On short notice, Dianne and I decided to fly to Fort Myers last Friday to get our drivers licenses taken care of and check on the place. Also since my parents are following me down in their vehicle this coming Friday, I thought it would be nice to have their bedroom all set up for them after the long drive down. They are helping me out tremendously by doing some painting and repairs around Dianne and I's condo while I am out on the boat consulting with the previous owner or doing charters.
We arrived in Fort Myers by noon on Friday and grabbed a car. Dropped our stuff off at the condo and then went to the local drivers license office to get our shiny new Florida license. Luckily they took us early since we had an appointment and we were able to get out in time to go on the sunset sail that Captain Ron had scheduled aboard our boat. This was the first chance I got to see Captain Ron in action on a sunset sail. He was smooth as usual, but then again when isn't Captain Ron! What a great guy Captain Ron is. Dianne and I are very fortunate to have had him be apart of this transition to charter boat owners. Anyways, the sunset sail was awesome! Leaving the dock and heading out of the harbor, we immediately saw 2 dolphins and we proceeded to follow them around for awhile. They didn't at all seem threatened by us and seemed to love being around our boat and others. During this time, 3 para-gliders (parachutes with propeller backpacks) flew overhead and began doing dives and other maneuvers around Bowditch Point. Amazing! One of them actually landed on the beach. Once around Bowditch Point, Ron headed into the wind and we raised the sails. A nice gentle wind immediately got us moving around 4-5 knots as we began to say goodbye to the sun during a very colorful sunset just offshore of Sanibel Island from our vantage point. Beautiful! As we motored back in near darkness after some more sailing, we passed the large casino ship leaving for its nightly cruise. I always find beauty in all types of vessels and especially when passing each other with our navigational lights on in the darkness. Arriving back at the dock, Captain Ron took the time to introduce us (Dianne and I) to the other boat captains and a few of the pirates from the children's pirate ship cruise. Like real pirates, they were sitting at the bar drinking and I think I even heard gunfire at one point. Don't worry, I think they forgot to load the musket ball in the chamber! A few more words with Captain Ron and Dianne and I were on the road back to the condo to get some sleep for our 6:30 am flight back to Ohio. What a great 24 hours. Thanks Captain Ron for a great night on OUR boat! I have to say OUR boat because Ron gets a little possessive of the vessel he captains. Ha! Sailing Fort Myers Beach is going to be amazing. Only a week to go and I'll be there!
Till next time,
Captain Dan Mendat
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