As we pulled away our dear friends Eddy and Linda on Spiritus tossed us our lines and took pictures as they waved goodbye. We hope to see you soon!
Even the pelicans lined up to wish us well!
It was a very smooth departure compared to the bumpy sea state when we arrived 5 weeks earlier. The problem was that we were not the only ones enjoying the smooth water! Slow down please!!
As we entered the bay at Cayo Costa there was a long sand bar that we had to stay fairly close to for the deepest water. What a strange feeling to be this close to the bar! Lots of boats and people fishing!
Cayo Costa State Park is a wonderful treat. We dinghied over to the park where we picked up a free shuttle that took us to the Gulf side of the island. There we walked the beach looking for shells.
The landing at the park
Bob wading in the Gulf of Mexico
We didn’t find a lot of shells, but I did find this awesome pelican skeleton. We learned they usually die from going blind, due to the force when hitting the water when diving for food!
As we were waiting for the shuttle back to the dock, we met a lovely lady that collects shells. She had a special tool that reaches out into the surf to gather shells not readily reachable by hand. When she found out we didn’t find many shells, she graciously shared some of hers with us. We will bring them home to Washington to share with the grands! Aren’t they pretty!
We returned back to the boat then dinghied into a mangrove cove where there is lots of wildlife. We saw lots of birds and an alligator, but no manatees.
Sure glad it wasn’t stingray season!
Cayo Costa is a very popular stop – I counted over 30 boats.
And an exquisite sunset!
As we continue on our way to Lake Okeechobee, we pass Cabbage Key – the island that’s home to the restaurant that serves the burger that was supposedly the inspiration for Jimmy Buffet’s song “Cheeseburger in Paradise”. Many cruisers stop to eat here but we heard it was pretty pricey for an OK burger and opted to just take pictures.
The birds do like the fishing on Cabbage Key though!
We were pleased to have lots of dolphins around on our run today. These two were especially playful as they kept looking up at me to make sure I was paying attention.
As we go inland, past Fort Meyers we see everything from large yachts…
To small cottages…
To island hideaways.
We went through a lovely little lock to get ready to enter Okeechobee Canal and spent the night just past the lock in a pretty park run by the Corp of Engineers. With our senior pass we only paid $15 for the night – water and electric included! Lovely neighbors that caught our lines as well!
The last leg of the canal before the lake was beautiful, calm and eclectic.
After going through a swing bridge
We saw lots of beautiful homes…
Some practically hidden in the trees
Parts of the canal were straight and plain.
And parts were home to boat after boat
A classic waiting to be restored
a restored classic
A stored NOT so classic pontoon boat (can you get any tighter of a fit??)
A stored yacht that looks bigger than the house!
And the first tow boat we’ve seen in weeks, that we later found is used for maintenance on the locks.
We almost didn’t see this guy sitting quietly at the edge of the canal
We spent the night at the little town of Moorehaven tied up to their town wall. This 116 foot yacht pulled in right in front of us! It had a crew of at least 6 that jumped down and tied up in a well choreographed dance. She made us look so tiny in comparison.
Moorehaven is a quaint little town with the straightest, flattest streets we’ve seen!
On to Lake Okeechobee in the morning.
Anchored at Cayo Costa – 2/5/18
Docked at Franklin Lock Park – 2/6/18
Docked at Moorehaven City Wall – 2/7/18
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