Boating is Good for Appreciating Wild Life

Well by Friday, 2/26 we deduced that the wind was more tolerable, not calm but maybe doable, so we left our protected anchorage in Russell Pass and headed back out into the Gulf.  We had a 40 mile journey to get to a marina on Marco Island.  It started out choppy and moved into seriously wavey, so with the help of Dramamine I survived and we traveled to Marco with no problems.  The only bummer was that we passed 6 Loons floating in the Gulf but I could not move fast enough to get my iPad ready for a picture so the moment passed.  It was sooo cool to be within 30 ft of those beautiful water birds in their natural habitat!
Once we arrived at Rose Marina on Marco, it was on to the chores!  The marina was just OK and it was not worth a picture so the only pics we have are of birds we saw on the beach taken on Sunday and on our boat.

This is an Osprey having a leisurely fish lunch atop this pole.  After finishing chores on Saturday and finding wind predictions to be uncomfortable for cruising on Sunday, we spent the day walking to a public beach and poking around the beach.  After experiencing so many unique beaches so far on this journey, the extensive one on Marco was just average. Funny how 6 years ago when we spent our 30th anniversary at the Mariott on Marco, we thought the beach was fantastic.  Guess we are spoiled now!!  Not so bad to be spoiled! 

While I was up on the flybridge enjoying the view, this little buddy perched over my head on Sunday evening. A boat neighbor alerted me to the event so I could snap this picture.  He was so quiet, I never would have known he was there without the neighbor's comment. 

 We have continued to have lots of wind but Monday showed to be a much calmer day so the plan was set to head further North to Sanibel Island. We have lots of apps and websites for wind predictions. The Internet has made this trip so much more easy to plan. 

So here we sit in the J.N. "Ding" Darling Bay next to the Wildlife National Refuge in a beautiful cove looking at the juxtaposition of the mangroves of natural Sanibel Island against the high rise resorts of Ft. Myers beach.  We were very lucky today to be allowed to dock Victory Lap at Tarpon Bay Recreational Facility so we could rent bikes and slowly cruise along the roadway in the Wildlife Area.  It was a beautiful day and a wonderful bike adventure to see the pristine mangrove preserve.

So you have to click on these two photos and focus in on the middle pink spot.  It was the small spot of pink that caught my eye in the dense mangrove forest and it was not easy to get a clear shot of this Roseate Spoonbill using just a phone camera. But it was a rare find so here it is!

And here we finally have our first sighting of a real alligator!  It was so still; no danger?

Heading back to InSpeyered 2 leaving Sanibel in our wake. We have a fresh water leak in a water pipe to the sink in our stateroom head. (Bathroom in our bedroom)  So back to a marina tomorrow so we can make the repair on land.   Always something on a boat.  But we had a glorious day!  

Al is raising Victory Lap back onto the mid deck into her secure nest so we can be on our way into a Ft Myers marina tomorrow morning.