Bazar’s Second Wave

 Our daughter Kelsey took a few well deserved days off from work and traveled to see us in Fort Myers for her 23rd birthday and we met her at the gate. We hadn't seen her since Christmas time! The evening of her birthday we took her to The Firestone Rooftop Bar in downtown Fort Myers just a couple of blocks from our marina.  Although it was a brisk day the view and company were delightful and Kelsey talked nonstop to fill us in with the goings on in her life. The following day we went to the Six Mile Cypress Slough where we could possibly see alligators, many types of birds, wild pigs, snakes, and otters.  You walk along a boardwalk through the wetlands.  Since FL hasn't had much rain this winter or spring the slough wasn't too wet.   Searching for wildlife! We also went to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates.  They had a historical museum, botanical garden and tours of both their winter homes.  Th...

Visiting Key West was something we wanted to do during our Loop adventure. Deciding whether or not to take our boat there was a decision we gave much thought to. In the end, we elected not to cruise Second Wave to Key West for the sake of the time involved (it would take 3 weeks off of our ICW path of the Great Loop). We've made the same decision about the Bahamas. During this time of year, the prevailing winds are from the northerly direction. Crossing the Gulf Stream on the east side of Florida means having to wait for the winds to clock around to the south in order to have a smooth crossing of about 55 miles to West End on Grand Bahama. Boats sometimes wait in West Palm, FL for weeks for this wind shift to occur. We don't want to wait that long. We'd rather spend that time in Canada during the summer months ahead. So we chose another option to visit Key West - the Key West Express. This power catamaran leaves from Fort Myers Beach daily and cruises at 40 MPH...