Myers Beach Pier

Sunset on Fort Myers Beach

The beached Captain

The band at the sunset celebration

Exercising in Fort Myers

We are getting our fair share of exercise pedalling around town. We rode along the beach on the hard packed sand but we decided that the crunching shells was not good for our tires.  I guess the Captain is running out of patches for the tubes. I am almost certain that we have stopped at every thrift shop in Fort Myers.  There are a lot of them and we like looking at all that junk.  This is where we shop for our movies.

We got back to the boat after one of our excursions into town to find two grackles feasting on our bread in the galley. We leave the boat wide open since it is so hot during the day. They had messed everywhere so I had to do quite a bit of laundry.  No pictures of this mess. Luckily the washer and dryer here at the marina work well. I have since taken the head (bathroom) door and installed it in the outside doorway to discourage the messy birds. The door for the v birth will just have to serve two purposes.  Sarongs are so versatile.

Other than riding and shopping we are doing some boat chores, reading and socialising at the tiki bar.  We stopped at our favourite all you can eat fish restaurant for lunch yesterday.  This is a restaurant called Maria's where you bring your own drinks, listen to little Maria, the Hispanic owner, yell at her staff all this while a cockatoo is squawking in the background.  Ah, Florida... it has so much to offer. I was able to eat four pieces of fish but the Captain out did himself by eating six. We rode home and Jerry went directly to bed, he wasn't getting up until he lost 10 pounds.

Happy Birthday Emma and Mother Tiller!

Sunrise at Bonita Bills

Bathroom door doubles up as the outside door

The bedroom door

Fort Myers

We had a fine week end at Bonita Bills.  We are able to sit at the outside bar with our own drinks and take in the live entertainment by the various bands and the crowd. There is something going on everyday but fortunately it closes down by 9:00pm. The place opens at 5:00am for breakfast and seems to do it's best business in the afternoon.
Saturday we took a trolley ride into town for supplies and to go to West Marine.  The trolley is clean with gold bars for handholds and costs .50 cents.  The driver gives you the latest on the best dining and things to do around town.  This trolley also goes to the beach, a state park and Lover's Key.  We will have to check that out. There is also a bus service that goes all over the city.
Sunday we had a friend drop by from the boat yard.  We ended up having some pitchers of beer and lunch at Bonita Bills Cafe.  In the evening we rode the dinghy to the far shore to listen to reggae music at Matanza's Restaurant. There is live music everywhere.
Monday we rode our bikes into town for a short 16 mile hike. Jerry broke his chain when we were close to home.  He has already repaired it.  Our bicycles are taking a beating, mine had a flat on Saturday which Jerry repaired. He is busy with this repair stuff but our bicycles are indispensable.
Today it is raining but it should not be an all day event.  Jerry is working on engine room stuff. We may go to the beach by bicycle, when it clears up.  There is a long high bridge to cross but Jerry already crossed it once so I should be able to do it.

Bonita Bills from the bridge

the mooring field across from our marina

The beach district on the other side of the bridge

Colourful Matanza's Restaurant

Fort Myers Beach

We arrived at Fort Myers Beach on Thursday. We are at Old Bonita Bills Fish Docks Marina.  The Bonita Bills Waterfront Cafe is behind us along with Tiki Bars and all manner of night life. Thursday night folks were dancing to a Canadian band, Deb and Ray.  They were quite good, we joined in with our visitors, Randy and Natalie.  They came by car and stayed with us overnight. Last night was karaoke so we just watched from the dock bar and stools. We can drink our own beer and yet be part of the action, cheap!

A short dinghy ride across the channel takes us to yet more Restaurants and shops and the Fort Myers Beach on Estevero Island. This is a touristy place with beach wear shops, shells and all sorts of colourful garb. There is a shrimp boat at the end of the next dock where you can ring a bell and the Captain will come out and sell you fresh shrimp. I have not seen this boat leave the dock since I have been here so how fresh can they be?  A short dinghy ride down the channel, there are all sorts of fresh fish to be purchased and I have seen those boats leaving the dock. We will surely sample these before we leave.

