Sarasota

Hello from Marina Jacks, in beautiful Sarasota, where Spray occupies slip Delta 19.

Our week-long stay at this deluxe marina is a splurge for us. The facilities are great and the location is right downtown, so we can walk to everything we need, including a Whole Foods a few blocks away.

We arrived last Thursday after 2 long days travel from Naples. The perfect cruising weather we had enjoyed between Marathon and Naples continued, with cloudless skies, light winds, and a smooth Gulf of Mexico. From leaving Naples Inlet Wednesday morning we cruised 25 miles NW to Fort Myers Beach and turned behind Sanibel Island and continued in more protected waters another 20 miles or so to the tightest anchorage we've ever experienced, called 'Punta Blanca South' at Cayo Costa State Park. As you see below its a small lagoon surrounded on 3 sides. There was barely room for Spray and a 2nd boat already there (from Maine, surprisingly).

There was a tiny sandy spot to land the dinghy and then walk the dogs in the small clear areas you see south of the lagoon. A very protected spot and, what with all the mangroves, we were surprised not to be bothered by gnats at night. We hope to revisit this park on our southward travel in a week or so and further explore it.

Thursday's run to Sarasota was 46 miles, the first 30 miles outside in the Gulf after exiting Boca Grande Inlet, then 15 miles inside after entering Venice Inlet. If the Gulf is calm then traveling out there is preferred as we avoid drawbridges and idiots in fast boats tearing up the channel (I joked that I wore out my middle finger on the inside runs).

We have been living large here. The marina delivers a newspaper to the boat every morning (an actual paper one!). There are many restaurants nearby, and parks all around. We stocked up at the Saturday farmers market and Sheila has visited Selby Gardens. There is much culture here including outdoor art, which we have all been enjoying.

We've had guides too since good friends (and Active Captain founders) Jeff and Karen Siegel have been docked here for the past month and we've been sharing daily dog walks with them, plus Sunday Brunch here. They travel with their 2 blonde labs and you can read about their stay in Sarasota on their blog. They left this morning, headed south and about to complete their Great Loop odyssey.

But there are many more Castiners here, mostly of the snowbird variety. Last night 18 of us gathered at the condo of Jeryl and Alex Huppe for drinks and snacks, then all walked to a downtown restaurant for supper. Lots of fun and great to see all the familiar faces.

We are paid up here until Thursday. Sarasota was the 2nd of 3 major destinations for this trip (1st was Marathon, 3rd is Castine) so now our travel schedule is quite open. Eventually we'll be slowly working our way back down to Ft Myers, and then across Okeechobee. Stay tuned!

 

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