Our Stay In Ft Meyers, FL

Feb 22 – March 1, 2014:  

Fog at the Sanibel Bridge

Fog near Sanibel

Forging ahead thru patches of fog on Saturday morning, Clay and I met our time parameters, arriving at Ft. Myers Legacy Harbor Marina in time for Mark and Becky Mather to transport us to the Loopers' picnic that afternoon at the home of Karen and Dennis Boldger in Cape Coral, just across the river from Ft Myers.  They had a nice home, screened-in pool area, with dock and their Loop boat in the back.  The afternoon passed quickly with, a whirlwind of meeting and greeting new and old Looper friends.

Loopers Picnic at Karen and Dennis Baldger's home

Mark Mather and Clay at the Loopers Picnic

Legacy Marina provides delightful amenities, a user-friendly Wi-Fi system NOT being one of them. We were introduced to Beacon Wi-Fi at Longboat Key, so our failed attempt to connect here could not be attributed to user error! I think our only mistake was spending so darned much time Sunday afternoon with the project! I do have tenacity and perseverance which is why Clay assigned me the task to figure it out. Not. Shoulda stayed at the pool! Clay spent the later evening toggling between the Olympics and the Daytona 500. I went to bed! Frustration can be so exhausting!

Monday morning was devoted to computer repair efforts--again! This time the diagnosis by tech man #2 was not so economical; with the hard drive of the old computer now infected with a virus, our most viable option was a new computer. Having available to him a notebook computer with Windows 8 operating system at an affordable price, Clay grabbed the opportunity even though he'd insisted that, on his next new computer, he did not want Windows 8. Amazing how the fear of being without technology for an extended period of time impacts a decision. Bonus: New opportunities for learning exercise the brain cells and keep them active! (this per brother/-in-law Walter and right he is!)

Legacy Harbor is a combination hotel complex and marina and affords to both boaters and landlubbers a beautiful, but not huge heated pool, bath house complete with an exercise room and laundry, a patio/deck and tiki hut with seating overlooking the Caloosahatchee River that winds along downtown Ft. Myers. The location is equally appealing with downtown shops, restaurants, a riverwalk of sorts, the municipal marina/harbor and a Saturday farmers market in one direction; the Edison and Ford museum/homes on fabulous palm tree-lined MacGregor Boulevard in the other. During the week, Clay and I had opportunity to explore much of the area with our morning walks and daytime hours to be filled; we'd opted to stay in this location a full week, giving in to Sal's nesting instincts and taking advantage of the weekly rate here. Too, the week's stay gave full chance to complete the technology challenge facing us.  Hamilton Perez did a fantastic job transferring much of my data from the dead laptop to the new one!

Legacy Harbor is a favorite Loopers' resting, nesting spot so making new Looper friends and re-acquainting with old Looper friends is a popular past time. The high population of Loopers here also presents opportunity for Great Loop education (called a “chart review”) which was hosted by friends Robert and Kay Creech, each of the two full-morning sessions Tuesday and Wednesday presented by Robert. How much we all learned...where to dock/anchor, sights to see, available land transportation, waters (current, wind, shoaling) to avoid, and such. A good exchange of ideas! And, so nice of Legacy to provide the meeting room where we found boaters more than willing to share tips (and tricks) of the trade.  One of Robert's cardinal rules for Loopers and cruisers, "never travel on the weekend in high-traffic areas".

Tuesday afternoon our Looper friends Carol and Dave Munro and Sue and Ed Mahler joined us for drinks and snacks on the Legacy deck. The two couples were among the many we've met along the way, but special because we met them early in our Looper days...up near Alton and Kimmswick in late August. Fun to be reunited and share what's happened since last we met.

Our schedule (we've been warned that schedules create havoc and potential mayhem for Loopers) was challenged by the reappearance of the techno-wizard (referenced above as tech man #2) who showed just after 5:30 p.m. Tuesday for a 3+ hour installation and training session on the new Windows 8 laptop. My goal: learn to turn it on and off, open a browser, and access my files. Easy enough! But with Captain Clay at the helm (of the laptop this time), my goal was not to be accomplished until later. But Clay and Hamilton (techno-wizard now named) bonded and forged ahead to conquer Windows 8. Admittedly, Clay is still learning and so am I!

The "Bait Boat" near the mouth of the River

Because our by-land-traveling friends Mark and Becky Mather from Muscatine IA attended each of the two Looper morning sessions, Clay and I found ourselves with wheels, a Wednesday lunch date at Panera and opportunity to shop, albeit a boat-related outing to West Marine.  Mark and Becky’s Ocean Alexander, the Mara Beel, is overwintering at the SaSea Sally’s former dock at Two Rivers Marina in Louisiana.  Back for laps at the pool (Sal), phone data update (Becky), and boat-topics discussion (Clay and Mark), we then joined forces with other Loopers again on the Legacy deck to enjoy sunset, but to endure winds of the pending storm.

