Catch Up

Hi everyone…we’re in Naples this morning. I need to go back and fill in the last couple of days, but I’m pressed for time this AM – gotta get moving. Here’s a quick update – more to follow.

We left Everglades City yesterday morning and got our brains beat out rounding Cape Romano. If you go back and look at my earlier Everglades post, you can see the chart.

We left Everglades City at 7AM, and when we left the shelter of the Ten Thousand Islands, the Gulf of Mexico was much rougher than we had expected from the forecast. It took us three hours to round Cape Romano. We had to reduce speed for the conditions, and by 10:00 we had barely made it to Marco Island. The chart plotter told me we had another 2 hours to go to reach Captiva, and I just threw in the towel.

That was the first time in the entire trip we aborted a planned passage. Good decision.

We pulled into Marco Island at Capri Pass, turned left, and took the ICW north to Naples. It is a pretty stretch. There’s not much water in this stretch of the ICW (we touched twice), but it was calm and sunny. Very little development. All mangroves and sand.

As an unexpected bonus, we were able to have dinner with Chris, Kim, and Valerie (cousins) at Sea Salt in Naples. Best meal I have had in years. Great company, as well.

Today we are off to Captiva for one night and then on to Sarasota for a week.

Take care. Stay safe.