Sweetwater to Ft Myers Beach

Finally, a decent cruising day that’s not too cold, 55. Through Ortona and WP Franklin locks again uneventfully. There are prolonged manatee slow speed zones on the lower river plus the Miserable Mile approaching Ft Myers Beach.

We’re so glad the Pink Shell Marina re-opened after H Ian in Sept 2022. They still offer a real bargain for boats staying over 30 days and the amenities even better (now including buffett breakfast and omelet station with servers) and free beach chairs with umbrellas. Since then we’d been wintering at the Perry Marina, Key West but this year the same dates (Jan 23-Mar 2) rose from $3,800 to over $10,000! As usual we get put on the dinghy dock side of the big boats, which helps protect us from the predominant N winds this time of year. Blue skies and sunshine and 60 degrees, though there are some gusts to over 20 MPH.

Our very favorite mod is an entire camperback made of breathable Phifertex that provides unbelievable privacy as well, plus moderate wind and rain and bug protection. All nine panels can be deployed or not as desired, with a separate panel for three egress points (sides and boarding ladder). If you get one, be sure to specify bungy loops rather than snaps to secure the panel bottoms to the boat. Snaps are a pain as fabric ages.

NEBOLINK report here:

https://reports.nebo.global/c39be3b5-c00c-4ce8-…

It’s predicted to get into the 80’s next week, hooray!

Safe travels,

JohnRead more