January 20, Day 209–Pelican Bay to Sanibel Island

We departed Pelican Bay at around 10:00 this morning. The tide was a little lower than when we arrived, so we really had “thin” water as we left. We had a nice run all the way to Sanibel Island. The water was flat, the weather was mostly sunny and we had lots of dolphins running with us most of the way. We arrived at our destination around 1:30. The marina was quite busy when we arrived as Gramma Dot’s Restaurant is actually part of the marina and they had lots of people coming and going by boat for lunch. Our slip ended up being by the launch ramp (actually right at the launch ramp) so guess they don’t use it much.

After settling in we had a quick lunch, cleaned up and then went for a walk. We headed for the lighthouse down the main street, but soon found a way to get to the beach. Because of the way Sanibel Island is situated in the Gulf of Mexico it get lots of shells washed ashore and is very well known for its excellent shelling. Our friends on Second Star had been here a couple of times and raved over the shells on the beach. Unfortunately, because of the cold weather the beach was littered with dead fish. It was really quite sad. Needless to say, the shelling wasn’t all that great. We did however enjoy the walk along the beach because it was a beautiful day. Once we reached the lighthouse we turned around and headed back the way we came. When we crossed back to the road we weren’t really sure where we were. We had a map, but it didn’t have much detail. Unfortunately, we guessed wrong in the direction we went which made for an extra long walk. We were all dragging by the time we got back to the boats.

We had happy hour aboard Second Star and soothed our tired feet. Back at the boat we had a quick dinner and then off to bed.

The sand bar as we exited Pelican Bay. You can see how close we are to the shore. You could almost reach out and touch it. The water was fairly deep here next to the shore (well, not deep, but around 6 feet). On the other side of us was a shoal where it was only about 2 ft deep. We went out very slowly in the narrow channel.

We had dolphins with us for much of the way. Here are a couple of shots where we had about 5 or 6 at a time.

This looked a little strange .... power poles in the water running from Sanibel Island to the mainland

Approaching Sanibel Island. You can see how flat the water is.

This is the lighthouse at the end of Sanibel Island

The entrance into the marina -- that's by car, not by boat. If you enlarge the picture, you can see Monk's Vineyard at the very end.

Here we are in our slip. We didn't come in too far, as it was very shallow. Also, the boat ramp is right beside us although you can't see it in the picture.

Evening at the marina .. we're on our way to Second Star for happy hour. You can see their boat between the two palm tree trunks.