Wednesday, April 14, 2010



Dinner at Snooks Inn

Left the dock at 11:30 a.m. Practiced setting waypoints and following them to the entrance to Marco Bay. The wind was steady 15 to 20 and as we got off shore we had a rocky trip. We set a course for Naples and then travelled parallel to the coast to Marco Island. Closer in to shore was much more comfortable. Outside of the Marco inlet, we followed "Hot Chocolate" into Marco River Marina. Docking was a challenge with wind and current pushing against or port side while attempting a stern in maneuver. After two attempts, we turned around in the basin and headed into the wind. By backing down and using the bow thruster simultaneously, we were able to stick it into the slip. There was so much salt from the trip from Fort Myers Beach, a short finger stroke on the rail produced a fair amount of salt. After cleaning the boat, we walked a mile and a half to Snook's Restaurant for dinner. There was much discussion about the weather and when and how we would get to Key West. The window opporunity appeared to be for Friday, so we decided that Karen and Jennifer would take the Key West express. Joe and I would take the boat to Key West on Friday.