April 23 rd Nanas final blog for 2017 to 2018 IE cruising adventures

Today was a very interesting hot day. IE cruised appropriately 30 NM which we discovered later was about 10 miles by car. We cruised up Charlotte Harbor to the mouth of the Myakka River where we entered through a single lock and into six miles of canal to reach Safe Cove. Safe Cove is a storage for boats where IE will remain under cover for the summer. It is where the number two arrow on the chart is. Upon arrival we rented an car from enterprise - to make sure this time we make our flight!!!we drove the car across the causeway to Garperrilla Island which was only about 10 miles away. 

The sailboat in the lock is named Irish Rose. The tall snowy egrets was our audience as we navigated the lock. It was a long cruise up the canal and we arrived at 2pm. The docks do not have electrical outlets so we were very thankful that IE  has a generator - it will be a hot night! 

Tomorrow Nandad will meet with the Volvo Engine Mechanic to get an opinion about the starboard engine. Nana will pack up the boat so that we will return in the fall to a nice clean boat. Nana and Nandad are thinking we will book a room at the Gasperilla Inn - if they have availability. This would be a very nice ending to our 2017/2018 cruising adventures. As always we are externally grateful for the opportunity that presents itself to us and we hope we will continue our exploring next fall.

April 20th to April 23rd

IE has spent the long weekend at Boca Grande Marine - one of our favorite spots so we were very excited to secure a slip. This is a very busy Marina with lots of boats coming for lunch between 11am and 2pm and then later for dinner. Gasparella Island is truly a unique spot. It is the perfect place to walk, bike, golf cart ,beach and a fisherman’s paradise. The best Tarpon fishing - I believe! According to the local guide the island has no stoplights ( Nandad loves that ), no gas stations, no fast food and no fast paced living. 

On Saturday Nana and Nandad were provided with the best, if not noisiest, entertainment for the afternoon. The highly juiced cigarette boats arrived - 35 in total participating in the Fort Meyers Poker Run. Now these boats are quite the spectacle to watch and arrive with much glamour- helicopter overhead taking all kinds of pictures. Maybe IE will appear in some very high tech boating magazine! After the noise we got to admire all those highly polished and beautiful machines. A sport for the very wealthy.

Sunday as always found Nana and Nandad attending mass at the beautiful little Catholic Church called Our Lady of Mercy. Barbara Bush would attend service here when she was on the Island - all flags are flying half mast in respect of her passing. A wonderful breakfast at The Gasperilla Inn which is truly Florida As It Was Meant To Be - as advertised by the Inn. If you are lucky enough to stay at the Inn you have access to golf, tennis and a beautiful beach club along with a hoard of other activities. 

The Our Lady of Mercy church at Bona Grande 

Nana in her glory at breakfast and Nandad outside Hudson’s grocery where the Pink gas pump is surrounded by beautiful flowers. The store closes on Sundays and opening times are 8am to 5 pm. The perfect schedule to allow some Island time every day. 

Monday morning IE will make her way up to Safe Cove. Safe Cove is 30 nm from Boca Grande where a series of canals  ( 6 mile long) lead to Placida Harbor. She will remain there for the summer and Nana and Nandad hope to return on their adventures once again in the fall. How lucky are we.

A day from hell ( Uber & Spirit Airways)April 15th Nana and Nandad return to IE

We arranged an Uber for 5.am for our flight at 6.45am from Boston to Fort Meyers. He arrived 5.10am in a Prius with nearly 200 k on the clock - wheel bearing shot- traveling at max speed of 60 mph on mass pike after taking 20 minutes to get to 495. ( at this time on-a Sunday morning Logan is 50 minutes max). We arrived at Logan at 6.08 and it took another 5 to 10 minutes to proceeded to check in for our flight at 6.45 only to be informed that the computer stopped issuing boarding passes 45 minutes before takeoff. ( Narration by Nandad - can you feel his frustration!). Not to worry boarded a Jet Blue flight instead at 8.30 amazing what money can buy. Lesson learned by Nana and Nandad. Arrived at IE at 2pm and headed for South Seas Captiva. On our way over we got caught right in the middle of a thunderstorm with high winds and horizontal rain!! At least it wasn’t the sail boat so the Captain and First Lady remained dry. It was a little unnerving to be navigating the ICW with limited vision however we arrived safely into South Seas and were docked by 6pm.

Now our daughter Aideen and family were having their own experience due to the storm their flight was delayed by two hours and they were kept on the plane with a two and four year old!! Needless to say all the movies on the iPad were watched before take off! They arrived exhausted to the resort at 10pm. A long day but at least they woke up to sunshine, warmth and IE was right their at the dock.

A wonderful few days spent sharing paradise with family. The kids swam in the pool everyday ( although it was a long walk for little ones to get there), the manatees and dolphins were a huge success, we went on a dingy ride, boat ride, rode the tram to watch the magic show and of course made a wish at sunset by throwing our shells into the ocean. All adults were exhausted particularly Mommy and Daddy but a good time was had by all.

Aideen, Chris, Cillian and Liam with Nandad explaining the wish upon a shell ritual at Sunset.

Yes we did attempt dinner at Doc Fords before the magician performance! Early bird special is always good with little ones. The gang gathered on the bow of Ireland’s Eye on the way to North Captive so the Doneski’s could see where the Arsenault’s vacationed. We did attempt fishing however as you can imagine with a four year old and a two year old we were not that successful. Nandad and Chris’s patience was certainly challenged.