Captiva to Cabbage Key

Tuesday afternoon in the South Seas Resort marina on Captiva, we had a fun time watching a couple of Osprey squabble over dinner.

The one on the right had caught a nice fish and was trying to eat it while the one on the left kept trying to steal it.

In the next 2 pictures, watch as the bird with the fish side steps down the pier, dragging his fish behind him. Every time he took a couple of steps, the other would take a couple. Finally, he flew away to eat in peace.

 During our 2 days hunkered down from the high winds, Jim took advantage of the time to work on one of the vacuum toilets. It was pretty stinky down in the bilge but he finally replaced 4 duck valves on our forward toilet. Woo hoo.

We had a gentle giant visit right behind us while we were in the marina. We suspect he was looking for shelter from the raging wind and some warmth in the marina water.

In spite of the cold & windy conditions, Jim washed the salt off of Samba in preparation for our trip on north.

Though chilly, the day dawned clear and with much lower winds. Yay!!!!!!

As we were leaving, there was a small helicopter revving in the brush next to our exit path. Hmmm.

You can see how calm the intercoastal water was as we were leaving the marina. Carol was busy coiling our lines.

Our trip today was less than 10 miles. As we headed in, we were near this sandbar full of birds enjoying the sun.

Due to the cold weather and unusually high winds, the marina at Cabbage Key was deserted.

It looked like this water tower had a bunch of snakes reaching out. It was actually debris collected by the resident Osprey.

The view from the top of the water tower was lovely.

They had a number of gopher tortoises on the property. Donatello was the only one brave enough to face the cold temperatures. All of the others had gone underground.

A little later, we took a nice walk on the island’s nature trail.

Some people collect sea shells. We saw tree shells! LOL.

Carol decided to add to the collection.

Knicker nuts are an interesting plant.

Cabbage Key is named after the Cabbage Palms which are pretty prolific throughout the island.

The view of the waterway from the boat was nice.

Since the restaurant here is the one Jimmy Buffet dedicated his song, Cheeseburger in Paradise to, we, of course, had to celebrate lunch with a cheeseburger and, yes, it was great.  Notice Samba in the background.

Inside the restaurant is fun because of the thousands of dollars hanging everywhere.

We had dinner here and enjoyed the quietness and the company of just a few other people.

Gosh, maybe Jim should apply for a job?!!

Right before we left on Thursday morning, we noticed an osprey enjoying a bite of breakfast next to our bowsprit. Though Jim was quiet as he went forward to get a picture, the bird decided he didn’t like anyone looking at his catch.

Next, we head to Punta Gorda for lunch with our good friends Barb & Mark Yoder from Warsaw.