All Layered Up ... Again

Day 253  |  Englewood to Punta Gorda  |   4.2 Hours  |  25 Miles  

Hello, Florida, could you please turn the heat back on? It was 46 degrees this morning and the windchill with a 5-10 knot north wind dipped into the upper 30s. I bundled up in three layers, top and bottom, and went out to raise the anchor. Thankfully it came up pretty clean with only a little bit of sea grass and caked-on sand. I got it cleaned off quickly and we were underway by 9:30. Our first bridge was within eyeshot of our anchorage and the kind operator had it open for us as we neared. We are still traveling the intracoastal waterway, which is limited in most places to no-wake speed (for us, about 6 knots). It makes for a slower trek, but the water is calmer than out in the Gulf of Mexico and there is a little bit of scenery. Today we were watching the flags, stretched stiff in the wind. Dolphins and ospreys were also plentiful, but honestly it was too cold (the high was 53) to open the door and bring out the camera. Our final bridge of the day was the Boca Grande Swing Bridge. It only opens on the full and half hours. We arrived at 10 till and had a short wait.

From the GICW we cut across Charlotte Harbor and into Burnt Store Marina in Punta Gorda. Before going to our slip, we stopped and picked up 300 gallons of diesel and got a pumpout (since we were there). We easily settled into our slip and took a while to get all our fenders set up. I have come to love floating docks and have concluded that fixed docks combined with a large tidal range don't work well with the hull shape of Crossroads. The slab sides and low caprail seem to rub in all the wrong places. We got off and walked the docks for a while. The bougainvillea blooms reminded me that warmer days are typical for this area. We passed by our big brother -- a 58-foot Selene -- sitting prominently on one of the T-heads. The dropping sun lit up the surrounding condos with a golden glow, before sinking below the horizon with a splash of orange.

A follow-up on yesterday's rain. It was officially the rainiest January day on record ... ever ... in Fort Meyers, with close to four inches falling. We weren't too far away in Englewood, and our total had to be close to that.

Tomorrow will be sunny, with a high of 65. We'll make the most of it and do some exploring.