Returning from the Everglades trip in February

I suppose I need to put a post on the blog, for all of my friends who are calling and asking where I am, and why I'm not yet in the Bahamas...

I returned from my Everglades/Marco island adventure on February 2nd.  My good friend Ellen had joined me in Marco Island, and we spent a few days in Ten Thousand Island, and on the inside up Little Shark River, the Shark River, Tarpon Bay, and the Everglades.  The weather forcast called for continued high winds, and at some point we decided to bring the trawler to the house, and later drive back up to Marco to re-unite Ellen with her vehicle. 

On the way home, we cut down towards Marathon, and ran the inside waterway to Bahia Honda, where we anchored on the north side of the bridge, in a nook out of the current, and protected from the hefty east winds.  In the morning, we left early, to catch the tide running with the wind, and arrived in Newfound Harbor in early morning.  We anchored once again, awaiting a higher tide to get into my home canal, and ran home in the Whaler, opening the house up, and doing a few errands before returning to the Mercy.  We brought her in on the high tide, and spent the day cleaning up the boat and unloading a few items into the house.

Just a note here: if you are going to anchor off Bahia Honda, and the wind is blowing, and you can get under the bridge to the north, do it.  Then you can find an area with less current, where your vessel can lay with the wind.  It makes for a much more comfortable night.  I'm amazed at all the folks who anchor in the heavy current in the cut at Bahia Honda.

Later, Ellen and I drove to Marco, and spent the night with Craig and Donna.  In the morning, I drove across the State to meet Jeff and Izzy on their trawler in Fort Lauderdale for an enjoyable visit over lunch.  I had to spend a little bit of time in Fort Lauderdale at the huge West Marine before driving home.