Dec 21 Cayo Costa to Punta Gorda

Dec 21


Winter Solstice!!  Finally we’ll start getting days with more sunlight. I’m OK with the sun coming up late as it means a little extra sleep but that sun setting at 5:30 and being pitch dark by 7 PM makes for  early bed times on the boat where there’s just not much to do in the dark.

Goodbye Mr. Sunshine

It’s really been a fairly uneventful couple of days.  We stayed anchored at Cayo Costa for several days waiting out some windy weather.  We nestled as close as we dared to shore when dropping the anchor in anticipation of strong northerly winds going to northeast winds.    We got some protection from the mangrove barrier but with 30+mph winds for a day and a half we still swung around a bit, bounced around a bit, and stretched the anchor line so tight it would sing like a guitar string.  But that sweet Rocna anchor held like a champ through it all.   Unfortunately, because it was blowing so hard we never were able to drop the dingy or kayaks and go exploring around this state park island.  We may head back there for a few days when a better weather window settles in as it’s a really beautiful natural setting.

Wind and waves entering Punta Gorda harbor

Weather here is a bit more unsettled than I expected.  Wind seems to change direction every day, it blows stronger than I expected, and now we’re dealing with a low pressure system over the gulf that’s creating a rain situation.   So, we pulled up anchor and after 3 days headed up Charlotte Harbor to Punta Gorda.  It’s not a usual looper stop since it’s about 15 miles out of the way but we figured it was another town worth exploring while we were down here.   Port Charlotte is across the river and we picked up a rental car to explore the area and do some reprovisioning.

Journey for Dec 21