Monday, February 18, 2013 – Captiva:

            We went a really long way today – all of about ½ mile (if that) to drop the hook in Roosevelt Channel just down a little way from the marina.  It was cold again last night and this morning, and everyone was wearing coats again and wondering what happened to Florida weather.

            After breakfast, we got rid of our trash, turned in our “key”, and checked out.  We then helped our friends untie and get off the dock, and watched them “sail” out into the channel.  Before we left, I wanted to get a Christmas ornament from the gift shop, and Bob wanted to get some coffee from the coffee shop by the pool.  I couldn’t believe all the people who had resolved to make the best of the weather and were swimming or trying to sunbathe.  The pool is heated to 84°, so I guess the water is probably pretty nice.  And, of course, the kids would swim if the water had ice cubes in it!

One of the restaurants at Tween Waters

A cottage

The pool area

            It was definitely time to get going, and we asked one of the dock hands to help us get off.  The wind was pushing us out of the slip, and the only problem with that was that the shoreline was right in front of us!  How we ever got into or out of that slip without running aground is completely beyond me, but some really sharp turns were required, and we sure did stir up a lot of mud!  One of the boats (a big DeFever 44) tied up behind us was on the face dock, and the wind was blowing him into the dock, and he had a terrible time getting off even though we were trying to push him off the dock with all our might.

            One interesting bit of trivia that I forgot to mention (forgetting might have had something to do with the debauchery before I got down to writing last night) was about the people who pulled in next to us two days before.  Bob and the owner of the boat got to talking, and we found out that he used to live in Oyster Bay on Florence Park, just a few doors away from Aunt Marion!  He knew the Nobman’s and frequented the hardware store.  He moved to Florida about seven years ago.  It truly is a small world!

            So off we went and anchored just a little way beyond our friends.  Once we got settled in, the sun poured into the flybridge through the isinglass, and it got wonderfully cozy and warm up there.  We read and played puzzles, and finally a nap overcame us.  The cat even came up with us and found a sunny spot.  She got so hot I thought she would self-combust, before she finally decided to find a shady spot under the table.  We finally came back inside around 5:00 p.m., and I am happy to say that the weather seems to be thinking of warming up, and we should have 85° back by Thursday or Friday.

            This is a beautiful, protected anchorage here between two islands one of which has no development on it that I can see except birds roosting in the trees.  On the other side of us are residential homes on the water but not pretentious in any way.  I am sure that this has been said many times before, but Captiva is truly captivating!

Looking back from our anchorage at the marina