Now because Clay was still having technology issues, Hamilton reappeared Thursday morning to determine that SaSea Sally's Bad Boy (internet signal booster) went ka-put. Walter reminds me all the time that things happen in 3's, but I'm not counting! Our next quest (now why did I assume ownership of this task?) was to mail Bad Boy components back to home office in Canada. Clay, having retrieved from short supply of boxes on board (2) the USPS priority mailing box of considerable size, packaged up the components and off we went to the nearby post office (see, I told you Legacy was a good location!) only to learn the posting cost was $45. Different box; $8-10 or so. Hmmm. Clay was irritated; I like a challenge. So back to the boat we went (now you know why I assumed ownership of this task as Clay was so tempted just to mail and be done with it!) to formulate Plan B. (See, life IS all about Plan B!) Realizing the components would separate (Clay's ah-ha moment), he directed me (now who is the captain, and who is the admiral, Randy and Margaret?) to re-package and re-address in the other, much smaller, non-priority box. Done deal, to the tune of $12. I like a bargain....err, a kinda bargain! But if it's gonna fix Bad Boy... (does that make it a Good Boy now?)

SeaTow with a customer

Now, after USPS'ing, l FINALLY got to explore some of the downtown boutiques and shops, this being Thursday after previous-Saturday arrival. Of particular enticement was 'Boutique on First' which was owned and operated by Goodwill. Impressive. Piped-in (classical?) music met me at the door. All of the clothing and accessories were grouped (and priced!) according to brand (Coldwater Creek, Ann Taylor, Coach, Chicos, etc). Chicos belt, gently-used, $20. Coach purse, gently used, $45. Bought nothing, but sure had fun looking. As much of my day had been spent on the Bad Boy project, I was pleased that the store was open until 6 p.m. But, as the store closed, Clay called to report the storm had arrived; and it was raining. Thinking he was calling to offer a 'ride' (on foot and toting an umbrella to shelter me from the storm), I was awestruck to hear him suggest I duck into a saloon (or did he call it a wine bar?). Not a bad idea, come to think of it, but by the time I'd found said 'wine bar,' I'd be wet anyway. So, what the heck, I struck out on foot to accomplish the 15-20 minute, multi-block walk back to the boat! I didn't melt! But I did turn purple (Raynaud's is not kind to digits in windy, chilly, rainy weather). Created a memory which I laugh about now!

Being first mate requires taking orders from the captain. I thus declared Friday as 'my day to control,' not taking captain's orders. Loved it! Swam. Showered/processed then helped Clay a bit with Windows 8 before fixing lunch. He opted to go visit the Edison and Ford museums/homes while I trekked downtown and purchased a couple of cute items (Sus, of course I got you one like mine!) Storage on a boat is limited so I evaluated my purchase on a 'need' vs 'want' basis. My original August packing focused on basics; I now find need for a bit of fluff and feminity. Gals, you understand! Then, we went out to eat, dining at Ichiban's, a Chinese/Japanese restaurant highly-touted by fellow Loopers.

PBS (Putnam Boat Sales) Retreat from Columbia, MO

Scattered amongst the other activities at Legacy, Clay installed a new, one-way rollers on my Nodic Track we keep on the rear deck (over the lazerette).  My old roller started rolling both ways which rendered my Track non-functional.  I use the Track when we anchor out to get some exercise.  We met two "surprise" couples of note at Legacy.  Linda and Russ Putnam a Bayliner dealer from Columbia, MO who kept Bayliners on B-Dock (the Mary A dock) at Two Rivers from the early 1990s till the early 2000s had their boat at Legacy.  They drove down from Columbia to stay a few weeks a half dozen times each year.  The other couple we met was               .    was a SAE at Westminster College graduating in the mid-late 1960s. He is teaching school in Ft Myers and living on their sailboat.

Saturday dawned with departure on our agenda, but not before a cold swim and a warm shower for Sal. Love using Legacy's pool and shower/bath house! I will miss both. Never did use the fitness room...surprised?  A boat broker based at Legacy had paid us a visit, asking if we wanted to sell the SaSea Sally; in fact, two boat brokers did. Steve befriended us, personable as he was, and further solidified the acquaintance by arranging a short stay at Naples Boat Club Marina where transient dock spaces are in short supply. Thanks, Steve! We're off for Naples and the adventures we will find there.