Goodland

We took Spud's advice and sailed from Marco Island to Goodland. It's a good place to jump off into Florida Bay. Deep draft boats need not apply. That means it's perfect for a shallow draft boat like ours.

Since I planned to spend the night at anchor, I decided to stop at a waterside restaurant. That worked out well enough. After our meal we motored over to a little anchorage right next to the Calusa Island Marina. I called the marina to see if they had a dinghy dock. The guy on the phone was pretty rude to me and said it's a private marina and they don't grant shore access. I was willing to pay a reasonable dinghy dock fee, but that wasn't an option.

The dog still needed to be walked on land, so we paddled over to the county boat ramp. They have an $8 launch fee, but they all were gone when we got there. Imagine that. Goodland has a good reputation, but they don't seem to care to much for those of us out on anchor. Pay full price to stay at a marina or keep on moving. To be fair, there may be some little known free dock I'm unaware of.

Our next stop will be somewhere out in the Ten Thousand Islands. So far Verizon cell service has been good. I'm glad, as I feel I'm paying too much for it. T-mobile has a terrible rep among the boating community. Their service has been very poor out on the water.

At our last marina stop on Marco Island, we met a few boaters who are heading down to Key West. With any luck, we'll met up with some of them again. Mostly people have been nice. Many are fascinated by our travels on a small boat. Many on much bigger boats say they had more fun sailing when they had small boats. A few have even downsized -not as far down as where we are, but going from a 50 foot boat to a 27 footer is a big step.

Dolphins, sunsets, sea turtles, osprey, eagles and other wonders of nature never get old. Big boat wakes and biting bugs do.

-Sixbears