Ft. Myers, marina

We left LaBelle around 7 am. It was a little scary since there is a current these days with the water being so high and it, of course, was pushing us into the boat next to us. But we managed to pull out from the cute town wall without bumping them.

The day started out amazing, like the last 2 days had been. But we knew a change was coming and hoped to get into Ft. Myers before the storm. While about a mile from the Franklin Lock, the last we had to get through, we heard a west bound vessel hail it for an opening. The lock needed to be set for them, which was the delay we needed. We hailed the lock ourselves and told them our location, hoping they'd wait for us. The lock master said, "If you get where I can see you I'll hold the lock." We put the spurs to her and dashed ahead.

Water at 8 am.

Water at 10 am.

We made it. The other boat was named Fryedaze. While locking we chatted we discovered they were heading to their winter port of Longboat Key. Hey! We winter in Longboat Key! We have plans to try to connect once we're both "home."

Between the lock and Ft. Myers are lots of slow zones, some from boaters, some from "manatees are here." As we progressed the weather eroded. The winds came up and at us from the west, making a decent chop. We had waves of 1-2 feet on the nose. With the channel being so narrow, there was no opportunity to tack to avoid it.

Did get to enjoy dinner outside
downtown Ft. Myers.

Gusts blew into the 20s. To the north we could see the brunt of the storm, with lightning and thunder. Once we could see Ft. Myers we noticed the town itself was sunny. We hailed the marina, got our docking instructions, and hoped for the best.

Once we entered the marina the water's immediately calmed. We were able to make our way to the slip (a bit of maneuvering in the fairways) and... the rain started. Russ was on the bow getting fenders and lines ready, getting soaked. Two folks came out to meet us from the marina, both wearing adequate rain gear. We sterned in without any drama, and just as lines got tied off the winds came up. We just beat a crazy monsoon of weather.

The storm lasted 30 minutes or so. I'd much rather be at anchor or in port for storms. This was quite a pleasant one. Thank goodness we made the lock.

Behold, the little downpour. Watch your volume!!!!