February 21st Day 224

Were up and ready for our trip from Fort Meyers to Naples. Fuel price was $3.40 so we decided to take on 50 gallons in our main tank. We were off the fuel dock and underway by 8:30. What a gorgeous days it was. We traveled 16 miles down river to get to the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico. Once under the 65' bridge we were in the open gulf. The Gulf was calm with just small rollers and the sun shined bright. We cruised about 5 miles off the coast past Fort Meyers Beach as we headed south. The beach was lined with high rises which broke the flat beach line. Once out in open water we set our heading at 163 magnetic and sat back for a restful sunny run. The only thing we had to watch for besides the dolphins were the crab pot markers. Would hate to ruin a beautiful day by wrapping one around our props, then I would have to have Lin go down and cut the line off while I did shark duty(right I am dreaming). We reached the river entrance at East Naples mid afternoon after 51 miles of great cruising. We traveled up river about three miles to the Naples City Docks. Just before they gave us our docking assignment Mother Nature enters the picture. You guessed it wind really picks up and they want us to stern into our berth with the high wind on our beam which by the way was pushing us toward the boat alongside us. After a few tries and Lin going from a Port to Starboard tie a few times we decided no way was it going to work. Dock hands agreed and found a dock in a more protected area of the marina. Once there we sterned in without a problem. We sure did not want to ruin a great day by being blown into another boat while docking. After getting secured in and talking to our sister-in-law Ruth who lives in Naples we headed up to town for a look see. Looked like all residential till we reached a cross street all lite up and trees all decorated with lights. Music was playing and the restaurants were full. After we checked out a few menus we figured we were in the high rent district of Naples we had heard about. Our thoughts became more clear as the streets were lined with convertible BMW's, Mercedes, and to top it off a new Bentley. After looking in the shop windows we decided we were tired and time to head back to reality and the marina. Tomorrow we will hook up with our sister-in-law for a visit.

Lin & Rich
Naples City Docks
East Naples , Florida