After the 14+ hour endurance run from Marathon to Marco Island,the last 2 days of cruising home were actually very enjoyable. Marco Island to Ft. Myers Beach was a mere 36 miles with light winds and calm seas. The only real excitment that day came when the U.S. Coast Guard boarded Sojourn and for a random inspection. They check for all the required safety equipment(signal flares,life vests,etc)and the proper documentation. Sojourn passed without any violations,of course.
From Ft Myers Beach to our home in Burnt Store Marina there are two possible routes. One is to go “inside” on the ICW(Intracoastal Waterway) which is 38 miles. The other is “outside” in the Gulf of Mexico which is 46 miles. Going inside requires constant vigilance since one has to stay in a somewhat narrow channel with lots of boat traffic. The other is nothing but wide open water almost all the way home. Since the weather forecast was for light winds and calm seas we took the “outside” option and had a peaceful last day on the water arriving at our home dock at 3:30 PM. That night we met Bob and Sandy Post,who were with us the first of the cruise, at our local restaurant for a “glad to be back home” dinner.
32 days total covering 485 mile using 43 gallons of Diesel fuel which works out to be about 11 nautical miles per gallon. We stayed in a marina 13 nights and were anchored or tied to a mooring ball 19 nights.A fabulous trip with lots of great memories.
Marti's poodle fix
Til next time
