Ft. Myers

1226 nm   N26 38.841  W081 52.224

Today was another easy 27 nm day.  The day dawned foggy, so we waited for the fog to burn off before departing.  It turned into a bright clear day.

Clear Calm Day

 Along the way, we started noticing more and more cows along the steep banks.  It turns out that Florida has more cattle farms than Orange farms! They rank 12th in the nation in total heads of cattle, and are supposed to have more cows per acre than Texas!  Its because the grass grows year round.

Cows in Florida

We soon traversed our last lock, the fifth of five on the OCWW.  The Franklin Lock drops a mere 3 feet, but returns us to the land of tides and brackish water. This lockkeeper also stated the requirement for lifejackets to be worn in the lock chamber, and actually denied entry to a small family fishing boat of 3 because they only had one life jacket aboard!

The Last Lock Closes Behind us.

At this point, the Caloosahatchee Canal turns into the Caloosahatchee River, and starts getting wider and wider.  By the time it gets to Ft Myers, its almost a mile across.  And since the City of Ft Myers Yacht Basin's mooring field is on the other side of the river, We elected to take a slip instead.  The BoatUS membership discount helped to take some of the sting out of the $2.75/ft transient slip rates.

Tied up in Ft Myers Yacht Basin

Although technically the OCWW continues all the way to the Gulf coast, most people consider Ft Myers the practical end of the OCWW.

We plan to be here for two nights, in order to get some provisioning done. Bill will also be leaving us here, as he has to fly home for some pressing family matters.

In the evening we walked into town, and had dinner at the Cabos Cantina Taco and Tequila Bar.

The next day, we took an Uber to the local Publix and restocked our perishables and beverages. 

Again, in the evening, we went out to dinner at Capone's Coal Fired Pizza.

Tomorrow, Bill's cousin Jimmy will pick him up, and we will head out for Ft Myers Beach on the Gulf coast, and take a mooring ball there for 3 days while we explore this seaside town.

Life is good.