Fort Meyers Beach to Marco Island (230-232)

- January 28, 2024

We had a lovely day to travel from Burnt Store to Fort Meyers Beach.

We passed the lighthouse on Sanibel Island that I remember from trips here with my parents years ago.

This was our first attempt at grabbing a mooring ball.

I’m proud to say I was able to get it on the first try which was no easy feat from the bow of our boat. I had to lay down on my stomach and grab the leader line from the ball with a boat hook…then get back on my feet! The new knees don’t like that too much.

Our stern was really close to this sign which made us a little nervous as the boat swings on the ball with the changing tides.

Per our usual routine we went exploring by dinghy. The Pink Shell Resort is behind us. We were going to stay there but they had no room when I needed to change the reservation due to weather delays.

There are still many signs of Hurricane Ian here. We ate dinner at the restaurant to the right of this poor cruiser that ended up on shore

This place is all fixed up and has live music. We listened from the dinghy.

We had access to the dinghy dock for the mooring field were able to take a nice long walk on the beach.

This is the point going into Marco Island. Mike had his eye on it as we passed as a potential kiteboarding spot.

We anchored in Smokehouse Bay. This was a well protected spot with a dingy dock right around the corer provided by the Winn Dixie Grocery Store. That may be why there were so many loopers anchored in here.