Our departure from Key West began early Saturday Morning.  We said goodbye to our boat neighbors, the dock master and dock hands.  They have all been left with invitations to visit Yankeetown, should they ever find their way north.  We hope they do.   

The Florida Bay was calm.  Richard and I shared the role of Captain, listening to seventies music via the satellite radio all the way across.  Casey Kasum kept us entertained with stories about the songs.  Richard sang along, smiled and glowed the whole way.  He’s in his element out on the open water.   

The weather was so favorable for our trip north, that we kept course due north all the way to the entrance of the Intracoastal near Fort Meyers.  It was afternoon by then so we settled on a marina on Captiva Island. 

After calling ahead, we were reserved for the night.  Our instructions were to turn toward the left at Buoy Number 38.   This is like turning down a long dirt road, not knowing where you’re going or what’s on the other end.  We could see land ahead, and motored toward the island.  Palm trees and white picket fences came into view and we knew we’d found a wonderful retreat. 

The South Seas Resort and Marina covered the northern most end of Captiva, having been built after Hurricane Charley tore through a few years back, leaving little unharmed.   We were pleasantly greeted by the dock master and his hand.  For me, it’s especially nice to have help when docking the boat.  It’s someone to throw the line to, and pull us in to keep from bumping into another boat.  After rinsing the boat down, we were left with about two hours of daylight. 

On the west side of Florida, I’ve noticed the days are just a little bit longer in the evening, as we’re closer to the setting sun.  So we hopped on our bicycles and scouted our new turf.  We were delighted.  We rode along the beach on a seashell and sand path, which was followed by a ride around the golf course.  We determined that this was our kind of place.   

Have you ever found yourself in a wonderful spot, and can’t help but think how you’d like to come back again, with your friends and family.  This was that kind of place.   

We enjoyed stone crab claws at the bar of the Harbourside Grill, where we met a group of people that were part of a boating club.  Once a month they get together and leave their home port for a weekend to venture off to a different locale.  Once a year they go for a two-week trip further than the west coast.  We found them to be a wealth of information about other marinas and neat places to stay along the coast.   

After a 5 mile bike ride further south on the island, and a poolside breakfast, we left South Seas into the Gulf and headed north.  We look forward to our next visit here.  We’re getting closer to home with each day.     

Signing off from the Suki Sweet II Leslie & Richard Dasch