Cayo Costa State Park and Boca Grande

We never would have attempted either of the to anchorages we visited yesterday and today if we hadn't had Rampage leading the way!  The chart plotter showed depths of 4 and 5 feet as we skirted a long sandbar on our way into Pelican Bay off the Cayo Costa State Park but the depth sounder never went below 7.5 feet.  There was a brisk northwest breeze blowing and we had a beautiful sail up Pine Island Sound, arriving at Pelican Bay around 1 pm.

After lunch aboard we took dinghies ashore and walked across the island to the Gulf side of the island and saw how rough the Gulf could get when it blows 20 knots or so.

We followed Rampage  closely as we sailed up Pine Island Sound and into Pelican Bay - - - note the
pelicans that greeted us as we passed within 100 feet of the sand bar at the entrance.

We spent a pleasant night anchored in about 8 feet of water and were glad to see the wind had

quieted down a bit by morning.  We only had a short motor sail to get to Boca Grande and crept

out the entrance as the tide was lower than it was on our trip in.  Bill and Linda had been telling

us about the Bayou at Boca Grande and how quiet the anchorage is.  We followed them in and we were able to raft up for the night because it is so well protected

We skirted right by a beautiful golf course at the entrance to the Bayou and rafted up with Rampage.
What looks like an inner jib is actually their headsail.  Bottom left we are dropping our stern anchor near the shore.

John and Brandi went ashore as soon as we had settled and rented bikes, they came back aboard for Bloody Marys and then we all took bikes ashore to ride to the southern end of the island to have lunch at South Beach.  While waiting to be served John and Brandi decided to do a little "stunting" on the beach, very successfully I might add.  After lunch we rode to the lighthouse  and also took in some of the sights which included an interesting mural painted on someone's wall and also an exciting remote control laser race in one of the canals on the island.

The rented bikes were due back at 4 pm, so we were back aboard shortly thereafter and decide to take a "cocktail cruise" in the dinghy.  We saw more Hinckley boats in the space of half an hour than we've seen since being tied up in Southwest Harbor!  All of them were the powerboat variety... a sad commentary from our perspective.  We also spied lots of wildlife, that's a porpoise behind Bill's head, and a pelican and great blue behind Linda's.  The sun shining through the stars and stripes just looked so pretty, and Bill wanted a picture from this side of our raft to prove they were actually there!

Linda served up wonderful Gulf pink shrimp for dinner and we watched a bit of the Olympics before turning in. ~~~_/)~~~M&D