The first time I came to Punta Gorda was for a work-related trip and I quickly fell in love with the town with its older homes, waterside park and trails, free loaner bikes and especially the warm and friendly locals. There is a long multi-use sidewalk that runs along Charlotte Harbor and the Peace River where you can find view many boats at anchor. It was always fun to imagine being anchored out there, so I was particularly happy when we set our anchor near Gilchrist Park in Punta Gorda a few days ago.
Cayo Costa
We did not make it over to Punta Gorda until this past Thursday since we stayed in Pelican Bay extra days to sit out some rather windy storms. Last Sunday we pulled the anchor from our spot just off the ICW, and an hour later we had set the anchor in Pelican Bay, a cool little bay nestled between Punta Blanca and Cayo Costa Islands, all within the state park boundaries. Entrance to the bay needed to be timed with a tide high enough to accommodate our 5.5’ draft. At one point we saw just a foot below the keel but had 4’ under us at our anchorage at high tide.
Although Cayo Costa was hit rather hard by Hurricane Ian last year, it is still a beautiful area if one looks beyond the scuffed-up vegetation. The park has not opened up any of the interior trails, or any of the facilities that once served park visitors, however we were able to take a three mile walk along the coastline, which required a fair amount of wading to avoid dense mangroves.
With limited area on land to exercise, we have begun swimming around Utopia for exercise. The water on the colder day of swimming was 75 degrees, a bit chilly, but I think the pools run by the City of Tallahassee may run colder than that during the winter months, so we sucked it up and jumped in. Once moving, the temperature was not too bad. In the future we may need to wear our wetsuits for our swimming ventures.
One afternoon we treated ourselves with a dinghy ride through some shallow, choppy waters over to Cabage Key for a delicious lunch. This privately owned island, with a restaurant and inn, allows visitors to drop in. It was also hit hard by Hurricane Ian but has managed to get its facilities back up to accommodate guests. Part of their success could be attributed to the water old water tower that appears to have survived each storm since 1937. Upon arrival, we were greeted by very friendly staff members, reminding me of our time at the Bitter End Yacht Club years ago. Even when crossing paths with a staff member out on the islands trails, they were so incredibly friendly. A climb up the water tower gave us the most incredible views of the area, definitely lending to the feeling of being in a tropical paradise.
After a couple of very pretty days, windy storms came in which pretty much kept us aboard Utopia. Jimmy will most likely cover these storms during next week's blog post. With the rain and wind and very little internet available, we spent a couple of days doing small chores and reading.
With the end of the rain, and decent weather forecasted, we were able to depart Pelican Bay on Thursday afternoon once the tides provided enough water for Utopia to get out and head towards Punta Gorda. Although the first quarter of the four-hour trip we had winds for sailing, our batteries were quite low from multiple cloudy days at anchor, so we motor-sailed our way up Charlotte Harbor to charge everything up. We also made about 60 gallons of water during this trip. With the good breeze the first hour, the flooding tide and our engine on, we flew into Punta Gorda before sunset.
Punta Gorda
I must admit, before arriving at the anchorage, I had a little anxiety about this anchoring spot. We’ve anchored many times, and a few times around other boats without my feeling anxious. But for some reason, I pictured a very crowded anchorage and wanted to set anchor before sunset. I imangined Utopia circling and weaving through a field of boats, trying to find a spot to wedge into and then hoping others had the same amount of rode out… However, once we rounded the bend and could see the anchorage, my anxiety dissipated since the anchorage was much larger than it looked on the map, and there were not too many boats at anchor (did Hurricane Ian clear out some of the old derelict boats???). Anyway, once again, we found the current to be a bigger factor than wind while setting anchor. I think that next time we will pay more attention to which factor to set anchor against instead of insisting on setting into the very light wind.
We’ve spent the past two days with trips into Punta Gorda, getting plenty of steps in. We’ve stopped by the post office to inquire about receiving packages through general delivery and Ace Hardware looking for a new TDS meter since our last one seems to be temperamental (it is used to testing the water from the water maker). The weekly farmer’s market was yesterday, and we purchased a bunch of produce, along with a tasty almond croissant. We strolled through the arts and crafts event in Gilchrist Park, where we had a nice chat with a local solar energy representative.
Last night I got to fulfill another wish of mine – to dinghy to shore and have dinner at the Celtic Ray Public House. I was hoping to do this two years ago, back when we first got Utopia. She had been in a boat yard close to Punta Gorda when we purchased her and I really wanted to anchor out in Punta Gorda and dinghy to the Celtic Ray then, but the weather did not cooperate with us. So, after a two year wait, we did exactly that – we drove our little dinghy over to Gilchrist Park, tied her off and walked the mile to the pub. There is another dinghy dock closer to the pub, but the water has been so choppy, we opted for the short dinghy ride, with the longer walk. We will explore the other route, under the bridges, to the other dinghy dock during the day before attempting it at night. Anyway, Jimmy had his first beer from the Celtic Ray: Smithwick’s on draft, while we thoroughly enjoyed watching Seven Nations play Celtic rock. They put on a really good show. It is apparent that they play often together and that they get along with each other superbly. The drummer has some ties to Punta Gorda and there were quite a few people there excited to see him play in town. The band interacted with the audience from time to time, adding to the overall enjoyment. It was a great treat for having to wait two years for this visit to the Celtic Ray. I suspect that just like when we were working on Utopia before we splashed her in 2021, that we will make a few more trips over to the Celtic Ray during our two-week stay here in Punta Gorda this year.
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