In the morning, Jen pulled the anchor up. Unfortunately, the chain was twisted around the anchor swivel. It was too heavy to twist it manually or with a hook. After several minutes of all of us trying, Mike decided to pull up the anchor with some rope to create slack and take the weight off the twisted chain. Funny, how the simple solutions tend to be the best ones.

It was a was a great weather day. The water was calm and beautiful. We played music, the dogs took great naps and we really enjoyed the trip. Jen and Mike did most of the driving as they couldn’t rely on autopilot because of all the crab pots they had to dodge along the way.

Little Shark River Anchorage is a popular anchorage stop on the way to the keys. By sun down, there were 7 visible boats including our friends, “Miss Lily”. We heard that wifi and cell services is very weak so before we arrived, we let Michael know our location for safety purposes.

When we set the anchor, Mike had the boat in reverse and pulled back on the chain a little harder. It caused the chain to bounce and we weren’t certain about it so we pulled it up and tried again. The chain bounced again and we decided it must be fine.

It was a beautiful anchorage. We were surrounded by trees and marsh with a beautiful sunset across the gulf. That evening, we played a card game – Phase 10. It is a lot like the card game, Shanghai. Kelly won!!

We went to bed a little less worried about the anchor. Not sure when we will trust it.

The Wishes crew all slept good and left the marina around 10:30am.

After getting us out of the marina, Mike went back to work.

Jen and autopilot drove today… with Teddy’s help (see pictures below)

The dogs did much better than the day before. We could all tell the dogs had a little PTSD from yesterday’s bumpy ride. We had a really nice and warm day. We made it to Panther Key Anchorage in about 5 hours. Mike and Jen set the anchor, and checked our surroundings to get an idea of our position. there was a fishing boat pulled up on the beach, and the family had brought and set up tents to camp there for the night.

Mike made cheeseburgers for dinner, they were delicious.

After dinner Mike went out to check our surrounding and make sure our anchor wasn’t dragging. He was confused on why our boat was facing opposite the wind. Which could mean one of two things, the anchor was dragging or the current was stronger than the wind. To test the current vs. wind theory, Jen had an idea. She took the anchor ball and put it in the water. If the wind was stronger than the current the ball would drift the direction of the wind, and if the current was stronger the ball with drift into the wind. The ball drifted into the wind, the current was stronger which meant the boat was facing the correct way. Good job Jen!!

We watched Big Bang Theory, and went to bed early. Bonnie got to have a sleepover with Jen and Harley, Teddy was invited but choose to sleep with Mike and Kelly.

Good bye Pink Shell!!

Because of upcoming weather issues, we decided to skip going to Captiva and head for Marco Island in hopes of getting ahead of the strong winds. It was still a bumpy ride…so bumpy that Teddy and Bonnie got sea sick and threw up on Kelly twice!

On the way, we found the last slip at Marco Island. We got a spot on a T dock (end of the dock). We docked in front of a couple, David and Kim, we met at Sarasota. Their boat, “Miss Lily”, is a really cute 40′ Pilgrim Trawler with an ornate gold painted and carved design.

The Marina at Factory Bay is the only marina we encountered that has free laundry!! We did laundry until past midnight. Laundry usually costs $4 ($2/washer, $2/dryer). It isn’t about the cost but rather having that many coins available.

We left Texas with $80 in quarters and they are almost gone. Time to look for a bank.

FINALLY A BEACH DAY!!

Mike worked, while the dogs played. It funny when we try to take pictures of them playing it always looks like they are eating one another. Their teeth are always out and it looks so aggressive even though its not.

Jen and Kelly went to the beach. It was perfect, 78 degrees with a cool breeze.

After mike was down working he met the girls at the pool. The Wishes crew ate dinner at the restaurant by the pool, Bongos. It was good. Kelly had a burger, Mike had a shrimp sandwich, Jen had a BBQ chicken salad.

After dinner the crew did some trip planning. We were supposed to go up to Captiva for a few days, but we had a great weather window and decided to head south to the Keys instead. We found a few possible anchorages in the Everglades and by Marco Island, and changed our reservations in Marathon.

Watched a few episodes of Big Bang Theory and went to bed early.

Mike worked.

Kelly and Jen got the boat cleaned up and ready to go for our next travel day.