There are tour boats and fishing charters as well as a fast catamaran that will take you to Key West in 4 hours. There is also an hour and a half pirate ship boat that shoots a cannon now and again.  After all the quiet anchorages this will be an action packed stay. 

We are here until the beginning of January so more on the action in the next few weeks.

Key West Cat

North Star at Bonita Bills

Buy fresh shrimp at the dock

Pirate Ship

The fishing fleet

Bonita Bills al decorated for Christmas

Orange River

We are leaving this morning to go to Bonita Bill's Marina to spend the holiday season. We will have visitors from the boat yard, the Orange River Trailer Park and my daughter from Ontario.

We have had a wonderful time at Cathy and Harold's dock visiting with our friends Bruce and Anne and meeting new friends at the park.  They were all Canadians.  I am beginning to think I am in Canada.

We took the dinghy and explored the Orange River looking for manatee but only spotted a small alligator.  I am glad it was a small one. It is a perfect place for bicycle riding as well as the terrain is flat, the roads are well paved and the traffic is mostly golf carts.  The trailer park is between the Orange River, the Caloosahatchee and canals. We shopped and enjoyed the pool since the weather was in the low 90s. We had some fine dinners and met lots of people at happy hour.  We hope to see everyone again at Christmas dinner.

North Star at Harold and Cathy's dock

The canal around Orange Harbor Park

Alligator on the Orange River

Orange River, Fort Myers, Florida

We are tied up to a dock in a trailer park on the Orange River.  Our friends Bruce and Anne's friends, Cathy and Harold, kindly lend out their dock to fellow loopers periodically.  They completed the loop some years ago and are now wintering in their double wide trailer in Fort Myers on a canal off the Orange River.  It is a lovely spot with neatly landscape properties and a very nice clean neighbourhood. Harold even met us on the Caloosahatchee River to escort us in to his dock. Thank you Harold and Cathy.

We had a relaxing afternoon at Bruce and Ann's trailer yesterday and completed the day with a Bar B Que dinner.  Today we are going shopping at some man stores.  Harbor Freight for tools and you guessed it West Marine.  There is a huge food only Wall Mart next to Harbor Freight so I am all set also.

we really like the Caloosahatchee River.  The shoreline is dotted with farms where cows and horses are grazing, we even saw a camel watching over the cows. There are mansions and more modest homes and orange orchards. I really like the trees that have Spanish moss draped on their branches as well as some of the different types of coniferous trees.

The weather is great, the company is entertaining, life is good.

Bruce, Harold, Cathy and Anne

Watching the sun set in Bruce and Ann's car port

North Star at Harold and Cathy's dock

Spanish Moss

I really like this tree

Boat yard

We are drawn to this boat yard by friends and familiarity. We decided to come back for the week end to join some new friends for happy hour. We went out for breakfast with yesterday with our British friend Peter and John and Louanne from Michigan. Louanne was one of the women on the walking club we started last Christmas.  It turns out we went right by their house on our trip through Lake Michigan but we did not know it at the time.
It is really nice sitting at happy hour and listening to the various places people are preparing to travel to. Gary and Irene from Thunder Bay are heading to Cuba then Guatemala and Belize.  A Welsh couple are heading to the Florida Keys. Louanne and John are off to the Bahamas as well as our British friend, Peter. These are folks in small boats that only go 6 or 7 knots. They wait for the right weather window and off they go.  They find nice anchorages and just relax and fish and meet people.  It is a tough life, glad to be part of it.
Tomorrow we will leave the dock early and head over to Fort Myers to spend some time with our Bellevillian friends Anne and Bruce. They are in Fort Myers for the winter and have found us a dock  in their trailer park.

The Lollipop

We arrived at the Lollipop yesterday afternoon and had a little trouble setting the anchor. It must be a hard bottom as this is a man made little branch off the Caloosahatchee River.  The head of the Lollipop is too deep for anchoring at 33 feet so we are in the channel in 8 feet of water ((N 26 47.808' and W81 17.275').  The shore line is fields , we are in farm country.  There are no houses around and no noise so it is a nice relaxing place.
We went exploring by dinghy over to Turkey Creek which is a series of 4 canals.  Many folks rent out their docks to boaters who wish to store their boats for the season. We just don't like the idea of leaving our boat in the water when we are gone.
We will be pulling up the anchor and going back to the boat yard for the week end to visit some friends before turning back towards Fort Myers for the holiday season.

