Getting from Sarasota to Punta Gorda, our next stop, isn’t as easy as you’d think. We decided to travel in the Gulf rather than re-trace our ICW path, so you head north for a bit and then make a sort of U-turn to the south. And right at the spot where you make the U-turn there is serious shoaling. When I saw the sign that said “Resume Local Navigation” I knew we were in trouble….we never saw the first sign that said local navigation had started! Captain Cliff did a great job in slowly getting us into a channel deep enough to get us out into the Gulf and into deep water. Punta Gorda is at the northeast end of Charlotte Harbor — a large, but shallow body of water which is reached via a narrow channel from the Gulf. The dock master here told us that when they get several days of easterly winds, the water gets very, very skinny. I’m hoping we are out of here before that happens!
We departed The Field Club around 8am with unusual clouds. The cloud cover was welcome as our route took us right into the sun.
Very, very skinny water getting out of Sarasota and into deeper Gulf waters.
Once we were safely in the Gulf….a perfect time for a champagne breakfast!
A couple of hours of cleaning (the normal arrival routine) wraps up with Cliff putting in the newly cleaned isinglass. Tried a new product and it worked perfectly.