Second Chance at Bob's dock in Ft. Myers
Friday morning, 7 am ish, Richard ( Brother in law ) arrived to pick us up and take us to their Sanibel house.
Beth settled in, started some laundry and took a nap while Richard and I headed to the beach to fish. We did pretty well catching a variety of fish mainly Sea Trout, some flounder, several snook, and a few lady fish. We released the snook as they are not in season but kept the legal trout and flounder. We got back to the house around noon, lunched and headed to the airport to pick up our rental car for the week. We got a great deal at Avis, $105 for the week but the taxes and garbage fees were almost as much. We ran some errands and got back to the house around 8.
Saturday was a relaxation day. We did a little sightseeing around the island but pretty much did nothing. My knee was hurting pretty bad so relaxing was a good idea.
Sunday, Richard came back down to go fishing and the fishing was great. We nailed the trout and flounder, as well as adding a small grouper to the variety. Sunday afternoon was followed by more of nothing.
Monday was a sightseeing day and searching for stuff for the boat. We must have driven 100 miles. Got the canvas ordered and picked up a new tracking system for the boat since the AIS isn't reliable. It should update every 10 minutes and give a better map. Kinda pricey and a subscription service but hopefully it will work better. Beth got the dinghy registered so we can actually use it in Florida. We also picked up a "no contract" cell phone. I transferred my phone # and Beth's will be cancelled next week. If you only have Beth's # call quick and get the new #. I can't say I am sorry to say goodbye to AT&T. Ft. Myers, Cape Coral and Sanibel are all very pretty places. The $6 bridge to Sanibel is a bit ridiculous but does get you there and is the only way to get there.
Tuesday was another day of relaxation as my knee was really sore and swollen from Mondays activities and a doctors appointment was made to see about my knee. I did a little re-organizing of Richards garage whilst looking for a screwdriver. I tried not to move too much as he would never find stuff but put a bit of logic to the chaos.
Wednesday was a busy day. Doctors appointment was early in the day and the doctor drained 54cc of fluid from my left knee and gave me a shot of corticosteroid to reduce the inflammation and allow me to actually use it until the shot wears off, if I am lucky, 6 months. Then we were off to pick up the new canvas shades for the boat which A1 Canvas of Cape Coral made for us and we picked up a couple of folding bikes ( Dahon Mariner) for the boat. Bikes will greatly improve our mobility when we are docked. We also picked up a trailer for the bikes so we can haul groceries and the dogs. The bikes were a good deal as we lucked into them on craigslist. We went by West Marine but didn't actually buy anything, possibly a first for me.
Thursday was a busy day as the family was joining us on Friday for the long weekend and my birthday. We hit the beach early with the dogs and Catie amazed us both with the way she took to the water. She showed no fear and was quite happy playing in the waves and chasing everything that moved. I fished while Beth looked for sea shells. When I pulled in a snook, Catie was there nibbling at its tail and licking it. Once I released the fish, Catie chased it back into the water until a wave set her back. After returning from the beach and cleaning up, including a bath for the dogs, We went by Bob's to drop off things at the boat. I wanted to make sure the replacement speedometer I had ordered fit without leaks and put the bikes on the boat. I also put the Florida registration on the dinghy and gave it a quick test drive around the canals. The water cooling had been an issue but a quick check of the discharge line and all was well. We then headed out to see "Pirates of the Caribbean - On Stranger Tides" at the Coralwood Theater, Marquee Cinemas in Cape Coral. This was one of my customers when I was with TicketPro and the manager and I were friends. The movie was the fourth in the series and it ranks fourth in my book for the series. It was good seeing Charles Mayo, the manager, again and laughing about old times. We ran the remainder of our errands and got back to Sanibel around 11 pm.
Friday we got a bit of a late start but cleaned up the house and moved our stuff to the downstairs portion of the house. Anytime we were outside, Catie and Cocoa spent their time chasing lizards. The lizards are everywhere and the dogs had hours of fun chasing them as well as chasing crabs. We met Richard and Christine ( my niece ) at the Ft. Myers airport as we returned the rental car. On the way back to Sanibel, We stopped for lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger for possibly the best burgers ever. Richard and I put the Shearwater boat in the water and headed out to gather bait for fishing Saturday morning. Gail ( my sister ) and David ( my nephew ) got to Sanibel about 9pm and we had a cookout of hot dogs while Beth had corn dogs. Corn dogs were a new thing to Richard and we couldn't believe he had never heard of them.
Saturday Richard and I were fishing by 7 am and the fishing wasn't as good as it had been on previous outings. The fish I caught were either not keepers or legal but Richard caught a few flounder. We got back to the house about noon and feasted on deli sandwiches. Beth got to sleep in a bit but woke up in time for breakfast. After lunch we ran some errands around town and came back to have a great steak cookout.
After dinner, Richard and I headed back to the beach to catch a few more fish but they still were not hitting like they were previously. Richard caught a few keeper trouts. The rest of the family joined us just before sunset and it was a great sunset. Watching the sun set over the open gulf is a beautiful sight. I am sure we will post a few pictures of the sunsets on our cruises.
Sunday, ( John's Birthday ) Richard and I went fishing again but it was even worse than Saturday. We called it quits pretty early and picked up some eggs on the way back to the house. Richard cooked breakfast and then we all headed for the beach. It was clear, sunny and HOT so all of us, less Richard were under the shade of the umbrella and occasionally taking a dip. Catie and Cocoa really enjoyed the beach. After returning from the beach and cleaning up, We all went to the Hungry Heron ( with a huge menu ) for my birthday dinner. Then off to Dairy Queen for dessert and back to the house.
Monday started out the same as the other days, fishing but the fish were not cooperating so we called it a day pretty quickly. Back to the house to clean up, pack up, have lunch and depart. We had a great time on Sanibel Island and enjoyed the house as well as the company but we were ready to get back to the boat and continue our adventure. The family dropped us off at Bob's around 3 and unpacked all the crap we acquired over the week. We organized a bit but pretty much just crashed.
Tuesday - Project Day. The day started off pretty warm and just got warmer, downright HOT. It started off with a trip to WalMart courtesy of Bob. I had a couple of prescriptions I needed to get refilled and a few items for the boat. Once back I was determined to get things done. The main tasks for the day shouldn't have taken too long but it seems every job took 4 times as long as it should have. I replaced the compass on the boat which took much longer than it should have.
 |
| John's Birthday present to John |
 |
| John's Birthday present from Beth |
We met with Bob, Jim and Deb for dinner and were treated to dinner at Cactus Jacks as well as good conversation, strategy talk and good company. Bob has been very generous to us and hopefully we will rendezvous with him again on our travels and he will actually let us buy him dinner. Jim and Deb just finished working on their house and got all their inspections finalized this week so hopefully they will start cruising again soon. I feel certain we will meet up with them along the way sometime.
Jim, Deb, Bob, John & Beth ( from left to right )
Wednesday, June 1 - Our last day of staying put. Bob was again gracious and loaned us his car for a few last minute errands. We dropped him off at the library and headed to Cape Coral to buy sunglasses for the dogs. Beth saw a dog with them on while we were at Cactus Jacks and just had to have them.  |
| Catie with her new shades on the dash of Bob's Car |
No comments:
Post a Comment