Reaching for the Stars

Day 260  |  Punta Gorda to Pelican Bay  |   2.5 Hours  |  12 Miles  

We quickly checked off all our items this morning -- take out the trash, fill up the water tanks, latest farewells-for-now to Miss Utah -- and exited Burnt Store Marina via a trip to the pumpout dock. Everything is set for a week on the hook. We headed directly across Charlotte Harbor, steering from the flybridge for the first time in a long time. My favorite spot is sitting at the port rail and dangling my feet from the upper deck. From the higher vantage point I was able to spot some jellyfish and even a sea turtle. The sky was clear, the sun bright, and the only breeze was what we created. It was an ideal day for travel.

We turned south just prior to the Port Boca Grande Lighthouse, which stands watch over Boca Grande Pass (We visited this lighthouse by car last week.) From the entrance to Pelican Bay Anchorage we could see that there were already a dozen or more large sailboats and trawlers holding station. There still was, however, plenty of room for us to join them. The water was skinny and unexpectedly we found the deepest water very close to the beach. Trusting all three charts we were referencing, we found a fine spot to drop the anchor in eight feet of crystal clear water. We quickly got the dinghy down and set off for the beach. The bay side was beautiful, but the back side was shallow and intriguing. We both walked out along the sandbars and observed the small fish and shells in the tidal pool.

Back on the Bay side, I walked out into two feet of water and could easily view all the shells on the bottom. The biggest surprise was spotting starfish. The first one I found only had four legs, but all others were the standard five legged variety. I gently reached down, scooped them up, and then placed them back in the water. I could feel the cilia grabbing hold of my hand. It was a pretty cool experience.

Our second destination was the eastern shore of Pelican Bay. This beach was smaller and lined with mangroves, but the water was the same sparkling clear as on the western shore. Back in the dinghy we headed back to Crossroads and stopped to visit our neighbors who, as it turns out, have a home on Smith Mountain Lake. We shared appys and stories with them while watching more boats come in for the evening. As darkness fell there are upward of thirty boats here and their anchor lights are shining like bright stars in the darkness.

This is a beautiful spot and we will stay here a few days. Tomorrow we will head back to "starfish beach" in the morning and then head to the Cayo Costa State Park dock in the afternoon to go ashore and walk the trails.