Detour to Ft Myers Beach

Tuesday, March 2, 2021. Day 86.

It was foggy when we awakened in Punta Gorda.

I went for a 2 mile walk along the waterfront before we left for our offshore trip to Naples. We were very excited because we had reservations at the Naples Yacht Club, and........ we were getting the second vaccine, within a 3 hour drive! The weather cleared quickly during my walk, and at 10:30am, we left the Laishley Park Municipal Marina; it had been great! Captain Roland did an excellent job backing out of our extremely narrow slip (6 inches total between the width of the slip and the width of Magic Moments).

We needed to put the dinghy back on to the top of the boat before we went offshore in the Gulf, and that was not a maneuver to be done in the marina. Punta Gorda is on the Peace River, and the marina had a mooring field that they said we could use to raise the dinghy. There were very few mooring balls available, and unfortunately, Captain Roland didn’t like the condition of any of them, so we anchored and we raised the dinghy. It still took between 20 and 30 minutes, but we are getting better. It is clear that we still need practice; this was only our third time. After raising the dinghy and securing it, we brought up the anchor and began our journey from the Peace River to Charlotte Harbor, on our way to the Gulf.

Our plan was to anchor at our old favorite, “Ding” Darling, yet again (our fifth visit), because the wind was south and that was our best shelter. Our reservations at the Naples Yacht Club was not for another day.

We arrived in Pine Island Sound at approximately 4:30pm. There was light traffic; it was a beautiful day; the winds were varying from 6 to 12 knots, mostly south west. On the way I handled a lot of phone calls, texts and emails.

We had an early start planned for tomorrow so we had an early evening.

Wednesday, March 3, 2021. Day 87.

I did not sleep well because I again had mosquito bites. I have now determined to never go back to “Ding” Darling as long as I live! I was convinced that “Ding” Darling was the source of my tortuous insect bites. I again, had to prepare for four days of itching hell.

We left the anchorage at 6am on our way to Naples.

In preparation for our offshore passage in the Gulf, I applied a patch in the morning and took a pill. After about an hour in the Gulf, the conditions were too difficult for me and I got seasick again. First of all, the forecast, as usual, was wrong. The winds were much heavier than predicted (even Captain Roland took a pill). In addition, I should have, out of an abundance of caution, applied the patch the night before and taken the pill the night before. There we were, part way to Naples and we had to get out of the Gulf. Roland had to really hustle and find a marina; I had to be in calmer water. Itching from insect bites maybe hell, but being seasick, is death. This was the second time on this adventure and, after the first time, I had sworn, never again.

Roland managed to find a marina, for a couple of nights, in Fort Myers Beach: Moss Marina. The people were extremely nice, (I am sure I looked green when we arrived). The slip was difficult for me to get on and off the boat but the dock hands brought over a four step unit which was a godsend. I was very appreciative of their help. They brought me a bottle of cold water and hoped that I would recover quickly from being so ill.



After I recovered, we had to make arrangements: cancel the yacht club in Naples (sad); change the rental car to Ft Myers Beach from Naples; rearrange dinner plans with Andi (fortunately she is closer to Fort Myers Beach then Naples anyway so that worked for her).

Roland had to clean up red wine from a broken wine bottle that was knocked around by the heavy seas in the Gulf, and I had to start working on my post office problem (the post office was sending all of my mail back to the senders, marked “not deliverable”).

But these problems were minor, I was so pleased to be out of the Gulf where I had been so ill. Being seasick is awful. Every five minutes feels like two hours and although we were docked 2 1/2 hours from the start of our day, it seemed like I had been sick for a long time.

The drive to and from Hialeah for the vaccine the next day would be an hour longer each way but the relief of getting out of the Gulf made up for all our inconveniences.

Because of the lack of sleep the previous night, and my episode in the Gulf, I needed to rest; I did very little that day, after we switched all our arrangements. I watched the dolphins in the marina frolicking around the boats, and the birds displaying pecking order dominance, as the bigger birds knocked the smaller ones off the pilings.

I began hydrating, based on advice from other folks who have had their second shot and had reactions: headaches, breathing issues, and exhaustion, starting 12 to 24 hours after the second shot and lasting 24 to 36 hours.

One of the joys of cruising is that I always have a 360 degree water view when at anchor, and a pretty view even in a marina. So, recovering on the boat from our second shot reaction, will really not be so bad.

Andi canceled the dinner reservation in Naples and came to the boat to see Magic Moments at the marina. With masks on and all the doors open, she did a quick tour and then she drove us to Enterprise car rental. We followed her to the restaurant. Outside and socially distanced, we enjoyed a fun, happy hour meal at Bluepoint. We tried to keep the conversation not totally camp centric, so that Roland wouldn’t be bored to tears. It was a fun reunion for both of us.

Still heavily hydrating and very light on the alcohol (we had one and a half glasses of wine each), we went to sleep early so we could leave in time for a 9:45am appointment, three hours away in Hialeah, for our second vaccine.