Fort
Myers and heading on East
With
brisk winds only slightly diminished, we headed south took a left turn up the
Caloosahatchee River to Fort Myers Yacht Basin a few blocks from the heart of
their refurbished downtown. It is also
handy to a Publix on the courtesy town trolley where we made a pit stop to
restock. Our main purpose for stopping
in Fort Myers, however, was to pick up our new boat bikes. The trusty bikes we used for a year on the
loop were recalled and replaced by West Marine.
However, our replacements were not scheduled to arrive in Panama City
before we left, so they kindly arranged for us to pick them up at their store
in Fort Myers. It was a short taxi ride
to the West Marine superstore and a five mile ride back – we had to make stops
for a new lock – somehow the old one got left on our shore bikes as did the
bells which required yet another stop. Frankly I was grateful Florida is
extremely flat (since the winds were still blowing) and we had those required
stops for essentials so I could recover and hydrate. Our return route passed
the busy Ford and Edison Winter Home complex which we visited several years ago
– another good rest stop.
With good luck there was a Farmer’s Market in the
park with a tempting French Bakery stall – perfect for breakfast before a bike
ride. Also a bonus, the Yacht Basin hosted a dock party on the local paddle
wheeler the night of our arrival, but we passed on more water based fun for an
evening on terra firma.
We did meet several other Krogen owners in the Basin –
one is for sale and the other a pristine 2008 44 where we were entertained by
the owners, Glen and Linda with their adventures on land, sea and in the air. We have rarely seen two Krogens in the same
place let alone four (there was a Manatee also moored in the basin.)
On
leaving Fort Myers we continued up the river through the locks leading toward Lake
Okeechobee our shortcut to Stuart and the ICW. We soon realized that the boat
behind us looked very familiar – it was a Krogen 39 being moved by charter
captains from Pensacola to Stuart. We again had the strange experience of see
ourselves passing us as he headed out a little faster than we travel. We tag teamed all day and finally left him as
we docked for the night in Moore Haven just before the lake.
A few minutes later the boat that was a few
miles behind us pulled in – another Krogen, this time a brand new KK55 with
cordial Captain Peter and Admiral Anne.
They graciously gave us the full tour of their beautiful custom boat –
where they comfortably live fulltime moving from winter harbors in Florida to
summer digs in Massachusetts. While we find our boat comfy, theirs is palatial
with full size appliances in the kitchen - truly a floating condo. But for Steve, probably the most tempting
feature is the walk in engine room. We will be sure not to stop at the Krogen
office in Stuart since Peter and Anne only went in for some advice on upgrades
to their ‘older’ Krogen 48 and ended up with their new home. They also kindly gave
us their reservation in Indian Town since we had to wait “two hours for the trains to clear before
transiting the lock at Moore Haven. At
our slow speed we would have been arriving after dark in Stuart – our intended
destination. So, we sit secure on the
Indian Town Marina dock with a gentle rain and power for the A/C if this
humidity doesn’t break. The marina staff left at 2 – well before we arrived,
but friendly fellow mariners jumped out to grab our lines and ease us into the
dock. Life is good even the cats are happy.
The big guy keeps busy!
Did he see our 'Noles flag?
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