2-21 to 2-23 Pelican Bay to Fort Meyers

Soon we will be heading to the Keys where we expect to be anchored most of the time, so we wanted to re-provision before then. The prospect of lugging significant quantities of groceries to the boat by dinghy holds very limited appeal. So Dave looked through a guidebook and picked out a marina (Ft. Meyers Yacht Basin) that had a grocery store near by. As luck would have it, the Edison lighted parade was going to be that night, and it took place right by the marina!





Edison is largely credited with developing Fort Meyers, and a two week festival takes place each year around his birthday, culminating with the Grand Parade of Light. The trip up the Caloosahatchee River was a little longer than we realized, so when we got in we went straight to the parade. I haven’t quite mastered the flash options on my camera yet, so the pictures didn’t turn out too well. It was nice to be part to a local tradition, however. Quite a big crowd turned out for it.

The rest of our time in Fort Meyers was really spent working. We spent the next day and a half giving the boat a good cleaning inside and out. And of course we went grocery shopping. We planned to walk to the store and take a cab back, but when we were at the check out the guy bagging groceries said the store staff go to the marina to collect shopping carts regularly. So we walked the mile or so back to the marina with our shopping carts in tow. Just to be safe, Dave took the carts and went back to get more Diet coke and beer the next morning. As he was gathering our carts a homeless guy gave Dave his cart to take back! We felt pretty ridiculous, but we are now fully stocked!

We didn’t finish our chores until about 3:00 on the second day, and two nights of dockage was about all we were willing to pay for. It keeps getting more expensive as you head further south. We topped off our fuel tank and headed down the river to find an anchorage near the gulf. Mike from Crystal River had told us that you can hail Tow Boat US on the radio and they will give you information about the local waters. Dave decided to give it a try. The captain he spoke to was actually very helpful. He gave us specific directions into the anchorage Dave asked about (Glovers Bight) and even stopped by later that night (after he finished the tow he was doing) to chat!