North Star on the Great Loop Journey: Fort Myers

Preparing for the trip

Captain Jerry has been making the final preparations to North Star, our 32 foot Cape Island down east trawler. We are anxious to leave our landlubber lives behind and begin our long awaited journey around the Great Circle. Join us as we travel 10, 000 kilometers: through the historic Trent Severn Waterway; the pristine waters of Georgian Bay; the North Channel of lake Huron; and hop from beach to beach on lake Michigan. We will visit Chicago and begin our trek along the rivers: Illinois; upper Mississippi; Ohio; Cumberland: Tennessee; Tenn-Tom Waterway and the Black Warrior. We will have transited through 68 locks at this juncture. We have chosen the inner route from Mobile Alabama to Tarpon Springs Florida and the shorter Ocheechobee Waterway to reach the East coast of Florida. We will skip over to the Bahamas to wait out the winter before heading North on the Atlantic Inter Coastal Waterway.
The 10 years of researching and planning are finally at an end and we invite you to come along on our adventure.

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

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.