News & Views for Southern Sailors - Southwinds Magazine

THE OTHER ICWof that island. At R40you can turn to the westand enter the anchorage.And a fine anchorage itis, too! Good holding,lots of dolphins, and tworestaurants that areabout a 200-yard dinghyride away. Additionally,if you follow the LongBeach shoreline to thesoutheast you will cometo a gap that beginsBishop’s Bayou. Followthis back to the northwestthrough prettyThe restaurant on Cabbage Keyhouses and mangrovesuntil you come to a concrete wall with cleats in it. Tie uphere and you can walk to a very nice little grocery store andliquor store. If you take your dinghy the other way from theanchorage, toward the bridge you come to the large sandyshoal that prevented you from entering this way. On theweekend, you’ll find maybe a hundred shallow draft boatshere with barbecues going, dogs splashing in the ankledeepwater and kids searching for sand dollars.We stayed three nights at this anchorage and then goton the buoy trail that leads back to the ICW and straight toSarasota Bay. Once in the bay, there is plenty of water, andwe hoisted sails and sailed all the way to the RinglingCauseway Bridge, which is now 65 feet high. After thebridge, you can turn to the east after R10 and enter the largeanchorage area. This anchorage gives you a very prettynight view of downtown Sarasota. A short dinghy ride toO’Leary’s Sailing School and from there you can walk intodowntown Sarasota.SARASOTA TO VENICEFrom Sarasota you follow the ICW markers south into littleSarasota Bay all the way to Venice. There is a small anchoragearea in Venice, but more than one sailor had told us horrorstories of being hassled by the local sheriff, anotherexample of Florida’s schizophrenic attitude toward cruisingsailboats. They love our money but don’t really want ourboats there at all! So we took a slip at the Crow’s NestMarina, which is right on the Venice Inlet. Boats in marinasare less likely to be hassled than boats at anchor. The CrowsNest is a nice little marina with laundry, Internet, a restaurant,and free loaner bikes for the mile or so ride into downtownVenice.But we’re cheap! One night in a marina and we are offthe next day. The ICW from Venice takes you around theairport through a man-made canal, which then empties intoLemon Bay. Just after the drawbridge near Englewood there“might” be an anchorage just off to the southwest. Theanchorage is plenty deep at 8-10 feet, but there is a five-footshoal to find your way through to get to it. It is not marked,and without “localknowledge,” we decidedto press on for a littleanchorage off HazePoint about anotherfive miles down. Youcan turn to the leftaround Haze Pointand enter a circularanchorage area about300 yards across, surroundedby nice privatehomes. It is verywell protected from allsides, but the holdingis very soupy so wedropped two anchors.Good thing probably, because we got a lot of wind and rainthe night we were there.It is a short hop then to enter Gasparilla Sound, whichin turn opens up to huge Charlotte Harbor. Following thebuoys, Gasparilla Island will be on your right. As youapproach R2, you can turn toward the island. There arebuoys marking the entrance into the little town of BocaGrande. They say you can get in there and anchor, but westayed out and anchored just off this marked channel. Thewater inside is pretty thin, and we saw one sailboat go inand get stuck. The marina at Boca Grande is being rebuilt(should re-open in September 2006), but you can tie up yourdinghy there anyway. It is a short walk into the little townof Boca Grande. Some shops, a bar, and bicycle and golf cartrentals are there. We, of course, are here (and everywhere onthis trip) during the off-season so many things are closed upuntil late fall/winter.Continuing south across the mouth of CharlotteHarbor, you can once again pick up the buoys until you arebetween Useppa Island and Cabbage Key. Turn left at R60and anchor just off Useppa Island. Useppa Island is a privateclub sort of deal, and you can’t go ashore there.Cabbage Key, however, used to be an old fishing outpost.There is a restaurant, small marina, and rental cottages. Thestory goes that the old fishermen would want to guaranteethat they would get a beer when they returned from fishingso they would sign their name on a dollar bill and stick it tothe barroom wall. Since then, this has become a tradition,and they estimate that the walls now have over $50,000taped to them several layers deep. There is a short naturetrail on the island that you can follow and a water tank thatyou can walk to the top of and see a very nice panorama ofsome undeveloped Florida waterfront. Yes—there still issome left! This anchorage provided the best bird-watchingof the trip. As the tide went down and the mud flats wereexposed, we saw blue and green heron, osprey, ibis, yellowcrownednight heron (our favorite!) and the gaudy roseatespoonbill. You don’t see these back in Chicago!Another 25-mile-or-so run takes you into Fort Myers.You first have to negotiate the “miserable mile”—a straight38 October 2006 SOUTHWINDS www.southwindsmagazine.com