After a brief but hectic car trip back to Atlanta to take care of some business we returned to Punta Gorda where friends had graciously let us tie up at their dock. As luck would have it, the first "Named" tropical storm of the season to hit this area, Colin, had passed just north of here days before. Something like 6 inches of rain fell in 2 days, the storm surge topped the docks and caused alot of local flooding, but there was little wind damage. Having just upgraded our insurance to allow us to be in the hurricane zone during the hurricane season was both good luck and a wake up call. We were thankful our friends, who are much more experienced with boating and bad weather, were there to tie up storm lines and keep Happy Happy safe from damage during the storm. We will have to keep a watch out and learn the ways of hurricane preparedness to stay safe.
Happy Happy was safe from Colin tucked way back in Yo Mama Bay/Punta Gorda.
Happy Happy was safe and secure from Colin thanks to helpful humans.
We returned to hot, humid weather and the remnants of Colin breaking up over the Gulf.Scattered rain and thundershowers followed by blazing bright sun and billowy clouds seem to be the pattern of the day. After reprovisioning and some needed maintenance we cast off again to begin Segment 3 of our Journey. This segment will finish our tour of Florida's west coast at Ft Meyers. From there we'll head inland up the Calooshatchee River and canal/lock (oh yeah more locks!) system up through Lake Okeechobee and then down to Stuart on the east coast. We plan to end this segment somewhere between Jacksonville and Charleston.
Our first cruise takes us out Port Charlotte back to the Intracoastal Waterway.
Of course after all this talk about bad weather you have to know we're still laid back loopers taking advantage of every bit of sunshine.
