Back near Snook Bight Marina

I am now HERE.
I came back to shelter out from some serious wind that's predicted to start in the AM.
On the way here I stopped into Snook Bight Marina to refuel, get water and empty trash.
the fella's there are a good group.
After setting anchor, I was able to hook several small catfish and a gafftopsail cat fish! I just love to catch the topsails! They fight like kings and have a fair amout of meat also!

They have a tendency of totally sliming anything they touch though

Tonight I made a chowder out of the fish but made it watery to accomodate Stove Top Stuffing! 

Landlubbing.....

Went for a ride today. Got to check my PO Box for the first time. 

Also got a brake cable , due to the size of the bridge I go over , I figure only having 1 brake isn't a good thing! 

The amount of what looks like painted on swim suits here is flat out jaw dropping....

Sorry getting a picture of em was the last thing on my mind....

I did manage to get a shot or two of the beach !

And a couple shots looking down from the bridge that's a LOT of fun to ride down!!!

Met some folks today too! 

Got my boat card out to a few of em. 

And to top it off I got a free pizza! 

Hindsight

Unknown at the time , I scraped off some of my hard won tan :(

Whew !

Just when I thought I was gonna make through the 50+ winds ok , all 3 of my anchors suddenly pull free ! Dawgfish spins around , tangling the ropes in the process .  As I drift towards the sandbar feeling the anchors bite and release several times while the tidal/storm current is cruising me along at 5 mph . 2 of the anchors bit as I was about to cut the lines, glad I didn't have to do it! 

After some quick knot work and a Lil rearrangement while getting tangled in the rope a scary moment, I noticed that my ship was directly above the sandbar and wasn't aground! 

Much relieved I wait for the tide to settle so I can actually pull in the anchors and reset.

At the tide change I was pulling in my last anchor was I saw a boat approaching , the guy offering the help (thinking I was aground) was about to run aground!

I waved him back with an "I'm ok" and reset my position.

After getting dried off I check phone Doppler and see a missed call, I called it back and found out it was a guy named Sean at the Nauti Turtle offering help! 

  In hind sight I believe the excessive current washed away the sand around my anchor and the sheer force of that current had a good grip on Dawgfish. That's gonna be a problem I hadn't thought about and I'm not sure there IS a fix for it . Maybe a Bruce anchor would've held , maybe .. 

Oh well for now its ok .

Awesome Day!!

I have said it before and I'll say it again, There is nothing like meeting Family & Friends in a place very different and very far  from the last place you saw them!
My Aunt Patty and Uncle David was in my area yesterday and we both had the time to visit practically all day! We all had a great time visiting and we even was able to go sailing!!!
I'd like to officially Thank you two for all the help and support !

We put the waitress to work taking pix! She even got DAWGFISH in the background!
The boat ride went with out any problems which made my day even better. Murphy usually steps in somewhere but was conspicuously absent. We returned after dark to the Nauti Turtle in time to have dinner too! This is one of the few time that I have gotten out for a leisure cruise without an itinerary of racing weather or running from cold etc.

The Nauti Turtle

I am now HERE .
Ya know.....It almost felt like a homecoming of some kind coming back here. as I approached the area I could here the music emanating from The Nauti Turtle and grinned. I came here to shelter from some impending weather and to meet up with some family!!! I am fairly excited about the visit too! It's been a long time since I have see a known friendly.
Maybe that will change in the coming weeks, but for now I am surrounded by unknowns that appear friendly.
As I always do, I'll make the best of it.
On an added note, Kitty remembers this place. I am certain we will visit the sand bar daily, especially now that it's warmer than it was when I was here last.

Statistics

Ok as near as I can tell these are my total stats for this trip from Bath, IL to Key West and back to Ft, Myers Beach.
8-21-12 through 3-2-14 = 1 year and 7 months.
Total hours traveling= 853.21
Total Miles traveled= 2928.6
Averaged speed= 3.07
These are numbers from my nav unit and are approximate because it was left on while anchoring and was forgot a couple times for a few hours after being stopped.