May 26, 2017
Today we arrived back a Rose Marina in Marco Island after a great month knocking around Pine Island Sound. This is our port for summer/hurricane season. The summer winds are typically not that good for sailing and it is just too darn hot to be away from the dock and air conditioning! We also strip off our sails and many lines and prepare storm dock lines so we are ready for a tropical storm/hurricane.
We enjoyed spending some time in Pine Island Sound, our earliest cruising destination. We spent time in Horseshoe Bay on Sanibel Island near Ding Darling Nature Preserve and time in Pelican Bay on Cayo Costa.
We splurged on a dock at Boca Grande Marina for three nights allowing us to visit Boca Grande, get some off-boat dinners, and restock our fresh provisions.
Our return was delayed by some stubborn south winds and a cold front. Below is the sunset from our last evening in Pine Island Sound. You can see the frontal clouds just exiting the area at the top of the picture.
Now to all the annual boat maintenance!
Tom
Docked Rose Marina
Marco Island, FL
Monday, May 29, 2017
Sunday, May 14, 2017
Pine Island Sound - Archaeological Expedition
May 14, 2017
For the last two weeks we have been in Pine Island Sound, first at 'Horseshoe Bay' near Sanibel and most recently Pelican Bay near Cayo Costa.
These places go back to our earliest cruising days; in fact Pelican Bay was our first destination on our first Island Packet charter out of Burnt Store in 1991. Writing that date, it doesn't seem possible that that much time has passed. But it has been great to spend some quality time where it all started.
Not much exciting to report that has not been covered in posts over the years.
Except that recently I went on an 'archaeological expedition' to attempt to find some traces of the early settlements here. Cayo Costa and Punta Blanca islands both hosted active fishing communities going way back. I have long been interested in these settlements and their remains and after finding some internet resources on their location, I finally went on an expedition.
A great resource showing the locations of parts of the Punta Blanca settlement is on page 7 of http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/flsgp/flsgpm02003/flsgpm02003_part2i.pdf I was unable to extract it to present here, but if you are interested follow the link. The Punta Blanca settlement was a fishing community but also included a boat building operation and the school for the area. Another great resource if you are interested in the area is a book titled "The Fisher Folk of Charlotte Harbor".
I must say that the identification of these features is fairly shaky and may be nothing related. But they are interesting and in locations very close to the locations shown on the map on the above link.
For what it is worth:
Tomorrow we plan to head to Boca Grande for a 3-night marina stay. This was also a 'stomping ground' in our early cruising. Also, after 2 1/2 weeks out, we are out of virtually out of fresh food, so a trip to Hudson's market will be nice.
Tom
Anchored Pelican Bay
Cayo Costa Island, FL
For the last two weeks we have been in Pine Island Sound, first at 'Horseshoe Bay' near Sanibel and most recently Pelican Bay near Cayo Costa.
These places go back to our earliest cruising days; in fact Pelican Bay was our first destination on our first Island Packet charter out of Burnt Store in 1991. Writing that date, it doesn't seem possible that that much time has passed. But it has been great to spend some quality time where it all started.
Not much exciting to report that has not been covered in posts over the years.
Except that recently I went on an 'archaeological expedition' to attempt to find some traces of the early settlements here. Cayo Costa and Punta Blanca islands both hosted active fishing communities going way back. I have long been interested in these settlements and their remains and after finding some internet resources on their location, I finally went on an expedition.
A great resource showing the locations of parts of the Punta Blanca settlement is on page 7 of http://nsgl.gso.uri.edu/flsgp/flsgpm02003/flsgpm02003_part2i.pdf I was unable to extract it to present here, but if you are interested follow the link. The Punta Blanca settlement was a fishing community but also included a boat building operation and the school for the area. Another great resource if you are interested in the area is a book titled "The Fisher Folk of Charlotte Harbor".
I must say that the identification of these features is fairly shaky and may be nothing related. But they are interesting and in locations very close to the locations shown on the map on the above link.
For what it is worth:
Location of the school house Remnants of trees cut down to make room for school house |
Cut in mangroves near the boat basin Formerly a dock? Outhouses were also listed in this area. |
Public dock on the south shore. One of my more positive identifications |
Tomorrow we plan to head to Boca Grande for a 3-night marina stay. This was also a 'stomping ground' in our early cruising. Also, after 2 1/2 weeks out, we are out of virtually out of fresh food, so a trip to Hudson's market will be nice.
Tom
Anchored Pelican Bay
Cayo Costa Island, FL
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)