After work Mike and Kelly got a Uber to get oil. Once we get to Marathon, Mike is going to need to do an oil change on our engines. We weren’t sure how easy it would be to get the oil in there so we decided to go ahead and get it now.

Kelly made blueberry apple cobbler. It was very yummy.

Mike worked.

Kelly did some trip planning.

It was a quiet day on the boat. It was pretty chilly and got windy again.

We walked over to the beach to watch the sunset. So beautiful.

Happy Sunday!!

Today we spent the day exploring downtown Fort Myers Beach, they call it Times Square.

We took the free public tram. While we were waiting for the tram to pick us up, Mike couldn’t help but work. He was examining the bench to see if it was something Accurate could make and add to their Select Space catalog. He was walking it out and measuring it out, but since Jen is always prepared she had her tape measure in her purse. He took all sorts of measurements, and will draw it up on his computer later. It was cute watching Mike doing what he loves. A note to Mikes coworkers who read our blog… He really is out here working! lol

Once we got to Times Square we walked down the pier and got to look out to the Gulf of Mexico, it was a very pretty view. We were told how this pier belonged to the pelican. Jen took a picture next time him. There was a little boy who decided to pet/feed the pelican and after giving him the food, took it away…. The pelican bit him. It was hilarious.

Jen has been collecting stickers from all the places we have been. Took a few stores, but she found her sticker for Fort Myers Beach 🙂

We watched a street magic show, Jen got picked to participate. She picked a card out of the deck and signed it. Later in the show he pulled it out of his mouth… it was pretty cool.

We had lunch and a few beers at Edelweiss Burger. The burgers where fantastic! It was one of the best burgers we have ever had at a restaurant. Unfortunately it was their last day open, they sold the building and were retiring.

We got Ice Cream at Kilwins… so yummy.

The Wishes Crew walked back to the hotel and watched the end of the football game, and the first half of the second game. We are rooting for Matthew Stafford and the Rams to win the Super Bowl.

After finishing up the game at the boat the crew went to bed.

Last night was rough. We all made it though without getting sea sick. The dock was very loud last night, the piling was banging around all night on the floating dock. Good news is we didn’t bang up against the dock at all. Jen took Tylenol PM and Kelly took Dramamine to help get sleep… it helped. The dogs did surprisingly well, Teddy normally gets sea sick pretty easily but he did great.

This morning we spent the morning drinking coffee and watching Big Bang Theory. Wind was 26mph, and waves were about 4ft every 3-4 seconds… it was going to be a long day. The floating docks were rocking so much it was unsafe for us to get off the boat.

Later in the afternoon the winds slowed down to only about 15mph and we were able to get off the boat safely. We walked across the street to the hotel. We were able to drop off some mail at the front desk, including a post card for our 4th crew member… call us when you get it Michael!

As the sun went down so did the temperature. We headed back to the boat, and made dinner. Jen made chili with chicken, green peppers, corn, and white beans. It was the same chili she made during the crossing which brought back good memories from that night. After dinner we turned on Game Of Thrones, and took Jell-O shots when characters died. It was a fun night.

Mike worked today.

Dogs slept, they were exhausted from the AGLCA event the week prior.

Jen and Kelly spent the day working on blog posts. The weather was chilly and windy, so we spent the day inside.

Today we said good bye to our friends at Legacy Harbor. Kelly did some last minute shopping at Publix, Jen batten down the hatches in case of rocky seas and Mike worked. At lunch time, Mike got us pulled out of the slip and Kelly drove us to Pink Shell Marina. It was a beautiful day. We put life jackets on the dogs and they rode up on the flybridge with us. They are becoming less nervous. Teddy and Bonnie slept while Harley slept with one eye open guarding the boat for Pirates.

Pink Shell is a resort marina with pools, private access to the beach and restaurants. The weather is predicted to be chilly so we hope we will get use the amenities.

We took the free trolley to downtown Fort Myers Beach and ate at ”Salty Crab”. Because there was a piece of plastic in Jen’s shrimp n grits, they gave us free drinks and Jen’s meal was free also. It was a nice discount since we had 2 beers, a 32 ounce and 20 ounce margarita.

The trolley rides were fun because the driver was entertaining. It appears to be a bunch of old retired guys looking for something to do. We are looking forward to the next ride.