Day 3-April 13, 2018- Ft. Myers to Naples

Flexibility is important when cruising, and sometimes schedules are scrapped to start over again, totally rethinking when and where to go next. Original plans were to make Marco Island on Friday, then leave there for Little Shark on Saturday, and Marathon on Sunday.  But incoming weather with high winds for the weekend gave serious pause for thought, and everyone agreed to stop in Naples a closer destination instead.  It’s an excellent place to hang out, close to the beach, with the marinas a few short blocks from practically anything you need or want to do.  

So with a shorter than expected cruising day ahead we dropped the mooring ball at 8:00 and scooted out Mantanza Pass, waving at Bill Rissel who was preparing his boat to leave for Punta Gorda.  Back out into the Gulf we found 15-20 knot winds from the east, southeast. Both sails were soon up and the engine off…so nice and quiet, which is always preferred, but not always possible. Although there were some pesky crab pots, with the engine off there’s no worry of them getting caught in the prop which can cause major damage.  So relaxing!  As winds increased and the boat started to heel, it was necessary to reef, (pull in some of the sail) in order to be comfortable and maintain good speed. 

Along the way the winds began shifting slightly to the south pushing Aurora further out into the Gulf, and increasing the distance to get to Naples.  When we were about a mile off course and still a few miles from the Gordon Pass the captain made the decision to restart the engine, bring in the sails, and get back on course.

Our main sail, which has in-mast furling (rolls into the mast), sometimes jams.  This time by wrapping the furling line around the winch and using the winch handle the sail came in perfectly.  It may not seem like a big deal, but when a 60 foot sail gets stuck half way, flopping madly, without any way to get it in or out, it can be a huge problem. 

Afterwards, Dennis commented, “After 7 years you’d think we would know everything about how to do this, but, we’re still learning.”  Which brings me back to Dennis’ favorite saying, “I can teach you to sail in a day, but to master it takes a lifetime.”

Beautiful homes line both the Gulf shore beaches and all along Gordon Pass.  Marine traffic is always heavy in the channel, with a wide variety of boats, some in a very big hurry to make their destinations. Joining us in Naples would be a third boat, our good friends Joe and Joan Thomas, on Sea Goose II, and were waiting in the slip next to us when we arrived at the Naples Yacht Club around 1:20.  Dragonfly and Higher Porpoise docked safely at the newly renovated Naples City Dock a couple of blocks away.  A surprise visit from Glen and Cathy Mayer completed our dinner table of 10 at “The Dock,” a waterside restaurant, where we recounted stories of the day's great sailing.

Nautical Miles Traveled: 29.6