Boca Grand is only a few hours cruising from Punta Gorda. We arrived in the early afternoon and followed a narrow channel into the bayou. Just around the bend, the bayou opens into a small basin. Boats drop anchor in the middle of the basin and tie off the stern on the  mangroves. There were about ten boats all lined up together. At the end of the line were two sailboats with enough space between them for us to fit easily.

I dropped anchor and proceeded to back down slowly. Marion on the swim platform was to attach a line to the closest available mangrove.  Alas, the water was too shallow and the rudders would not allow us to get close enough. By now all persons aboard the previously anchored boats came topside to watch the newcomer get tied up.

We would need the dinghy, so I went forward to take in anchor rode and move us clear of the other boats. Next I went topside and removed the cover from the dinghy, released the tie downs, got the genset running to power the crane, attached its power cord and proceeded to lower the dinghy. All of this took several minutes and we drifted aimlessly about on the anchor.

Marion said, "We are never going to do this again. All those people are watching."

"It will be all right." I explained, " I will back down again, get into the dinghy, take a line with me and tie us off."

I released the clutch on the windlass to let out about 50 feet of rode but failed to retighten the clutch. Next I went to the fly bridge and backed the boat into position near the mangroves. As I got into the dinghy I heard the chain running over the windlass.  We were not held.

"Marion," I shouted, "Go secure the anchor... we will drift."

She got there just as the chain to rope splice was going over bow roller. She got it secured but could not haul it in. It was my fault; I had not instructed her in the use of the windlass clutch. I got out of the dinghy in a hurry... raced forward... got the anchor and windlass problem corrected.

"Can we just leave?" she asked.

"Not in the current state of affairs... The dinghy is in the water... It's still attached to the crane.... We can make it into the mangroves and tie off.... Trust me, please."

The next pass was easy, and we tied off the mangroves. Gin and Tonic time. Then we settled down to an evening on the hook.

We had a big steak dinner. It was OK on the new Mayo Clinic Diet we had just started. That night Marion had a terrible stomach ache.  She did not sleep all night. I think she could not stand all the meat we were eating. The next day she left the Mayo Diet and went on a Sugar Busters regimen.

In the morning I took the dinghy in to town to buy wine and Kitty Litter. Those are two essentials we had somehow overlooked on our provisioning trip in Punta Gorda.

Boca Grande is a  charming spot. The Gasparilla Inn dates back into the twenties. As I walked into town I could see a dozen men in the distance. They were all dressed in white, and were playing some sort of game on the lawn. At first I thought it might be cricket, but there was not enough action. I finally decided it must have been some sort of lawn bowling. At any rate it left me with a lasting image of elegance that I would never have imagined.

When I got back to the boat with my shopping completed, Marion was up and said she was ready to move on. That's when Chinese Mangrove Fire Drill #2 occurred. Marion was below taking a shower and I decided to pull out without her help. That was a Big Mistake.

With engines started, I went by dinghy into the mangroves to release the stern lines. The first line was easy. The second line was under tension because it was holding the boat from drifting. I struggled to get it free and when that was done Remedy proceeded to drift down on one of the adjacent sailboats. It all happened very slowly, but there was nothing I could do to stop the contact except to maneuver the dinghy, hand over hand, into position between the sailboat and Remedy. That prevented any damage, but the port propeller on Remedy snagged the anchor rode of the sailboat.

About this time Marion came topside. "How did you get in such a mess?" she asked, "I could have helped."

My excuse was a lame, "You were not feeling well and busy below... I thought I could handle it."

It was jolly good fun getting clear. One of the many watching boaters came out in his dinghy and towed us into a position away from the sailboat where we could do no harm. But alas, the anchor rode was still hooked on the prop. In the end I decided to change into a bathing suit and dive. After three dives the anchor rode was free.

The audience was sufficiently amused, and were polite enough not to applaud. We recovered our dinghy and then left for the next stop.

Useppa Island and Cabbage Key

It would be less than a two hours trip from Boca Grande to the Useppa Island Anchorage so we killed some time and went off shore through the Boca Grande Inlet. We arrived at the anchorage in mid afternoon, deployed the dinghy and got set for two days on the hook.

No sooner than we were settled, Jack and Betsy Hardy on Antares came in to anchor nearby. We dinghied over and made plans to go exploring with them the following day. Then Marion and I went over to Cabbage Key where we climbed the water tower (that's what the guidebooks say you have to do.) The climb rewards you with a panoramic view of the surrounding mangrove islands and the shallow water bay.
Mindful of our diets we had a glass of Chardonnay and ordered a pound of Rock Crab claws to go.

"Let's go sailing," I suggested next morning.

"You Are On." That's Marion's enthusiastic way of saying yes.

The breeze was moderate, the bay waters smooth. This allowed us a very enjoyable sail. We explored the shallow waters near Cabbage key and admired the fine homes along the shore of Useppa Island. In the shallows Marion developed her technique for dagger board management.... at some places the water was less than a foot so the dagger was up and down constantly.  We buzzed Antares for a Photo Op.  Betsy was clicking away as we maneuvered close by.
 
 

That afternoon we joined Jack and Betsy for a trip to the Tunnel of Love and the beach of Cayo Costa Island. We took both dinghies and timed our departure for the high tide.  Jack lead the way. He had been there before and had a shallower draft aluminum dinghy. Our Zodiac RIB carries a large outboard with a long shaft. It needs about two feet of water so we bumped several times along the way. Both boats had to be dragged through the shallows for about 30 yards.

In the Tunnel of Love the shallower draft dinghy towed me on the Zodiac with my engine out of the water.  The tunnel is a narrow winding stream over arched by mangroves.  It leads to a small pond right behind the dunes on Cayo Costa beach.

 

We strolled the beach and watched the tide carefully.  Along the way we found several very large sand dollars.  I did a sand castle on the tide line hoping the tide would come up and wash it away. Instead, the tide fell while we were on our beach walk. That meant we needed to leave.

<< Marion and I at the Beach   The Hardys had introduced us to the Mayo Clinic diet so that evening we pooled out diet food and had a steak feast on Remedy. It was a great evening. It turns out that Jack and I share the same BIRTH  DATE!  He is about 8 hours older and shows it.  We plan to meet up at the Maimi Boat Show.

After two days at Useppa Island we cruised down to the Ding Darling / Tarpon Bay Anchorage. We were in by early afternoon and sailed the Sunfish into Tarpon Bay. At some places the water was six inches deep.  Down wind we did not need the daggerboard so we made it over the sandy shoal and into a narrow cut that goes to Tarpon Bay. The bay has a couple of sandbars in the middle that are the home for Pelicans and Anhinga. Beautiful sight... Awful smell downwind.

It was a great sail.

Next morning we cruised to Ft Meyers Muncipal Marina and managed to dock in a 20 Kt North wind. The harbormaster was most helpful... the wind was off the long dock... It did take two tries to get in close enough for the line toss. Once set we went to town for Lunch and to await our guests for the next leg.