Marco Polo, I mean Marco Island

Marco Polo, I mean Marco Island

We were reluctant to leave Pensacola but it was time to head further south. We would have loved to stop off at Fort Meyers for a bit but I had read on cruiser forums that the channels around the area had changed and sites/marinas were still damaged from Hurricane Ian in September 2022. So, instead of having just a day sail, we were onto Marco Island. This stop had been on Justin’s list since we first started planning this adventure and it’s pretty much the last stop before hitting the Keys. We left the safe harbor of St. Pete’s to head back into the Gulf for our 130 nm and ~25 hour trip to Marco Island. It was a very calm motor-sail with little to no wind which made for poor sailing, but we were able to swiftly glide through the rolling waves to make good time.

Marco Island is a very popular stay for cruisers on their way to or from the Florida Keys, making the marinas very full and expensive. It also looked like some places were still rebuilding from damage from Hurricane Ian as well. We did get a slip as we were expecting some weather to come through but it ended up not being a big deal. We had a great 5 nights at Rose Marina even with all the charter/tour boats zooming in and out. We were also very excited to have floating docks again instead of wooden piers. We’re still getting the hang of tying off to the post in the back but we’re getting better each time.

Once we had recuperated from our sail, we got the bikes off the bow and headed out for a tour of the area. We found some small shops in “Old Marco Island” And of course we had to hunt for the Marco Island Brewery in the middle of town. We took the bikes to find a good beach access point but most beaches were associated with hotels and were very busy or were marked as private and not accessible. This was also our first attempt at biking to get restock our groceries and it was a success. We’re really starting to get into this cruising lifestyle!

After doing some research, we took off on the dinghy to Keewaydin Island Beach. It is only reachable by boat and even though it’s a spot that is frequented by charter/tourist boats, we were able to find a small spot for ourselves and a load of shells once we wandered away from the crowd. We should have taken our snorkel gear as you could walk out in the shallow, clear water for quite a ways. After being in the Texas waters for so long, the clarity of the Florida Gulf water always blows me away. 

Of course, we couldn’t pass up our chance to take advantage of having a marina and a mailing address to get some parts for the boat, replace our raw water strainer for the engine, do copious amounts of laundry, and clean out the boat after finding roaches. While everything was pulled out and Justin was changing the oil on the generator and engine, I took advantage of the time to bring out my summer clothes and put all my winter stuff into vacuum sealed bags. I don’t think that I’ll be needing my down jackets anytime soon. We’re still working to find the balance between wanting to go and explore while also needing to take the time to write blogs and do boat work. Skål!

ONE’S DESTINATION IS NEVER A PLACE, BUT A NEW WAY OF SEEING THINGS.

– HENRY MILLER