Alarm went off at 0400 this morning… way too early but we needed to be to Fort Myers around 1000. Plans were to go to meet my sons and families at their church for the 1100 service and then go out for lunch… the last visit till we return to Florida this winter.

I had not really slept well due to the winds… 20 knots all night long… being the first night on the hook in several months you always have that anxiety especially with winds at 20 knots. Anchor alarm was on but you sleep with one eye open and get up and check every unfamiliar noise. Everything sounds different than what you hear tied to a dock. So, when the alarm went off it was sort of a relief and I popped out of bed and had the engines running and all the electronics fired up by 0410. Susan was up and ready to assist with the anchor retrieval… 0420 anchor was up, Susan was back in bed with Beecha and we were underway.

Winds were remained at 20 knots… a little choppy but fairly protected waters so it was not an uncomfortable ride at all. There was a full moon and it was very bright out and the radar was really redundant as I could see everything well ahead of the boat.

The best part was the sunrise… it was absolutely gorgeous. For about 45 minutes the sky turned every color in the rainbow until finally an orange ball popped up over the horizon… AWESOME!

Shortly after sunrise I received an email… “Trouble in Paradise”… from Jim and Peg Healy aboard “Sanctuary”… they had stopped on Saturday night at Cabbage Key for dinner and when they tried to leave… their boat would not start… We had planned to meet them on Sunday night somewhere around Franklin Locks and continue the trip north together. Something to do with their starter.

We had planned to stop and see the kids and when done continue on to Franklin Locks… with not meeting the Healy’s we decided to spent the night in Fort Myers and continue on Monday morning. We arrived to Fort Myers at approximately 0930 and were securely docked with power on at 0945. Our location for the night N26°38.848, W081°52.211. We traveled today for 5 hours 25 minutes covering 35.0 nautical miles averaging 6.5 knots.

We were able to spend about 5 hours with the kids and grandkids… had a great lunch at the Farmer’s Market Restaurant and ready for a nap now.