Laishley Park, Punta Gorda, FL

My lovely wife and I woke up to a steady rain. We wondered if conditions would finally be good enough to try and make it to Punta Gorda. Strong winds from the north had prevented us from attempting the trip. One of the problems is that Charlotte Harbor has few anchorages. We pretty much had to do the trip in one shot.

The rain quit, we raised anchor and motored out of the canal. I raised the sails, shut down the motor and we had a really nice and lively bit of sailing -until the wind died completely. Our boat has only a 2 hp outboard, but on a totally calm day it moves the boat along at 5 knots. Considering hull speed is 6.1, that's not bad at all.

Later in the day I was able to turn the outboard off and raise sails for a while. However, winds were light and in the end we motored some more to get to the marina before it closed. We pulled into the marina just as the gas in the outboard ran dry and coasted up to the day dock. Nice. All in all we used a half gallon of gasoline.

Laishley Park marina in Punta Gorda FL is a city run facility. They were also totally packed. The only places left to stay were out in the mooring field. That would have been a pain as it's a long paddle to the dinghy dock. However, the marina guy cut me a break and let me tie up on a floating dock near the fishing pier. It has no electric, but my solar panel has been keeping up with all my electrical needs. He only charged me the mooring fee too.

A friend of mine lives near Punta Gorda. He and his wife met us at the marina and we went to the on-site ice-cream shop. My buddy offered to drive me around in the morning to get supplies so that's a bonus. It was great to connect with him again.

It was also time for a good long hot shower and a chance to catch up on the laundry. Clothes can get pretty funky sitting in the laundry bag on a damp boat. We don't like to go too long without dealing with it.

The people here at the marina have been very nice so far. We probably won't stay all that long as there are places to go, people to see.

-Sixbears