Jan was nice enough this morning to cook me a good breakfast...eggs, bacon, toast & all...it was sooo nice. Then I got to talking to Tom about fishing, and before I knew it, he'd given me a huge rod & reel & a bunch of plugs to use. Plus, he said that'd be a good reason for me to come back & visit them on the return trip. Sounds good to me...I don't need much of an excuse!

Jan & I walked the beach a little while, & I've never seen so many shells. I've always heard that Sanibel Island has great shells, but Jan's convinced they don't have anything on here, and I believe her. We found as many sharks teeth as you could bend down & pick up...it was really cool.

Now they were nice enough to let me use their computer, so here I sit...talking to ya'll. It appears, however, than I'm about done for now, so on to the next port of call. Tonight I will visit either Cabbage Key or Sanibel Island. From Sanibel, I'll jump off straight to Key West when the weather's right. I imagine that run'll be about 120 miles...I'll probably leave early Friday morning and get there on Saturday afternoon. We'll have to see! I'll keep you updated as best I can.

I finally pulled away from Jan's dock around 1:30, after promising them that I'd visit on the return trip. I made it down to Pelican Bay at the mouth of Charlotte Harbor around 4ish, & only entered after consulting local knowledge on the radio...there's a good bit of charted shallow water entering the bay, but I made it through just fine. Let's hope leaving tomorrow will be just as uneventful.

Once I got here, I dinked in to the State Park at Cayo Costa Island. The island is apparently something like Florida's largest undeveloped island. It's 2500 acres or so, & best I can tell, really pristine. I didn't walk around too much, though, because I had no cash with me, and it cost a dollar to enter the park. Plus, rowing the dink 2 more times would have been quite tough.

I came back & went swimming, then finished a book I was reading. I made a blueberry muffin in my cast iron skillet on the grill, and saved a chunk for breakfast. I thenk picked up a Lewis Grizzard book that I borrowed from Jan...I feel bad that I'd never read one of his books, with him being from Moreland and all, but I made up for it tonight by starting and finishing this one in one night.

I finished it around 11:30, and started to get to sleep when a storm rolled through. I looked outside, & about a 42' SeaRay near me was nearer than I remembered....25 yards, if that. Their anchor had dragged pretty bad, so sleep was out of the question for the time being. I tried to hail them on the radio to no avail. Luckily, the storm wasn't too bad, & passed through after 30 or 45 minutes. Gusts were around 25-30kts though. Before long, I saw activity on their boat, & as soon as the storm passed, they weighed anchor and moved to reset it. Maybe I'll sleep now...but, I do have one more Grizzard book...