Panther Key- a low spot behind the beach

No surprise; the forecast did not hold true enough and we mostly had to motor sail to Panther Key, our first stop after FMB. The trip was never boring though as we must have used every possible combination of the three sails and two engines. The last hour and a half was pure sails once we turned East around the Romano shoals toward Panther Key. Part of the 10,000 Islands  along Florida’s southern west coast, Panther Key is large enough to offer wind and wave protection and it has an interesting white sandy beach.
We planned to spend the day Friday; believing the forecast of a not ideal sailing day. With our luck it probably was good, but we enjoyed a great day anchored right off the beach. The local dolphins provided much entertainment as they fed and played about.  I had the excellent luck to snap a pic of the one high in the air jump performed about 120 feet away in calm water.

Dolphin training... us to use our camera!

Saw an official looking center console-style boat come in close to the beach, toss out a throw net, check the contents, then toss it back in. The man was dressed in a white haz-mat outfit and we decided his actions must be oil spill related. In our three weeks on the west coast, we never saw any sign of oil. Thank goodness.
Haven’t had any problems with no-see-ums or other insects- much. Russ gets bit by some insect (mosquito?)- or so he claims and then has even more itchy bites for days. poor thing.

Cayo Costa State Park is a lovely, uninhabited area with beach, walking paths, campsites- both small cabins and tent sites and plenty of shells, foliage and birds. Ferries arrive from Pine Island to the east and others, like us, arrive on their own boats. We walked the trails for two hours- me bundled up in a turtleneck and jacket. The best part was Osprey Trail, which led us past several nests and great views of the unique sounding birds.

Honey, I'm home!

Friday morning we departed Pelican Bay and with the dinghy in tow (ok, another first) headed 2 miles south to Useppa Island, opposite the long awaited Cabbage Key.  Useppa is private and unless you belong there, are invited or arrive via tour boat to visit the museum, you cannot land there. No problem; we had our sights set on Cabbage Key Inn and Marina; where Jimmy Buffett (currently recovering from his off stage tumble in AU) played, ate cheeseburgers years ago… and then that song appeared.  Floyd the Great White Heron was a delight to watch. Our waitress Carolyn hailed from CT so we enjoyed a nice chat with her.

Floyd, during one of his statue episodes

Would love to have hung out longer, but we needed to keep moving south and a mooring in Fort Myers Beach was our final destination today. We don’t care what day it is, but locals still do that “weekend” thing and we need to take that into consideration.  Raised the main and jib and enjoyed a lovely sail much of the way to FMB, eeking out 5kts in 8kts of wind- yes, really. Beautiful milky green waters (I told Russ his shirt was a perfect match), tiny 6 inch waves and only an occasional boat . Passed by North Captiva, Captiva and Sanibel Islands to our west side as we made our way down the Gulf ICW.