Ft Myers Yacht Basin

Yesterday the voyage from Placida to Ft Myers with our fellow NP43 owners from CT went very well.  Rick and Pam had their first exposure to the ICW while Sue and I had the pleasure of their company.  Having owned their NP43 for four years they were a wealth of knowledge and provided quite a few tidbits of information about our boat.  It was a pleasure having them aboard.  The boat performed well without engine control problems en route.  We operated the boat from the pilot house the entire route.  It was chilly and windy with choppy seas in the open bays so operating from the fly bridge was not an option.  I was too cold.  Rick and Pam's friends picked them up soon after we arrived at the Yacht Basin. Sue's brother, Richard, works here in Ft Myers.  We met with him and had dinner at a very nice restaurant a short walk from the marina.
Today I spoke with the Cummins representative about the engine control issue and was informed that the part had to be ordered form Cummins and it would take a few days for delivery $$$$. The wait is not a problem for we rented the slip we are in for a month.  We had planned to stop somewhere along the line and Ft Myers was an option. We will be leaving for a quick trip to CT tomorrow morning and returning in about a week. We will remain in this area for a while after we return. We can't get back to New England until winter is over!  So this blog will be taking a break until we start moving again.

The FL west coast ICW ended here in Ft Myers.  We are now on the Caloosahatchee River which is part of the Okeechobee Waterway.  Don't you love those names?  We have decided not to go around the southern tip of FL when we start moving again.  We will take a shortcut to Stuart, FL and the east coast via the Okeechobee waterway, distance of about 145 SM.  The good news is that after over a thousand miles of boating our bow will pointed east through the waterway we will soon be joining the east coast ICW for the trip north with several stops along the way.

Y'all stay vertical,

Capt'n John and First Mate Sue