February 1, Day 221 – In Goodland

We woke up to some rain and a pretty low tide. Our choices were to stay put for the day or wait until mid-day (when the tide was higher) and then pull out. We opted to stay. Gerry decided to make this his “work” day – we need to pay for the slip we have reserved in Marathon.

Linda busied herself by reorganizing all the food storage areas. Each time we provision it seems we are in a hurry to get things put away and just sort of “shove stuff in”. She decided we needed to get a good feel for all of our canned/packaged goods so we can see what we really need before heading to the Bahamas. Later she made salsa using some of the fresh veggies from the farmer’s market in Fort Myers.

By mid-afternoon we were getting a little antsy, so we went out exploring in the dinghy. The rain had pretty much stopped and it was in the 70’s. We took camera and GPS and headed out. We needed the GPS to make sure we got back to Monk’s Vineyard. The channels through the mangroves branch off in all directions and it would be pretty easy to get lost.

We explored for an hour or so and then stopped off at Second Star for a quick happy hour and planned our departure for tomorrow … it won’t be until afternoon as we’ll have to wait for the rising tide.

We had dinner on board, Linda worked on the blog while Gerry did computer research stuff and then off to bed.

The sky looked threatening, but most of the rain had stopped by mid-afternoon

Monk's Vineyard and Second Star in the anchorage as we began our dinghy exploration. Jump on board and join us as we explore the mangroves. How many birds do you see??

Mangroves line the channels on both sides. This is truly a beautiful and unspoiled part of Florida.

Another passage around a mangrove island

Another channel ... you can see how easy it would be to get lost .... they all look alike

We turned the corner out of one of the mangrove passages and there was the Gulf of Mexico. We go out this direction when we leave tomorrow.

Spotted this buzzard .... maybe left over from the festival yesterday .... probably doing the Buzzard Lope

A three-fer

There are many, many manatee zones in this area. We've been hoping to see some, but so far no luck. By the way, there is a baby osprey in the nest peeking it's head out.

We rounded the corner and were back home. You can see Second Star in the anchorage.

Hope you enjoyed exploring with us .... so how many birds did you count??