Anna Maria Island to Fort Myers Beach

 Friday after an easy 10 mile ride from Sarasota to Bradenton Beach Marina on Anna Maria Island, we tied up and decided to take the free island shuttle to see what was on the island.

Anna Maria appears to be a nice little island but boy, oh boy is it crowded and totally built up. It seems to be quite popular for snow birds looking for a place to spend the winter.

After checking out the island, we walked the 2 blocks from our marina to the heart of the downtown area and found a nice oyster bar with a 2nd floor overlook for lunch.

Our marina was part marina and part boat yard. A little tight and in need of a little TLC. However, it was a safe place to spend the evening. That is Samba tied up at at the end of the building.

Saturday, the forecast was not very good for our trip to Venice so we waited until around 10:00 to leave in order to let the wind die down a little. By the time we made it the 10 miles to Sarasota, we had pounding rain and wind and a bit of difficulty seeing the channel and markers. Arghhh!

Fortunately, after about a half hour of grumpy weather, it cleared up quite a bit for the rest of our journey to Venice. And, yes, we had dolphins!

In the following short video clip, one of the 4 jumping dolphins decided he'd be more of a bucking bronco. He's pretty funny.

Bucky the Dolphin

There was a bit of a traffic jam at this bridge. It could only open on the half hour so there were several of us in line to get through.

We made it to Venice mid afternoon and just in time to get a reservation at the lovely restaurant next to where we tied up. What a great place to relax after a tense day! Notice the canvas top of Samba just over Carol's shoulder. Samba's right behind the dockmaster's office.

Monday, we had around 60 miles to go to get to Fort Myers. The forecast wasn't too, too bad so we headed out to the ocean at first light. Though we could stay in calm water on the intracoastal waterway, it is really a slow way to go as there are numerous no wake zones because of manatees.

Though the wind was forecast to mostly be below 15knots, it, of course, was above 20 knots for a while which made for a bit of a bumpy ride for the first 30 miles. The 2nd 30 miles was much more pleasant even though we were bucking directly into the wind and getting quite the dousing from the waves.

When we're on longer trips, Jim does periodic engine room checks. He takes temperature readings on key areas in the engines and generally makes sure nothing seems amiss. When he's in the engine room, Carol keeps an eye on him with a remote video camera. You can see the picture on the left side of the 2 screens.

We arrived at Fort Myers beach around 3:00 and took on a load of fuel before going to our marina at the Pink Shell Resort, right on the beach.

You can see Samba on the left side of the picture.

Tomorrow, John & Barb Gauger, friends from Warsaw, are due to arrive to spend a week with us exploring the everglades and Key West. There should be some interesting pictures of our expeditions.