We are happy to have had 2 days in Naples. We enjoyed the stay but are really happy to leave. We enjoy the laid back style of life without our every whim met. That is Naples. Beautiful with an Italian flair, stunning homes, shopping til you drop at any designer you may choose to visit. For us we long for the relaxed atmosphere with birds, dolphins, nature. We are heading to Marco Island to a recommended anchorage.
As we meander through the jetty at Naples the Gulf meets us with flat, open water. With only 16 miles to go it is still a welcome sight. Flat waters, calm winds and boats everywhere. We will only be off the coastline by about 4 miles all the way to Marco Island. The waters are a turquoise blue and dolphins play but didn’t visit us today. We are running about 8 knts.
The jetty to Marco Island is busy with boats. Lots of sizes and types. The island was a brainstorm by a couple of brothers decades ago. They saw the vision of water passages with homes lining the passage, some inland homes, marinas. Their dream is shown in the landscape of the amount of the water passages, homes, restaurants, etc.
The island is a staging for boats like us waiting to head to the keys. Smokehouse Anchorage is lined with large homes, apt, condos. The waterway into the anchorage is a well marked channel with mostly 10 ft depths. The current can rush at the entrance to the channel at low tide and high tide. Watch for the standing waves if you encounter a westerly wind content. There is plenty of room for boats but I’m sure there are times when this anchorage is very full. It is so protected that many consider this a hurricane hole to hold out. The temps today finally reached over 80 degrees and the nights dropped to 57.
Scott has seen an ingress of water into the pod oil. He changed the port side, or left side, while in Clearwater. He changed the starboard side, or right side while on anchorage. A haulout is in our future to replace the seals on the drives. Boat maintenance in exotic places. We drop “Otter” and head to the grocery store to pick up provisions. The store has built a dock specifically for this purpose. The Winn Dixie is not far away. On our way we meet up with another boat that we have met a few times along the route. Indigo is anchored not far from us. We pop over on the way to groceries and decide to have docktails and share stories. It was such a beautiful night as we chatted on the patio before heading back to the boat for dinner. We are off to Marathon in the morning crossing our fingers that the weather maintains the calm seas for our 100 mile journey.
