Sailing Cruise 2005

Cruise 2005

So far this has been a great trip. We haven't tried to cover great distances like years past, but have decided to stay in one marina (Burnt Store Marina) Didn't sail a couple of days due to weather. One day we had a small craft advisary and another day it rained all day.
The table below is a recent trip to Don Pedro Island SP. Click on the picture to see larger version. Use the back button on your browser to return.

Don Pedro Island SP

	There is a well marked channel across the small bay as you approach the docks. The other part of the channel off the ICW (intra coastal waterway) is a narrow pasage through the mangroves. The bottom slopes up to very shallow water on either side of the channel. Just to the south of the docks there is plenty of room to anchor in 7 to 9 foot of water.
	Signage at the dock as you enter the Park.
	The beautiful white beach at Don Pedro State Park.
	This is the Boca Grande swing bridge opening as we approach to return South to Burnt Store Marina
	Caught this fish on the way back while trolling in Charlotte Harbor. As you can see it was caught by the tail!
	We released it after cutting away part of the treble hook that was in the tail.

Cayo Costa

Birds on the beach at Cayo Costa state park.	Boca Grande Light House as viewed from Cayo Costa. Winds were 15 to 20 knots at the time.
Okbayou swinging around at anchor, while we explored Cayo Costa.	Pelican guarding Burnt Store channel entrance.
	One of many trails on the island. Some were covered with water due to recent rains. The shady cooler trails were infested with mosquitoes. The drier sunnier trails were mostly bug free due to the strong winds at the time of our visit.
	At the dock campers who came out to the island on the ferry can bring their camping equipment on the tram to the other side of the island where the campground is located, close to the beach.
	Manatee in the lagoon accessed from East side of the island by the anchorage. We saw at least four manatees in this lagoon. There were also osprey nesting nearby. A lot of people dinghy in here to observe as well as one of the pontoon boats that ferrys people to the island.
	This gator suprised us right after jumping into the water, right after a couple of ducks flew off. One of the ducks might have been a meal if we hadn't walked up. This lagoon opens up to the Gulf and is only waste deep in a lot of places. There is also a sign warning people not to swim here.

Redfish Pass between Captiva and North Captiva Island

Gulf side North Captiva Island just North of Redfish Pass	Just inside Redfish Pass
Turn West from this Mark to goto Cabbage key.	Channel to Cabbage Key Docks.

Stump Pass area

After leaving Don Pedro SP we thought we would visit Stump Pass SP. It was a nice stopover for lunch, but there was so much boat traffic through this narrow waterway we decided to sail out the pass into the Gulf that afternoon. Later we sailed back in Boca Grande Pass to the south. The wind died after sunset so we motored back across Charlotte Harbor and into Burnt Store Marina for the night.

Epilog

We didn't travel very far this year like we did in the past, but visited several areas we had never seen before particularly North of Gasperillo Island. Although we had visited Cayo Costa in the past, we saw things there we had never seen before. We were on the water for 28 days. 12 nights were spent at anchor the rest were in our slip at Burnt Store Marina.

Favorite links for surrounding area

Burnt Store Marina near Punta Gorda, Florida, our home away from home for four weeks.
Tides pick location from this table Current table for local area.
Heavens Above satellites and astronomy
Weather page
Cayo Costa State Park
Don Pedro State Park
Save the Manatee

Red Tide update from Florida Wildlife
Monitoring the Caloosahatchee River, Florida
Anchorage Inventory Places to anchor nearby
Punta Gorda Sailing Club Nautical Links