December 1 to 9, 2023
Burnt Store Marina
On the afternoon of Friday, December 1 we pulled up anchor and slowly sailed from Punta Gorda to Burnt Store Marina. Utopia needed a rising tide to make it into the marina, which occurred about an hour before the marina office closed. Light winds and a dockhand on the dock made for non-drama docking.
Quick review of Burnt Store Marina: nice protected marina with a pool, laundry, restaurant & live music. The location is remote from grocery stores and shops. The slip consisted of a very short finger pier on one side and pair of stern piles to secure the boat, but we had water & power. The transient dock is next to the fuel dock, providing people watching entertainment.
While at a marina, we took advantage of being able to wash Utopia’s deck and hull, hiring someone to clean the bottom and doing laundry. Since we had at the stability of a dock, Jimmy went up the mast to change out the VHS antenna, providing a show for those in the restaurant. He counted at least five tables staring at him when he stopped to count.
Also, while here, we met up with Captains Jean & Jeff from Two Can Sail for a chart briefing. They live in the Burnt Store Marina neighborhood and know the area from there to the Bahamas very well. It was so kind of them to spend the time reviewing passages, anchorages and places of interest with us. They mentioned that some friends of theirs, Jim and Bonnie in a catamaran (Leopard?) named Gone Again were coming to the fuel dock and encouraged us to introduce ourselves to them. While Jimmy was in the marina showers, I saw the boat come in and I ignored the awkwardness I felt and walked over to introduce myself. They were expecting our visit and were so nice to chat with, discussing cruising plans for both boats. It is possible that we will see them in points south this winter. I think I will be more comfortable with reaching out to the other boats they told us to be on the lookout for.
Anchorages at Useppa, St. James City & Glover Bight
From the marina, we sailed towards the ICW before motoring southbound to anchor near Useppa Island.
ICW: Intracoastal Waterway – a navigable waterway between Boston, MA & Brownsville, TX that provides an inland route for most of the way. Also described as the Gulf Intracostal Waterway (GIWW) in the Waterway Guide.
Useppa can only be accessed by requesting to attend the history museum, or by being a member of the island club. Both the island and the museum have been highly recommended places to visit, however due to their limited hours post-Hurricane Ian, the weather and our schedule we were unable to visit the island. At least the anchorage was enjoyable for watching wildlife and the boats going in and out of Cabbage Key.
Instead, we opted to explore the Tunnel of Love on the west side of Cabbage Key where there is a break in the mangroves where you can travel in a kayak or dinghy to a little lake that provides access to the beach. Although it is recommended to do this trip on a rising tide, we attempted it on a falling tide with mixed results. It was strange to paddle our way through mangroves when we were not fending off the pointy branches that appeared threatening to our inflatable dinghy. Just a short distance from the lake the creek became impassable for our dinghy without attempting to lift it over some branches. On a falling tide, this could mean a much more difficult job on the return trip. As an alternative we parked the dinghy in a bend, climbed the bank, treaded our way through the vegetation until we reached the beautiful, deserted beach on the Gulf of Mexico. A short walk to the north brought us to the lake where the sandy banks demonstrated that we probably attempted this trip at too low of a tide. Seeing this alarmed us enough to promptly to retreat down the beach, through the vegetation and back to The Jeep (the dinghy’s nickname) before the creek lost too much water to float out of the tunnel. The exit journey was faster and easier than the inbound trip. Perhaps we were more comfortable with battling the bushes, or we were learning how to better maneuver in the tight spaces, or maybe it was the ebb flow helping us. Anyway, although the dinghy was very dirty from this “off-road” trip, there were no punctures, and we were both pleased with taking a chance in exploring the Tunnel of Love.
Later that day we weighed anchor and headed to St. James City where we anchored for a couple of nights for some protection from northerly winds. A dinghy ride up the nearby canals let us see homes that reminded us a little bit of Shell Point Beach (of Wakulla County), that gave way to restaurants, a fuel dock and several local crabbing boats. We cannot imagine what the area must have looked like after Hurricane Ian, but it is nice to see that a few of their restaurants are back in business, like the Low Key Tiki, where we enjoyed an early dinner and may of been one of the only non-locals.
With a need to find a way into Fort Myers to send and pick up some Amazon packages, we moved over to Glover Bight. It was a nice little anchorage tucked in amongst mangroves. This was contrasted with the giant Westin facility visible from our stern. After some phone calls to area marinas, we learned that we could dinghy over to the docks at the Cape Harbor complex. At a mile away, we were happy to use the dock to get ashore for exercise, errands, and dinner with live music overlooking the docks. We will remain at this achorage until the weather looks good for a long day jump to Marco Island.
Challenges:
Shore Access – This part of Florida was ravaged by Hurricane Ian in 2022 and many areas are still damaged, including several marinas. Also, many channels have experienced shoaling, so reaching out to locals has provided some assurances and some warnings.
Garbage – We are improving how to manage garbage, like how to sort and compress it to reduce odors and volume. Another challenge is finding places to leave our garbage. For example, the nearby Westin would allow us to dock and leave garbage for a $20 fee, but Mystic Powerboats rented out the entire transient/dinghy dock for the weekend, providing a good show, but required us to find the other marina’s trash cans. We made sure to stop and have a drink at one of the marina restaurants as a way to pay a “garbage tax” although it was not required.
Internet – Sometimes it is very slow. Jimmy has a new laptop to use for weather routing, but getting the laptop up and running, and adding programs has been tricky. Same goes for uploading photos. It can be a hassle, yet, we do not have any tight deadlines, so it is manageable.
Cold Weather – There is no heat on the boat while at anchor and we’ve had some cold nights recently. Baxter becomes a cuddly cat in the chilly temps. We have installed our cockpit enclosure so that we can add in a little bit of temperature control to the boat.
Mosquitos – Although it has been cold, it is not cold enough to stop the mosquitos. The winds have been light past two nights which has allowed the mosquitos to find us, even with the cockpit enclosure up. This is requiring our hiding in the cabin at dusk and dawn, or else we feed the mosquitos, as I did this morning…
We consider these to be minor challenges. They are more like things we are learning along the way. Several times each day I feel gratitude to be out here cruising.
For those of you who like to see our photos, here are some that cover from our time at Burnt Store Marina to our current location on Glover Bight.
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