North Star in the Lollipop

Turkey Creek

La Belle Florida town dock

We are still anchored med style at the La Belle town dock. The town provides free docking with water and electricity for 3 days.  You then have to leave for 8 days before you can return. Everything is really close including a grocery store, laundry and restaurants. The only draw back is that it is near a bridge so there is quite a bit of traffic noise. There is a library across the street that has free books and cheap books for sale, I will go investigate.
We went to visit our neighbours on their 44 foot DeFever on Monday night for happy hour. Yesterday we had Canadian friends, Bruce and Anne, who are wintering in Fort Myers visit us for lunch at the Log Cabin. The log cabin is famous for it's ribs and pork but we usually go for the fresh fish that is equally nice.  They give you a complimentary soup and ice cream with your meal.  We then walked to an antique and junk shop to try to wear off our lunch.  It was a very nice visit.
We also had friends from Thunder Bay, who leave their boat here over the summer and winter in Cuba every year, drop by and say hello.  They are at Glades Boat Yard getting some boat work done so we will go back to the yard for the week end to visit with them.
I saw an alligator go by this morning and I have often spotted manatee in the past but not yet on this trip.

North Star anchored med style

Drop and set the anchor then back up to the dock to tie the stern

There is a nice little spot called the lollipop on the way to the boat yard so we will anchor there tomorrow, provided it is available.  It is shaped like a lollipop and can only accommodate a couple of boats.

LaBelle Florida

We spent the week end at Glades Boat Yard checking up on our other boat and catching up with some friends. We were able to get a drive into town to do some major provisioning, thanks to Peter our British friend.  The boat yard has installed a lanai for the boaters so happy hour is much more civilized with proper tables and chairs.
We went for a bike ride to the Glades RV park for breakfast and took Peter out to lunch at our old haunt the Gator Bait.  All bar food but it is the frosty mug of beer and he camaraderie that makes it so special.
We are in La Belle for the next three days tied up to the free town dock.  They provide power and good water. There is a nature trail next door and a really good BBQ restaurant.  This is like being home since we have spent so much time here over the last five years.
The weather is fabulous and the locals are friendly and of course the bike riding is ideal.

Glades Boat Yard dock

La Belle town dock

Caloosahatchee River

After a rocky bouncy night at anchor on San Carlos Bay near Fort Myers, it is a pleasure to be on the Caloosahatchee River which is part of the Okeechobee Waterway. We are back to swing bridges and locks and fresh water for a while. We will not miss the tidal currents and the crab pots.
After a nine hour sail, we arrived at Glades Boat Yard to check on our other boat. It feels like home. All appears to be well, we will stay and visit with old friends and go back to LaBelle and the Fort Myers area until the middle of January and then who knows where we are going. The possibilities are endless.

Low tide leaves a very narrow channel

Fort Myers

York Island Fort Meyer's Florida

We were finally able to get the laundry done in Venice yesterday.  We tied up to a free dock in town and rode our bikes 2 miles to the laundry mat. It started to peck as we were getting there and once inside, the skies opened up and he rain came down in sheets.  Once we had completed the deed, the sun came out and we were able to get back to the boat with dry laundry.
We had to get off the free dock by night fall so it was a rush to push off and drop the hook just to the north of the Venice Yacht Club (N26 06.7100 and W82 27.6007').
We finally got some good pictures of dolphins today as we made our way to York Island Natural preserve. It was a little choppy on Charlotte Harbor so we stopped for lunch at Pelican Bay.  A beautiful anchorage but the first mate forgot about the dinghy and North Star chewed up the rope as we were anchoring. Luckily, a small boat came by and retrieved our dinghy for us. If you can't take a joke, don't travel with this first mate.
We are now anchored at York Island (N26 41.3269' and W82 14.6025'), Jerry is fishing but it looks like I better make some supper.
Tomorrow we are heading 5 miles into Fort Myers.

Sunshine Skyway Bridge, Tampa Bay

Sarasota

Venice anchorage

Lemon Bay dolphins

Dolphin jumping right beside the boat

Sunset at York Island