The winds were coming from the north at around 10 knts. We had following seas all the way to Naples. We did go on the outside, meaning the Gulf, and not the GIWW because it is just too shallow for us. We have a slip at the Yacht Club and Scott is not happy with the depths he is reading on the charts. As we pull up to the Port of Naples the entire area is shallow. Maybe 7 – 8 ft in the channel. There are lots of large boats here though. We need to get settled to get the through hull cleared. The slip concerns Scott as we are at mid tide and it is only 1.5 feet under our props. Tide still has a foot to go lower before low tide which will be in the early morning hours. Guess the Captain will be up checking again tonight. As we are contemplating a trip to the hardware store to get some fitting for the hose to hook up a diver is right next to us. Scott asks if he would look at the grass ingress from under the boat. The fellow says, as he comes up with a wad of seagrass, “Where were you, Pine Island?”. This stuff is always at Pine Island. That would have been nice to know. We try to move slips and the DockMaster says a boat of 5 ft is usually in our slip. We are just over 4. Scott does note that a lot of silt is freely flowing however that doesn’t sit great when we have no where to go. Everyone is booked solid here in Naples.
The yacht club is a nice facility but no one is around. We are not allowed to use the facility so have nothing to say about the amenitites. It’s a quiet space within walking distance to downtown of about a mile. The main road is filled with restaurants, bars, and shops of all merchandise. Lots of art and streets are lines with palm trees which have lights on every one of them. It is a romantic place at night.
For us, we are here for the pickleball. There is a place with 64 outdoor courts where the US Open plays. Naples has made itself the pickleball capital of the world. This is not the only place to play. We head out there and play decent games. The courts are divided into level of play but we quickly realize that the majority of folks are in the wrong level. We have some good and some easy games. The courts are about 4 miles from the marina so we did Uber a ride.
The weather is sunny but chilly in the 70’s and on the water. We aren’t complaining too much but this is definitely not what we signed up for in South Florida.
