Indian Key To Naples

Heading into Naples anchorage

After waiting at anchor for an extra day while a large weather system went across the Gulf of Mexico, we were anxious to get sailing again. Mike was disappointed with the lack of wind forecasted for the sail, but it was time to move along. At 9 a.m. We set sail heading south of west to clear the Cape Romano Shoals before heading north to Naples.

We started out moving pretty slowly due to some tidal current, but eventually enough wind came to help Wrinkles pick up a little speed. Once we cleared the Shoals the Gulf current added some more speed which made the sail much more enjoyable. We took advantage of some westerly winds to get Wrinkles sailing along at 5.7 to 6.4 knots. Traveling by sailboat is so much more enjoyable when you actually get to sail.

The winds came and went which meant putting sails up and down a few times, but overall we had a really nice trip. Once we were within 8 miles of Naples we slowed Wrinkles down on purpose to time our entry into Naples at the beginning of a rising tide. There isn't a lot of water in these anchorages, so a rising tide gives us some insurance if we should "temporarily park on some sand".

Naples

Don and Gail had anchored here, so they led us in. We dropped anchor in a tight little canal that could maybe fit three sailboats in it. Nice neighborhood! Don dropped his dinghy and rowed over to collect two empty water jugs from us which he rowed back to his boat and filled with fresh water for us. He even brought Mike a cold beer both times he arrived at Wrinkles. We have been sailing side by side with Don and Gail since March 12th and have been together nearly every day since. It is amazing how much fun we have had with them and how compatible we we have been. There are very few couples in this world who can spend this much time together and still enjoy each other's company every day. We feel so very fortunate to have pulled into that slip next to theirs over a year ago in Clearwater.

Tomorrow we sail to the J.N. "Ding" Darling (Brenda calls it Ding Dong Darling) anchorage near Sanibel Island. After that we sail just 18 miles to Pelican Bay in Charlotte Harbor and finally 20 miles to Punta Gorda which will complete this season's trip.

 

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