Naples amenities

We left the mooring ball this morning and came over to the docks.  I topped off our fuel tank, and talked with the harbormaster about the location of our slip for tonight.  It's windy here today, and I wanted to be out of the wind if possible.  Then I asked if maybe there was cable TV available.  (The Colts play tonight)  We made a compromise.  The slip we got has cable TV, but is out near the end of the docks.  I didn't think it would be protected from the wind--until I saw our dock neighbors.  The boats around us are so big, they're blocking the wind.

We walked into town for lunch, and strolled up and down 5th Ave. 
I had on my Colts hat and Pam had on a Colts shirt.  We met some other Colts fans.  They used to live in Noblesville, but have now moved away--to Fishers.

Small world......again

Saw a 38' sailboat in front of some condos here in Naples. The name on the side looked familiar. "DELPHINA II"
Still had our sticker on it from when we sold it new .

Naples

We decided to stop in Naples last night. I had made a reservation for a slip at the city dock for today, and thought we'd anchor somewhere last night. Instead of anchoring, we rented a mooring ball in Naples for $10. They require you to come in to have your holding tank pumped out first.
While we're pumping out (next to the gas pump) some people are filling their deck boat with gasoline. When the guy says "I didn't think the tank held that much" we suspected trouble. Sure enough, he was filling the bilge with gas. The ethonol they add to the gas now acts as a solvent and eats through old fiberglass tanks. We left the dock in a hurry. Later we saw SeaTow towing the boat away. Lucky they saw it before starting up.
Tonight, we will be looking for a place to watch the Colts. If anyone knows how to reach Bill Harrington (assuming he's in Naples again this year) let us know.

heading south

Decided it's too cold here, so we're going down to the Naples area. It's about 56 miles. We left at 9am, and we travel at 8 mph. Andrew, what time will we arrive?
The gulf is calm today--another reason to travel. Wind shifting to south and then west tomorrow. You can see how calm it is beyond our flag in the photo. Hope we can keep flying that flag for the duration.
This trip, I'm posting on my blog from my cell phone. Most of the photos are taken from my phone as well. (It's not a "smart" phone, so someone like me can operate it. But it takes a while to type stuff.) You'd think running several miles offshore you would not need to keep a close watch where you're going, but there's crab pots everywhere out here.
We'll anchor out again tonight, then hope to get to a marina tomorrow and maybe find somewhere to watch tv tomorrow night. If you need a clue, look at the photo again.

Tunnel of Luv

We left Boca Grande this morning and motored down to an anchorage between Cabbage Key and Useppa Island.  Last year, I had caught lots of snook over in a little pond that is accessed through the tunnel of luv.  Even though the tide was a little above 0, it was still too shallow, and I had to get out and walk and pull CleoPAMtra through. 

The tunnel is finally starting to grow back after Charlie.  And judging from the tracks on the beach, the wild pig relocation project was not a total success.

The cold weather has destroyed the snook population.  Snook are extremely sensitive to cool water, and if they can't find a warm spot, it's the end.  Yesterday, we had seen snooks at the end of the canals in Boca Grande, but the snook in this small pond where we went today couldn't find a warm spot and couldn't escape the cold.  The water was more clear than usual (which probably made it even colder) and we could see the bottom in most areas.  There were hundreds of dead snook.  There were at least 25 snook over 30" long, and many many more smaller ones. 

The only non-snook of any size we saw was a grouper--most likely the one I caught in here last year.

It's no wonder I caught so may fish in here last year.  They were thick.

Later in the day, I tried Argay's secret spot near Useppa.  I could see four nice snook laying belly-up on the bottom. 

This was a really depressing day.

T & P

Cold snook

I was finally able to drag Pam out of the sleeping bag, and we took the bicycles across to town in the dinghy. We ate lunch at the Loose Caboose, and "shopped." We also stopped in Widdens. Interesting.
This afternoon, we toured the canals in the dinghy. Near the end of every canal were hunderts of cold snook. They were floating just below the surface, letting the sun warm them. The tide doesn't flow through the dead end canals, so the water stays warmer. There were some big old snooks over four feet long. It looked to me like they were in state of "suspended animation."
So here's a question. Who has the right of way in the second photo? The vessel with the propeller on the front, or the rubber boat?

Boca Grande

We left the truck and trailer at a storage place in Punta Gorda. Just behind the building in this photo.
Anchored in the bayou at Boca Grande. Not as cold last night. Only got down to 35. However, when I shut off the generator and the electric heat, the inside of the boat did seem a little nippy. I could see my breath inside when I got up this morning.