I arrived back from my business trip to Denver late last night leaving behind a snowy winter storm. It was nice to be back in warm Florida. On the way to Denver I met an interesting fellow from Louisiana who told me a thing or two about fishing - and turns out I sure had a lot to learn. I'm anxious now to give it another try. I told him my first year on the boat I was too busy learning everything else, but now maybe I can focus a bit on fishing. We'll see if his tips improve my outcome.
Coleen and I got up early today and took our dinghy over to shore and found the Ft. Myers farmers market. We came back to the boat loaded down with fresh fruits, vegetables and even some very nice bread. While walking through the marina we ran into some folks we met on the river last year who keep their trawler - Phantom of the Opera, in Ft. Myers. It was great to see a familiar face.
We dropped the mooring and headed back to Ft Myers Beach just before noon It took a few hours to get there and thankfully there was only a little boat traffic. Somehow I managed to take calls and do a little work on my computer while underway too. I didn't feel too bad about playing hooky for a couple of hours as I've already worked a million hours this week!
When we arrived at Ft. Myers Beach and checked in at the office we found that Coleen had mail! She was so excited she could barely wait until we got back to the boat. Letters from both Grandma's, a huge box of books from an aunt in Massachusetts -- and a wonderful package filled with Halloween goodies from our friends at Redbud. She's already read one of the books, and started a second, and she's planning to wear the glow in the dark necklaces with her Halloween costume. Thanks to everyone!
While in St. Petersburg a few weeks ago, we met a very nice family with 3 young children who are just starting out on their cruising adventure. They are new to sailing, boating, etc and have a 28 ft Irwin. They have a daughter Coleen's age. We had them over for dinner one night and they gave us a ride to the grocery store the next day. We're planning to meet them again in Longboat Key. I had a call from them today and they are already there - completing their first little passage- and spending their first few days at anchor. It should be a fun weekend.